Wine, Wine, Wine…and Whine Then Some, If You Missed It!

by Tanya Scholes
There was a whole lot of wine-ing going on last week at Santé Toronto International Wine Festival. If you missed it, any ‘whining’ you’ll be doing is of a whole other variety. Which is what I did when I realized that I had missed NINE years of this super fun, free-flowing wine festival. If you’ve been ignorant up to this point about how fab a festival it is, fear not friends, there is a silver lining to this cloud, as Santé will be back next year. And trust me, pen it in. It’s an event ‘not to miss’!  

From May 5th – 10th, last week, Santé Toronto International Wine Festival celebrated a ‘party ten years in the making’. The revelry showcased 74 International wineries, including 375 wines from 12 countries, an estimated 7,000 opened bottles of wine and featuring tastings, seminars, dinners and shopping with wine in hand throughout the Bloor-Yorkville neighbourhood (a dangerous thing after a few smooth glasses of wine while in Hazelton Lanes and finding those shoes and that bag that you have to have OR you find yourself in Lovecraft with liquid courage in hand and reservations left at the door…I’ll leave that story for my husband to tell).

Don’t think for a second that Santé is simply for the experienced oenophile. On the contrary, Santé truly has something for everyone, including those that have never even tickled the tip of their wine tasting tongues. I mean really. If you haven’t the slightest idea about wine, Santé is one of the best places to start – not only can you learn a LOT about wine, but where else do you think you can pay as little as $50, taste endless amounts of wine (and when I say endless, I mean endless), including some real beauties that your pocketbook mightn’t be able to afford under normal circumstances, paired with succulent food prepared by celebrity chefs. I’ll tell you. Nowhere. 

So next year, when Santé comes a knocking, make sure to ditch your customary Queen West haunts (come on…just for a couple of nights!) and raise a glass (more realistically, glasses). Until then, you can check out some of the Santé participating restaurants to start training your palette or seek out some of the Santé featured wines at your local LCBO.  

For more information or to stay abreast of 2009 Santé Festivities, visit www.santewinefestival.com