January was Icewine month in Niagara, with the annual festival stretching over most of the month. A high point was a cocktail competition between the restaurants of Niagara on the Lake. Mixologists mixed and judges judged. Surprising winner too: meat was involved. Not Peller chef Jason Parsons' roast pig, though that could've been used...

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Not all in the Euro Zone is doom and gloom – Austrian wine exports hit an all-time high of €117 million (C$150M). The most important Austrian wine is the delightful gruner veltliner.

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After the live fine wine auction, Vintages' ran an E-Bay style online auction at the end of last year and almost all of the lots sold, including a number that generated back and forth bidding.

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The Graffigna multi-pack of Argentine wines represents a great-value holiday party option. Or for four parties, a bottle for each. Crowd pleasing favourites, nicely done, at a good price.

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On the Niagara Escarpment Bench near Vineland, Kacaba is small, but turns out a solid range, including syrah from some of Niagara's oldest plantings. I checked out their new cab franc and chardonnay.

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If you thought Brazil was mainly tropical rainforest, big hot cities and beaches, you'd be right. But in the south of the country, not so far from Argentina, the nights are cool and there's a nascent wine industry.

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OK the weather's not so autumnal, but it will be soon & red wines are looking more alluring than whites. In any case, there are also some great whites in this Vintages release.

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You may have seen one of the faces of the goLOCAL campaign this fall in a TV commercial. Well Angela Aiello runs the iYellow wine group and is touring Niagara on Saturday. I can hook you up.

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