Wine Proxies
Wine Proxies. Last week’s newsletter included a post about non-alcohol wine, and so *of course* the below Instagram ad was in my feed the next day. Acid League is a vinegar start-up based in Guelph who “stumbled on something that might just change the way we drink,” according to the Toronto Star’s article Alcohol-free drinks with winelike complexity? Yes, it’s possible.
It was while studying the history of vinegar that they struck upon the idea for their latest project, Wine Proxies. “We landed on this concept called posca,” explains Friedmann, one of the co-founders. “It’s sometimes called the world’s first energy drink, and it was a beverage for the Roman army. At that time, wine got you drunk and water could make you sick, neither things good for an army, so they would take vinegar and mix it with water, honey, herbs and spices to create this drink for soldiers.”
Acid League’s Wine Proxies are layered blends of juices, teas, spices, bitters, and more, creating “a style of non-alcoholic beverage that approached the look and feel of wine, without the buzz and inevitable hangover.” They are available direct from the proxy-winery’s non-alcoholic wine club, and from Sips, one of the first retail stores in Toronto to stock them.
Pearl Morissette’s first release for 2021 is now available and includes three cuvées from the 2018 vintage. Their latest newsletter describes the new wines as “some of the biggest surprises from the last 10 years.”
The wines are beautiful. There’s immenseness of structure and depth to their darkness of the magnitude that 2012 gave us. But in 2018 these qualities glisten with a silver sheen and further refinement. They have a pearly luster and the white-gold, cosmic feel of a dream. They have the might and vastness of ocean tides, but scintillate in a calm and sleepy way - like the scattering of moonlight reflections over open seas.
The new wines include Racines du Ciel (12.5%) a Cabernet Franc described as “smooth and dense with the luxuirous taste of black cherries on the palate, yet gliding with the grace and power of aurora borealis tongues licking the night”; the second vintage of Irrévérence (11.5%), a blend of Riesling, Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer; and Fougue (13%), a Chardonnay whose name denotes enthusiasm, verve, and fiery courage. Available via winery and by the bottle at Boxcar Social’s Riverside and Summerhill locations.
Calls for Financial Support for Restaurants. Last week, Restaurants Canada, the association representing the foodservice industry, responded to Ontario’s shutdown of indoor and outdoor dining, and this week they are calling on the province to pay $100+ million tab for shut downs. Restaurants Canada and the Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association sent an open letter to Premier Ford with a number of recommendations including:
Further funding through the Ontario Small Business Support Grant program and an amendment to the rules to ensure every foodservice establishment is able to receive funding.
A sector-specific program for covering reopening/closure costs such as wasted inventory, staffing costs, patio setup/takedown, etc.
An immediate end to the 6% markup that restaurants pay to buy alcohol from the LCBO.
Currently, restaurants and bars are only permitted to offer takeout and delivery. You can find natural and low-intervention wines at some of these Toronto bottle shops (available with food/snacks); you can also order from specialty importers, and direct from local Ontario wineries.
