An Afternoon of Wine and Cheese at Stratus Winery

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from one of our favourite wineries in Niagara making us aware of a special event they werehosting - 'Cheese Boutique @ Stratus'. 'Hmmmm - an afternoon of wine and cheese - what's not to love about that?

I checked with Paolo and he was game so I went online and ordered tickets.

I've written about Stratus before and mentioned the Cheese Boutique in a few posts but I should expand upon that a bit. The Cheese Boutique has been providing Toronto with fine cheeses for more than 40 years. The 'shop' is now under the watchful eyes of son Afrim who was made a chevalier by Confrérie des Chevaliers du Taste Fromage de France in 2007.

At the Cheese Boutique prosciutto hangs from the ceiling, truffles are flown in every Wednesday, foie gras sits under lock and key, beef is dry aged 60 days, there are olive oils from 80 different terroirs and jams made from green walnuts, the best artisanal breads of the city, not to mention the chocolate boutique, pastry temptations and daily handpicked produce - but it is for the cheese that one must really come here. This is a place where "best before" dates do not apply. Taking something good and making it great is a constant philosophy of Cheese Boutique.

Do you see why this wine and cheese pairing excited us?

We decided to combine the tasting with some shopping over the border so it was an early morning indeed.

We arrived at Stratus we quickly munched down the sandwiches that we had picked up for lunch and headed inside. If there had been any doubt that we were in the right place the famous cheese boutique car parked in front of the winery would have cleared that up immediately.

When we checked in we were quickly hustled out onto the lovely terrace overlooking the vineyard where we discovered that the winery had decided to offer a tour of the vineyard and wine making facility for those who were interested. A glass of wine was offered so we could sip while we walked and listened. What is not to love about that?

I was surprised to see that the grapes were still on the vines since I knew by the various twitter feeds I follow that many other wineries had been harvesting for weeks. Our guide explained that Stratus would start their harvest and crush on Monday. One of the interesting things about the facility is that they tend to leave their grapes on the vines longer than any other winery in Niagara to ensure maximum ripeness and flavour.

After wandering the vineyard we moved into the LEED certified wine making facility where we saw that everything was cleaned and ready for the crush to start. It was interesting to learn about their wine making and compare it to others we know about. Stratus tends to be less machine driven than most - it's a hands on operation where they try to limit mechanical intervention so as to not introduce harshness into the juice.

Now that we were 'experts' on the winery and their unique processes we went back out to the terrace to start our tasting the fruits of their labours. They had a Chardonnay for us to try - and you could tell immediately that their winermaker was from the Loire valley! This wasn't one of those cloying, heavily oaked Chards from California . . . the type where I get a headache after one sip. This was a lovely wine indeed.

We 'met' Afrim and he told us about the Cheese Boutique and some of the things that made them one of the best purveyors of cheese on the planet (no, I am not exaggerating, on any given day you can find more than 1500 types of cheeses there - many which are not available anywhere outside of their local area where they were produced). We were amazed to hear that they have cheeses that are produced just for them.

The first cheese was brilliantly paired with the Chardonnay - we knew immediately that we were in for a wonderful afternoon!

We moved back into the wine making facility where a giant table was set up. At each spot was a piece of used wine barrel stave on which was set out five cheese samples as well as five glasses of wine. Afrim had also brought along a treat - some marcona almonds from Spain which we've had before but from the ohhs and ahhs of the crowd I think were new for many, as well as some of the wonderful breads that they bake daily at the Cheese Boutique.

For the next 2 hours we nibbled, sipped, and learned more about the fine world of wine and cheese.

In short, it was a brilliant way to spend the afternoon!

Funny story - as we were leaving the staff from the Cheese Boutique were handing out business cards so folks would know where they were located. When it was my turn he looked at me and said 'you've been in the store before, I know you know here we are!' Hmmm . . . I wonder if I buy too much cheese? *smile*

Comments

[Barb Cabot]

What a great experience. Looks like so much fun. You are famous wherever you go they know you!

[bellini]

I had the opportunity to visit the Cheese Boutique when I was in Toronto. I had read about an event they did at London Hall in Cambridge where I grew up. There was nothing on at the time or you would have found me there. I love these wine events!!

[Karen (Back Road Journal)]

Boy would I have enjoyed that event. It sounds like a wonderful day. Great cheese and wine...it doesn't get much better than that.

[JDeQ]

I'm not sure one needs to be known for buying lots of expensive cheese Barb! LOL

I know exactly what you mean bellini - love having the folks who work in the food industry talk about their passion!

Yes, it really is a perfect combination Karen!

[Kayte]

Oh this was a fun read...and great photos to go along with it...I would say I almost felt like I was there but I would be feeling cheated at having no wine to sip and no cheese to eat...what a fun day indeed. Too funny that you were recognized. And appreciated, obviously, from his enthusiasm.