Having an Extravarietal Affair

Do you fool around on your favourite wine? Every once in a while a great bottle comes around, and that wine changes your life. But wine lovers are never monogamous. For many who appreciate a great wine, it may be possible to go through commitment phases, or ‘love affairs’ with a certain varietal, but most wine lovers can’t stay with just one for long.

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One might think that they belong with a Pinot Noir, but than along comes a slightly chilled Beaujolais one day and it’s true love at first sip.

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An affair can start in all sorts of ways – a self-professed California Cab-only drinker may take a trip to Italy and get hit on by all kinds of similarly big reds – Chianti Classicos and Brunello, and resist. But later, this person, will be handed a bottle of the beguiling Ripasso di Valpolicella. And while they may have entertained the potential of other wines, that Ripasso’s got a leg up. And as the second bottle of Ripasso is passed around the table, out comes the cork.

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While some say they only drink one varietal, when a compatible new wine comes around, wine lovers can’t keep their corkscrew in their pants.

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However, in burgeoning wine regions, such as the one we have here in Ontario, extravarietal affairs take on a different shape – while some wine lovers are lured away by a different wine, others are by a new region. In fact, the Niagara Wine Region is like the ‘Most Eligible Bachelor or Bachelorette’ of the world’s wine regions – in relation to older, more familiar regions it’s newer to the scene and thus more “It” worthy, it’s had won numerous international wine awards, and with the rising notoriety of it’s sister city Toronto in pop culture, Niagara wines have never been more dateable.

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Think about it this way – your love for wine is like your dating life and there are three potential wines vying for your attention; Gewurztraminer, one of the most successful and exciting new wines out of Niagara – let’s call this one “G-Wine”, is going up against two famous Gewurztraminers – “Gewurze” from Alsace, France and “Tramini” from the Alto Adige region of Italy.

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You’ve already dated Gewurze seriously, and Tramini you’re still kind of seeing. Plus, they’re both so well-known and loved that they’ve dated all your friends. But G-Wine is a fresh face – it’s just as good but it’s different from your norm, and so a little more attractive.

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It is that new edge that makes Niagara a little more able to hit your G-Spot for Gewurztraminers!

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Regardless if you are attached or not, when a great wine comes around, no ball-and-chain favourite bottle is worth saying no for. So sow your wild grapes, because love for wine is best for the open-minded, the swingers, the cheaters, and the just plain open-hearted.

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In this case (or case of an amazing new wine), it will always mean something – something delicious!

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By, Kate More, Writer of Local_is_the_New_Black.com “In town and in season is in style”