Todays rain was the perfect excuse NOT to catch up on yardwork.
Instead, I headed over to 66 Gilead Distillery for an astonishing vodka sampling that included their Canadian Pine Vodka, Whole Wheat Vodka, and Rye Vodka… all made on site. Read the full story about the distillery in the current issue of Grapevine Magazine here.
Next off to meet the barrelmakers who make the casks for 66 Gilead’s upcoming whiskeys, as well as for numerous local wineries. Their unique CHOA barrels (combined cherry, hickery, oak and applewoods ash) recently prompted a Best in Show award to County Cider in Waupoos , for their Barrel-aged Ice Cider , in the 2011 Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition in Grand Rapids Michigan.
Carriage House Cooperage in Wellington also turns out to also be the showroom for re-purposed old wine barrels, as CHC Furniture. It will stay where it is, but Pete Bradford and Marla Cameron will be moving the cooperage part of the business they share, to a converted pig barn at the 66 Gilead Distillery property in Spring 2012. As another County-first tasting room, they have plans to eventually offer tastes of their barrel-aged balsamic vinegars made from 100% county wine. Next year they’ll be producing vinegars using local fresh pressed apple juice, amongst others like local elderberry…aged in their own local wood barrels, naturally. Oh my…
And if all this day wasn’t delicious enough, making dessert insisted itself. So I ended up making a tart and using most of the Northern Spy apples I bought at Picton County Farm Centre.
One of my #1 favourite go-to fruit tart recipes was written by Lucy Waverman for a booklet for “Wines of Ontario”, published in 1997 before Prince Edward County was even on it’s own winemaking map. Originally calling for pears, I substituted it with about 3-1/2 peeled, cored and quartered apples, and it was as delicious as ever.
Caramelizing the apples with sugar and butter in a cast-iron pan for 20 minutes, before baking under a tender pastry lid. Flip pan after baking for 30 minutes.
Half eaten before I was reminded to take a picture…