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Chateau des Charmes

Savour Stratford Festival

Sep 29th, 2010
by David Ort.
2 comments

Perth County Courthouse: One of the many Stratford buildings that is obviously picturesque

Unlike some of my fellow, luckier bloggers I was only able to make it to the Sunday of this year’s Savour Stratford Perth County Culinary Festival.  The event’s last day featured a slew of family-oriented events spread around Ontario’s largest small town but what really drew me in were the York Street Tasting Tent and the nearby farmers’ market.

Delicious bread from Rundles

As a town Stratford seems connected to the surrounding Perth County.  Many of the stations in the tasting tent were manned not just by the chefs who had created the food but also by the farmers who grew or raised the ingredients and that echoed this sense of connection. I can still taste the delicious smoked whitefish from Purdy’s Fish Market by Simple Fish and Chips; the duck confit and sweet onion relish from Wildstone Bar and Grill and Erbcroft Farms;  and the ecstatically delicious butter that Chef Baxter’s team at Rundles makes with milk from Hewitts Dairy.  (more…)

Twasting 1.0

Mar 30th, 2010
by David Ort.
2 comments

Last weekend I had the pleasure of traveling to Niagara for Twasting 1.0 at Chateau des Charmes. The tasting was organised on Twitter by CdC’s director of marketing Michèle Bosc (@MBosc). Yes, it’s a borderline ridiculous name for an event but that’s not at all Michèle’s fault.  Blame the geniuses who named the most recent social media tool Twitter and not Jake Rock Fighter (my suggested, less-effeminate alternative).

The concept is quite excellent, I think.  Use a new technology to invite potential customers to sample your product in a sociable environment with other wine drinkers.  It helped that they supplied some excellent artisanal Canadian cheese. The large and diverse group that attended the tasting proved that those using Twitter aren’t just anti-social under-25 year-olds. (more…)