With adequate accommodation for friends and family in our new Niagara-on-the-Lake home, it only seemed right to give it a decent cognomen.
Continue reading “BIENVENUE AU CHÂTEAU PORTE NOIRE”BIENVENUE AU CHÂTEAU PORTE NOIRE
THAT CASSOULET IN CARCASSONNE
Our wine scribe Jim Walker had long wanted to visit the fortified hilltop town of Carcassonne in the southwest of France. Little did he know that a special treat was in store for him – cassoulet. The consequences were, well, explosive.
Continue reading “THAT CASSOULET IN CARCASSONNE”MORE BORDER HIJINX
Back in 1993 the Ontario government outrageously boosted the cost of importing wine. Refusing to succumb to these punitive fees, our wine scribe Jim Walker vowed to do his best to avoid them. Here he relates a couple of his more memorable border crossing escapades.
Continue reading “MORE BORDER HIJINX”BORDER HIJINX
Now that our wine scribe Jim Walker’s wine importing days are over, he feels he can recount some of his long-ago border crossing misadventures with impunity.
Continue reading “BORDER HIJINX”THE WINE CULL
It is a problem many wish they had. Over the years our wine scribe Jim Walker allowed his wine collection to get completely out of control.
Continue reading “THE WINE CULL”MORE SLURPING AND BURPING IN SOUTHERN FRANCE!
Our wine correspondent Jim Walker continues his wining and dining ways in southern France and, in the process, discovers that some stars can be illusionary. Read on for all the delicious details.
Continue reading “MORE SLURPING AND BURPING IN SOUTHERN FRANCE!”NOSHING IN NICE IS NICE, N’EST-CE PAS?
Our wine correspondent Jim Walker is well known for combining fine dining with his wining. “They go together like a horse and carriage, love and marriage and flotsam and jetsam,” Jim explains. Below we see what he means as he and wife Hélène explore the restaurant scene on a recent trip to Nice, France.
Continue reading “NOSHING IN NICE IS NICE, N’EST-CE PAS?”BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Our wine correspondent Jim Walker and his wife Hélène Buisson recently visited Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in southern France to bid a fond adieu to their vinous mentor and a couple of their vintners. You see, they had decided to wind down their participation in the wild, wacky and wonderful world of wine and they wanted to say goodbye to those who had made it all possible.
Continue reading “BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN”LITTLE FALLS, BIG SURPRISE
There are times when one finds something splendid in the most unexpected place. Such was the case when our wine scribe Jim Walker and his wife Hélène stopped for the night on a recent journey. Drool along as he tells us all about this serendipitous experience.
Continue reading “LITTLE FALLS, BIG SURPRISE”WINING AND DINING GRACEFULLY IN SOUTHERN FRANCE
Our wine scribe Jim Walker and his wife Hélène have been visiting Provence and other areas of southern France at least annually (except for the last two plague-infested anni horribiles) for more than 30 years. To absolutely no-one’s surprise, they have spent a considerable amount of time during those sojourns sampling the local fare and vinous offerings. Jim comments on his gustatory observations and experiences in his latest contribution to Gentleman’s Portion.
Continue reading “WINING AND DINING GRACEFULLY IN SOUTHERN FRANCE”
Gentlemans Portion 