While we were enjoying a day in Toronto, and it was on Canada Day, we had to find ways to be entertained.  When I was a kid, I could speak Canadian fluently as my father was born in Hamilton, Ontario; named after George Hamilton and not a hip-hop musical. Also, as a kid, I would remember that on holidays and Sundays, Canada completely closed down, just like in the States.  Between the time we arranged this trip to us being in Canada, a major forest fire broke out in a couple of provinces, and the smoke was even devasting in Detroit as well in New York and the New England states.  So, we got a chance to wander around downtown Toronto in the haze and sometimes the CNN Tower was difficult to see.  In case you were concerned Justin Trudeau seem untroubled with the trees burning, as he was in Alberta away from the problem.  You may remember Justin as the little boy of Pierre and Margaret Trudeau.

We took a trolley and a transfer and walked the edges of Chinatown and Little Japan (I couldn’t tell you which was which) and we went to the Art Gallery of Ontario, or as it is called AGO.  We started in the lower-level concourse and admired the magnificent ship models, from there we went to the European galleries to the large Cassatt-McNichol collection.  We also saw a large collection of Indigenous art and perhaps the largest collection of Henry Moore art under one roof.  My Bride and I also showed her sister and her husband, one of the side benefits of going to a museum.  We went to the AGO Espresso Bar, and had some munchies.  While they enjoyed cups of espresso and tea, I decided on having something more flavorful and when in Rome… I had a glass of The Organized Crime Pinot Gris Niagara Peninsula VQA 2021.  “Sometime in the early-to-mid 1900s there were two quarreling Mennonite congregations who disagreed about the acquisition of a pipe organ.  The feud resulted on one congregation breaking into the other church, and then tossing it down an embankment… hence the Organized Crime Winery name.”  This small boutique winery, second-generation and family-owned is located on the Beamsville Bench of the Niagara Peninsula.  Edward Zaski and Ania de Duleba are the winegrowers, assisted by their Consultant Winemaker Greg Yemen.  The fruit for this wine was allowed to macerate for twenty-four hours of skin contact.  I will venture to say that this wine had fermentation and probably a short aging period all-in Stainless-Steel tanks to maintain the freshness of the fruit.  The light straw-colored wine offered a nose of pear, nectarine, and cantaloupe.  On the palate a very crisp and balanced taste with tones of pear and cantaloupe and a short finish of light citrus.  It was perfect and I felt comfortable to brave the heat and haze, especially since the women didn’t find anything that they had to have in the museum shop.

It was my job, to find a restaurant in Toronto, which seemed like a snap, until you realize that it was Canada Day.  Fast food, pubs and bar food was plenty, but the fine dining establishments were all closed so that the help could be with the family.  I put on my thinking cap and decided that major hotels had to have restaurants open for their guests, so I chose the Four Seasons Hotel as our destination.  According to our navigators, it was almost an even time lapse for trolley/bus or by foot from the museum to the restaurant, after almost an hour we made it to our destination, and I am glad that we do our daily 5K walks, though I still grumbled (it is a common feature).  I will reveal the restaurant in the next article, but the restaurant had a street-level bar that we gladly availed ourselves of.  They brought us out ice water, and a small dish of olives and Wasabi-spiced nuts and Marcona almonds.  My Bride and I had a glass of Mas Carlot Generations Blanc Costieres de Nimes 2021.  The original area was controlled by the Romans, and there are remains of that era. The buildings of Mas Carlot were originally built in the 17^th Century and updated in the 19^th Century. They are in the seventh generation as stewards of the land.  The current family has restored the grounds and buildings to their original appearance.  The Mas Carlot stretches across sixty-five-hectares and the vines are 70 meters above sea level. The vineyards were redone twenty-years ago, and the estate is now officially certified as organic.  The wine is a blend of fifty percent Roussanne, forty percent Marsanne and ten percent Viognier.  The wine had initial skin maceration and then fermentation and aging were done in concrete vats.  The soft yellow wine offered tones of apricots, peaches, and honeysuckle.  On the palate there were strong tones of apricots and peaches, the fruit was a bit jammy for me, but in good balance and acidity with a decent finish of fruit. Dinner time was approaching.