People are always writing to me “what is your favorite wine” and I always respond that it depends on the moment.  While I was celebrating my Birthday Week/Month we were the surprise recipients of a couple of tickets to go see Tom Jones at Caesar’s Casino in Windsor.  This was not on our horizon, until the last moment and because of the situation, I truly wish the original owners could have enjoyed the show, but life is not always obliging, so we bought the tickets from them and they were really great seats.  We found out that the other couple that were with the original ticket holders had not booked dinner reservations and of course the restaurants at the casino were booked.  My Bride found some place while she was watching television, and told me the following morning.  I had never heard of the place, and then I found out that within walking distance was a great Italian restaurant that was a favorite of my late father, and I booked that.  Then I found out that there were two other couples from the original ticket purchases, and they wanted the original restaurant that my Bride had booked and they up the reservation to eight; so, I had to cancel my reservation. 

My father’s family lived for years in Windsor, so I kind of knew the area, and if you gave me a week or so, I could even speak the language like a native.  I mean I know what a chesterfield is (a coat or a sofa located in the “parlour”), a draught shell (a shell is a regular glass that would contain a draft beer, and in the old days were bought by the tray, as a shell was a dime), the Beer Store (government approved dispensaries for the purchase of retail beer, operated by each Province, they also maintain liquor stores and wine stores), and “fags” (an old English colloquialism meaning a tailor-made cigarette, as opposed to a hand-rolled cigarette); not to mention that I remember when they actually had licensed taverns and bars.  We ended up at Eastwood’s Grill N Lounge overlooking Riverside Park, which runs along the Detroit River and then a view of Downtown Detroit.  Now I can make clear my statement that I drink the wine of the moment, as they only had about five different wines, all in magnum bottles. We got there first, before the crowd and my Bride had a glass of Pelee Island Winery Pinot Grigio NV.  Pelee Island is in Lake Erie across from Kingsville, Ontario and there has been winemaking on the island for over one-hundred-fifty-years with seven-hundred acres devoted to vines.  This wine is made in conjunction with Mélange International, as the wine is a blend of seventy-five percent international Pinot Grigio and twenty-five percent domestic Pinot Grigio. A bulk wine that is probably made in Stainless Steel tanks from whatever country or province the wine was originally produced in.  The wine had a golden-yellow color and offered notes of white florals.  On the palate there were tones of white fruits, citrus, with light acidity and a short finish of tart fruit and minerals.  It was an easy-quaffing wine.    

My Bride was very happy that they had Cajun Butter Salmon, grilled Atlantic Salmon brushed with Cajun butter and served with garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed fresh vegetables.  I had the Honest Lager Fish and Chips, haddock dipped in a Walkerville Honest Lager (a local craft beer, and Walkerville was where the old Hiram Walker headquarters and facility (Royal Canadian and Canadian Club) was located) batter, served with hand-cut fries and Cole-slaw.  The others all ordered across the menu, and it was good sound tavern food.  My Bride continued with her Pinot Grigio and I changed over to a glass of Toro Bravo Verdejo/Sauvignon Blanc La Mancha DO 2023 by Wines and Company of Spain.  Toro Bravo is one of six different brands produced by Wines and Company and they are all vegan and sustainably grown and this label was funded in 2010.  La Mancha is the largest delineated wine region, not only in Spain, but in Europe.  The vineyard is 700-800 meters above sea level, with nutrient-poor and limestone-rich soil and known for scarce rainfall.  The wine is seventy percent Verdejo and thirty percent Sauvignon Blanc. The wine undergoes a fermentation period of about twelve days and then the wine is stored in Stainless Steel tanks until bottling.  The wine was a dark straw-yellow in color and offered notes of white fruit, lemon zest, florals, and vanilla.  On the palate this light-bodied wine had tones of peaches, pears, rhubarb, and a short finish of chalk terroir.