Urban Cowboy: Cheers to this spring fling with Ontario Riesling wines - Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery
February 23, 2016


Tickets On Sale Now! 

Sue-Ann's Annual Holiday Sip & Savour Open House $45+HST

When: Saturday, December 13, 11 - 5 

Where: Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery

What:  Sue-Ann's Holiday Sip & Savour is back!

We are rolling out the red carpet for a delicious day of holiday flavours! Our Holiday Sip & Savour is the ultimate holiday open house for wine lovers and foodies alike!

Enjoy deluxe wine & food tasting stations on the way -- we are opening our premium wines, pairing them with delicious foods to warm and delight your senses. Plan to spend an amazing hour touring and tasting your way through Sue-Ann's home!

Tickets are $45+HST per person. $5 from each ticket sale will be donated to the Howard V. Staff Memorial Fund at the Niagara Community Foundation, supporting St. Catharines Community Care. 

    Buy your tickets here: https://www.sue-annstaff.com/collections/events/products/holiday-sip-savor-open-house-2025-45-hst

     

    Save the date!

    Shortbread Showdown: Sip & Stock Up

    When: Saturday, December 20

    Where: Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery

    What: Stop into the winery on Saturday, December 20th and join the fun! Try a selection of shortbreads while enjoying a glass of wine, and then cast your vote for the best cookie! It's a great little break from holiday fuss AND you can stock up on feast-worthy wines while you're at it!  $10 per person, with $5 going to The Howard V. Staff Memorial Fund at the Niagara Community Foundation, supporting community care.

    No advance tickets or reservations required, simply show up and pay $10 to cast your vote while enjoying a 5 oz glass of wine. 

     

    Reservations open! Book now!

    The Holiday Board: Flight & Bites

    Holiday Board Flight & Bite

    When: December 27 & 28, January 3 & 4

    Where: Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery

    What: The Holiday Board: Flight & Bites is the perfect post-Christmas treat!

    You've done all the cooking. You've done all the hosting. You've assembled, you've wrapped, you've done it all. Now it's your turn to sit back and relax! 

    Reserve your time now for an elevated wine tasting that will delight your senses, taking place December 27 & 28, January 3 & 4 at Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery. 

    Enjoy a seated tasting of four wines, each one perfectly paired with a delectable small bite.

    It's like a four-course meal...in miniature!

    Fancy Farm Girl Flirty Bubbles sparkling rosé with Creamy Brie & Cranberry

    The Louie Pinot Gris with Duck Rillette with Blueberry Jam & Cornichon

    The Gritstone Cabernet with "SASsoulet", our deconstructed sausage cassoulet

    Howard's Icewine Vidal with a White Chocolate Coconut Almond confection

    $24.50 per person, reservations highly recommended! Book now: https://www.sue-annstaff.com/products/the-holiday-board-flight-bite-december-27-28-january-3-4

     

     

    In the new year...

    Icewine Festival Discovery Pass

    When: January 16-18,23-25, 30-February 1, 2026

    Where: Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery and other participating Niagara wineries! 

    What:  Sip, Savour & Explore Niagara This Winter

    Get ready for a self-guided tasting tour through Niagara’s most scenic vineyards! The Icewine Discovery Pass pairs world-class Icewines with spicy, savoury, or sweet bites from inspired local chefs — the perfect way to warm up your winter weekends.

    Our offering? Tinga, Tango, Taco!

    Imagine juicy, spicy Tinga de Pollo (chicken in a smoky tomato/chipotle sauce) tucked into a warm, soft corn tortilla, dressed with lime crema and a cilantro garnish. Paired with our 2018 Vidal Icewine, it’s a divine marriage of spice and ice!

    Find all the information and tickets you need here: https://niagarawinefestival.com/icewine-discovery-pass

     

     


    Urban Cowboy: Cheers to this spring fling with Ontario Riesling wines

    The Riesling Challenge has traditionally been held at the Scottsdale LCBO, where Poluch’s long been a successful product consultant (he was named VQA Promoter of the Year in 2011). He started the Riesling Challenge there when his manager urged him to find more uses for the then-new store’s under utilized tasting room. There was nothing else quite like it in the city, and the manager thought Guelphites needed a nudge to discover it.

    Poluch considered VQA Rieslings – one of his favourite wines, one that Ontario is renowned for -- the perfect vehicle for open the room’s doors. So, he combined his commitment to the facility, his passion for Ontario Rieslings, and his support of good causes in Guelph, and the Ontario Consumers' Choice Riesling Challenge was born.

    Here’s the drill. Patrons, who can be any LCBO customers, pay a $10 participation fee, which goes wholly towards the charity. For their donation, they are given tokens that they exchange for samples at various sampling stations featuring Ontario Rieslings -- such as Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery. Staff, a University of Guelph alumnus, says she’ll be on hand with her Loved By Lu and Fancy Farm Girl Frivolous White Rieslings.

    Sue-Ann Staff and dog
    Ontario Riesling winemaker and University of Guelph alumnus Sue-Ann Staff.

    In the end, the dry and off-dry wines with the most tickets votes are crowned winners of the Ontario Consumers' Choice Riesling Challenge.

    Poluch is truly an innovator with his Ontario Consumers' Choice Riesling Challenge. But this year’s 10th anniversary event, which will take place Saturday, May 28, from 1-4 p.m., might be his last hurrah. Poluch is no longer a product consultant, having been promoted to assistant manager. The LCBO tends to move people around when they get promotions. So this year the venue has been moved from the Scottsdale LCBO to the Speedvale LCBO, where Poluch now hangs his hat, and is pondering whether he’ll be able to continue fronting the Riesling event in his new role. 

    It’s pretty simple. But it’s also pretty important, all around.

    Over the years, the LCBO has been roundly criticized by many people, including me, for offering more support to wines from abroad rather than from Ontario. The LCBO has responded by dedicating what it considers significant shelf space to smaller Ontario wineries. The province is also opening up new venues (such as farmers’ markets) for wine, and even making efforts to allow wine to appear on grocery store shelves. Just last week, it announced it would increase the choice and convenience for consumers, and support fruit wine and cider producers, by making fruit wine and cider, along with wine, available on the shelves of up to 300 independent and large grocery stores.

     

    https://www.guelphtoday.com/local-news/urban-cowboy-cheers-to-this-spring-fling-with-ontario-riesling-wines-200898

     


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