February 23, 2016
September 2025
Niagara Grape & Wine Festival Discovery Pass
When: September 5-7, 12-14, 19-21, 11 am to 5 pm
Where: Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery and other participating Niagara wineries
What: The Niagara Wine Festival's annual Grape & Wine Discovery Pass returns. Buy your Discovery Pass online and visit up to six participating wineries for innovative and delicious wine and food pairings.
September is harvest and this Discovery Pass program is all about is winemakers' comfort food when they are up against a deadline -- what do winemakers eat when they're working all hours to get harvest in? In our case, get ready for:
"SIZZL'N WITH SAS" GOES TO THE DOGS. SERIOUSLY?
Relish in this classic Sue-Ann Staff harvest snack; you’ll love our juicy, double-smoked farmer’s sausage slider all dressed with Sue-Ann’s Grilled Corn & Feta Salsa and lashings of BBQ sauce, on a tender Cob’s Bakery roll. It’s a savoury/sweet seasonal treat!
Dairy-friendly Vegetarian option Gluten-friendly
FEATURED WINE: Bank Barn Baco Noir OR Fancy Farm Girl Foxy Pink FEATURED MOCKTAIL: Lemonade with a mint twist FEATURED CULINARY CREATOR: Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery Outdoor Experience
Purchase your Discovery Pass online: https://niagarawinefestival.com/fall-discovery-pass-25
SEPTEMBER 2025
Run for the Grapes
When: Sunday, September 28
Race Times: Half-Marathon at 8:30 am, 5k at 8:45 am
Where: Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery
What: Run a half marathon or 5k and support The Heart & Stroke Foundation! Find all the details you need and register at the Subaru Running Series website here: https://niagararunningseries.com/running-event/run-for-the-grapes-1-2-marathon-5k/
SEPTEMBER 2025
Harvest Sunday
When: Sunday, September 28, 1-4
Where: Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery
What: September's the best in wine country! You're invited to visit the winery September 28 for an afternoon of live music by Michelle Hedley in Sue-Ann's front garden. Enjoy music and wine surrounded by lush vineyards. Wine flights, wine by the glass and wine-friendly snacks available for purchase.
October 2025
Fall Wine Trail
When: Saturday, October 4 and Sunday, October 5
Where: Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery, 180 Estate Winery, Malivoire Wine Company, Cave Spring Winery, Fielding Estate Winery
What: Purchase one ticket and visit all five participating wineries for a delicious wine and cheese sample AND take a bottle home! Details and ticketing link to come!
October 2025
ALS Revolution Ride
When: Sunday, October 5
Where: Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery
What: The ALS Canada Revolution Ride is a volunteer-powered, fundraising event hosted in support of ALS Canada that encourages participants to do more for people and families living with ALS and in honour of the people we have loved and lost.
This premier cycling event takes place on Sunday, October 5 in Jordan, Ontario in the beautiful Niagara wine region. The roads surrounding the area offer a landscape that will take riders along a route, steeped in excitement and beauty, leaving participants with a sense of accomplishment and the reward of seeing their fundraising efforts go to help families affected by ALS. There are two awesome routes to choose from including 40km and 90km options. Choose the distance that suits your level!
Not only will the kilometres logged be worthwhile, but the start and finish lines are located in the heart of Ontario wine country at the stunning Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery. The day promises to be a memorable one.
Find out more and register to ride here: https://revolutionride.als.ca/revride/participate
FALL FEST
When: Saturday and Sunday, October 25 & 26
What: It's the season to GET COZY! Help us celebrate the last weekend of the Moyer Marquee with live music, wine, food, cozy fire pits, lawn games and FUN.
Join us the weekend of October 25/26 for live music from BY DESIGN DUO (Saturday) and THE FEVERISH LEMONS ACOUSTIC DUO (Sunday), as well as award-winning wines and food by SMOKE & MOONSHINE FOOD TRUCK.
This is a free, outdoor event! Wine & food available for purchase. Dog friendly. Event open from 11 am to 5 pm both days, live entertainment 1 pm to 4 pm.
November 2025
THE GREAT GRILLED CHEESE EXTRAVAGANZA
When: Saturday, November 1st 11-4:30, Sunday, November 2nd 11-4
Where: Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery
What: Experience the best grilled cheese sandwiches of your life, each one perfectly paired with our wines! It’s a celebration of Sue-Ann’s long-time love affair with inventive grilled cheese sandwiches. “Why have tomato soup with your grilled cheese, when you could have wine?”
Ticket-holders are welcomed with a refreshing sip of our Fancy Farm Girl sparkling before setting off on a delicious cheese adventure. Four fabulous grilled cheese stations are set up throughout Sue-Ann’s home, each one offering delicious sandwich samples with our award-winning wines.
$48.53 per person ($42.95+HST). Gluten Friendly timeslots available! Find all the details and buy your tickets online here: https://www.sue-annstaff.com/collections/events/products/sue-anns-great-grilled-cheese-extravaganza-2025
November 2025
Get Wrapped
When: Saturday November 8 & Sunday, November 9 from 11 am to 5 pm AND Saturday November 15 & Sunday, November 16 from 11 am to 5 pm
Where: Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery, 13th Street Winery, 180 Estate Winery, Calamus Estate Winery, Commisso Estate Winery, Creekside Estate Winery, DIM Wine Co., Domaine Le Clos Jordanne, Fielding Estate Winery, Harbour Estates Winery, Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery, Kew Vineyards Estate Winery, King's Court Estate Winery, Malivoire Wine Company, Peninsula Ridge Estates Winery, Puddicombe Estate Winery, Redstone Winery, Stonewall Estates, Tawse Winery, The Organized Crime Winery Inc., Vineland Estates Winery, Wending Home Estate Vineyards and Winery
What: Purchase one ticket and visit all five participating wineries for a delicious wine & food sample. DETAILS TO COME!
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.
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