Bacon and onions and creme fraiche, OH MY! - Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery
October 29, 2020


FALL FEST (free event)

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, 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. MENU NOW AVAILABLE HERE

$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

 

 

Get Wrapped Up!

When: November 8 & 9 AND November 15 & 16

Get Wrapped Up is back on November 8-9 & 15-16! Pick your weekend and join us for festive food and wine pairings at 8 wineries of your choice for only $49.95.

With over 25 Niagara Benchlands Wineries to choose from, use your pass to visit your favourites and discover some new ones: 13th Street Winery (Saturday only), 180 Estate Winery, Calamus Estate Winery, Commisso Estate winery, Creekside Estate Winery, Dim Wine Co., Domaine Le Clos Jordanne, Fielding Estate Winery, Flat Rock Cellars, 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, Ridgepoint Wines, Stonewall Estates, Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery, Tawse Winery, The Organized Crime Winery Inc., Thirty Bench Winemakers, Vieni Estates, Vineland Estates Winery, Wending Home Estate Vineyards and Winery.

What:  Purchase one ticket $49.95 + hst/fee per person and visit EIGHT participating wineries of your choice for a delicious wine & food sample. https://niagarabenchlandswineries.com/pages/events

 

Save the Date

Holiday Wine Trail

When: November 29 & 30

Where: Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery, 180 Estate Winery, Malivoire Wine Company, Cave Spring Winery, Fielding Estate Winery

What:  We put the WIN in Winter Wine Trail. One ticket = five delicious wine and small bite pairings at five fabulous wineries. Stay tuned for details! 

 

 

 

Save the Date

Sue-Ann's Annual Holiday Sip & Savour Open House

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


    Bacon and onions and creme fraiche, OH MY!

    Bacon and onions are a perfect match. Just ask anyone who walks in your house after you've sauteed both ingredients in preparation for Flammekuechen!

    Basically the best onion & bacon pizza you can imagine, Flammekueche is an Alsation specialty...that's also served in the Pfalz, the Rhine, the Moselle regions -- if it's a wine area, there's a version of onion pie served at harvest.  We paired ours with the 2016 Louie Pinot Gris, a weighty, round, buxom Gris that spent 10 months in French oak barrels. 

     

     

    While Sue-Ann utilized pre-made, par-baked pizza crust for last Saturday's Flammekueche on Instagram Live, here's a FABULOUS recipe from Patricia Wells (NYT Cooking) for making the whole thing from scratch. As with any regional recipe, there's as many versions of flammekueche as there are cooks -- try this one and see if it works for you! 

     

    Flammekueche (Thin-Crusted Cheese, Onion And Bacon Tart)

     INGREDIENTS

    THE DOUGH:

    1 cup lukewarm water

    2 ½ teaspoons, or 1 package, dry yeast

    2 ¼ to 2 ½ cups unbleached flour

    1 teaspoon salt

    THE TOPPING:

    2 medium onions, sliced into thin rounds

    1 cup cottage cheese or ricotta

    1 cup creme fraiche or sour cream

     Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

    12 ounces slab bacon, rind removed, cut into matchstick-size pieces

     

    PREPARATION

    Combine the water, yeast and one cup of the flour in a large mixing bowl. Stir until thoroughly blended and set aside to proof the yeast, about five minutes.

    Once proofed, add the salt, then begin adding the remaining flour, little by little, until the dough is too stiff to stir. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and begin kneading, adding additional flour if the dough is too sticky. Knead until the dough is smooth and satiny, about 10 minutes.

    Once kneaded, place the dough in a bowl, cover, and let rise at room temperature until double in bulk, about one hour.

    Punch down and let rise again, covered, until double in bulk, about one hour.

    Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

    Combine the onions, cheese, creme fraiche, salt and pepper and let sit for 15 minutes to soften the onions.

    Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle to fit a large baking sheet, measuring about 12 1/2 by 15 inches. Place the dough on the baking sheet.

    Spread the onion mixture over the dough right to the edge. Sprinkle the bacon evenly over the top, then sprinkle generously with pepper.

    Bake just until the dough is crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.


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