Thursday, January 22, 2026

"Big Cheese"

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Thursday evening, January 22, the local Stonetown Beefsteak and Burgundy wine club held it's regular January dinner and tasting event at the Flour Mill here in St Marys. The picture at left shows Derek, our wine tasting champ (the "Big Cheese" for 2026), along with our wine steward Jere and member Dwayne joining in on the laughs. I shared the table with them.

The January tasting has become a regular yearly event for our club; we call it the "Wine Tasting Challenge" and this year Derek (who hosted our summer event on his Thamesview Farm) was the "Big Cheese" winner of the challenge. I seem to recall that it was Mark who started the "Big Cheese" designation. Richard, who was at the table with me, is excellent at identifying white wines and has sometimes won the challenge. For me? Meh! I always lose.

Jere, who picked the wines for the challenge, had us try to identify wines in two tasting flights — first four whites, then four reds. To make it easier (it's never easy, trust me) he had prepared a tasting sheet which listed out the characteristics of about 8 different wines which might appear in each tasting. You know the kind of wine descriptions: flinty, floral, robust, long finish, chocolate and pencil shavings, a wine for laying down and avoiding, bouquet like an aborigine's armpit, etc. (See Monty Python skit). Over the years I've been to lots of tastings at BS&B wine clubs here and in Australia. It's very difficult for me and most people to identify wines with any accuracy. I'm pretty good at being able to say, that's a red or that's a white but only if I can see the wine and beyond that I do very poorly; as do most people. I'm luckily one of those guys who likes all wines that are put in front of me.

For our apertif, while getting settled in and greeting one another, we shared a sparkling wine, Wolfberger Brut Crémant d'Alsace (a pleasant blend of several whites) from France. 

The whites, in the tasting challenge, were in the $20-$25 range. If correctly identified:

The reds, in the tasting challenge, were in the $16-$25 range. If correctly identified:

For the dinner we shared a Michele Chiarlo Palas Barolo (Nebbiolo) from Italy.  That's a very big wine in the $40 range. All of the wines Jere selected, apart from the Sauvignon Blanc and the Barolo, were recent "Vintages Listings" from the Ontario LCBO. I was especially fond of the Sauvignon Blanc, the Primitivo and (of course) the Barolo.

Ps. I've written NV for the vintage not because the wine didn't have a vintage, more that it wasn't recorded by me or in Jere's notes.

The Flour Mill catered this event last year. Unfortunately, we were travelling and missed it. However, Kate and I sometimes go there for the Sunday brunch and we had them cater our wedding anniversary last summer. Their food is really excellent, chef quality. The dinner tonight was to die for:
  • Foccacia and Marinated Olives
  • Organic Greens with Fennel and Citrus
  • Pasta Rotolo with Prosciutto, Cheese and Spinach in Bechamel and Sugo
  • Torta Caprese — Italian Flourless Cake with Cream
Many thanks to Claire and the BS&B executive for arranging this event, thanks to Jere for the wine selection and tasting challenge, and many thanks to the Flour Mill. They are kind and patient souls to put up with this rowdy bunch. I look forward to dining here again — with Kate at Sunday brunch and hopefully next January when this event is repeated.

I understand the "Big Cheese" will be responsible for the wine selections at next year's January dinner and tasting event. If nothing else, this blog documents that fact for those who will surely forget.

I have been a member of this BS&B wine club for many years — actually too many to recall. I have made some good friends, had some fun and tasted a lot of wine. I was also the president for a couple of years around 2016/17 (after Dwayne, before Harald).
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