Whether you are a professional or an amateur, this unique event allows you access to 200 wine producers and brewers from 20 different countries. On the agenda for the 3-day gathering are theme-based activities, compelling conferences and much more. You will be able to meet the producers in one-on-one encounters, sample some of the 1,200 products available (including many exclusive ones), brush up on some of the latest tools of the trade and stock up for the year!

Each year, La Grande Dégustation showcases a country or region. For the 2012 edition, Portugal is in the spotlight. Forty Portuguese producers will be on hand for you to meet; pick their brains, ask questions, discuss grape varieties and soil conditions and sample some of their best offerings. Cabernet Sauvignon and rums of the world will also be honoured in this 2012 edition.

La Grande Dégustation is the perfect complementary event (and main sponsor) of Montreal’s first ever restaurant week, TASTE MTL, taking place November 1-11. You can purchase individual tickets or a 3-day passport at any SAQ store or at SAQ.com. No need to bring your glass with you, a tasting glass is included in the price of the ticket.

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THE DETAILS

La Grande Dégustation de Montréal, 1001 place Jean-Paul Riopelle

Opening Hours:
Reserved sessions (Holders of 3-day passports, media representatives, licensees (hoteliers & restaurateurs) and SAQ wine consultants. Credentials required)
November 8: Noon – 4pm

General public:
November 8: 4pm – 9pm
November 9th and 10th: Noon – 9pm

The post WINE LOVERS REJOICE AT LA GRANDE DÉGUSTATION DE MONTREAL appeared first on Tourisme Montréal Blog.

If I may be perfectly honest, the reds are nothing to write home about: you’d need a whole lot more of sunshine and warm temperatures for that to happen. But the whites are perfectly drinkable and often quite delicious – as long as you know what producers to seek out. Top wineries are the very small Les Pervenches and the bigger L’Orpailleur, both located in a region called the Eastern Townships, a mere 45 minutes outside the city.

That’s not all: Québec wineries are actually better known for push-the-envelope sort of products that are sure to impress your wine snob friends back home. Ever heard of honey wine? How about ice cider? Both are local specialties that are much more refined and “grown-up” than one might guess.

Honey wine is still produced in miniscule quantities, and a bit of an acquired taste – although the Macle family in the Laurentians does a great job at keeping it low on the sugar content and high on freshness and acidity.

Ice cider, in the other hand, has recently become somewhat of a Québec specialty, sipped chilled or used to spike up fancy cocktails on both sides of the border. Bottles are expensive because of how labour-intensive it is to produce (apples must freeze on the vine and be picked at a very precise temperature, so they can be pressed immediately to retrieve their frozen nectar). Think of it as a cousin of Niagara’s better-known Icewines, but just as interesting and complex as a dessert wine that also pairs beautifully with strong cheeses, like a Roquefort. Get started by trying some of the award-winning Neige and Domaine Pinnacle products.

You can try all these things at local restaurants, but if the idea is to buy some to take back home, you’ll have to visit one of the city’s several SAQ wine boutiques (the only ones allowed to sell fine wines in the province). But here’s the catch: not all SAQs are created equal. The so-called SAQ Express or SAQ Classic stores are more basic and have few offerings of specialty products.

When shopping for Québec products, go instead to the outlets at the Atwater or Jean-Talon markets (which have what are called Terroirs d`Ici corners stocked with local stuff), or to the bigger SAQ Sélection right downtown, on De Maisonneuve street near the Quartier des Spectacles and The Bay department store.

There you’ll find local gems like the cassis liqueur made by a French expat and his daughters on the beautiful Île d’Orléans, or the apéritif La Marquise, which comes in such a pretty sculpted bottle that it wouldn’t even need to be so tasty to be a perfect gift. And if there’s ever anything specific that you tasted somewhere and want to bring home, be sure to check their website. Type the name of the wine (or cider) in the search box and it will tell you which store in town has it in stock.

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THE DETAILS

SAQ Sélection, 440 De Maisonneuve West, (514) 873-2274

SAQ Atwater Market, 110 Atwater Avenue, (514) 932-2574

SAQ Marché Jean-Talon, 200 Jean-Talon East, (514) 276-1512

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