First stop was Picton, about 2.5 hours by car from Toronto.  Picton looks like lots of small North American towns: one main street, a bunch of small shops and places to eat, along with a park for green space.  I had lunch at The Painted Peppercorn Café, just off the main drag.  Along with my very healthy and delicious late breakfast/early lunch of quinoa salad with fresh vegetables, mixed beans, and toasted walnuts tossed in lemon-mint dressing, I enjoyed a glass of Huff Estates Riesling, which is made in Prince Edward County.  After a walk around, I headed off to my accommodation for the night, the Claramount Inn & Spa (http://www.claramountinn.com/). 

Claramount is a beautifully restored old mansion, set next to Picton Bay.  Each room is unique, and luxurious.  I had room #2, which is on the main floor, and which has its own veranda.  There is a separate sitting area in the room, plus a bathroom big enough to host a dance.  Gilchrist & Soames toiletries are a welcome touch of class.  Before going to the spa for some treatments, I had what the Claramount calls an “energy break”.  It was a plate with a bit of green salad, yoghurt, fruit, crackers with a savoury spread, and an oatmeal cookie.  Quite a nice snack.

My afternoon at the spa was called the Relax & Renew package, which started with a pear and green apple body polish, including Vichy shower.  That was followed by a facial, and finally, a back treatment that involved some hot stone massage.  I was glowing head to toe by the end, and feeling seriously calm.

Dinner was included in my package, which meant that I didn’t need to go far to get it.  I started with eggplant and bocconcini “ravioli” with peppers and pesto, then had seared scallops with toasted barley and arugula.  Both were tasty, as was the Huff Estates Off-Dry Riesling I drank with them.  For dessert I chose the flourless chocolate torte, which was leaden, but redeemed somewhat by house-made hazelnut ice cream, and a red berry coulis.  Breakfast the next day was also included in my package, and I had a decent version of Eggs Benedict.

There was more walking around in Picton, and I found an art show in the town hall.  I saw some really interesting stuff, and got to vote for the People’s Choice Award.  I finally had one of the famous hot dogs from Buddha Dog, where the beef is from a local organic butcher, and the buns are made by a local bakery.  It was Canada Day, so the featured toppings were red pepper jelly and white Cheddar.  Yummy.  For a touch of decadence, I walked next door to The Bean Counter (www.beancountercafe.com) for coffee and a really good house-made chocolate chip cookie. 

The B&B I chose for this night was called Caruso’s on King (http://pec.on.ca/serenityspa/), and the hosts were Deb and Rick.  Deb is a reflexologist, among other qualifications, so I booked myself a treatment for the afternoon I checked in.  She worked magic with my feet.  There are only two rooms at Caruso’s, with a common sitting area, which would make it good for two couples to take over, since it would be like having a whole house to yourselves.  Note: credit cards are not accepted.

To keep the celebration of Canada Day going, I had dinner at Harvest (www.harvestrestaurant.ca), a restaurant dedicated to local food and wine.  The chef is Michael Potters, and in the interest of full disclosure I will say that I know him from a television show that we worked on together.  Even if I didn’t know and like him, his food would still be amazing.  Harvest is a must-do in Prince Edward County, as far as I’m concerned.  There is plenty of choice on the menu, and on the wine list, which does include some imported selections, although they are outnumbered by wines from Ontario, which is heartening to see.

Things kicked off with Five Small Bites, which is literally a plate with bite-size morsels of five different things.  I got warm olives, steamed clams, Bay of Quinte Walleye, soft-poached quail egg, and lamb cannelloni.  It was a great beginning, and a glass of Rosehall Run “Cuvée County” Chardonnay 2008 was a great companion.  Following that, I was treated to striped bass with lemon; saddle of rabbit with prosciutto and puttanesca sauce; and three treatments of lamb: boned leg, rib, and merguez sausage.  With the lamb I had a glass of Rosehall Run “Cuvée County” Pinot Noir 2008, and it went down a treat. 

It was all fantastic, and there was one more thing to make it even better: dessert.  Chocolate Dome served with raspberry sorbet, to be exact.  Taylor Fladgate LBV Port made for a perfect pairing.  It’s fortunate that I was wearing a dress made out of stretchy fabric.  J  Thank goodness I got to walk a bit as I headed to Delhi Park for the fireworks.  The display I saw, and the nice people I saw it with, made me think I should spend Canada Day in a small town more often.

Breakfast at Caruso’s the next morning was a hearty affair, all put together by Rick, and included homemade jam, which is one my favourite things in the world.  Suffice it to say, the whole wheat English muffins didn’t stand a chance.  With a full belly (I’m sensing a theme), I set off on my next adventure, which was a winery tour with Sandbanks Vacations (www.sandbanksvacations.com).  There were 5 of us in a van driven by the very outgoing Michelle, who was a good guide.

We started at the brand new Karlo Estates, and then moved on to The Grange of Prince Edward, where our favourite wine was the Trumpour’s Mill Riesling 2008.  Next up was Norman Hardie, a winery that focuses almost exclusively on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.  I ended up buying both the Melon de Bourgogne 2009 and the County Chardonnay 2008, despite having vowed to add nothing to my already-bulging wine cellar.  By lunch we had reached Rosehall Run.  I purchased a bottle of Sullyzwicker White 2008 (the name Sullyzwicker is a bit of joke for the owner, Dan Sullivan) for us to enjoy while we ate, and the winery very generously supplied glasses for the wine and a cloth for the picnic table.  With my vow of fiscal restraint now in tatters, I collected the Sullyzwicker Rosé 2008 and the Rosehall Vineyard Chardonnay 2007.

Fully, um, “refreshed” by the end of lunch, our laughing crew rolled on over to Casa Dea, where we tasted a range of things, the favourite being Pinot Gris 2008.  Our final stop was Sandbanks.  This is a fun property because it’s got some outdoor Muskoka chair seating, an outdoor tasting bar, and it’s all done up in bright colours.  I simply loved the Sandbanks Rosé 2009.  So much so, that I bought a bottle.  The other wine that went home with me was the Baco Noir Reserve 2007.

My last night in Prince Edward County was spent at the Village Comfort Inn, a one-storey motel in Wellington, which is close to the wineries.  This place, which I found on the Internet, is really basic, yet conveniently located on Main St.   There was a half-size fridge in my room, but no hairdryer, and there was a sign in the bathroom asking people to reuse their towels, yet the showerhead was one of those cheap ones that sprays water all over and has no water conservation capability.  Curious contradictions.

My proximity to “downtown” Wellington meant it was a short walk to dinner at East & Main Bistro (www.eastandmain.ca), a handsomely decorated spot on, coincidentally, Main St.  Lili Sullivan is now the chef here, and I was a fan of her cooking when she worked at a place called The Rebel House in Toronto, so I was curious to see what she had to offer.  To start I had gnocchi with peas, ham, mushrooms, and romesco sauce.  It was very tasty, and a restrained portion.  Even though that was enough to get me going, I couldn’t keep myself from eating every piece of the delicious baguette that was put in front of me.  Bread sounds so simple, but good bread can be hard to do, and it’s worth pointing out when a place does it right.

With the delicious roasted duck breast special I had a glass of Fieldstone Cabernet Franc 2007 from the County.  It tasted like black currant and black pepper, which made it a good match for the duck.  East & Main Bistro strives to source food locally, and as the chef left the kitchen and headed out a side door, this was overheard: “I’ll get more parsley from the garden”.   Awesome.  The pièce de résistance for my meal was the nut and toffee bar that I had for dessert.  Again, it sounds simple, yet the perfect execution made it sublime.

The last meal I had was breakfast at the new Tall Poppy Café (www.tallpoppycafe.ca) in Wellington.  There was good quiche, great toast, and a fantastic latte, all in a relaxed room that seems like it might have been a hardware store about 50 years ago, and is filled with cute, quirky, not-quite-matching furniture.  I managed, finally, to resist the cookies, bars, and muffins that are made on-site.

In the short time that I spent in Prince Edward County, I discovered there are many other things that I would like to see and do at some point in the future, I came to appreciate the area’s many charms, and to understand why so many people had told me that I should visit.  Now I’m telling you:  Get thee to PEC!

The flight on WestJet was great, and fast.  Since we had packed only carry-on luggage, we were soon on our way into Halifax via The Airporter (www.airporter.biz) shuttle.  It was $21 per person, one way, and the only way to pay is in cash.  The shuttle took us right to our hotel, the Delta Halifax.  This place is in a great location downtown, has a pool, fitness centre, on-site massage therapy, and a business centre with three workstations that can be accessed by anyone with a room card. 

Our room was ready, so we unpacked our stuff, and went off to explore.  We were really hungry, and that led us stop at the first place we came to.  It was the Lower Deck Pub, in the Historic Properties.  It is right on the waterfront, so it’s pretty hopping.  You order your drinks from one server, pay immediately, and then some other server comes to take a food order.  What we ate did the job, but I wouldn’t go back.

The waterfront in Halifax is one of its main draws, and it’s easy to see why.  There are shops, tours, boats (including the naval shipyard), historical monuments, and museums all along it.  Plus, the boardwalk is wide, which encourages relaxed strolling.  The weather was excellent, so we did lots of strolling.  There is a casino, and we popped in for a quick look.  Las Vegas it ain’t.  It will give you a gambling fix if you need it, though.

Dinner our first night was at The Press Gang (http://www.thepressgang.ca).  This restaurant is in one of the oldest original buildings in the city, and it is gorgeous.  Big wooden beams, thick stone walls, and a grand piano in the bar area.  Speaking of the bar, there is a big list of cocktails, and I really enjoyed the one called Aviation.  It had gin, mixed with cherry juice and lemon juice.  Just the kind of zingy thing to wake up your tastebuds.

Service at The Press Gang was excellent, and so was the food.  One of the most popular options here is something called The Drill, available to two people at a cost of $150.  This is a good deal, as individual main dishes push towards $40.  It consists of four courses, selected by the chef, and is a survey of the whole menu with small bites of a bunch of stuff.  It went like this for us:

1)       Seared scallop with foie gras mousse on shredded, teriyaki-braised Brussels sprouts; seafood chowder; and lobster claw wrapped in prosciutto on red cabbage

2)      Arugula salad with papaya and Manchego cheese; sweet potato perogy and sweet potato crisp with fig reduction; and braised pork belly on date and fig compote

Intermezzo of cucumber, mint, and melon sorbet.  (This was the one misstep; it tasted a bit like grass clippings)

3)      Beef tenderloin with mustard crust on parsnip purée; Brome Lake duck breast on cherry sauce, with vegetable terrine; and lamb shank with hazelnut and Dragon’s Breath cheese on rosemary potatoes

4)      Shortbread cookies (light as air); lavender crème brûlée; and blueberry panna cotta

For wine we had Mission Hill Five Vineyards Pinot Grigio 2007, which had notes of peach, baked apple, Bosc pear, and nutmeg.  It matched very well.  I opted for a glass (from the small list) of Errazuriz Cabernet with the meat course, and it did well enough.  This was a meal that I will remember for a long time.

In order to work off all the rich food the next day, Mum and I did a tour called Down By The Bay with Great E.A.R.T.H Expeditions (http://www.greatearthexpeditions.com).  Our fabulous guide Ryan picked us up at our hotel in the morning, and spent the rest of the day teaching us about his home, and entertaining us with stories about things like his yard sale addiction, and his granny (watch out for her right hook). 

At one point I remarked that everywhere I looked was a postcard.  No postcard could do some of the sites, and sights, justice; we needed to see them for ourselves, and Ryan was there to help us.  We visited Baxter’s Harbour, the Wolfville farmer’s market (great snacks), Hall’s Harbour for lunch on the beach (where Mum and I got the optional lobster package), the Valley Look-Off where you can see the South Mountain Range, Blomidon Provincial Park on the Bay of Fundy, and finally, Muir Murray winery.  The whole thing was a blast, and I would recommend this tour company to anyone looking to learn more about the region.

Another great dinner was had at Chives Canadian Bistro (www.chives.ca).  In what is apparently a local tradition, the evening at Chives started with buttermilk biscuits being brought to the table in a paper bag, along with butter and molasses.  I never did hear about the origins of this, but it was a tasty little starter. 

The wine we chose was really interesting.  It was Benjamin Bridge Nova 7, and it’s a pale pink colour, with a bit of spritz.  It was off-dry, and smelled and tasted like sweet pink grapefruit.  It was delicious.

After the biscuits we had organic spinach salad that featured pickled onions, goat cheese, candied pecans, and buttermilk dressing.  For a main I had Bourbon BBQ Pork Tenderloin, and Mum had Mediterranean Lamb Shank.  Even after all that, I couldn’t resist dessert, so I had the Warm Chocolate Peanut Buster, which is a flourless dark chocolate cake with peanut butter ice cream, toffee and ganache sauces, and candied Virginia peanuts.  If you like the taste of a DQ Peanut Buster Parfait, you would like this.

It must be pointed out that Halifax is hilly, so it can take some effort to get up and down, but it’s all worth it.  During my post-dinner stroll I hiked up one street, past the Citadel, and came across the Public Garden.  I regretted that it was about to be locked for the night.  It’s a beautiful spot just to walk around, or to sit and read a book.  Beyond the Public Garden is Dalhousie University.  There are lots of pretty little streets up here, and it was a great place for a ramble.  Given that it’s a university town, there are also lots of bookstores, which made me very happy, as I was able to find a book I had been chasing for some time.

Another thing that should be pointed out about Halifax is that they take the concept of Sunday as the day of rest fairly seriously.  For anyone used to finding weekend breakfast or brunch early, outside of a hotel, you can pretty much forget it.  We did find Cabin Coffee on Hollis St., though, and it was a good option.  It’s a Bell Aliant hot-spot, with lots of cushy chairs, and a reasonable range of food.

One of the main reasons we chose to visit Halifax on the weekend that we did was so that we could attend CATCH: The Nova Scotia Seafood Festival (http://www.novascotiaseafoodfestival.com/), held at the Cunard Centre.  $10 got us in, with 2 tasting tickets.  You could buy more tickets for a dollar apiece.  There was a chef competition, lots of yummy food, and a Nova Scotia Wine Garden. 

All the food I ate was really good, and it was fun to try a bit from every exhibitor.  If I had to pick some favourites, they would be the roasted garlic smoked salmon from Fisherman’s Market (www.fishermansmarket.com), and the crab cakes with lemon and coconut aioli offered by The Five Fishermen.  Among the wines we really enjoyed Annapolis Pinot Gris and Geisenheim Riesling, as well as the Jost Eagle Tree Muscat, and a sparkler called Crescendo from Gaspereau Vineyards (owned by Jost).

During the afternoon I visited the Halifax Citadel, a military fort strategically situated on the hill overlooking the harbour.  The tour I took explained some fascinating bits of Canadian history.  Halifax was never attacked, and I learned why.  The defences were very well planned, and the hilltop position is a difficult one to approach unseen.  Getting into the fort cost $11.70, but since I showed up just 2 hours before closing, the attendant signed my receipt, which would allow me to go back the following day.  I didn’t, but it’s a sensible, thoughtful gesture.

Inspired by the crab cakes, plus local reputation, we went to The Five Fishermen (www.fivefishermen.com) for dinner that night.  With every entree ordered, you get to visit the salad and mussel bar.  This reminded me of The Keg way back in the day, but that is not to say we didn’t enjoy it.   Everything was fresh and tasty.  We ordered the June prix fixe for $40, which was a really good price for all the food we got.  I had ginger-glazed local mahi-mahi on jasmine rice cake with preserved lemon and pineapple compote, while Mum opted for the Atlantic salmon with ratatouille and basil risotto.  We each had strawberry and lemon curd trifle for dessert.

There is a huge wine list at The Five Fishermen, with lots of Nova Scotia wines to choose from.  We drank Gaspereau Vineyards Riesling 2008, that was fresh, clean, and full of citrus notes.  We loved it.  Service here was spot on, just like everywhere we went.  People in Halifax in general were just, well, nice, and eager to help out in whatever way they could.

For our last half day in the city we went to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (www.artgalleryofnovascotia.ca), which cost $12 per person, and offered in-and-out privileges (again, sensible and thoughtful).  It was a great place to spend a couple of hours.  We had a last lunch at The Wooden Monkey (www.thewoodenmonkey.ca), and it was the perfect finale.  Who knew healthy food could taste so good?! J  I could have married the roasted chickpea salad that I had, along with the glass of Gaspereau Rosé I had with it.  I had some Tangy Fish Cakes after the salad, and they were quite tasty.  To finish up in style, I went for Chocolate Tofu Pie.  Gorgeous.

Once more onto The Airporter shuttle, and our first trip to Halifax was over.  It will not be the last.

You may have heard the word “Stelvin” used to describe a screw cap, however this is not a generic term, it is a registered trademark.  What has happened is that the trade name has been appropriated to cover the whole category, much like Kleenex® has come to refer to facial tissue.  Stelvin® closures, along with other brands of screw caps, have evolved to the point where they can look just as good, and sometimes better, than the traditional foil covering used to protect cork-sealed bottles.  Since no foil has to be removed, the branding message at the neck of the bottle remains intact, and the marketing of wine has become just as important as its production.

Aside from ease of access, one of the main benefits of screw caps is that a wine will not be spoiled by cork taint, which robs the wine of flavour, and makes it smell like wet cardboard.  Some estimates suggest cork taint affects 1 in 12 bottles.  Doing the math, that could mean thousands of bottles each vintage.  That is not just wasted liquid; that is lost profit.  In a challenging marketplace, each bottle of wine has real value to a producer, so anything that can keep more bottles available for sale is welcome.   

This is also where the simplicity of opening comes in.  With interest in wine showing no signs of slowing down, and with more novice wine drinkers looking to try a touch of fermented grape, allowing them to get into their chosen bottle without requiring a degree in mechanical engineering will encourage them to try more, and more often.  Even at the higher end of the market, producers are putting premium bottlings under screw caps.

With the increasing availability of wines with screw caps, there have been comparative tastings of identical wines, bottled under cork and screw cap, to determine if there is any difference in the taste of the wine, and for the most part, tasters have found that wines under screw cap taste fresher.  There is plenty to choose from, so if you have not yet tried this new “twist” on wine, you have only to look anywhere in your nearest wine retailer.