by Margaret Swaine | Nov 1, 2006
I knew I was hooked when I found myself sitting in the brightly lit room of a private club glued to my chair. There wasn’t much to see. Just the back of heads, about 100 of them, one man on a podium and around the room’s periphery women on phones or in front of computers. I’d arrived early evening, it was nearly ten at night, my bladder was screaming but I couldn’t move. I’d caught wine auction fever.
My addiction began at a charity auction for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. However it could have started at any of a multitude of charity or commercial auctions that take place annually throughout North America and Europe. That particular night I’d already bagged lot #136 of eleven burgundies including 1995 Vougeot and two Gevry Chambertin from Jadot for $550, well below the appraisal price of $1,182. I’d also snapped up lot 142 of six Leflaive Chassagne Montrachet for half their value. Wines at auction are sold in numbered lots. Lots in an auction can move at the pace of 80 to 100 per hour. That’s why I couldn’t leave. My persistence paid off as the hammer came down in my favour a few more times that night. My original intension was to capture a magazine story. In the process I was lured into the hunt.
Charity auctions are an important and ready way to raise dough for the cash strapped arts and medical services. The most famous charity wine auction and likely the one that started it all, is that of the Hospices de Beaune in France. The Hospices charity was set up in the 15th century to assist the poor and sick of the area. Since 1859, every third Sunday in November they have auctioned off barrels of the latest vintage from dozens of hectares of Grands Crus and Premiers Cru Burgundy vineyards. Last year when Christie’s auction house took over the running of this celebrated auction, they modernized and now offer sales of bottles are well as barrels.
Wine auctions started historically as a way to sell young wine in barrel. In Ancient Rome and in the Middle Ages wine was shipped by barrel to a trading post where it would be auctioned off. Centuries later when bottled wine became the norm, wine gained status as a commodity that could be labeled, aged and collected. Hence a market for older wines grew based on vintage, producer and reputation. In this century wine collecting has become so popular that by the late 1960’s the world’s two leading auction houses established specialized wine departments. Christie’s and Sotheby’s, both headquartered in England have also now set up branches in North America.
Auctions are the best way to acquire rare wines and older vintages. They’re also a fine way to turn a wine stash into cash. As an observant new addict I’ve learned a few things I’ll pass on. But first the basics of wine auctions: An auction date is announced. Wines get donated or consigned. An appraiser gives them a value. An auctioneer sells them. Bidders buy. Now let’s get to the spicy details.
The Auctions
Heublein held the first commercial New World wine auction in the United States in 1969 in Chicago. The charity wine auction boom in American has been led by the now famous, Napa Valley Wine Auction which raises millions annually for local health care.
Today both charity auctions and commercial ones abound. The fall’s commercial auction scene begins in September with flurry of major wine auctions. Houses such as Acker Merrall & Condit, Morrell & Company, Zachys, Sotheby’s, Chicago’s Hart Davis Hart, Christie’s and Edward Roberts International all offer fine old reds and other gems under the hammer.
You can find out about commercial auctions by getting on the mailing list of the auction houses for their catalogues or by checking their websites. Charity auctions are trickier. At charity wine auctions the friends and acquaintances of the cause itself tend to make up the majority. These are the socialites, the elite of the city who are on the invite lists and have the wealth to bid generously. Who you know matters. If you want to be on these lists cultivate the right friends and be prepared to spend.
The Cellars and Sellers
In a charity auction people donate their wine. Many do it for the good deed alone. The less philanthropic do it for the tax receipt. The less scrupulous do it to “wine flip”. They buy wines at a low price and donate them to auction for a guaranteed high appraisal price. Sometimes the auction hammer price is so below the appraisal, they buy back their own donation. The deduction and the drink secured they’re on to the next charity. In some jurisdictions those schemers are now toast as laws are brought in, some even retroactive, to put severe restrictions on such charitable donation “tax shelter” arrangements.
Death, debt and divorce are feeding grounds for commercial auctions. People who consign their wine to be sold by an auction house include former spouses of the wealthy, restaurateurs in need of cash, widows who inherit cellars but have no taste for wine or even collectors who have lost interest in their hobby. Some sell just so they can buy other wines or because the value of the wine has increased beyond their desire to drink up the liquid asset. The unprincipled could sell off wines past their prime or suffering from faulty storage conditions (i.e. wines from a Caribbean-hot warehouse with no air conditioning, rescued from a fire destroyed restaurant or frozen on the waterfront awaiting transport).
Buyers beware for both types of auction. While auctioneers inspect the cellars of some sellers, they rarely take back the liquid assets after a sale is made. Buyers must do their research, watch bottle ullage levels and even try to learn about the cellar of the seller. Wine auction catalogues are the key source for ullage levels (usually specified with words like “bottom neck” along with illustrations). They’ll also give details like the condition of the label and whether the wine comes from a cellar of pedigree. However at one commercial auction, two bottles of 1820 port I bought had sketchy details in the catalogue. When I picked them up, I found they lacked labels and were in completely different styles of bottles. The only identification was the word Harvey and the date stamped in old wax covering their corks. Said a companion who agreed to split the purchase with me, “We overpaid.”
The Appraisers
Wine appraisals are about as scientific as the practice of medicine. That’s to say in principal the practitioners do the best they can based on current knowledge and research. The value of an item is no more certain than the exact course of a cancer. Pure charlatans aside, some quite frankly are better at their job than others. Wine agent and appraiser Rob Jull is considered to be among the best in Canada. Revenue Canada will crosscheck wine appraisals with him. His methodology is based on replacement cost determined by international price with tax and transport added on. His main source of data comes from auction houses in the US and the UK.
There is corruption in the appraisal business for charity wines according to Jull. “I’m looking at some appraisals that are absurd,” he said. “I saw one bottle appraised at $500 that I put at $165.” Even the honest appraisers can be coerced by donors into over generous assessments. Jull often fends off calls from people who try to pressure him into appraising their wine at higher than market. While he claims to never be intimidated into this, “They can be convincing. They are lawyers, doctors, powerful, brainy people. Some appraisers eventually fall under their spell.”
Commercial auction houses have their learned staff do the appraisals. There’s a lot less shenanigans in the business side but still I’ve found many appraisals to be, shall I say “optimistic”. After all the higher the hammer prices the more money the auction house makes from commissions. They charge the consigner of wine a fee that’s generally about ten to 20 per cent of the hammer price. They also collect a commission from the buyer of 15 to 20 per cent.
The Auctioneers
Auctioneers learn how to gently goad the impulse buyers. A good one can raise the price by 20 to 30 per cent….at least. It’s like they’ve taken a Dale Carnegie course in people psychology one auctioneer told me. “You’re out sir. He’s in. Now you’re back in.” “Are you going to let him get away with that?” The patter of skilled masters at their work.
Testosterone lead bidding can raise the price of lots well beyond their worth. At charity auctions, the bidders, most often well lubricated before hand with generously poured wine, tend to lose self control as the evening goes on. It’s part of the fun to watch two presumably intelligent bidders get caught in a classic ping pong of ever higher prices until the hammer comes down at a vastly inflated sum. The same wine in earlier or later lots may barely draw an interest. I’ve seen commercial auctions boast in press releases about their skills at extracting fortunes. One for example reported “eight bottles of Amarone sold for $2,600, three hundred per cent over their high estimate of $900”. I’ve got caught myself and I should be savvy by now. At one fund-raiser for a hospital I ended up paying double retail price for six bottles of port because the desire to win the bid overran my common sense. I barely managed to save my pride by picking up 12 bottle of the very same port in a subsequent lot for only fifty dollars more.
The Bidders
Bidders are the other essential element of an auction. Once they fill in the forms with credit card details or other guarantees that they will pay, they get a paddle with a number and they are in the game. When they want to bid they raise the paddle. At every auction there are dealers, professionals, hobbyists and the merely curious.
That said, auctions have been called a blood sport for the rich, and rightly so. A third generation auctioneer told me there were many wild stories in the auction world. “You wouldn’t believe the drama that goes on behind the scenes,” he said, pointing out several tell-all books in his office written by retired auctioneers. No active auctioneer would go on record about his wealthy clientele. One of the great appeals of auctions is traditionally they have been a cash business. The money can go in both directions either to pay the consigner or from the buyer to the auction house. There are people who need a way to turn cash into money. This same auctioneer told me “If you buy a Rolls for $200,000 cash it looks weird. But at an auction it’s legit. The old timers do this regularly.”
The first treasurer of a charity auction confided to me that she has never forgotten the man who handed her about $10,000 in cash for his purchases of the night. Totally unprepared for such an occurrence, she had to rent a safety deposit box in the hotel as the banks were closed. The official in charge of the first commercial wine auction in Ontario had a similar experience, “We had one guy who paid his $60,000 in cash at the auction at the table. It was pretty weird,” he told me. Of course many auction goers attend because they love the auction scene, the collecting and maybe even the drinking. Then there’s the reward of hearing, “Nice work. It’s a bargain,” said by an auctioneer. The buyer who got this praise had acquired a bottle of 1978 Romanée Conti that hammered down at $3,400. Its auction book appraised value was $13,728.
The Sale
There are reserve bids at commercial auctions. If the wine doesn’t make a certain price, then it’s not sold. The auction houses set the reserve with the seller, but basically there’s always an amount below which the hammer never bangs. In this case the seller loses on several fronts. A handling fee of about five per cent of the reserve price must be paid and the errant wine picked up. No small task if the seller lives in another country. A distant sale isn’t unusual. Those in it for the money go where they think they’ll get the best return. The biggest seller at the second commercial auction in Ontario was a New Yorker who tendered about $400,000 in wines. At this auction I overheard one ‘from away’ consignee lamenting about his vertical of Sassicia that didn’t meet reserve. He was pacing around muttering, “They’ve got to go for it.” He was clearly hoping it would sell later at the post auction. (Wines that don’t make reserve can be later offered after the event by phone or internet to perspective buyers.)
At charity auctions no commissions are charged and all wine must sell regardless of how low. The auctioneer may or may not be professional. For these reasons charity auctions offer more of a chance to find a deal. If no one seems interested the price drops until it’s so low that someone in the room can’t resist whether or not they need, want or can afford. “Oh I spent too much,” is often heard at charity auctions, said much like a person exiting a buffet holding their stomach and groaning.
On the other hand there are fancy American charity auctions where buyers happily bid way beyond estimates because they get a tax receipt for all amounts paid above 20 per cent over the appraisal price. The moneyed crowd that attends the Naples Winter Wine Festival in Florida does this with gusto. Recently for example a case of 1961 Latour sold for a stunning US$180,000 and that’s just one of 68 different lots, most which achieved sales in the five figures. This auction has become a way to donate big, have fun and still leave with wine.
The Pay-up
At commercial auctions taxes are collected. The sum of commissions and taxes can raise a price up 30 to 40 per cent above the hammer price. It can be a shock. Fellow wine writer Tony Aspler exclaimed to me, “I bought one lot at a commercial auction last year for $1,000 and it was $1,541 when I picked it up.” I had my own sticker shock when I bid on a case of Thirty Bench Pinot Noir. I thought I got a bargain at $250 but the final tally of $342.13 took away the boasting factor.
At charity auctions what you bid is what you pay. Charity auctions therefore can offer much better deals to the wine lover. However you must be invited to attend and most often pay money (sometimes lots) to the charity to do so. Commercial auctions are open to the public and are mainly free.
The Addiction
Regarding the behavior of those with auction fever? It’s primal. Logic plays no part in the pursuit. Ritchie’s auction house for example has people who paid for their wine yet neglected to pick up the goods for years. The hunt and capture is the game not the consumption I guess. I have no such problems. I’ve cracked open a good number of my purchases. Unlike art or antiques that take up space unless they’re resold, wine is a liquid asset in more ways than one. When my husband or I drink up the cellar I smile. Empty spaces mean more auctions for me. What a perfect addiction.
Margaret Swaine is a wine, food and travel writer happily addicted to her chosen craft.
Canadian Wine Auctions:
British Columbia
March 2007: The Bacchanalia Gala Dinner and Auction is the crown jewel of the Playhouse International Wine Festival. Featuring a delectable five course dinner paired with wines from around the world, the evening is highlighted by silent and live auctions of rare and valuable wines.
Ontario
October 2006: This year marks the 16th anniversary of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Fine Wine Auction. It’s one of the most successful fundraising events for the TSO, raising over $4 million in funding since its inception.
October 2006: Vintages Auction (2002 was the inaugural year) held in association with Ritchies Auctioneers features the largest and most extensive commercial auction of fine wines in Canada. http://www.vintages.com
Quebec
The Société des alcools (SAQ) in Quebec is involved in a multitude of wine auctions in the province including The Sports Celebrities Festival’s spring event. http://www.saq.com
Auction Houses
Christie’s: http://www.christies.com
Sotheby’s: www.sothebys.com/en
The Chicago Wine Company: http://www.tcwc.com
Winebid (internet based): http://www.winebid.com
Hart Davis Hart: http://www.hdhwine.com
Acker Merrall & Condit: http://www.ackerwines.com
Morrell & company: http://www.morrellwine.com
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by Margaret Swaine | Sep 23, 2006
The Charles Inn and Shaw Club Hotel – The Antique and The Modern
By Margaret Swaine
The opening of Shaw Club Hotel in picturesque Niagara-on-the-Lake is the yang to the yin of sister hotel The Charles Inn. Both are owned and operated by hotelier Sue Murray yet are as different as Judi Dench and Hilary Swank. The Charles, an antique filled renovated home built in 1832 appeals to history lovers with its old world charm. The Shaw Club is sleekly modern, nestled in a former motel whose dowdiness was totally gutted. The duo both have lovely dining rooms and central locations so where to bed is a matter of personal taste.
Niagara-on-the-Lake, the first capital of Upper Canada, is the quiet pretty cousin to garish bustling Niagara Falls. (It was settled in the late 1700’s by Loyalists coming to Upper Canada.) This bucolic small town is the perfect escape from city hustle. The sidewalks roll up by about nine at night. Those exiting from the theatres during Shaw Festival time create the only night time buzz apart from the bar at the Angel Inn. During the day however at this time of year in the fall, there are wine festivals and winery tours, golf, country walks, boating, cycling and until mid November, Shaw Theatre performances.
Shaw Club which opened in June of this year is the new kid on the block at the corner of Picton – Niagara’s main drag – and Wellington. Directly across from the Shaw Festival Theatre it’s at the heart of the town’s action. While Murray’s first hotel, The Harbour House built in 2003, is also modern this knocks contemporary up to a sophistication not offered before in NOTL. All the hallmarks of an upscale boutique hotel are standard features in the renovated rooms. This includes flat screen TV’s (with mini versions in the bathrooms), slate and marble tiles, hip décor, cool glass showers with oversized multi-headed faucets, complementary wireless internet and iPod stations. For comfort there are 300 count linens, down duvets, in-room coffee machine, fridge and even a pillow library for those who prefer other than the standard-issue five down-feather pillows.
The rooms’ colour scheme is urban chic. Muted off-white tones like sand or almond on the walls or light grey patterned carpets are accented with dark brown wood furniture and the occasional punch of orange, bronze or red in a cushion or table tray. The ‘classic king’ rooms are cozy compact. For those who need a tad more space there are deluxe and superior kings with balconies and one suite. Those on a tight budget can opt for the unrenovated rooms in a separate building but then will forgo the cool gizmos.
Most of the hotel’s exterior is stark to the point of drab. At the front however is the lively Zee’s Patio and Grill with a charming wrap around verandah that’s heated so people can and do sit outside up until December. Zee’s is laid back enough for guests to be comfortable in casual slacks yet with the pizzazz to draw honeymooners, babymooners and birthday celebrants. Chef Ross Midgley adds a little twist to every dish so what’s served is not quite as expected. Caesar salad comes deconstructed on a dish shaped like a painter’s palette. The croutons, parmesan, hard-boiled egg, dressing and bacon surround the romaine ready to add in according to taste. Pop tarts are tomato and raclette cheese with basil pesto and tapenade baked in a light crust. Peppercorn seared tuna is served on baco noir vinaigrette dressed Niagara greens with a side of melon gazpacho. Local produce is a feature as is Niagara wine with five local whites and five reds by the glass. The plates and serving props are so cool that people want to buy them and do. Two doors down is “Et Tu” store which sells the hotels most popular items.
Going further down the road Picton becomes Queen Street and there at the corner of Simcoe sits The Charles Inn. Permeated with history, this was the home of settler Charles Richardson, a member of parliament for English Upper Canada. Its Georgian architecture remains easily recognizable, while the sweeping verandahs and servants’ wing on the east were added at the turn of the century. Totally refurbished in 2004 with many bathrooms redone again last winter (rain showers, heated floors and other perks added), it’s intimate and charming with plenty of quirks.
Each of its 12 rooms is different in décor, size and atmosphere. There’s no elevator and the climb to the third floor Safari Loft is steep. However this attic hideaway is a guest favourite and I personally loved its pitched ceilings and cozy seclusion. The Apple room (#11) and Sunflower room (#12) are tiny. Their lovely bathrooms are their best feature. The Verandah room (#1) a preferred choice, has parts of the old kitchen including the original cook’s fireplace, a private verandah and a Jacuzzi tub. The Daisy Room (#8) is bright and cozy with three large windows peering onto the gardens. The choice of room does make a difference so check the details on the website or over the phone carefully. I saw one American couple whose room wasn’t to their taste check out early while I was at the hotel.
The dining under Chef William Brunyansky is French contemporary with regional influences. Fish in a wine sauce reduction might have a ragout of fresh local vegetables for example. The wine list offers a well-chosen array of Niagara wines. The elegant dining room, painted in a warm persimmon colour is located in the old parlour and still features its original crystal chandeliers. It’s more formal and quieter than Zee’s and guests tend to dress up. Guests of all of Sue Murray’s hotels can eat at any of the restaurants and charge the meal to their room. (Dine around packages are an option.) Breakfast at the Charles on the verandah overlooking the old nine hole Niagara golf course (established in 1875, the oldest in North America) is old world charming and new world filling – especially if you go for one of the three egg omelettes. Whether you stay at the Charles or the Shaw, have a bite or a drink at the other. These opposite poles have their singular attractions.
If You Go (Niagara is a seven hour drive from Ottawa)
Where: Shaw Club, 92 Picton Street, Niagara-on-the-Lake ON L0S 1J0 1-800-511-7070
Charles Inn, 209 Queen Street, Niagara-on-the-Lake ON L0S 1J0 1-800-556-8883
Cost: Shaw Club – Zee’s dinner package (overnight, dinner & breakfast) from $176 per day based on two days. Shaw Theatre package (dinner at Zee’s, theatre, overnight & breakfast) from $335. Unrenovated rooms from $150, classic kings from $185 up to $450 for suites with balcony. Charles Inn – starts at $195 for the Apple and Sunflower rooms up to $310 for the Verandah room (overnight and breakfast). Dinner and theatre packages are available.
Website: www.shawclub.com and www.charlesinn.ca
Activities: Shaw Festival www.shawfest.com Golf www.niagaraparksgolf.com, www.notlgolf.com and https://www.grandniagaragolf.com/ Shopping www.niagaraonthelake.com Wineries www.winecountryontario.ca Winery Tours www.niagaraworldwinetours.com Cycling www.zoomleisure.com
by Margaret Swaine | Sep 1, 2006
Best Wine Bar
Crush
455 King St. W, Toronto ON
416-977-1234
www.crushwinebar.com (Closed)
Every month a different wine region is featured at this hip open-kitchen French style bistro located in the strip of trendy renovated warehouses that now grace King West. Over 20 still wines, ten dessert and seven sparklers by 3 or 5 ounce flights or a bottle can be chosen from among the always interesting, ever-changing, wide-ranging wine list. Expect the likes of tuna tartar in the summer and braised dishes in winter.
Recommended Dish: Caribou with four kinds of Cookstown carrots $36
Best Cocktail Bar
Bymark
66 Wellington St. W. (at Bay), Toronto ON
Tel: 416-777-1144
www.bymark.ca
This courtyard level Yabu Pushelberg designed bar rocks especially after-work when the suits descend from the surrounding bank towers. Porn Star, Bar Fly, Lipstick Martini and 18 or so other three-ounce cocktails add sass to the list of over two dozen wines by the glass. Lobster on frites with béarnaise “poutine style” is one of many playful twists on classics.
Recommended Dish: lettuce wrapped miso glazed black cod $18.95 (appetizer)
Best Local Wine List
Epic at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel
100 Front St. W, Toronto ON
Tel: 416-368-2511
www.fairmont.com
The hotel claims honours as the largest purchaser of VQA wines in North America. The approximately 40 reds and 27 icewines on their “Great Canadian Wine List” were selected after sampling over 600 Canadian wines. Whites, mainly from Niagara number another 40. Décor is contemporary, bright and open despite its lower level locale. Quebec foie gras, Alberta beef and Atlantic salmon are cooked with continental flare.
Recommended Dish: Pacific Halibut “En Papillote” $33
Best International Wine List
Opus
37 Prince Arthur Ave., Toronto ON
Tel: 416-921-3105
www.opusrestaurant.com
Chef Jason Cox serves up French classical based on regional ingredients in this elegantly comfortable star-studded hideaway. The intimate bar and interior courtyard patio add to its allure but most beckoning is the stunning wine list of over 2,500 labels. Brothers Tony and Mario Amaro have amassed a 40,000 bottle cellar of greats such as verticals of Méo-Camuzet, Harlan and Mouton as well as deliciously inexpensive J.P. Ramos Santa 2003.
Recommended Dish: Roast Isle Verte lamb rack $43
Best Vintage Dining
Barberian’s Steak House
7 Elm St., Toronto ON
Tel: 416-597-0335
www.barberians.com
A haven for carnivores, this steak house is defiantly old-fashioned traditional in look. Authentic Group of Seven paintings adorn the walls and glasses are strictly Riedel. Aaron Barberian’s 20,000 bottle, 2,000-label cellar is dominated by French and Californian with a special focus on Rhone reds, including over 60 different Châteauneuf du Pape. Some fine first growth Bordeaux date back to the fifties and vintages like ’82 are in full force.
Recommended Dish: 16 ounce rib steak $38
Best Small Meals with matching wines
Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar
9 Church St, Toronto ON
Tel: 416-362-1957
www.jkkitchens.com (Closed)
Chef-patron Jamie Kennedy’s scrumptious 18 appetizer size dishes change daily but remain constant to seasonal slow food as locally sourced as possible. Sommelier Jamie Drummond suggests a pairing for each, as well as for the five dessert dishes. All 23 wines by the glass change daily and are mostly sourced from private import with an emphasis on hidden gems. Heinrich Zweigelt/Blaufränkisch for the roast duck breast with sausage salad for example.
Recommended Dish: pulled pork $10
Best Oyster Bar
Starfish
100 Adelaide St. E, Toronto ON
Tel: 416-366-7827
www.starfishoysterbed.com (CLOSED)
Owner and world champion shucker Patrick McMurray can most often be found behind his long bar prying open only the best, fresh from the ocean beds in this maritime themed cozy seafood diner. In the kitchen chef Martha Wright skillfully cooks sea bream, sardines, sea scallops, lobster and even steak frites for those who prefer meat. The wine list features seafood friendly French and Californian sauvignon blancs, chardonnays and pinot noirs.
Recommended Dish: Tasmanian ocean trout $28
Best Place to Splurge
Splendido
88 Harbord St, Toronto ON
Tel: 416-929-7788
www.splendido.ca CLOSED
Chef David Lee’s refined eight course tasting menus matched with wines by sommelier Carlo Catallo rightfully draw raves. While there’s no à la carte menu, the simpler three course table d’hôte may include Brier Island sea scallop, sweet English pea soup and Cumbrae Farms ribeye. Over 850 different old and new world wines rest in the underground cellar room.
Recommended Dish: Tasting Menu with pairing Champagne Flight $195.
Best Tapas
Cava
1560 Yonge St, Toronto ON
Tel: 416-979-9918
www.cavarestaurant.ca (Closed)
Owner/Chef Chris McDonald closed Avalon, a gourmets’ wet dream, after 11 years and barely took a breath before he opened Cava, a homage to tapas. First blush décor is minimalist with plans to add screens and sculptural pictures. The Avalon wine list came with, so selection is good. Thirty five Spanish/Mexican influenced dishes from black bean oxtail soup to beef tripe basquaise show McDonald has not lost his deft, unique touch.
Recommended Dish: wild mushroom socca $15.
Best Tasting Menu
Senses
Soho Met Hotel, 238 Wellington St. W, Toronto ON
Tel: 416-599-8801
www.senses.ca (Closed)
Creator of innovative, provocative, astonishingly tasty dishes, Claudio Aprile is a chef at his perfectionist peak. The intimate, stylishly upscale hotel restaurant is subdued and neutral compared to what’s on the plate. A 14 course experience may bring forth wokked calamari, tea smoke squab, 36 hour fresh bacon, spiced h2o, bee pollen panna cotta and tempranillo poached cherries. Wine pairing is part of the game.
Recommended dish: triple seared beef tenderloin $55
Best mystery & imagination
Rain
19 Mercer St. (at John St.), Toronto ON
Tel: 416-599-7246
www.rainlounge.ca (Closed)
Bamboo dividers, a rain fall wall, flickering low lights all speak to chef Guy Rubino’s theme of pan Asia. Hot pot, bison Singapore, Korean Chap Chae noodles and pairing of Abalone and Wagyu beef are served family style at either a communal table or in the private dining area. Sake along with fruit forward Alsacien, Kiwi and Oz wines dominate the list devised by sommelier Dan Volway.
Recommended Dish: peanut and tamarind black cod $31
Best Organic Menu
Treadwell, Port Dalhousie, Ontario
61 Lakeport Road, Port Dalhousie, ON
Tel: 905-934-9797
www.treadwellcuisine.com
Buying from small, local farmers who sell direct to the restaurant, chef/owner Stephen Treadwell epitomizes farm to table cuisine. White fish is bought fresh from Port Dover day boats, artisan greens from Wyndym Farm. Water vistas of the old Welland Canal provide a soothing dining experience. Sommelier and son James Treadwell sources VQA Canadian and European wines.
Recommended Dish: Huron Lake white fish with lobster knuckles $30/or $48 for three course prix fix
Best Bistro (wine)
Le Select Bistro
432 Wellington St. W, Toronto ON
Tel: 416-596-6405
www.leselect.com (CLOSED)
When Le Select moved this year to new their abode, 12,000 bottles representing 1,000 labels had to be transported too, causing much liquor board grief to owners Jean-Jacques Quinsac and Frédéric Geisweiller. The mainly French list is strong in Bordeaux, Languedoc, Rhone and Loire with vintages spanning from the late forties up. JP Chalet supervises the bistro kitchen.
Recommended Dish: cassoulet $24.95
Best Hotel Dining
Truffles at the Four Seasons
21 Avenue Road, Toronto ON
Tel: 416-928-7331
www.fourseasons.com
The room on the second floor of a gracious hotel is fittingly elegant. Toronto’s only AAA
Five Diamond restaurant, the contemporary French cuisine is consistently top notch under the skillful hands of Chef Lynn Crawford. Sommelier Sara d’Amato finds matches from a list strong on French and American, including Canada. Tasting menus with wine pairings are a regular feature.
Recommended Dish: spaghettini with truffle foam $20
Best Small Cellar
Amuse Bouche
96 Tecumseth St, Toronto ON
Tel: 416-913-5830
www.amuseboucherestaurant.com
Casual, cozy and tiny this 12 table bistro’s menu has Island and French twists from its chefs/co-owners. Coconut and cashew crusted tuna, venison tartar and butter poached lobster are some of the creations of Barbados born Jason Inniss and ex-Parisian Bertrand Alépée. Sommelier Sarah Lyons looks for outstanding small producers for her always changing eclectic wine list.
Recommended Dish: Lamb three ways – loin, shank, merguez $27.
Best Ambiance
The Fifth
225 Richmond St. W. (at Duncan)
Tel: 416-979-3005
www.thefifthgrill.com
The entrance is still through a night club and up a freight elevator, but the cuisine has changed to upscale steak house. Expect Kobe beef carpaccio, lobster and asparagus salad, sides of wasabi potato mash and heirloom tomatoes along with the striploins and porterhouses. The room remains charming, candle lit and romantic. Chef de service, Kimberly Humby offers a solid French and American wine list jazzed up with other countries.
Recommended Dish: 10 oz bison ribeye $42
Top Five Ontario – Green and white asparagus and sauvignon blanc
Green asparagus has always been a favoured harbinger of spring in Ontario but now specialty farmers are growing succulent, nutty white asparagus that outclasses imports from Europe. The Fifth, Bymark, Cava, Splendido all in Toronto and Treadwell, Port Dalhousie feature dishes when it’s the season.
by Margaret Swaine | Jun 1, 2006
Vienna a Grand Love (Urbane Magazine June 2006)
By Margaret Swaine
Vienna’s a sophisticated seductress. It has the architectural beauty of Paris without the attitude, the arts culture of London without the traffic jams, the dining scene of New York without the noise and everywhere the sound of music. I’m a seasoned, somewhat spoiled traveler yet it lures me back year after year.
The first night of my first time in Vienna I admit was ignoble. I went to see Beethoven’s opera Fidelio at the beautiful Vienna State Opera House. Productions almost always sell out far in advance and I hadn’t planned well. The best I could do was the last row. At this hot and dizzy height, I gave into jet lag and slept. Even if the opera was a blur, the Renaissance 1869 building, the elegant Viennese society and the champagne pick-me-up salvaged the evening for me. My first night, the city left a distinctly better impression than I did.
I have learned of course that unless you have a very long stay, it’s best to plan for Vienna. There’s always more to do than time allows. My Torontonian friend Alf who keeps an apartment in Vienna says, “It has more museums on any given topic than you can think of.” Every moment becomes precious in this imperial, bustling yet very walkable, capital of Austria. The city bursts with song, dance, arts, wine and food, integral to the Viennese soul.
Mozart lovers in town for the 250th birthday celebrations of the composer have almost too much choice. They can get their fix at the Mozarthaus, where the composer lived from 1784 till 1787, at the free admission outdoor Music Film Festival on Rathausplatz square, at the Theater an der Wien (the perfect Mozart opera house), at Peter Sellar’s “New Crowned Hope” festival and list goes on. Naturally the Vienna State Opera is also staging some Mozart classics.
For dancers, the call to “Alles Walzer” is mostly heard between New Year’s Eve and mid-March every year when some 270 balls take place. Viennese love celebrating Carnival, the days preceding Lent season, called Fasching in Vienna. The balls take place in generally grand surroundings such as a former town palace of a prince or in the coveted grand halls of the Hofburg Imperial Palace. Champagne is the drink of the night and people are dressed to the hilt. Dance schools such as Elmayer’s or Fränzl’s offer ‘crash courses’ in the waltz for left-footed foreigners and others in need. When I attended the Journalists’ Summer Ball I saw enough foot-shuffling dance school dropouts among the whirl of the fancy footed not to feel too embarrassed about my own rusty dance steps. There’s hardly a professional group in Vienna without its own ball. Technologists created the Techniker Cercle, physicians have the Ätzteball and lawyers the Juristenball. Even the chimney sweeps have their night of dance. (Alf tells me those sweeps show up for work in all black with white top hats.) The crowning glory however of the ball season is the Vienna Opera Ball held in the State Opera which is transformed for the night into a giant dance arena.
One of my favourite art haunts in the city is the KunstHausWien. This former 1892 furniture factory features the works of famous Viennese painter and architect Hundertwasser. God broke the mould after Hundertwasser. His KunstHausWien is a self-proclaimed “bastion against the dictatorship of the straight line, the ruler and the T-square”. Above a museum and café are two floors that hold a cross section of Hundertwasser’s imaginative, funky, crazy-shaped, colourful paintings, tapestries and architectural models. The third and fourth floors hold international exhibits – a solo show of over 100 works of Swiss surrealist HR Giger, recognized as one of the world’s foremost artists of Fantastic Realism is being held from now until October. Fans of the Alien films will recognize his oeuvres.
The spectacular MuseumsQuartier, one of the ten largest cultural complexes in the world, unites baroque buildings with new architecture and various disciplines of art in a single location. In the heart of the city, it also has terrace cafés, bars and shops. I always try to spend a good part of a day here. One of the current exhibitions within the complex is “Summer of Love” at the Kunsthalle (to September 3) which relives the sixties and seventies in the works of artists including Verner Panton, Andy Warhol and Richard Hamilton.
Expressionism enthusiasts should not miss the “Round Table: Egon Schiele and his Circle” showing at the Austrian Gallery Belvedere until September 24th. On display are 120 works by Schiele, Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka and other pioneers of modernism. Masterworks of Venetian painting by great Renaissance artists are on show at the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts). It’s a hoot to have Sunday brunch within the beautiful walls or the unique Thursday buffet where one can munch, view paintings in the museum and return to a reserved table as often as desired.
That brings me to the Austrian’s enthusiasm for good food. Austrians love to eat. Breakfast may be simple enough, often cold cuts, cheese, bread and fruit. But before lunch many fit in either a visit a Konditorei (pastry shop) or a Kaffeehaus (café) for pastry and coffee. There must be at least one of these on every street, often several in a row – likely over 300 in the city. When hunger hits again, before dinner, they fill up once more. Viennese cafés prepare coffee as much as 41 different ways and along with sweets have international newspapers and sometimes even full course meals of traditional food. Lingering over political discussions may be a dying art but hanging out is just fine. A friend apologised once in a Viennese café for only having two coffees in the several hours she reposed there. The waiter said, “But you only had to drink one.” Among the more famous ones, Café Mozart appears in the Orson Welles movie “The Third Man”. The same owners have Café Landtmann, the elegant Viennese institution opened in 1873. Sigmund Freud was a regular and today it still draws famous visitors.
When it comes to dining, Austrian cuisine is speckled with influences from its former imperial possessions. The stuffed pancakes and goulash smack of Hungary, the risotto of northern Italy and even the schnitzel is an import from Italy. The Plachutta restaurants which serve the Viennese classic “tafelspitz”, boiled meats served in a broth with a range of vegetables and garnishes, pack people in. Some of the best meals I had recently were at the airy Restaurant Coburg in the neo-classical Palais Coburg, the Rote Bar at the Sacher Hotel, the “four toque awarded” Steirereck and the Mörwald in the Ambassador Hotel. Top city chefs of those places are magicians at turning traditional ingredients such as beef cheeks, veal lung, calf’s head and the Austrian fish zander, into sophisticated delicacies. A trendy contemporary spot is Wein & Co. I love that I can buy a wine in the adjacent store and bring it into the bar’s dining area to be popped open for a small charge. Alf has it right when he says, “Any street you walk through that you don’t have to, you can get outstanding food at a reasonable price.”
Ah wine. Vienna is the only capital in the world that can boast vineyards within the city limits. It has four wine districts clustered around its jagged border. Inns called heurige are based in any of the dozen or so wine-producing villages within the city limits and are expected to provide wine and food solely of their own production. A Viennese friend told me that there are only 150 to 160 good ones down from 200 a few years ago. The wine is generally an early drinking style of grüner veltliner served in a viertel, a quarter-litre mug. The original idea was institutionalized in 1784 by Emperor Joseph II, whose bones must be smiling at the on-going popularity of these inns.
The best heurige to visit are run by Viennese wine producers. Mayer am Pfarrplatz in Helligenstadt is a perennial favourite which produces a wide range of its own wines. Sitting in the shady garden of a heurige in the summer can be delightful. Austrian wine itself is top notch. My favourite whites in the world are from Austria’s unique grüner veltliner grape which can be made in a variety of styles from light and fruity to serious and complex. Find the higher quality styles at top restaurants.
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Walking is a good idea after most indulgence. Walkable Vienna offers more than pretty streets with stunning classical architecture and grassy parks. It has unique tours. On a previous visit I did the sewer walk, tracing the steps that Harry Lime took when he tried to escape capture in The Third Man. The sewers are enormous and not smelly…really. The walk of this year is “Sigmund Freud in Vienna. A City Walk” which takes in eight sites significant to Freud’s life in the city. This includes the aforementioned Café Landtmann. It’s the 150th anniversary of the birth of the founder of psychoanalysis and the Freud Museum has mounted an exhibition called “The Couch: Thinking in Repose”.
I plan to end my busy days in Vienna this year with a hot chocolate treatment at the new Sacher Spa. The Sacher Hotel which opened in 1876 has become a Viennese institution, renowned as a meeting place for nobility, politicians and artists through the years. Graham Greene wrote parts of The Third Man here. Historic hotels can get long in the tooth, but the Sacher is newly resplendent after comprehensive renovation, two new loft floors and the 300 square metre spa. For over a decade Viennese friends have sent me a delicious chocolate Sacher-Torte every Christmas. (The hotel’s 1832 recipe is a closely guarded secret but they ship the decadent cake worldwide.) Opening the etched wooden box brings back beautiful memories. This time I’ll enjoy the chocolate at the spa as my body is slathered with nourishing cocoa butter. From my room I’ll be able to gaze upon the Opera House across the street and think about how my love affair began. The lure continues. What a siren, what a city.
Vienna If You Go
For general tourist information: Austrian National Tourist Office, 2 Bloor Street West, Suite 400 Toronto, ON M4W 3E2 416-967-4867 www.austria.info and www.vienna.info
Austrian Airlines offers daily direct flights to Vienna from Toronto in the summer (Air Canada co-share) for Austrian call 1-800-843-0002 or call Air Canada
The Sacher Hotel internet and shop: www.sacher.com (Tel.: +43 (0)1 – 51 456 0)
KunstHausWien: www.kunsthauswien.com
Vienna State Opera House: www.wiener-staatsoper.at
Theater an der Wien: www.theater-wien.at
Vienna Mozart Year events: www.wienmozart2006.at
MuseumsQuartier info and tickets: mqpoint@mqw.at
Kunsthistorisches Museum: www.khm.at
by Margaret Swaine | Jun 1, 2006
By Margaret Swaine
It’s not just Tiger Woods hitting golf balls off the heli-pad at the self proclaimed “seven star” Burj Al Arab hotel that’s drawn attention to Gulf in the Emirates. Nor long hitters Ian Poulter and Paul Casey’s attempt to break the world’s longest drive record by smacking balls from the wing of an Etihad Boeing 767 at the Abu Dhabi airport. Or even Woods’ win at the Dubai Desert Classic this year, broadcast to 500 million homes by 40 television channels. It’s that the golf experience itself is both excellent and exotic.
The excellence can be attested by the now trio of European Tour events in the Gulf States. The Dubai Desert Classic founded in 1989 and the Qatar Masters launched in 1998 have been joined by the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship staged for the first time in January 2006. The latter event, won by American Chris DiMarco had a prize fund of US$2 million. The exotic? As a start I’ll name clubhouses shaped like Arabian dhows and Bedouin tents, sand courses with browns in lieu of greens, midnight play under floodlights and the sushi bars or French classical for clubhouse dining.
Once an obscure corner of Arabia, The United Arab Emirates was formed in 1971 when seven emirates on the southern shores of The Gulf joined together. The majority of the 4 million inhabitants live in the oil-rich capital Abu Dhabi (also the largest emirate) or bustling glitzy Dubai. Once largely desert dotted with struggling fishing and pearling towns, the area has gone from rags to riches in under half a century. Oil profits, political stability and a zeal for business have led to a non-stop boom in the building of “the biggest and the best”. Golf courses included.
The Emirates Golf Club, home to the Desert Classic for all but two of its 18 years, was the first grass course in the Middle East. When it opened in 1988 it was on the edge of the desert and the flagship par 72, 7211 yard Majlis course which was sculpted around tall desert dunes still retains lots of desert shrub and waste ready to swallow up wayward drives. Dubai city however has swarmed its perimeters surrounding the meandering fairways and six lakes with skyscrapers, roads and countless construction cranes.
When I signed in at the pro shop early May, the player information card told me to expect a temperature of 35ºC. This was the easy day, by the end of my week I was playing in 40ºC and sweating it. Locals consider May quite balmy. It’s the last month of ‘winter’ rates. In summer, namely June 1st to September 30th, rates drop in half for good reason as temperatures top 50ºC and humidity climbs to over 90 per cent. Tourists are discouraged from playing in this heat though there are always some foolhardy souls who insist. And a number every year who collapse part way through their game.
The motivation for building the Emirates club was to provide a carrot to the skilled corporate foreign executives in the country to get them to stay. When it first opened it had but one Arab member. To allow enough tee time for tourists, membership is now capped at 1,500 (with a waiting list), about 100 of them Arabs. Needless to say, golf is quite new to the country’s nationals but enthusiastic ex-pats and visitors flood the courses. My playing partners throughout the week were business travellers, local members largely from India and tourists from Britain.
The Emirates course had fairly narrow fairways often flanked by desert scrub and trees. Long hitters would find plenty of hazards while others could find the slick, fast TifEagle grass greens a challenge. Hole 9 with a green skirted by water, had one of the most testing approach shots. The clubhouse designed to reflect a Bedouin village with seven white concrete and glass structures provided a magnificent backdrop for this hole and the finishing hole which shared the huge double green. The clubhouse had every amenity – showers, fancy lockers, a sports bar, terrace and several dining options including Le Classique with its French chef Francois who’s been voted the best in Dubai twice by his colleagues.
I grabbed a taxi to the Nad Al Sheba Club, my next course. Infrastructure plays a poor second fiddle to fancy buildings in Dubai. Driving is a nightmare of unskilled wanna-be Andretti’s pitted against the snarls of frequent gridlocks. Taxis on the other hand were copious and cheap. Just past the camel-racing track, we stopped near the Millennium Grandstand, home to the richest horse race in the world.
The golf course was built to beautify the race track. The first nine are played on the perimeter of the track and the back nine within the racecourse itself. The entire course is flood lit until midnight with last tee-offs for nine holes starting at ten. There’s a reason beyond escape from the sun for the lighting. During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims must fast from dawn to dusk, abstaining from food, drink and entertainment of all sorts. Ramadan occurs on the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, generally around October/November, prime horse racing times. Floodlights make religion and racing compatible.
Nad Al Sheba’s a 6,630 yard, par 71 that offers immaculate greens, lots of water, some monstrous par 5s and tricky back to back par 3s on the back nine. My partners for the five pm tee-off were a university executive named Raj and Sam an architect with a firm of 45. Both were India born as is about 35 per cent of the population in the Emirates (UE nationals make up only about 20 per cent of the total). The gentlemen were walking – something they continue to do even in July. I was impressed.
My game at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club was on Friday, the busiest day of the week, a holy day equivalent to our Sunday when most businesses are closed. Tee off was a shot gun at 8am to allow as much play before the heat of the day reached its predicted 40C. Playing time was set at just over four hours as it was at the other courses. Hot or not, the rangers made us keep up the pace.
This immaculately groomed par 71 course rolled 6,857 undulating yards in the heart of the city next to a central waterway. Opened in 1993, it boasted a new front nine re-designed by Thomas Björn. Fairways were lined with date palms and tropical shrubbery. Water played an integral role in the layout, including a tee that jutted over it on the 6th. The blockbuster finish of 17 and 18 played back towards the clubhouse which was designed in the shape of the sails of an Arabian Dhow. The salty Creek lapped just a few feet off the fairway of both.
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Abu Dhabi Golf Club had several years to mature its immaculate fairways and greens before it was opened to play. Some told me it was because the falcon shaped clubhouse had to be torn down and rebuilt so players on 9 and 18 would finish towards the face of the bird and not its backside. Others suggested it was a dispute among the sheiks as to who would run it. Meanwhile the Bermuda 419 grass course soaked up over two million gallons of water a day as it grew thick.
Designed by Peter Harradine with a make over in the run-up to the inaugural Abu Dhabi Golf Championship to toughen it up (33 new bunkers and six new tees), it was a beauty. Pacey greens, carpet smooth fairways with great definition at the first cut of rough, gorgeous tropical flowers, mature trees and shrubs and nary a divot in site. The 7,334 yard, par 72 National Course also had two daily winds – a challenge to any golfer.
There are four sand courses in the Emirates and the Al Ghazal is considered the best. Owned and managed by the Abu Dhabi Airport Duty Free, it’s about 400 metres from the runways. Naturally I had to play on the morning before my Etihad flight took off back to Toronto. It was a 6,487 yard par 71 with plenty of natural water and 5,000 trees to add to the challenge. The front nine were based around an ancient archaeological site, while the back nine had been constructed on flatter reclaimed land.
It was a solid test of golf but it was weird. There were no spikes allowed. They’d mess up the ‘browns’, the compacted oil treated sand that creates an extremely true putting surface. The path of the ball left a line on the browns and apparently pros in need of a tune up will come here to putt. (You broom the surface when you finish putting.) Stability was a problem on the sand fairways and the punishment severe for any hit not within the fairway stakes. On the fairway the reward was the use of a plastic grass hitting mat (carried along in the golf cart) but in the waste there was no option but to whack into the crusty sand. It seemed a touch of irony but there were bunkers guarding the ‘browns’.
Al Ghazal also featured an Academy with highly advanced teaching technology including Durnian frames to guide a golfer’s clubs and a video system which captured the players swing from three different angles. Golf Club Manager and head pro Dayle Kelly seemed determined that people will leave with an improved game after his Academy lessons. As for me, I was just glad there were top-notch shower facilities in the club. Hot and dusty with sand, I had a plane to catch.
I knew there was so much I’d not yet experienced. The Ian Baker-Finch and Nicklaus Design Desert Course at Arabian Ranches, the Dubai Festival City Al Badia Golf Resort by Robert Trent Jones II and the Tower Links at Ras Al Khaimah with its location around a mangrove reserve were some. In the near future an Ernie Els and several Greg Norman courses are set to be built along with Dubai Golf City, on of the largest golf course developments in the world with five golf courses, a ‘six star’ hotel and thousands of golf chalets. And Tiger Woods has signed up for the 2007 Dubai Desert Classic. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before there’s an air conditioned 18 hole indoor golf course. After all an indoor snow-skiing hill was built last year at the Mall of the Emirates. Maybe it’s surreal but golf in the Gulf is here to stay and play.
Travel Details
No fear of being rained out ever, but you should avoid July and August when temperatures can top 50 Celsius. The best time for golfers to visit is between October and April when the temperatures are in the more moderate 20’s.
Etihad Airways flies three times a week direct from Toronto to Abu Dhabi via Brussels. www.etihadairways.com 1-416-221-4744 or 1-866-9-etihad (toll free)
Etihad Holidays packages golf, hotels and transport in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. www.etihadairways.com
The Burj Al Arab hotel is Dubai’s over-the-top statement of splashy opulence and a lunch at the Al Muntaha poised 200 meters above sea level is worth the cost to see dramatic views of manmade islands; one shaped like a palm tree and the other “The World”. It’s also an entrance to the peacock hued awe-inspiring interior of the hotel, strictly restricted to guests and visitors with advance dining reservations. The rival to the Burj is The Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. Originally built as a palace and conference center for the annual gathering of the Gulf state sheiks it’s a vast expanse of Arabic architecture in glittering gold and marble located on a 1.3 kilometre stretch of sandy beach.
The nearest hotel to the Abu Dhabi Club is the Al Raha Beach Hotel, a lovely spot on the water less than ten minutes away.
The most golf friendly hotel in Dubai is the Park Hyatt, the centrepiece of the Dubai Golf and Yacht Club resort.
