Niagara College is ready to shine a spotlight on the finest wines in the history of Canada’s first Teaching Winery with a unique dinner event this fall.
On Thursday, November 19, the College will host An Evening on the Dean’s List. The ticketed dinner event, to be held at Benchmark Restaurant, will shine a spotlight on a roster of select NC wines that were hand-picked as the “best of the best” premium vintages from the Teaching Winery since its inception more than 25 years ago.
Craig Youdale, Dean of Culinary, Tourism and Beverage Studies, gathered a team of College winemakers and expert faculty from the School of Wine, Beer and Spirits to sample the Teaching Winery’s collection of Dean’s List wines for a mass tasting before nine Dean’s List wines were ultimately selected: 2019 Blanc de Blancs, 2019 Blanc de Noirs, 2022 Viognier, 2019 Chardonnay, 2019 Pinot Noir, 2022 Riesling, 2022 Cabernet Franc, 2017 President’s Red and 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Fortified.
The final wine list inspired a custom menu, which was curated by the dean himself to ensure each chosen wine would be poured alongside a perfectly paired dish.
“Usually, we select wines to complement the menu for our dinner events, but on Nov.19, our wines will be the star of the show,” said Youdale. “My key role is to make sure that the food we produce allows the wines to shine and showcase their best qualities for our guests.”
The event will offer a highly educational comparative tasting of the Teaching Winery’s history. Guests will explore the 2019 vintage by tasting Chardonnay and a bronze-medal-winning (National Wine Awards) Pinot Noir as both sparkling and still wines – a rare, side-by-side comparison that highlights the versatility of Niagara wine and the impact of critical winemaking decisions.
“People are in for a sensorial treat as well as some surprises,” said Allison Findlay, Head Winemaker at the NC Teaching Winery, who graduated from the Winery and Viticulture Technician program in 2014. “We have been making exceptional wines since the day we launched the program and we are excited to tell the story of our 25 years through these bottles. They show growth, education, innovation, and quality.”
The event will feature the first ever crops from NC’s estate vineyard, along with a 2022 Viognier, a gold-medal winning (National Wine Awards) 2022 Riesling, and a 2022 Cabernet Franc, which recently earned a prestigious platinum medal (National Wine Awards).
The vintages hold a personal connection for Gavin Robertson, Professor and Coordinator of the Winery and Viticulture Technician program. Robertson began working at the Teaching Winery as a student in the program in 2010 and served as Head Winemaker from 2014-2021.
“We don’t often get an opportunity to put this many wines from the Teaching Winery’s history on the table at once and taste them comparatively,” said Robertson. “Wines such as the 2017 President’s Red, allow us to show what can happen when quality Niagara fruit, thoughtful winemaking and time come together. These wines provide a great snapshot of what our approach to wine education has produced over time.”
The selected 2019 sparkling wines have earned prestigious accolades, including two gold medals for the Blanc de Blancs (Decanter World Wine Awards and National Wine Awards), and a double gold (Ontario Wine Awards) for the Blanc de Noirs.
“Over the past 25 years, the Teaching Winery has been a place where students have learned by working with real equipment and real production decisions,” said Robertson. “The legacy we are celebrating isn’t only a collection of wines; it’s also the people who learned through making them and then carried that knowledge and experience into the evolving Canadian wine industry.”
The event will be held at NC’s Benchmark Restaurant – where the next generation of culinary and hospitality leaders gain real-world hands-on experience at the Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake – supported by the Benchmark team led by Victor Oliveira and Chef Justin Downes.
The signature dinner event will also put experiential learning into action for culinary and hospitality students, who gain the experience and expertise they need to succeed in the industry at a high-pressure, real-world dinner event.
Youdale noted that An Evening on the Dean’s List is a prime example of what makes NC’s Culinary, Tourism and Beverage Studies division so unique.
“Our students aren’t just learning in classrooms; they’re making world-class wines alongside our expert, award-winning winemakers, and delivering world-class culinary and hospitality excellence in real-world settings,” he said. “This event will be a true celebration of their work.”
A limited number of tickets are on sale for the Nov.19 event (reception at 6 p.m., dinner at 6:45 p.m.). For information and tickets visit www.eventbrite.ca/e/an-evening-on-the-deans-list-tickets-1995780204316?aff=oddtdtcreator
