Oh So Social- Ravine Vineyard & Brock Alumni

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I am a Brock University Alumna, I LOVE Brock and over the past 5-ish months I've become active in Brock Alumni events.

At the end of February, Brock Alumni hosted an event at Ravine Vineyard. The plan was to go ice skating at Ravine followed by a wine tasting. A couple of people attempted to skate, but it wasn't cold enough- the ice was soft. 

Instead, we were treated to an amazing tour of the property by Gillian. She gathered us all and brought us inside to get some wine in our hands before we started the tour. 

There's Gillian!

This picture was taken right at the beginning of our tour, where Gillian gave us the history of the property.

This picture is from the front of the property. These are the grapes used to make the various types of red wine made by Ravine. At the back of the property, are the grapes for the white wine. I thought I had pictures of the back, but I don't. 

Something that I learned on the tour is that the grapes for specific wines are grown in specific areas. For example, I thought all the vines were the same, grapes were harvested and then different wines (ex merlot, riesling, etc) were made. But actually, all the grapes that will be used for merlot are grown in one section, grapes for the riesling are grown in another, etc. 

We were taken into the cellar where the wines are barreled. This was a new addition to the winery and it was cool to see the machines used as well as the barrels. 

More barrels! This was also in the cellar, but you can see the oak from the barrels changing colour from the grapes. 

This was the room where we had our wine tasting. I thought it was kind of spooky with the candles, low ceiling and the barrels. It made me think of a secret society initiation or something. Everyone else thought it was really pretty and cool- which it was once I got passed the 'spooky' part.

These were the wine and food pairings. Everything was so good! Gillian also taught us the correct way to do a wine/food tasting and she gave us background on the wines, as well as the food. She was so knowledgeable! 

After our tasting the event was 'over' but we all headed back upstairs to the store where we took a group picture, sat by the fire and chatted, tasted more wine and wondered around the property. 

This was such a fun event and I had the best time! 

Thanks to Brock Alumni for organizing and Ravine for hosting us!

P.S. Don't forget to enter this really great giveaway! Four gift cards (three for $100 and one for $30), four winners!

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