Andrews fruit wines bring home Gold and Silver

by Donna Dantell of the Compass

The Scotch Block Country Winery isn't even two years old yet and already it's bringing home gold and silver medals. When Bert Andrews entered his wine for the first time in last year's Fruit Wines of Canada National Competition, he brought home two bronze medals for Scotch Block's Regal Black Currant table wine and their Cassis Dessert wine. At this year's Annual competition, Scotch Block Country Winery brought home a gold medal, three silver medals and three bronze medals. The Cassis dessert wine, make from blackcurrants, went from last year's bronze to this year's gold. "We're very pleased with the progress we're making," says owner Bert Andrews. "I think there is a great potential for the elderberry, blackcurrant, gooseberry and redcurrant wines. Those particular berries are used extensively in Europe for wines as well."

Silver medals were awarded to three of the winery's dinner wines. Regal Blackcurrant,Gooseberry and Elderberry wines are all a little drier, scoring a one on the sweetness scale. True Blue, which is also one of the winery's dinner wines, rating a two on the sweetness scale, scored a bronze along with dessert wines Framboise and Redcurrant Cassis.

"The awards for the dinner wines are great," explains Andrews. ³Most people have experienced fruit wines in the past as dessert wines and expect them to be sweeter. The main demand though is for dinner wines and we're pleased to receive silvers for our dinner wines. It helps to know we're growing in the right direction."

The Scotch Block Country Winery, the only one of it's kind in Halton, is attached to the farm market on Andrew's Scenic Acres where the fresh fruits themselves are sold. Currently the winery is running on the winter schedule and is open to the public on Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. After May 5, it will be open every day through to October. For directions and more information, please call 905-878-5807. The North Halton Compass congratulates Bert Andrews and the Scotch Block Country Winery on it's well deserved awards of excellence.

Reprinted from The North Halton Compass April, 2001.

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