Blasted Church Vineyards

Toronto’s Balzac’s Coffee

There is something irresistible about a beautifully designed coffee shop. And Balzac’s Coffee in Toronto’s Distillery District is just such a place. Located in an antiquated warehouse, the ambience exudes an industrial-chic meets French bistro aesthetic with its worn brick walls, pressed tin coffee bar, checkerboard tiled flooring, and 20ft ceiling adorned with exposed pipes. Read more

The Blonde Bombshell

The Blonde Bombshell is right. With its inspired pulp-movie-esc look and feel this new California white is sure to seduce. The brainchild of wine maker Jeff Booth, The Blonde Bombshell was the result of combining two Californian favorites – Hollywood and wine – into one badass sexy bottle. Read more

Digital Graffiti Wall

What it lacks in the subversion and rebellion originally associated with graffiti, the Digital Grafiti Wall (backed by Heineken, no less) more than makes up for with tech geekery and wow-factor. The wall is currently touring Canada, hitting parties, clubs, and bars where people can use the gigantic drawing pad to create their own large-scale graffiti murals.

Wine in a beer bottle

If there was any doubt that beer is the new wine, it can now be put to rest with the introduction of this new wine packaging: wine in a beer bottle. That’s right, we’re talking about a Swartland Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend out of South Africa cheekily disguised within a kitschy brown beer bottle with an equally cheeky title, Bob’s Your Uncle. Read more

Red Velvet Fried Chicken

So you think you’re all cupcaked-out? Had enough of the trend, eh? Well get ready for more because at American Cupcake, their red velvet is all the rage – on fried chicken, that is. Yup, at this San Francisco-based eatery, chicken is marinated in red velvet cupcake batter (um, YUM), dredged in red velvet cupcake crumbs, and then deep fried. (We understand if you need to re-read that sentence.) But wait, there’s more! Read more

Full Circle: a carbon-saving wine series

So maybe you’re a sucker for design and you just can’t get over the aesthetic flaw of wine in plastic bottles, or perhaps you adhere to the school of thought that believes plastic tampers with a wine’s quality? But did you ever consider the carbon emissions involved in carting around such heavy cargo as glass bottles full of wine? The winemakers at Yealands have which is why they now offer a carbon-saving wine series known as Full Circle bottled in lightweight eco-friendly recycled plastic. Read more