![\"untitled-4093\"](\"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/untitled-4093.jpg\")
<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ![\"untitled-4104\"](\"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/untitled-4104.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOf course, I spent the next half hour touring their website (and so should you<\/a>!).\u00a0 I took a virtual tour of our room and fell in love.\u00a0 And with a pub and a dining room, both offering an extensive selection of appetite pleasers, I knew it would not be an easy choice when we sat down for our dinners.\u00a0 But those decisions would have to wait, as I figured out how to leave work early.<\/p>\n Fergus is about an hour northwest of home and, after packing a bag and dealing with Friday evening traffic, we arrived at the Inn just before 7:00pm.\u00a0 Upon checking in, Steve discovered there was a special dinner event that evening featuring a 5-course gourmet meal, with wine pairings sponsored by Coyote\u2019s Run, a local Niagara winery.\u00a0 Yet another surprise when he came back to the car to collect me and our belongings!<\/p>\n The Inn was old, quaint, and very welcoming.\u00a0 Our room – The Harrett Suite, in the adjoining Carriage House – was exquisite, but we had to wait to fully check it out as the main event was about to get under way.\u00a0 The dining room, dressed in its finery, was full and, in fact, we were lucky to get the last table, and luckier still that it was on the outside of the greenhouse-style room so we had a lovely view of the lit, walled garden.\u00a0 (I’m sure the garden is spectacular in the summer, but it was still pretty in its winter-ready state.)<\/p>\n For the next two and a half hours, we sipped and munched a most satisfying meal.<\/p>\n We started with appetizers and a comparison between a 2012 Unoaked Chardonnay (very light and crisp) and a 2011 Red Paw (oaked) Chardonnay (with a hint of smoke).\u00a0 To provide the right accompaniment, we were first presented with Shellfish Risotto (without rice) with Salsify and Jerusalem Artichoke, then, maybe ten minutes later, Handmade Tortellini with Squash and Roasted Pear with Summer Savory and Pancetta.\u00a0 (I should confess that I had no idea what Salsify was, couldn\u2019t even identify it by process of elimination when my plate arrived.\u00a0 Later, Mr. Google told me it\u2019s a root vegetable, similar to a parsnip, and only then did I know which part of that dish was the veg in question.)<\/p>\n Following the whites, we then compared two reds – a 2011 Black Paw Pinot Noir (a little more earthy) and a 2011 Red Paw Pinot Noir (a little lighter).\u00a0 Our first main was Pork Tenderloin with Honey-Glazed Pork Belly, Orchard Fruit, Parsnip and Brussels Sprouts – yummy.\u00a0 How could it get any better?\u00a0 With Pastured Angus Filet \u201cSteak Diane\u201d with Onion and Pommery Mustard, and Bleu Benedictine Cheese!<\/p>\n In case you haven\u2019t been counting, by this point we\u2019ve had four glasses of wine and, in my opinion, way too much food.\u00a0 (I gave half my beef to Steve.)<\/p>\n But wait!\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t over yet.\u00a0 What\u2019s a gourmet meal without a gourmet dessert?\u00a0 Our Bittersweet Chocolate Marquis with Cocoa Nibs, Marinated Fall Fruit and Spiced Ice Cream was partnered with a 2010 Rare Vintage Syrah.\u00a0 Time for another confession – at this point I was no longer able to distinguish one wine flavour from another, which was a shame because the Syrah was the most expensive on their order form list.<\/p>\n Yes, as any sponsored event is run, we did have the opportunity to order product to be delivered, at a near future date, to our homes.\u00a0 Thankfully, we still had enough good judgment left to refrain from signing up for a case!<\/p>\n It\u2019s an understatement to say that we had a fabulous experience – a first for us.\u00a0 The evening was sprinkled by well-timed chats from the chef and the assistant winemaker.\u00a0 The food was first, eye-candy, and second, very, very rich and tasty.\u00a0 We liked each wine we tasted (for those out there who think we like every wine we taste, that\u2019s a big fat lie!) and the portions were generous.\u00a0 So generous, I\u2019m pretty sure our bedroom spun a bit (for me) when we eventually got back there.\u00a0 But enough of that confession, let\u2019s move on…<\/p>\n On Saturday morning, we awoke to find a thin blanket of snow on everything.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know about you but, to me, the first snowfall of the year is magical.<\/p>\n Our accommodations included breakfast each morning – lucky us!\u00a0 (I started mine with a very large glass of orange juice and continued to drink copious amounts of non-alcoholic beverages for the remainder of the day.)\u00a0 Steve chose the open-face seafood omelette and I had the vanilla pancake.\u00a0 It arrived in its own cast iron skillet and spilled a vanilla custard all over the place the instant I cut into it.\u00a0 Although it was served with maple syrup, I found the custard was sweet enough.<\/p>\n A few weeks ago, we accepted an invitation to a family lunch in Toronto and, not wanting to miss out on that, we headed out after breakfast for the two-hour drive past home and into the city.\u00a0 We like car rides but this one, there and back, was a little tense at times.\u00a0 We drove through not one, not two, but three snow squalls before we arrived – late – for lunch. Our visit was fun.\u00a0 We ate well, laughed a lot, argued city politics a bit (if you\u2019re reading this after 2013, that would have involved lots of discussion around Mayor Rob Ford\u2019s shenanigans and questionable lifestyle), played with dogs, and were happy to have been part of the afternoon.\u00a0 It was slow leaving the city and all was good until we got slightly north of home.\u00a0 That\u2019s when the squalls started again and, although there wasn\u2019t a lot of snow, the temperature had dropped and the roads were quite slippery.\u00a0 Fortunately, there weren\u2019t too many others out that night, so we took it slow and arrived safely back at Breadalbane around 6:30pm.<\/p>\n For dinner Saturday night we chose the pub.\u00a0 Let me say here that our weekend package included two $75 dinner vouchers – one for each night – and even though I\u2019ve\u00a0confessed to eating way too much already, I also wanted to ensure there wasn\u2019t any unused voucher left on our table.\u00a0 So I ate from the dining room menu and had another scrumptious meal – Carpaccio and Parmesan Slices followed by Scallops with Pumpkin Pur\u00e9e, Kale Chips, Almonds, and Squid Ink Vinaigrette.\u00a0 All washed down by 750ml of sparkling water!\u00a0 (I told you I drank lots of non-alcoholic beverages that day!)<\/p>\n I did show some restraint when it came to breakfast on Sunday morning.\u00a0 Bypassing the amazing specialty menu, I settled for good \u2019ol fashioned scrambled eggs and toast – had to get back to reality eventually.<\/p>\n It really was a shame that we either ate and drank too much, or were just too tuckered out from stressful driving conditions, \u2019cause there was this fabulous jetted spa tub in our room that we never did get into.\u00a0 Perhaps there\u2019ll be another surprise in my future???<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Friday started out like any other Friday – another busy day at work and the precursor to another weekend full of normal weekend stuff (fitting in,around house cleaning and grocery shopping, a family lunch on Saturday, and a short guitar Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,9,39,38,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breadalbane-inn","category-family","category-fergus","category-surprises","category-wine-tasting"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=757"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":776,"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757\/revisions\/776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n