Sweet. Sparkling. Sensational!

Over 90 premium VQA wines on offer at Winter WineFest January 15 & 16

JORDAN, Ontario, January 6, 2011 /Canada NewsWire/ - It's now a tradition…the Twenty Valley Winter WineFest is 'the reason' to venture out on a chilly January weekend again this year. Visitors to the Winter WineFest in festive Jordan Village can choose from over 90 wines from 33 area wineries, with Icewine again sharing centre stage with some of Ontario's best sparkling and premium VQA wines.

Tawse Winery - named Canadian Winery of the Year - will lead a long list of award-winning wineries pouring special vintages at the event. Their 2008 Robyn's Block Chardonnay won White Wine of the Year in 2010 and will be one of three wines poured by Tawse throughout the weekend. 13th Street Winery will be sampling their exclusive 'Essence' series Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, and new sparkling sensations from Fielding, Flat Rock Cellars and Calamus are among the specialty offerings from Twenty Valley wineries. For icewine enthusiasts, over 25 icewines made from 7 varietals are available, including the Thirty Bench Small Lot Riesling Icewine 2007. The event also features many small-lot producers with less familiar names but exceptional offerings. A full list of wines is available at www.twentyvalley.ca.

11 local culinary stars will be serving up perfectly paired dishes, from fresh-shucked oysters to fried five-spice pork-belly and the ever-popular hand-cut frites and roasted chestnuts. A new Centre Stage will feature a full-day of live entertainment, including a winemaker Fashion Show, a barrel-rolling competition and icewine themed cooking demonstrations.

The festival runs from 11:00am - 5:00pm Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free, and tokens are $2.50 each, with wine samples offered at 2 tokens, and food samples starting at 1 token. For more information, tasting notes or to create a weekend getaway package, visit www.twentyvalley.ca or call 905.562.3636.

The Twenty Valley Winter WineFest takes place Saturday, January 15 and Sunday, January 16 from 11:00am - 5:00pm on Main Street in Jordan Village, Ontario. 3,500 visitors are expected to attend.

Improved energy consumer protection rules ring in the New Year

TORONTO, December 30, 2010 /Canada NewsWire/ - Starting January 1, 2011, new rules take effect to help protect Ontarians by ensuring that electricity retailers and gas marketers follow fair business practices and provide information that consumers need before signing or renewing an energy contract.

Some of the important new requirements that apply to contracts that are entered into or renewed by residential and small business consumers on or after January 1, 2011 include:

...Retailers and marketers must provide enhanced training and testing for their sales agents that meets the requirements set by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB);

...Consumers must be provided with a plain language disclosure statement (available in multiple languages at: http://www.oeb.gov.on.ca/OEB/Consumers/Information+in+Other+Languages) as well as a price comparison sheet that allows them to compare a contract price offer with the price of energy supplied by their utility;

...A requirement for the retailer or marketer to verify contracts that are entered into in person using a script approved by the OEB; and Limits on cancellation fees or, in some instances, the right to cancel without paying cancellation fees.

The new consumer protection framework is set out in the Energy Consumer Protection Act, 2010. In anticipation of the new legislation coming into force, the OEB updated its own rules for electricity retailers and gas marketers.

The OEB has also updated its website, www.oeb.gov.on.ca/OEB/Consumers, to incorporate the new consumer protection rules as part of the useful information available to consumers considering an energy contract. The website also has interactive online bill calculators that are geared to help residential and, starting January 1st; small business consumers estimate their electricity or natural gas bills. Those consumers can also compare those bill estimates with the contract price offered by an electricity retailer or gas marketer.

The Ontario Energy Board regulates the province's electricity and natural gas sectors in the public interest. It envisions a viable and efficient energy sector with informed consumers served by responsive regulatory processes that are effective, fair and transparent.

For more information, please refer to the attached backgrounder, visit the OEB website at www.oeb.gov.on.ca or contact our Consumer Relations Centre at 416-314-2455 or toll-free at 1-877-632-2727.