This boutique specializes in wines that have been personally tasted by the Owners, and in some cases vineyards that they’ve visited.

Skillful, unpretentious staff are always happy to direct you to what you want.

Boasting a wonderfully eclectic selection of bottles from smaller artisan producers and range from popular as well as lesser known regions, the knowledgeable staff and a relaxed and friendly atmosphere make it a joy to visit taste and learn about some truly excellent wines.

The owner, Sommelier Juanita Roos, opened Color de Vino along with her family four years ago, creating an approachable, easy-going place to browse, chat about wine, discuss Juanita’s latest Edmonton Journal Wine Column, blog, or get suggestions on wine pairings. Don’t be shy to engage and ask questions, you can count on the passion evident here to guide you to your next favourite bottle.

Far from being limited to wine, they carry microbrewery gems and imported beers to cool your summer days, and top shelf spirits to warm your evenings. Local favourites, along with selections from across Canada, such as Yukon Brewing Company, happy surprises are to be found in the cooler.

Should you wish to spruce up your wine rack, join Color de Vino’s Wine Club, where for various affordable price points you can sample, or begin to collect some lovely bottles.

Special orders and wine delivery are available during the days the boutique is open, or you can choose custom cases (also available for delivery) as part of the outstanding customer service you’ll find here.

Becoming a regular, it wouldn’t be unusual to run into a vintner from Italy dropping off a new vintage for the family to try, or to happen upon any number of tastings that occur during the week.

When I fancy a glass of something interesting, I can reliably pop in to find out what’s new, the rotation always has plenty to tempt, and the selection is delicious, unfussy, from casual wines to vintages, find your everyday, or your special event bottle.

Known as Highland Park at the turn of the last century, Bonnie Doon, meaning “pretty river” was renamed in 1906 by then Premier A.C. Rutherford in memory of his Scottish homeland.

The area is known as the French Quarter locally, with a rich cultural and architectural history, nestled amongst the brick buildings is the La Cite Francophone. A modern building blending angles, glass and wood encircling a charming European courtyard.

Café Bicyclette, une petite merveille off the courtyard of La Cite, is a winner of Open Table’s Diner’s Choice, Top Restaurant, and voted Best Restaurant in Edmonton by Avenue several times. This Café is a must for the food and atmosphere, as well as a healthy injection of romantic French charm.

The Café deserves its high rating with traditional or nouveau crepes, omelettes, croques (fried sandwiches with cheese, ham or egg), along with various dinner items, many of which are specials made according to the seasonal ingredients available.

During the summers, the courtyard is filled with flowers and umbrellas, and invites you to linger with a book over your drink of choice, from espresso to wine, to a selection of rustic local and imported biere. A few hours spent here is almost an expectation.

In winter, there are both indoor and outdoor events including the Sugar Shack Festival, with live music, outdoor fireplaces, and maple syrup candy to top it all off.

The staff at the Café speak French and English and seem to enjoy interpreting or making recommendations on their menu.

Located in the French Quarter in its original location since its founding by Mario Michel and Jean Guy Bergeron, with the help of master cheese maker Brano Stanisic, this fromagerie provides cheese with the passion and experience you’d expect from a shop of this vintage.

Specializing in eastern Canadian and eastern European cheeses, The Cheese Factory is your go to for the cheese portion of your weekly charcuterie, summer events and daily lunchtime staples.

If you like cheese with notes of caramel, oak and butter that linger on the palate, you’ll know why the Havarti here is so popular. It’s complex, balanced, firm and savoury with no bitterness to disrupt its rich smooth finish.

House smoked beer cheese makes the perfect pairing in a spicy Caesar, or with any beer, the beer cheese is also available in cheddar flavours, they’re a salty bite sized snack in the heat, or rain.

Traditionally made and hand packed, their cheese curds, springy, tart and tasty, have become a staple during Poutine Week, and if you’re unsure how to make traditional poutine, there are handy kits available to tempt your friends or family into the traditional Quebecois treat.

Catering to the health conscious with daily made kefir, a type of drinkable yoghurt, richer in probiotics, lower in lactose, and providing a number of enzymes, and quark, with the consistency of firm sour cream, lower in fat and higher in protein, both products are rich in the essential vitamins and minerals which fermented products provide.

Along with the various other cheeses, there are imported European goods and maple syrup from Quebec stocked for those who pine for the taste of home or want to expand their culinary repertoire.

The staff at The Cheese Factory are happy to provide advice and happy conversation while they serve, answer any questions or fill advance orders, come and feel old world value and customer service in this sweet local spot.

A multiuse paved and rough trail options, as well as extensive marked off-leash areas allow users to commute to and from home from downtown by foot or bicycle, utilize greenspace year-round, introduce children to urban wilderness, birdwatch, and socialize dogs all in one convenient central location.

Mill Creek Ravine has a number of picturesque trestle bridges along its route, with the creek running at various levels beneath, and depending upon the level of the water, mallard ducks nest early in the year between Mill Creek Pool and 76th Avenue in some of the oxbow portions of the creek where the water tends to be deeper and run more slowly.

Pileated Woodpeckers, the largest type to be found in Canada are a fixture in the ravine and can be heard and seen in all seasons here as they have an ample food supply.

A rarer sight is the Great Horned Owl, easier to spot when the leaves have fallen, or in winter, this bird can be found keeping watch from high in the trees along the ravine and ranging out to hunt.

For those with a taste for wild greens, grab your basket and guide book and go foraging for asparagus, chickweed – with a taste very like spinach, pineapple weed-which smells and tastes like chamomile, and can be dried and used as tea, or the tender leaves and buds eaten raw in salads.

If you’re an experienced forager, there are a number of wonderful edible mushrooms to be had along the pathways and in the woods including boletes (red top mushrooms, and spongy summer boletes), chanterelles, fairy ring mushrooms, and common puffball. On a few occasions, in a short period of time, we have been able to gather several baskets of fresh mushrooms to enjoy cooked into a buttery ragout.

Whatever your sport, if your taste runs to a leisurely stroll, or a stout mountain bike ride, you are sure to be satisfied exploring what the Mill Creek Ravine has to offer.