The Lincoln Local

The Perfect Pairings: Crafted with Love, Served Local

• TownofLincoln • Season 1 • Episode 2

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A quick heads-up: we recorded this episode with a bit of real-life chaos—thanks to some technical gremlins, we were down one microphone. The conversation (and laughs) were too good not to share anyway, and we hope you’ll forgive the occasional audio quirk in favour of keeping it honest and human. 💛

Love isn’t a checklist—it’s a vibe. And in Lincoln, it’s handcrafted.

For this Valentine’s-flavoured episode, we dive into The Perfect Pairings that make February feel thoughtful, indulgent, and unmistakably local. From the sugar-warm air and blink-and-they’re-gone strawberry cream donuts at Beamsville Bakery, to modern, anything-but-boring bouquets from The Watering Can, we explore how small businesses turn classic Valentine’s staples into something personal. Ben dishes on the bakery rush, the prep chaos, and why fan-favourite donuts vanish in hours. Sue breaks down why mixed bouquets, dusty pinks, peaches, and soft reds are stealing hearts—and how even last-minute shoppers leave with something that feels intentional, not panic-bought.

Then we uncork the romance. At Fielding Estate Winery, Heidi shares why sparkling wine is celebration in a glass, while the team at Upper Canada Cheese helps us build boards that actually work—creamy comfort cheeses with bright bubbles, salty aged cheddars with luscious icewine, and why cider deserves more love at the table. Along the way, Margaret demystifies artisan cheese, from Guernsey milk richness to cave aging and the patience it takes to turn milk into magic.

And because no Valentine’s episode is complete without a love story, we end with one rooted right here in Lincoln. Heidi and Curtis Fielding share how a gala tasting turned into a life together, why the best date nights are often the simplest, and how local food, wine, and places turn ordinary moments into memories.

The thread through it all? Connection, craft, and community. That’s The Perfect Pairings—and how Lincoln turns February into something warm, delicious, and real.

If you loved this episode, follow the show, share it with someone who loves local, and tell us: what’s your perfect pairing this year? 💕🍷🍩

🌸 Featured Lincoln Local Businesses

🌿 The Watering Can Pastry Market
📍 3725 King St, Vineland, ON L0R 2C0
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewateringcan
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewateringcan

🥐 Beamsville Bakery
📍 4966 King St E, Beamsville, ON L3J 0R5
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beamsvillebakery

🧀 Upper Canada Cheese Company
📍 4159 Jordan Rd, Jordan Station, ON L0R 1S0
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uppercanadacheese
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uppercanadacheese

🍷 Fielding Estate Winery
📍 4020 Locust Ln, Lincoln, ON L3J 2B5
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fieldingwinery

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Thanks & Credits

With support from:

Welcome to The Lincoln Local + co-hosts intro

Stephanie Hicks

Welcome to the Lincoln Local, a brand new podcast from the town of Lincoln. I'm Stephanie Hicks, the town's economic development officer and co-host. I focus on growth, opportunity, and community, helping people stay connected to what's happening and what's next.

Valentine’s “Perfect Pairings” theme + guests intro

Sara Wilde

And I'm Sara Wilde, the Town's creative design and digital media advisor. Behind the camera, behind the design, and now behind the mic as your podcast co-host.

Beamsville Bakery: Ben intro

Stephanie Hicks

Valentine's Day is all about the perfect pairings. And here in Lincoln, we're surrounded by them. From sweet treats to stunning flowers, today we're spotlighting two favourites that make February extra special. So thank you for joining us today. Today we have Ben from Beamsville Bakery and Sue from the Watering Can. Starting with Ben, welcome Ben. How about you tell us a little bit about your business?

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

Sure thing. We are the Beamsville Bakery. We're located at 4966 King Street, downtown Beamsville. We are a family-owned, old-fashioned bakery. My parents purchased the bakery in 1974, and we've been going strong ever since.

Sara Wilde

Thank you, Ben, and welcome Sue from the Watering Can. Tell us a little bit about your business.

Sue - The Watering Can

So, yes, the Watering Can Flower Market. We are a family-owned and operated business since 1996. And we are just a flower-loving, um, plant enthusiast company that just loves to provide joy into people's homes. And we always love a good coffee to help fuel our ambitions.

The Valentine’s rush: what it’s like + last-minute shoppers

Stephanie Hicks

Valentine's Day is a busy one for both of you. What do you love most about this time of year? Starting with you, Ben.

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

Uh, what do I love most about this time of year? Um just in the these these times we're in uh just so much hate out there and and um you know negativity. So it's just a time to really focus on on love and to be able to be part of that. You know, whether it's it's a a spouse buying, you know, a dessert to bring home or for their children, or if you're buying something for your elderly neighbor or you know, a family member um, you know, that you don't get to see that often, just to be part of spreading love. Yeah, that just brings us joy and excitement this time of year.

Sara Wilde

Leading into Valentine's Day, Sue. What day is classified as the rush?

Sue - The Watering Can

I would say honestly, it is definitely Valentine's Day. It is the 14th. We see you know a whole bunch of people coming into the flower shop, and we're able to just help them pick that special something for their sweetheart. But it is definitely the day of for us.

Sara Wilde

I actually have to ask a follow-up question. So who's the customer that's the last minute?

Sue - The Watering Can

Well, like traditionally, men are purchasing for Valentine's Day. And so we definitely help them through the day in terms of picking something out, but we do love seeing them come through the door, and we just we actually like seeing all these men in our store. And sometimes for some of them, it's only once a year. So we definitely need to help them through that.

Stephanie Hicks

This is an early reminder, Ben.

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

Yeah, well, I mean, I'm I'm classically guilty of that every year because I'm so busy on that day as well. And then, yeah, I gotta run out into the watering can usually and grab something, you know, for for Lindsay before I head home.

Sara Wilde

You made the treats with love, like be like, look, I worked all day on this.

Sue - The Watering Can

I feel it doesn't have the same sentiment. I like I don't get flowers on Valentine's Day either, except by the time we're done the day, it's like I don't want to look at another flower.

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

Yeah.

“If Valentine’s Day had a smell…” (Bakery vibes)

Stephanie Hicks

Although, full transparency, I would be thrilled to receive a box. Like that would be nice. Exactly what I would need for Valentine's Day. Yeah. So, Ben, if Valentine's Day had a smell in your bakery, what would that smell be?

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

I mean, because there's so much going on. You got chocolate and you got, you know, fresh sugar cookies coming out of the oven and you know, um, donuts out of the fryer and fresh bread uh coming out of the oven, right? So it's just kind of like a combination, you know, delicious and irresistible, all combined, you know, if if you were gonna put a couple of words to it without trying to sound like a perfume commercial, but you know, it's just yeah, the couple of words like that I guess would best describe it.

Sara Wilde

Delicious and irresistible, right?

Stephanie Hicks

Once again, I think that would be an excellent gift. So if you could bottle that, I would take a bottle of that and a box of it.

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

There you go.

Stephanie Hicks

Uh so we're gonna stick with uh asking you some questions, Ben. Okay. Uh what Valentine's Day treat disappears the fastest at the bakery?

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

Besides what you see in front of you here, we um we also do a donut feature. So it's our strawberry cream filled, which we do feature in the springtime, but we bring it out for just Valentine's Day one day as well, and yeah, those uh fly off the shelf pretty quick. Yep.

Stephanie Hicks

Uh I can tell you I have had several of them. And um, they also should come with a warning because they are so packed that you need to provide some sort of napkin with it while you're eating it. They are delicious. Uh is there a classic uh sweet treat that people always come back to the bakery for?

Sara Wilde

Besides the donuts?

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

Sugar cookies. The sugar cookies. We've been making, you know, these sugar cookies this way for since we opened and um yeah, every year making you know the same recipe, same way, and uh and they always sell out, yeah.

Stephanie Hicks

And what goes behind preparing for the February rush?

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

We had a couple of weeks in January just to kind of relax back into thing after a very busy Christmas season, and then you know, it just starts with purchasing and ordering uh ingredients and such and uh you know planning looking at uh our cake decorator and I will look at some trends and you know what to do for cake and cupcake decorating this year and cookies as well. And yeah, and just kind of prepping that way, and then right around this time, end of January, um, we start rolling it out into the store just so uh, you know, you get the early birds who like to purchase and also you know, just to have a visual for the customers to see.

What makes a bouquet special + what’s in season

Sara Wilde

Okay, Sue. Hi.

Sue - The Watering Can

Hi.

Sara Wilde

What makes a Valentine's bouquet feel truly special?

Sue - The Watering Can

Oh, this is such a hard one because uh traditionally it's roses, and a lot of our customers come in for that classic rose bouquet, and we do like to make it a little bit more modern by putting fancy greenery in it and you know, wrapping it a little bit differently, but there is such a um a big trend towards mixed flowers as well. And it those bouquets are just so beautiful. So for those who don't love all roses, we have some beautiful mixed floral bouquets, and it's really nice because at this time of year we're starting to get back into our local growers and having that local product again. And it I find the bouquets are just so beautiful.

Sara Wilde

What is an in-season flower in February, then?

Floral trends + memorable/unusual requests

Sue - The Watering Can

Tulips. Tulips are, yeah, tulips are big, um, freesia, anemone, there's so many lilies. You're gonna go ahead into stock season. Like we are we're so um incredibly blessed to live where we live here in the Niagara region, and there's so many family-owned growers in the area that we can support, and we just we love doing that, and I love how the bouquets look afterwards.

Sara Wilde

Uh so what trends are you seeing in floral design for Valentine's Day?

Sue - The Watering Can

So the color of the year is white, however, traditionally red, yeah, I know. Traditionally, red is very popular. So we're starting to see like reds and peaches and dusty pinks come through. So kind of changing that red color palette to soften it a little bit.

Stephanie Hicks

Pretty.

Sara Wilde

Oh, I love it.

Sue - The Watering Can

It's beautiful.

Sara Wilde

Yeah. What is the most memorable or unusual request you've had ever had for floral design?

Sue - The Watering Can

We've had a few memorable ones, um, but the most unusual was when we were asked to put an engagement ring in someone's flowers and deliver them.

Sara Wilde

And did this happen?

Sue - The Watering Can

We did say no, unfortunately. Yeah. I I wouldn't want to be like liable for that. That's exactly it. We did not want to be responsible to happen for this ring. Yes.

Stephanie Hicks

Yeah, that's a lot of pressure.

Sara Wilde

That is a lot of pressure.

Why sweets + flowers are the perfect pairing

Stephanie Hicks

Uh so we wanted to ask you both. So why do you think that the combination, because for years, the combination of something sweet and flowers have always been paired together as kind of the perfect Valentine's Day pairing. Why do you think they work so well together? I'll go to you first, Ben.

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

I think it's just it it almost goes without saying. I mean, I I know bringing home for Lindsay as well. I mean, she loves flowers, so it's just that visual effect and then that that taste effect, you know, combination together, right? And um yeah, it's just it's just seems to it seems to work, you know. So as a as a husband and as a business owner with a bakery, you know, I've I've seen it for many years. It's uh yeah, it it you don't go wrong.

Sue - The Watering Can

I think, yeah, echoing what you said, Ben, it just um touches all the senses, right? It's your taste, your smell, your touch, and together, I think that's the perfect blend. Yeah, florals and sweets.

Quick Fire Round (Ben + Sue)

Stephanie Hicks

Absolutely. I was as Ben was saying it, I was like, yeah, it really does hit all of your, you know, you smell it, you visually see it, you taste it. Okay, so this this portion of the podcast is something that we like to call a little bit of a quick fire round. So Sara and I will take turns each asking you a question, and we want you to answer as quick as possible. They're more like this or that. What would you prefer? Try not to give it a lot of thought. So we're gonna start with Ben. I'll ask Ben the questions, and then you can ask Sue the questions.

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

Lay it on me.

Stephanie Hicks

Okay. Except the last question, we're gonna go to both of you, but uh Ben, chocolate or vanilla?

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

Chocolate.

Sara Wilde

Roses or mixed bouquet.

Sue - The Watering Can

Mixed bouquet.

Stephanie Hicks

Fancy dessert or comfort classic?

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

Comfort classic.

Sara Wilde

Big romantic gesture or small thoughtful surprise.

Sue - The Watering Can

Small thoughtful surprise.

Stephanie Hicks

Okay, now this one isn't a this or that, but you're both gonna try and answer. You try and use one word to describe Valentine's Day in your business.

Sara Wilde

I love that. You're both...

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

Love.

Sue - The Watering Can

Red.

Stephanie Hicks

Perfect.

Sara Wilde

Amazing.

Stephanie Hicks

I also love that they were both different answers.

Sue - The Watering Can

I probably would have gone with love, but I had to come up with something different. I should have been faster. I paused too long.

Talk of the Town Tea: Beamsville Bakery + The Watering Can

Stephanie Hicks

That's okay. Well, it is time for the Talk of the Town tea, where we're gonna ask you to spill the tea on your business and just let our listeners know if there's any um special promotions or anything you want to let the listeners know about your business. We'll start with you, Ben.

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

Sure thing. Uh so yeah, for Valentine's Day, we have um specialty cupcakes, um, caramel-filled chocolates, and our sugar cookies. And on Valentine's Day only, there's the uh strawberry cream donuts. And we also just rolled out um a line of uh Nutella um inspired products. So we've got uh Nutella spin wheels, which is uh like a cookie, and then um Nutella cupcakes, and we're doing a Nutella cake as well. So there we go. Yeah.

Stephanie Hicks

So something that our um listeners must know about Sara here is that Nutella is her love language for sure.

Sara Wilde

It really is. It is.

Sara Wilde

Well, we've been, you know, people have been bugging us for a couple of years now to uh to get into some Nutella products. So I I caved in. My daughter as well is London is huge in the Nutella. We actually gave her a giant tub of Nutella for a Christmas present. And um, so I think you know, uh she was my biggest inspiration to finally uh roll out some products. I say this motto all the time. I don't know where I stole it from, but you have to spread love as thick as you would Nutella.

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

I like that.

Stephanie Hicks

That's oh yeah, it's perfect for this.

Sara Wilde

Perfect for this episode. Oh my gosh. And Sue, anything upcoming for the watering can?

Sue - The Watering Can

Yes, so for us, we do have our beer burgers and blooms night, which is our men-only workshop, so they can make and design a floral piece for their sweetheart. And we do love this workshop. All proceeds do go to help fight against cancer in the Niagara region, so that's near and dear to our heart. But not only that, we do have other spring workshops that are up and coming, as well as our Valentine's Day page on our website, so you can go there and pre-order your flowers.

Sara Wilde

Thank you guys so much.

Sue - The Watering Can

Thank you.

Ben - Beamsville Bakery

Thank you for the opportunity.

Sara Wilde

Valentine's Day doesn't have to be complicated. Sometimes the perfect pairing is as simple as great cheese and great wine. Here we have two Lincoln favorites that turn anytime into something special.

Fielding Estates Winery + Upper Canada Cheese intros

Stephanie Hicks

So welcome. We have Heidi from Fielding Estates Winery and Margaret from Upper Canada Cheese. So if you wouldn't mind just giving a quick intro of both your businesses, we'll start with you, Heidi.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Great. We're a family-owned and operated winery. We've been open now for 20 years. We just celebrated and we're perched on the Beamsville Bench. So beautiful view of Lincoln. Excellent. Margaret?

Marg - Upper Canada Cheese

Hi, I'm Marg. I'm actually the general manager at Upper Canada Cheese. We're located in Jordan Station, 4159 Jordan Road. It's a very interesting and artisanal style uh creamery that's also been around for 20 years. Um, original founder was Wayne Philbrick. And yeah, so uh it's a neat little creamery, and we're hoping to kind of get it back on the map and let people know where we are and what we have to offer.

Sara Wilde

Deliciousness, especially those cheese curds.

Stephanie Hicks

So Valentine's Day often means slowing down and enjoying good food and wine. Which one of your wines instantly sets the mood and why?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Well, I feel for Valentine's Day or any celebration, sparkling wine for sure. And we have some of the best sparkling wines in the world here in Lincoln. I brought our brute today just as uh a little prop there on the table, but just a gorgeous wine. It automatically says, pop, we're celebrating. I love that for Valentine's Day, or something more, I don't know, luscious, like a good creamy Chardonnay or a big red, just like cozy comfort type wines.

Sara Wilde

Margaret, Valentine's Day is all about spilling secrets and sharing how you really feel. What's a cheesy secret or love confession about Upper Canada Cheese Company?

Marg - Upper Canada Cheese

Well, I think one of our confessions and our cheesy secrets is this year we are going to put our comfort cream together with a decadent chocolate sauce that's going to be available for Valentine. We will be pairing that, like Heidi said, with some bubbly. So we're looking forward to that, a champagne or sparkling rose. We're very excited about it. We're trying to expand what we can do with our cheeses and get people more aware of how to marry them up and pair them up with our local wineries, who we really support and appreciate.

Sara Wilde

Oh my gosh, I'm excited about that too.

“If Valentine’s Day had a taste…” (cheese + wine answers)

Stephanie Hicks

Right? That sounds incredible. So this question is kind of to both of you, and I'll start with you, Margaret. If Valentine's Day had a taste, what would it be?

Marg - Upper Canada Cheese

Hmm. For me, if Valentine had a taste, I think it would be our very sharp-aged cheddar, our heritage. It's uh a very unique cheese. It's done very well this year. We entered it into the American Cheese Society. It came in first place. It's aged for a minimum of eight months. It's got a really nice crystal to it, just goes really, really well with nice Chardonnays, nice bold reds. Yeah, so I think that's that's how I would describe my Valentine's Day for sure, is that very pineapple-y robust cheese that we offer.

Stephanie Hicks

Wow, congratulations on that. Thank you. And to you, Heidi, what would Valentine's Day taste like?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

I don't know if I have a specific wine, but I was thinking maybe when I think of Valentine's, I think sweet or bittersweet, expensive, luxurious, those kinds of taste sort of um form in my palate. But if I had to pick a wine and a taste, I'd say something buttery, creamy, like a nice Chardonnay.

Sara Wilde

How's your dinner plans?

Stephanie Hicks

No, I'm set. Menu is set.

Fan-favourite cheeses + seasonality (winter milk/Guernsey cows)

Stephanie Hicks

That sounds delicious. And speaking of delicious, Margaret, I'm gonna ask you a few

Sara Wilde

questions. Focuses on you. Uh, comfort cream and goat milk cheese are customer favourites. That's a fact because I've purchased both. What makes them stand out?

Marg - Upper Canada Cheese

Well, our goat cheese, it's uh it's it's a really unique cheese. We have like a soft rind uh goat cheese. It's it's really good for the consumer. A lot of people kind of goat cheese can be a little bit invasive on the palate. Ours is a nice transitional cheese. It's a it's a softer introductory to goat cheeses. We've been able to convert many of people. The nice thing about our goat cheese too is it really uh uh pairs well with like a savoury uh topping or sweet. It can go either way. Pair is very, very nice with you know many of our local wines and wineries, roses and uh Pinot's are great with it. Um so it's a very versatile goat cheese, and and people really appreciate that. Our comfort cream, it's you know, kind of our Jordan Station, it's our brie. We've you know, it's been well known for a long time. It's uh it's a really nice cheese. People like it sometimes a little bit firmer, sometimes they like it a little bit more gooey or again, very versatile, uh very easy on the palate. It's really, really nice too, because your traditional bris, a lot of people like to heat them up or warm them up. Ours is just naturally more on the gooey and the more robust taste side. So it it really goes well with a lot of things.

Sara Wilde

That's too good.

Stephanie Hicks

Could you pick what you would like to do?

Marg - Upper Canada Cheese

I was just gonna ask like hold on. Which one of those two are your favorite? Like my favorite? I like them both. I think it just depends what you're in the mood for, what you're drinking with it. Yeah, I really like the goat cheese with kind of uh the sweeter jams and things like that. I love the breeze with uh like the olive tamponade, something more savory. Everybody has their own preference.

Sara Wilde

So I like how we both were just like, yeah, keep talking to us. So I didn't know this was a thing. How does seasonality affect cheese making, especially in winter?

Marg - Upper Canada Cheese

Well, so our cows, our girls at the comfort farms are Guernsey cows. So um, they're very, very happy in the spring and summer because they get to kind of go out to pasture and they're eating, you know, the grass and and everything that they like. There's abundance of it. So they're happy. So our yield in our milk is a lot higher in the in the summertime. In the winter, it can slow down a bit, obviously, because it's cooler temperatures. The cows like to conserve their energy, um, so they need a little bit more feed, but the butterfat content increases and the solids, which can sometimes make the cheeses creamier and uh thicker in in profile, but our yield in our milk can kind of drop a little bit. Um so there's really no down part, especially with the farm that we have been working with since I think since Upper Canada opened in 2005, over 20 years, the comforts, they take very good care of their animals and and the cows. So yeah, it's it's pretty interesting to see. The other neat thing is um whatever the cows are consuming, we don't put any preservatives or additives in our cheese. So whatever they're ingesting and what's going through their system is all clean and pure, and that's what comes out in our cheeses. So sometimes you'll have a little variation in the colour and and some of the taste a little bit. So it's it's all natural, very 100% Guernsey milk driven.

Stephanie Hicks

That is fascinating because we have had, I'm gonna say, the real like first Canadian winter in a long time. Like the last couple of years, we really just get hit in one weekend and then it's kind of over. But we've been walloped like day after day and you know, uh school warning after school warning. But has there been a big difference this year in in any care with the cows or or anything like that because of the these cold temperatures and so much snow?

Artisan cheese “sticker shock” + what people don’t realize

Marg - Upper Canada Cheese

No, and like I said, the farm that we deal with, I mean, they take very good care of their animals. They've been doing this for years. It's a family-owned farm. They know what to do. They've set up a new system where they give they uh it's like uh little treats for the cows. I haven't been to the farm yet. That's something I want to do in the spring. The cows are very happy when they know that treat little dispenser is coming on and they walk over there and um so yeah, it's pretty neat. The other thing that's uh unique about the Guernsey milk is a lot of people who have any lactose or digestive issues, it's actually protein-driven. So Holstein cows is an A1 protein and Guernsey cows are A2. Uh so if you have a lactose or a digestive issue because of the high butter fat content and the caseins, you can eat our cheese and have very minimal to little discomfort. So that's kind of a niche thing for our creamery because we are a hundred percent Guernsey milk other than the goat. Um, and so yeah, we've been able to kind of convert a lot of people or people that haven't been able to enjoy cheese now can enjoy it because of that specialness of our our Guernsey milk. So, and we're probably one of the only ones in the area. It's important that people understand and and yeah, you don't have to um deprive yourself, especially if you want some cheese, some nice bread, some chocolate sauce, some beautiful wines, right?

Sara Wilde

And people hear the word cheese and they're like, no, I can't eat that, sadly. But that's amazing. Oh, that's such a that's a good tidbit. Off script as well, this probably won't make the cut, but I also go into hibernation mode at wintertime and gain some butter and fat. But however, anyway. So, what's one thing people might not realize about artisan cheese production? And I think that you just brought up a great point, but is there anything else?

Marg - Upper Canada Cheese

Yeah, that's one of them. And I think too, I know sometimes when people walk into our retail store, they see our cheese, there could be a little bit of sticker shock. I don't think that people understand, like being an artisanal creamery, it's very small batch, very handcrafted. Um, again, we don't put any preservatives or any like additives into our cheese. So all the ingredients and everything that go into it, it it's complete love. Like it's it it's a very passionate way of making cheese. And I think that's important for people to understand that it's it's not a brick of cheddar from from Costco. There's a lot more detail and care that go into it. You know, our aging caves, they're all monitored with temperature. Um, you know, our processes are very stringent. Yeah, so there's just a lot of steps and processes. We do offer tours in the spring and summer, and I think that gives people a little bit of an opportunity to see exactly what happens there. And it's not automation. So they'll see that, they'll get to hold the cheese and understand exactly what happens and taste it too. Absolutely. Always free samples any time of the day.

Sara Wilde

I love that.

How to choose the right wine + pairing tips

Stephanie Hicks

Thanks, Margaret. Now we're going to You know, go up the escarpment to uh up the bench to Fielding Estate Winery. So, Heidi, how do you help customers choose the right wine for the occasion?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Yeah, we spend a lot of time chatting with the customers and getting to know what they're looking for or why. Is it like for a special dinner, or is it you just having some friends over and you're gonna open a bottle of wine for some like social interaction? I think just zoning in on if they're having a meal, what are they what are they making? Is it gonna be a roasted meat or are they doing a seafood? So talking to them, um, price point can be a factor too. Again, like we're an artisan product as well. So a lot of care and concern goes into all the wines. Just generally finding out too what they like. You're not gonna give somebody uh Sauvignon Blanc to drink if they love Cab Franc or they only drink reds. You you know, you can steer them in the right direction, but ultimately um personal taste wins out and they're gonna enjoy that wine, whether it is the perfect match or not. But definitely just getting to know them and seeing what they're pairing, and it's a really fun experience. You make a big bond with people when you're having that conversation with them and they remember and they and they trust you too, especially if you get an opportunity to follow up with them on how it worked out for their pairing.

Stephanie Hicks

Keeping with the wine and cheese, though, is there anything that people should pay specific attention to when they're pairing wine and cheese together?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Like, oh, for sure. Like a big thing with cheese and wine pairing is balancing the fat with the acidity. So if you have a gorgeous, like creamy uh, you know, brie or uh the comfort cream from Upper Canada, you'd want to pair that with even a sparkling because it has good acidity and it's gonna like cleanse the palate. You know, if you have the cheese, then you drink the sparkling, it's just gonna like cut through that fat and make it such an enjoyable experience. Another thing is just balancing the weight of the wine with the weight of the cheese, paying attention to the saltiness in the cheese. And ice wine, which is a you know, a specialty, especially this time of year for all of us, is a really cool pairing. We don't often think of having iced wine as much as we should or we could. But when you do open it, you're like, oh my God, why don't I drink this more often? But try that with a nice aged parm because it's got that beautiful, like salty character. So you've got the contrast and flavours, and it's so good.

Sara Wilde

Yeah, because I usually think of an ice wine as a dessert wine, right? So thinking of it that way, nice.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

I love that at dessert too. Like instead of having an actual sweet, you could have just some like nice fresh fruit, some um, you know, ice wine, have some cheese, some dark, dark chocolate. So you can make a very simple but elegant dessert plate.

Sara Wilde

I love that.

Stephanie Hicks

Or dinner plate. Yeah, exactly. Or you could have two plates, one for dinner and one for dessert.

What makes Lincoln wine special (place + people + tourism)

Heidi - Fielding Estates

It's happened before. Yes, yeah.

Stephanie Hicks

And it will happen again. Yeah. Um, so what do you think makes Lincoln wine so special?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

We live in a beautiful area. First of all, we benefit so much from the lake effect and the Niagara Escarpment. We have good minerality in our soil. Where we are on the bench, there's a lot of limestone and granite, and that really does affect the uh minerality that you taste in the wine, especially in the Rieslings and the shards that you would have right from the bench. But Lincoln is a it's a special spot. I mean, it's the kind of the road left traveled. It still has a a very rural, authentic feel. And there's some awesome producers, awesome winery producers out there. Where we just finished our national wine awards last year, and our neighbouring wineries, including ourselves, we did so well, and we were have so much to be proud of in Lincoln with the amazing wines being created by, you know, lots and lots of the producers. So when people are out on the wine trail, they can visit numerous wineries as they always do, which is great. And they're getting such good quality wines. But I think I think the people too, in general at the wineries, when you're meeting them, they're very authentic. They love sharing their wine stories with you, their pairings, their cheese, cheese pairings, and it's just it's a great experience. And I think we are very welcoming, and we are just in a great location, too, for tourism, like right between Toronto and and the US border, and easy to get to.

Stephanie Hicks

Absolutely. I would agree with you know what you said. Like, it's so welcoming here. Like it's like the conversation when people are sharing their stories, it's captivating. Like even just hearing Margaret talk about the cows and like you talk about the wineries, it's it's like the storytelling here is amazing.

Sara Wilde

Like homegrown.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

I never get tired of my drive to work or driving around Lincoln. Like you you just want to stop and take a picture, and you know it never looks as good in the picture, but I'll still do it. And we're just we're very blessed on where we live.

Stephanie Hicks

Absolutely. One of my favourite views is when you're up somewhere and you can see across to Toronto, but I just think it's so calm over here. Like you know where you when you're looking across that lake, you know the chaos that's happening over there. Yeah. So when you're standing where you are, you're just like, it's almost like a like that relief or that comfort, or you know.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

We will often have uh our guests come in and they've just driven from Toronto, of course, battled that QEW highway. And when you're like, Oh, where are you coming from? And they'll point across uh through the window, be like, just came from Toronto, and you're like, Well, sit down, we're gonna get you a glass of wine. And they're like, you can just see them immediately, like, you know, a fall to uh more easy yeah, yeah, the decompression. They're like, ah, it's so nice to like sit back and like look across the lake and look over the vineyards, and really you're in awe. It's just it's beautiful. We we could say though, what is nice about Lincoln as a wine and cheese region is it is only an hour from Toronto, which is really nice. If you continue on down the road, you get stuck in more of that QEW traffic. But we are very blessed, we're very central to a lot of the other, you know, major towns and cities in Ontario, and they can easily find us and do day tripping.

Surprise pairings (icewine + savoury/heat) + cider/beer pairings

Stephanie Hicks

Yeah. Yeah. So, what is a pairing combination that surprises people in a good way? And I'm gonna ask both of you this question. So I'm gonna start with you, Margaret.

Marg - Upper Canada Cheese

Well, kind of back to um Heidi's point. So I know a lot of people will think like ice wines or late harvest wines more of a dessert wine, and you you you pair it with uh something sweet. Uh for us, like Heidi had mentioned, it goes really, really well with our our aged, our heritage. You know, we carry some third-party blues, so something more stronger, uh more robust. That sweetness and that that heaviness of the cheese and that full-bodied flavour in your mouth really balances out like very, very nicely. And I think it's people becoming more educated of that and not just perceiving it as like a dessert wine with dessert, like sweet on sweet. It's sweet and savoury. And I just think it really complements each other like really well.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

We've been talking a lot about wine and cheese pairings, but one of the most incredible pairings I had was an ice wine paired with the first course, which was a seared scallop that was dusted in a little bit of like a hot cayenne dusting. And so you had this seared scallop with a little bit of the heat, and there was some pomegranate seeds and some fresh diced mango, and it was paired with an ice wine, and it was such an incredible pairing because you had the heat balanced with the sweet, and it was very, very memorable. And you don't often think of having ice wine as part of your first course. Oh or a or a sweeter wine. Yeah, I know.

Marg - Upper Canada Cheese

Yeah, and actually, too, I mean, I know there's been a lot of it's just kind of assumed or automatic that wine goes really well with cheese. Sorry, I just recalled this actually. We had a whole group of cider houses that they developed a cider trail. So they paired a lot of our cheeses with the hard ciders. So they were doing that. And then we also have a client in Hamilton, Merritt Brewery, and they're also pairing a lot of our cheeses with their different style of beer. So I think it is expanding. It's not just wine and cheese, it's cheese and other things. So for sure.

Quick Fire Round (Margaret + Heidi)

Heidi - Fielding Estates

We actually make a craft cider. We've been doing that for about five years, and we have a little small plates menu at the winery. But the number one thing that people order is like the cheese plate, because it's just versatile, it's great for sharing, and it's experimental. So you can taste wines alongside different cheeses or ciders, and it's it's like nice for exploring. Even like wines with big tannins and different kinds of cheeses, you have to be very careful. So ultimately, if you like the wine and you like the cheese, it's still gonna be a great day. Um, but yeah, definitely some uh great options.

Stephanie Hicks

I think any day that involves wine and cheese is a great day. So we are at that part in the podcast where we like to do a little quick fire round. So Sara and I are gonna take turns asking questions. We'll go back and forth. So we are gonna start with you, Margaret, and just answer as quick as possible. And there are more of this or that question. So go ahead, Sara.

Sara Wilde

Soft cheese or aged cheese?

Marg - Upper Canada Cheese

Aged cheese.

Stephanie Hicks

Sweet wine or dry wine?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Dry wine.

Sara Wilde

Crackers or fresh bread?

Marg - Upper Canada Cheese

Fresh bread.

Stephanie Hicks

Cozy night in or fancy night out.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

I do like a fancy night out.

Sara Wilde

Nice. One word to describe local cheese.

Marg - Upper Canada Cheese

Phenomenal.

Stephanie Hicks

And what is one word to describe Lincoln wines?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Exceptional.

Stephanie Hicks

I love both of those. Phenomenal and exceptional. As are both of you, I might add.

Talk of the Town Tea: Fielding Estates Winery + Upper Canada Cheese

Sara Wilde

And now, oh yeah, we're at our talk of the town tea portion. So this is where you tell us what's going on, if you have any delicious tidbits, anything that we should know about. Is there something coming up in the lineup? Is there a new product coming out, etc., etc.? So uh who are we starting with first?

Stephanie Hicks

You know what? We'll start with you, Heidi.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

It's funny you should ask. We're just in the planning stages. So right now, right till the end of uh March, basically, we still have our outdoor wine domes up, and those are always really popular. And we're offering always different things. For the Valentine's weekend, we're doing a lobster grilled cheese paired with our rock pile chardonnay, which is a really gorgeous big shard that we don't always have open. And we're also opening a wine that we call Chosen Few, which is a big bold red that we only make in the very, very best vintages. It is a higher priced wine, don't always have it open, and it's limited availability. So we're actually opening that for the month of February, and we're pairing it with a nice aged cheddar, and people will get to experience that. Some kind of behind the scenes that we don't always have.

Sara Wilde

So Steph and I are coming for lunch and dinner.

Stephanie Hicks

Will you be my galentine?

Sara Wilde

I thought you would never ask Steph. And Margaret. How about you?

Marg - Upper Canada Cheese

Well, we have some pretty interesting things that I think we're gonna be doing in the summer. We're pretty excited. We're uh trying to take advantage of all these special cheese days, which I've learned when and and how they are. And we're gonna be doing something fun in August. It's uh International Goat Cheese Month. So keep your eyes open and uh watch social media and calendars because we could have a few baby goats visiting. Um, we're thinking of doing a goat day for families, uh, goat yoga, obviously pairing with some wineries and offering a package of playing with the goats, having cheese and uh some wine. We have a couple markets that we've started talking to people about. Again, we're just really trying to get people aware of the creamery. We've got, you know, a really nice property out there. We just want to make it more family friendly. We are licensed now, we have a licensed patio, so we serve cheese and wine boards. And uh yeah, we're just trying to make it more inviting and part of basically a tag on to our wine partners. We're also a great place to stop and just do something a little different.

Sara Wilde

Baby goats.

Stephanie Hicks

We will.

Sara Wilde

Okay. Sounds like a fun date, actually, right?

Marg - Upper Canada Cheese

Like what's a whole month.

Sara Wilde

It's a whole month, yeah. That's amazing.

Stephanie Hicks

Well, thank you both for joining us. It was exceptional. We feel that you were a perfect pairing for this episode. Yeah, that worked out good. Yeah, thanks for having us.

Marg - Upper Canada Cheese

It's a lot of fun.

Stephanie Hicks

Valentine's Day is about perfect pairings, and sometimes the best ones aren't products at all, but people. We have a real Lincoln love story that reflects what makes this community so special. Welcome, Heidi and Curtis Fielding.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Thanks for having us.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Thank you.

How they met + how Lincoln became home

Sara Wilde

So let's start at the beginning. How did you two meet?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

He's gonna look at me to answer every question. Um We met at a winery function. So I was working at a different winery, C urt was also, and they used to have the big gallas, which they still have, and I was pouring wine at my table, and he came along over and pretended he was interested in knowing what wine we were pouring.

Sara Wilde

Do you remember which wine you were pouring? Or wait, Curtis, do you remember what wine she was pouring?

Curtis - Fielding Estates

I wasn't looking at the wine. No, we came, I remember that. We came into the doors and they're like, I remember all the guys are like, you guys gotta go check out the girls over at the this booth. So I we went over there. There you go.

Stephanie Hicks

I'm blushing.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

No, no, I'm blushing.

Sara Wilde

That was like the perfect response. I'm not gonna lie. I was like, wasn't looking at the wine. Okay, so was Lincoln always part of your story, or did it how did it become home together?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

When I met Curt uh after the the gala, uh he had just moved down and established property here in Lincoln that is now the winery site. So he had moved here, he was living with his roommate, Andrew, and it took about three, four years because the vines were just being established, and then a couple more years for the winery to be built. And I was living in Port Dalhousie. And when we started the winery, when it became open, I moved to Lincoln at that time too. So it's been quite a while. It's been about 25 years since we've been together in Lincoln.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Time flies. It's crazy.

Building the winery + working together

Heidi - Fielding Estates

The winery site where where it is now, where it always was, was an old peach and pear orchard. So it was at the point where it needed to be torn out and replanted. So in went the vines, and that takes uh three to four years before you can start producing a wine. And then the construction was a big job too. It was at least a couple years from the time that they broke ground.

Sara Wilde

So the businesses in Lincoln, how long have you worked together? Was it right from the beginning? And were you married first or after the winery opened?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

It was we started working together a few months before the winery opened. Uh, we had made the decision that I would come over and work at Fielding, and we weren't married yet, so it was a bit of a leap of faith. But the writing was on the wall. So it's been great. We've been working together the whole time that the winery's been open. So, what do you love most about living in Lincoln?

Curtis - Fielding Estates

I like the small town feel. Where I grew up was uh very small town in the winter. It was you count how many hundreds of people that's it was very, very small and it was great. You knew everybody. And when we looked to build the winery site, we looked uh all over Niagara and we just kept coming back to Lincoln because it reminded of us up north and you know it was a little less busy than Niagara-on-the-Lake, which we liked. And uh yeah, Lincoln's been awesome. You know, it's just the small town feel. It's uh people give you a hand when you need it when you're uh...

Heidi - Fielding Estates

When your tractor breaks down.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

When your tractor breaks down, or you know, everybody's got the small town feel, and it really feels like you know, people have each other's backs around here. And you know, our kids have been in minor hockey for 17 years plus now here, and it's been awesome. Yeah, we have a great uh hockey family and community here, and it's great for the kids.

Stephanie Hicks

Is there a place in Lincoln that feels especially meaningful to your relationship?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

I'd have to just say the the vineyard site that the winery is on. That's kind of where it all started, and that's where you know. I have a picture of Kurt holding out the the plans for the winery build before anything was there, and it's just I don't know, it's nostalgic. Yeah, that's probably we had our first kiss there too. That's as juicy as this'll get.

Stephanie Hicks

That was sweet. Uh what is the biggest advantage to running your business in Lincoln?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Do you want me to go? I feel well, kind of all the things that Curt had said about people having your back and um...

Curtis - Fielding Estates

We got a great business or local clientele.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Local client.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Good customers, yeah. Just awesome. Working with the Town of Lincoln's been great over the last 20 years. You know, there's ups and downs there, but the council has been very business proactive and uh really pushing tourism, and they've they've really helped as well along the way.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

So I think too, because we have a winery, we have other really great winery neighbours surrounding us in Lincoln. So people don't ever just come to visit one winery, they're gonna go to a few. So, you know, different names pop up, they're like, Oh, I want to go there, and then they know that there's other great places to go. We have a great proximity to Toronto and the border, so we're very easy for customers to find. And again, just going back to that small town feel, and it's just it's very it's beautiful here. I'm always taken back by how gorgeous uh Lincoln is. So yeah, we're I'm very happy we have our business here.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

We've traveled around to other wine-growing destinations, and you you come home and you're like, geez, we're very lucky, you know. You take it for granted what we have. Yeah.

Local date nights + “show someone your Lincoln”

Sara Wilde

So we're going to local favorites and uh date nights. What's your go-to date night?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Usually we'll go for dinner. Um, we try to visit the our restaurant partners that carry our wine, and it's fun for us because it gives us um, you know, lots of different options, and we want to support them like the same way they support us. And it's nice to get out too and do something different and not cook.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Or go to the arena.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Yeah, it's nice not to be at the arena. Um, but we are blessed. We have so many great spots we could visit, like all throughout uh the area. So never short on a date night, just sometimes short on time.

Sara Wilde

So favourite wine or drink to enjoy together. It doesn't have to be together. I'm sure I'm sure you guys have different tastes.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Wine, I think Chardonnay. Our estate bottled Chardonnay is probably our favourite when we're lounging together.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Definitely.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Uh I like a cider, usually on Friday night after work. Nice cold cider. And then uh usually sometimes have a little Manhattan or whiskey on the rocks.

Sara Wilde

Gotta say your ciders are pretty good.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Yeah, it's been fun having the ciders in addition.

Sara Wilde

So if you had one day to show someone your Lincoln, where would you take them?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Oh, there's so many great spots. Definitely we'd visit wineries, obviously, because that's part and parcel with the beautiful view that we have. If we could get close to the lake, you know, the lake house or the shore, it's a great place to...

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Charles Daley Park is awesome. Yep. We go down there.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Yeah, there's great little coffee shops in in Lincoln. In Jordan, I meant to say, so you could grab a coffee and walk along some of the shops. I just discovered the cream puffs at Tay's Treats. Oh my god. We would go there to get a cream puff. There's beautiful spots. You know, we talked about Upper Canada cheese in the podcast, and they're so authentic, that would be great. But anywhere where you get the feel for Lincoln, grab a, you know, in the summer you could uh hit a fruit stand as an example.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

And yeah, there's so many good places around here to get you know fresh fruit, vegetables. Yeah, that's awesome.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

There's you need more than a day, you need days. Yeah.

Sara Wilde

Hey, this is the fun part.

Quick Fire Round (couples edition)

Stephanie Hicks

This is the fun part. So we are gonna do a little bit of a quick fire round couple's edition.

Sara Wilde

You're gonna answer though a little differently. So you're gonna answer for what you think Heidi would say.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Oh, no problem.

Sara Wilde

Okay, and Heidi, you would answer thinking, okay, I think this is what Curtis would say.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Okay, sounds good.

Stephanie Hicks

Heidi for Curtis, coffee date or wine date?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Wine date.

Stephanie Hicks

Is that correct?

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Sure. That sounds good.

Sara Wilde

For Heidi, early meetings or late meetings?

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Early meetings.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Definitely early.

Stephanie Hicks

Okay. For Curtis, spontaneous plans or carefully planned?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

He's actually very good at making plans. So he's a good planner. I'd say he's um a carefully planned person.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

I like a plan.

Sara Wilde

Uh Heidi's favourite season in Lincoln.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Oh, definitely summer.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Definitely.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

She hates this weather every day. It's like, ughhh.

Sara Wilde

Okay. I love this.

Stephanie Hicks

Uh is Curtis an early bird or night owl?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Definitely night owl.

Sara Wilde

I feel like I know the answer to this next one, Curtis. But sweet treat or savoury snack?

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Sweet.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

I'd say so. Those cream puffs get me every time.

Stephanie Hicks

Uh Heidi, who's Curtis's favorite sports team?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Toronto Maple Leafs.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Correct. Some years are better than others.

Sara Wilde

Uh and snow vacation or sand vacation?

Curtis - Fielding Estates

For Heidi, sand for sure.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Definitely. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Talk of the Town Tea: The Fieldings spill (almost) all

Stephanie Hicks

Well, thanks for participating in that quick fire. Now we're gonna just do a little talk of the town tea where we're just gonna ask you to spill some more answers to questions that we are curious about. So out of the two of you, who asked two out first?

Curtis - Fielding Estates

I definitely asked her out first. Yeah.

Stephanie Hicks

And was it at that gala?

Curtis - Fielding Estates

No, it wasn't. No, it was uh I think uh we saw each other at a bar downtown, St. Catharines later on, I think.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

That was when we started hanging out, it was a time where a lot of the winery people all hung out together. So um whether it was for I don't know, wine nights or we'd all get together after events, it was a lot of fun.

Sara Wilde

That's good. Who's the better cook?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Definitely me. I'm the only cook.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

She's an excellent cook.

Stephanie Hicks

Who's better at shutting work off?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Me.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Agreed. I guess. I don't know. When you own your own business, you're on like 24-7.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

I think I'm good at saying, let's talk about it tomorrow. Or let's let's revisit it later. Because sometimes you both need to kind of go away, walk away, think about it, come back with your arguments and discuss.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Correct.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Yeah.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Heidi's always the voice of reason.

Sara Wilde

So then uh during a vacation, who emails work, personal.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Actually, we try to not do we do it once a day. We've kind of made a rule like just to do it at night or first thing in the morning, unless there's something really pressing, but we try to shut that off. You know, it's family time and we try to spend the time with the family. The problems will always be there. It's just when you get to them.

Sara Wilde

Very good point.

Stephanie Hicks

Fair enough. Yeah. Who keeps things calm under pressure?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Definitely me.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Oh my.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

No, we we have a we have a lot of fun at work. I mean, we are at work every single day together. Yeah. And we do very separate jobs. So we we can bounce things off each other, which is good because we're not always involved in exactly what the other person is doing.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

We got a couple farms so I can go hide when she's mad at me. So I can just go do something else.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Until lunch, and then he's always back at lunchtime. Exactly. Yeah. No.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

I'm doing fine.

Stephanie Hicks

All right. But I want you both to answer this. I know. What is one word to describe working together?

Heidi - Fielding Estates

I would just say rewarding. I think it's been very rewarding.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Yeah, that's a good way to put rewarding. I thought you would have said challenging.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

No, it's nice. I like it. I we always said like if we didn't work together, we would hardly ever see each other because you end up working really long hours, especially in the beginning, getting the business off the ground.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Yeah.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

I know what we did in our other jobs, and it was a lot. So it's it's nice.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Yeah, we wouldn't probably see each other much if we were doing the same thing. Yeah.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Yeah.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Rewarding.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

One common goal.

Sara Wilde

So would you do it again? Yes or absolutely yes.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Absolutely yes.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Definitely, for sure. Yeah.

Stephanie Hicks

That's great. Well, that's everything that we have. So thank you very much for joining us as the perfect couple, which you guys are.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

Some days.

Curtis - Fielding Estates

Some days even better than others. Yeah. No one's perfect. No, just work at it.

Heidi - Fielding Estates

We still like each other after all this time. So that's good.

Final Thoughts: Love, Community & Local Pairings

Sara Wilde

If you're still looking for Valentine's inspiration or an excuse to treat yourself, Lincoln has no shortage of ways to mix and match local.

Stephanie Hicks

Exactly. Something as simple as a couple's hike along the Bruce Trail with local snacks can turn into a meaningful time.

Sara Wilde

Valentine's Day doesn't have to revolve around food at all. You can do self-care pairing, like visit a spa, do some yoga, celebrate friendship, self-love, or something a little less traditional.

Stephanie Hicks

That's what's so great about Lincoln. There are so many ways to create your own perfect pairing, all while supporting local businesses.

Sara Wilde

This Valentine's Day, perfect pairings aren't just about flowers, food, or wine. They're about connection, community, and the people who make Lincoln feel like home.

Thanks, Sponsors & Where to Find Us

Stephanie Hicks

Whether it's sharing a meal, supporting a local business, or simply enjoying time together in this beautiful town, Love Truly Lives Here. Thank you to our sponsors Niagara Region Economic Development, The Watering Can, Second Chance Decor, and Verhoof Electric.

Sara Wilde

New episodes drop twice a month and will be shared through the town's social media channels.

Stephanie Hicks

And if there's a topic or local business you'd like us to feature, visit SpeakUpLincoln.ca backslash podcast. That's all for today's episode of the Lincoln Local. Don't miss the next Talk of the Town.

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Sara Wilde

Co-host
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Stephanie Hicks

Co-host