Because waiting for six people to agree on dinner plans is a ridiculous way to spend your life.
There's something peculiar about living in a city with nearly three million people and still finding yourself wondering what to do on a Friday night.
Toronto has restaurants. Thousands of them.
Bars. Concerts. Galleries. Events. Activities.
And yet, so much of what we do for entertainment seems to require assembling a small committee of friends, negotiating everyone's schedules, agreeing on a location, and hoping nobody cancels because they're tired.
It's exhausting.
What if you just went out?
By yourself.
Not because you don't have friends. Not because you're trying to reinvent yourself. Not because you've decided to embark on some grand journey of personal discovery.
But because you want to have a really good evening, and you don't particularly feel like waiting for someone else to make it happen.
I have an idea.
Come over for wine.
The Problem With Going Out Alone Isn't Being Alone
It's finding somewhere you actually want to be.
Going to a restaurant alone can be wonderful. I happen to think sitting at a bar with a good glass of wine and absolutely nobody to entertain is one of life's underrated pleasures.
But sometimes you want conversation.
Not the forced kind.
Not networking.
Not standing in a room with a name tag, explaining what you do for a living to someone who's already looking over your shoulder for a more interesting person.
Actual conversation.
The sort that happens when people are comfortable enough to stop performing and start being themselves.
And that's a surprisingly difficult thing to find in a city where everyone is perpetually busy, booked, rushing somewhere, or staring at their phones.
Which brings me to my dining table.
I Host a Wine Salon in My Toronto Home. Yes, Really.
My name is Laura Batten. I'm a Certified Sommelier, Canadian wine specialist, and someone who has spent the better part of 20 years trying to convince people that Canadian wine is considerably more interesting than they've been led to believe.
I also invite strangers into my home to drink it.
Welcome to CRUSHABLE.
My wine salon is hosted in my midtown Toronto home, where a maximum of eight guests gather around my dining table for an evening of exceptional Canadian wines, homemade food, and whatever conversations happen to unfold.
It's not a restaurant.
It's not a traditional wine class.
And it certainly isn't one of those tastings where someone spends two hours explaining the geological composition of a vineyard while everyone politely pretends to care.
I mean, I can absolutely tell you about the geology.
But I'd much rather tell you about the eccentric winemaker who planted the vineyard in the first place.
Or why a particular Canadian wine has absolutely no business being as delicious as it is.
Or why you shouldn't feel remotely embarrassed about admitting that you hate Chardonnay.
We can argue about that last one.
You Don't Need to Bring Anyone
One of my favourite things about the salon is watching what happens when people who have never met sit down together.
Someone arrives alone.
Another couple has booked because they're visiting Toronto.
Someone else is celebrating a birthday.
Perhaps another guest simply wanted to try something different.
At the beginning of the evening, everyone is a little uncertain about what to expect.
Perfectly understandable.
You're walking into someone's home to drink wine with people you've never met.
It's a slightly unusual proposition.
But there's something rather lovely about removing the usual social expectations.
Nobody needs to impress anyone.
Nobody is obligated to maintain a conversation with the person they arrived with.
And because we're all gathered around one table, the evening naturally becomes a shared experience.
We talk about the wines.
We talk about the people who make them.
And inevitably, we start talking about other things entirely.
Sometimes the conversation is hilarious.
Sometimes it's surprisingly thoughtful.
Sometimes someone says something so outrageous that I nearly spit out my wine.
I consider all three successful outcomes.
You don't have to be the most outgoing person in the room.
You just have to show up.
Canadian Wine Is an Excellent Conversation Starter
Here's something else I love about the salon.
Most people arrive knowing considerably less about Canadian wine than they think they do.
And I don't mean that as an insult.
Quite the opposite.
We've become so accustomed to thinking about wine in terms of France, Italy, Spain, and California that we often overlook what's happening in our own backyard.
Canada has extraordinary wine regions.
Ontario. British Columbia. Nova Scotia. Quebec.
Each with its own producers, personalities, growing conditions, and wonderfully peculiar stories.
Some of my favourite wines come from tiny producers making such limited quantities that you'll probably never encounter their bottles during your regular trip to the LCBO.
These are the wines I want people to discover.
Not because they're Canadian.
Because they're genuinely delicious.
And because I think it's rather exciting to taste something that challenges your expectations.
You don't need to know anything about wine to appreciate that.
In fact, sometimes knowing absolutely nothing makes the experience even better.
You get to discover something without worrying about whether you're supposed to like it.
What a concept.
What Actually Happens at a CRUSHABLE Wine Tasting?
First, you arrive at my home in midtown Toronto.
The exact address is shared after booking.
You'll probably meet Dottie, my small dog and unofficial director of guest relations.
She takes her responsibilities very seriously.
Then we settle around the table.
Over approximately two hours, I'll introduce you to five carefully selected Canadian wines, accompanied by homemade food, local cheese, charcuterie, and whatever else I've been inspired to cook.
The wines change.
The food changes.
The people certainly change.
And that's part of what makes every evening different.
I'll tell you about the producers, explain what makes the wines interesting, and answer whatever questions you have.
There are no tasting grids.
No exams.
No pressure to identify seventeen different aromas.
If you think a wine smells like strawberries, wonderful.
If you think it smells like wine, also wonderful.
If you don't like something, tell me.
I promise my feelings will survive.
The point is to enjoy yourself, discover something new, and spend an evening in good company.
You might even leave with a few new friends.
No guarantees, of course.
But I've seen stranger things happen around my table.
A Different Kind of Toronto Night Out
I think we've become a little too accustomed to treating social experiences like transactions.
We book something.
We attend.
We take a photograph.
We leave.
And then we immediately start looking for the next thing to do.
I wanted CRUSHABLE to feel different.
Something slower.
More intimate.
A little unpredictable.
An evening where you aren't being rushed through a reservation or expected to make polite conversation over deafening background music.
Where you can ask questions, disagree with me about wine, laugh at something inappropriate, and linger over a glass.
Where the experience isn't simply the wine you're drinking.
It's the people you're drinking it with.
And sometimes those people are complete strangers.
I think there's a little magic in that.
So, Can You Really Book a Wine Tasting for One Person in Toronto?
Absolutely.
You don't need to organize a group to attend the CRUSHABLE Wine Salon.
Solo guests are welcome.
Couples are welcome.
Friends are welcome.
Wine enthusiasts and complete beginners are equally welcome.
The salon accommodates a maximum of eight guests, which means you'll never find yourself lost in a crowd of 40 people trying to hear what the sommelier is saying.
It's intimate by design.
And because it's hosted in my home, the experience feels considerably more like being invited to someone's dinner party than attending a conventional tasting.
For anyone looking for things to do alone in Toronto, particularly something that involves conversation and discovering a different side of the city, it's a rather good option.
You don't need to bring a date.
You don't need to bring your friends.
You don't need to know anything about wine.
Just bring yourself.
I'll take care of the rest.
Come Pull Up a Chair
If you're looking for a different kind of Toronto wine tasting, I'd love to have you around my table.
The CRUSHABLE Wine Salon takes place in my midtown Toronto home, with intimate groups of up to eight guests.
You'll discover exceptional Canadian wines, enjoy homemade food, and spend an evening with people you might never otherwise have met.
And if you're coming alone?
Even better.
There's always room for someone interesting at the table.
Explore the CRUSHABLE Wine Salon and book your seat.
See you around the table.
Laura
