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Thursday, 15 July 2010 |
I've been thinking we might be living in a golden age of wine. That's not to say that things won't get even better in the future, but I think it's clear that, if we look back 20 or 30 years or more, the wine world was a bit grim for ordinary consumers.
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Thursday, 08 July 2010 |
The other day, I mentioned to a Mexican friend that I'd just returned from Spain. She asked where in Spain I'd been, and I replied, "Murcia," pronouncing it "MOOR-thee-ah," as they do there. She gave a post-colonial sigh. "Oh, that's with a 'c,' right? We pronounce it 'MOOR-see-ah,' the way it's spelled."
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Thursday, 24 June 2010 |
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Saturday's release of wines from Vintages offers a lot of good deals at many price points, and if you're looking for something out of the ordinary (or, at least, something not constantly available in the LCBO), take a look. Vintages isn't all about expensive wines, and there are a lot here under $15. |
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Thursday, 17 June 2010 |
Yes, it's the annual call to rally to rosé. The LCBO recently expanded its listings of rosés, which is fairly limited during the cooler months. Now that the weather is warming up, we start cooling down our wine, and rosé is often a terrific choice.
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Thursday, 10 June 2010 |
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Every now and again, I bump into a reference to "natural wine" -- a term used by some winemakers to describe wines made with as little intervention as possible. I think it's very problematic as a term, and I wish people would stop using it. Why? Because no wine is natural in any meaningful sense. Wine is made by human activity; that's why winemakers are called "winemakers." |
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Thursday, 03 June 2010 |
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Wines of South Africa is partnering with Vintages to hold a braai (a barbecue) in Ottawa next week, and this seems a good opportunity to look at wines for barbecue season. |
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Thursday, 27 May 2010 |
The human skull. Associated with death, in various forms it's been a symbol of piracy, an insignia of the Nazi SS, and widely used as a sign for poison. Nothing much positive here, so perhaps it's not surprising that when a vodka turned up in a skull-shaped bottle, the LCBO turned it down. They thought the death symbolism was problematic and thought it would appeal to young people at a time when there is concern about binge drinking. They were also worried that the association of death with alcohol might remind some people of alcohol-related traffic fatalities.
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Thursday, 20 May 2010 |
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What do Frank Stronach and carmenère have in common? Michaëlle Jean and sauvignon blanc? Rohinton Mistry and malbec? They all emigrated from the land of their birth and found fame and success in their adopted countries -- in Canada for the humans; in Chile, New Zealand and Argentina, respectively, for the grape varieties. |
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Thursday, 13 May 2010 |
Hands up: who's heard of Irancy, Marsannay or Viré-Clessé?
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Thursday, 06 May 2010 |
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If you've poured about five ounces of wine into the glass you have in hand (the ideal situation as you read anything on wine), you're about to consume a drink that contains something like 120 calories, 7 mg of sodium, 140 mg of potassium, 4 g of carbohydrate, a gram of protein, and various amounts or traces of calcium, niacin, vitamin B6, iron, riboflavin, manganese, magnesium and zinc. |
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