Tag: sommelier

wine review: Tenuta Santa Maria Valverde Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG 2019 (barrel sample) – another highlight of Anteprima Amarone

This small boutique winery produces 4000 individually numbered bottles of Amarone each vintage. Grapes are sourced from their high-altitude vineyards in the Classico region, at 500m elevation making them some of the highest in all of Valpolicella. Ruby with a garnet hue, this is an exceptionally expressive and well structured wine. The nose shows dried dark fruit, spice, balsamic and herbal notes. The palate reveals layers of dark fruit, savoury and meaty characteristics, it's fresh and textured with youthful albeit integrated tannins which the winemaker envisions all reaching the right level of integration in 5 years for a 2029 planned release. A stunning expression of Cru Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG, structured for long-term bottle aging. Enjoy 2029-2050+. Tasted February 2024. 95+ Matt Steeves - http://www.quercusvino.ca

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wine review: Benjamin Bridge Nova Zero, the no-alcohol version of Nova 7 that you have to try!

Discover the magic of Benjamin Bridge Nova Zero – the delightful twist on Canada’s beloved Nova 7, now with 0% ABV! This non-alcoholic gem captures the essence of Nova Scotia’s East Coast, delivering fragrant floral notes, marigold, citrus and exotic fruit, and a refreshing sea breeze. Perfect for brunch, cocktail parties, or a cozy picnic, it’s the ultimate versatile zero ABV wine for any occasion. Tasted September 2024. 92 points. Matt Steeves - http://www.quercusvino.ca

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Wine review: Featherstone Rosé 2023 available at LCBO Sept 21

Featherstone Rosé 2023 from Niagara, Ontario, continues to impress as a fan favorite, offering exceptional value at $16.95. This vintage expertly blends 41% Cabernet Franc, 31% Merlot, and 28% Gewurztraminer, showcasing the diverse bounty of Niagara’s vineyards. The nose is a fragrant bouquet of cherry, herbs, red apple, and strawberry-rhubarb pie, complemented by floral blossoms and juicy Jolly Rancher bonbons. On the palate, it’s beautifully balanced with a hint of sweetness, delivering layers of ripe cherry and fresh strawberries, while strawberry preserve lingers on a long, creamy finish. This rosé is perfect for pairing with Thanksgiving meals or your favorite spicy dishes, and should be served chilled. Tasted September 2024. 90 points - Matt Steeves - http://www.quercusvino.ca Available at LCBO - $16.95 September 21, 2024

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Bachelder 2022 Gamay – Wismer-Foxcroft Single Vineyard, Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara, Ontario

Thomas Bachelder always seems to be working with the best vineyards in each region to produce his award winning wines. That certainly is the case for Bachelder's 2022 Gamay Noir from Craig Wismer's Foxcroft Vineyard. 13% ABV and 34% whole cluster pressed. Released in Spring 2024, the 2022 Gamay Noir is a light ruby colour, and the nose shows bright cherry, tart raspberry, savoury herbs and and fresh cut hay, with distinct flinty minerality aromas - a very complex bouquet with great intensity. The palate is harmonious, beautifully integrated dark cherry, herbs, and spices with a refreshing and lively profile, the great acidity and delicate polished tannins inviting a savoury autumn dish to complement the experience. Showing beautifully now and structured to age gracefully, suggest enjoying over the next five (possibly ten) years with creamy mushroom risotto, beef Stroganoff or grilled lamb with a cherry reduction. Tasted July 2024. 93 points. Matt Steeves - http://www.quercusvino.ca Available winery-direct $33

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Premium Burgundy Alternative You Need To Taste… and it’s not Pinot Noir… or from France.

Thomas Bachelder is renowned for his focus on producing ultra premium single vineyard wines throughout the Niagara Peninsula. Although Thomas produces some of the best and most sought after single vineyard Pinot and Chardonnay in Ontario, his latest project includes 9 single vineyard expressions of Gamay Noir from the Niagara region that highlight the great 2022 vintage. One that particularly impressed me was his newest single vineyard Gamay Noir from Corey Mio's Lincoln Lakeshore Sub Appellation vineyard in Beamsville, Ontario, located just below the Beamsville Bench.

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wine review: Cloudsley Cellars 2020 Foxcroft Vineyard Chardonnay, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Ontario, Canada

Each year Cloudsley Cellars are producing some of the best expressions of Canadian Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from their winery situated along the Twenty Mile Bench of the Niagara Peninsula. Their 2020 Foxcroft Vineyard Chardonnay is no exception. Proprietor Adam Lowy and winemaker Matt Smith source the grapes for this wine from a select parcel of the highly acclaimed Wismer Foxcroft Vineyard along the Twenty Mile Bench. Foxcroft Vineyard was planted in 1996 with Dijon Clone 96, and for the past two decades Foxcroft Vineyard has been renowned for producing many of the region's best wines, earing it a Cru-quality reputation, arguably one of the best single vineyards in the region, if not the best.

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wine review: 2021 Villa Vasi Ribolla Gialla, Collio DOC

Villa Vasi's 2021 is very fresh and elegant. Complex bouquet showing citrus and orchard fruit, with expressive wet stone minerality. Mouthwatering, bone dry with a repeat on the palate, pronounced minerality persisting on the long finish. Outstanding expression of Ribolla Gilla that is showing beautifully now and will over the next decade.

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wine review: 2022 Gradis’Ciutta Ribolla Gialla Collio DOC, Italy – look for it in LCBO soon…

Italy's Collio DOC is renowned for producing many of the finest white wines in Italy. Nestled in the north east of Italy, along the Slovenian border, near the base of the Julian Alps and the shores of the Adriatic Sea, it's here where the unique Ponca soils that are found in the region's hilly vineyards create the ideal terroir for crafting expressive wines with outstanding structure, aromatic and flavour complexity, pronounced minerality, and ageability characteristics.

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