Tag: Travel

wine review: Contrada Palui Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG 2020

This impressive lightly coloured Amarone impressed last year when it made its debut at Anteprima Amarone given its surprisingly faint colour yet big and layered taste profile. The 2020 vintage brings a similar light ruby colour and all the elegance you would expect along with great structure and texture revealing red and dark fruits, dried fruits, fig, plum, and sweet spices with impressive crushed rock minerality from the white limestone, black basalt and flint stone found in their high elevation vineyards overlooking Verona. This Amarone represents so clearly the terroir from where it was born. With their high elevation vineyards and careful winemaking they're able to reflect a profound sense of place so well. Contrada Palui is changing how many may have perceived Amarone in the past. See for yourself. Put your fancy Burgundy down and try this wine! You'll be impressed. Enjoy now and over the next 15 years. Tasted February 2025. 95 points. Matt Steeves - http://www.quercusvino.ca

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wine review: Sartori ‘Corte Brà’ Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG Classico Riserva 2020

Sartori ‘Corte Brà’ Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG Classico Riserva 2020 Founded in 1898, Sartori di Verona is one of the region’s most historic and influential family wineries, with over a century of experience crafting wines that express the character and tradition of Valpolicella. Their flagship Amarone, Corte Brà, comes from select hillside vineyards in the Valpolicella Classico zone, where the combination of old vines, limestone-rich soils, and cooling breezes promotes depth, concentration, and longevity. Produced only in the best vintages, Corte Brà Amarone Riserva is Sartori’s top expression—crafted with meticulous grape selection and long aging to reveal the estate’s signature elegance and power. 2020 Corte Brà Riserva opens with concentrated dark fruit, warm spice, cracked pepper, orange peel, and lifted balsamic tones, all melding beautifully in a deep and expressive bouquet. Initial impression is simply delicious! On the palate, it's richly textured and layered, showing generous dark fruit and spice supported by youthful, firm tannins that promise decades of graceful evolution. The structure is impressive, the balance refined, and the overall expression unmistakably that of a top-tier Amarone from this storied family estate. A fantastic effort with a long life ahead, and a shining example of the depth and sophistication that define Sartori’s most prestigious bottling. Tasted February 2025. 95 points. Matt Steeves – http://www.quercusvino.ca

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wine review: Vigna ‘800 Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG Classico Riserva ‘Virgo Moron’

Vigna ‘800 Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG Classico Riserva ‘Virgo Moron’ Vigna ‘800 is a family-run estate rooted in the historic hills of Negrar di Valpolicella in the heart of the Classico zone, where Amarone has been crafted and perfected for generations. The winery focuses on small-batch, terroir-driven wines that honour the region’s centuries-old winemaking culture. Known for purity, minerality, and complexity, Vigna ‘800 consistently produces Amarone that beautifully balances richness with freshness. Virgo Moron Riserva 2020 is an intriguing and deeply complex Amarone, opening with a layered bouquet of dark and dried fruits, interwoven with graphite minerality, earthiness, and delicate balsamic and savoury accents. The aromatic depth is captivating, offering both power and refinement. On the palate, the wine is richly textured yet balanced, with the dried-fruit character supported by savoury undertones and mineral lift. Everything is harmonious, polished, and beautifully composed—an exceptional Riserva that speaks clearly of its Classico hillside origins. Built for longevity, but immediately accessible, this is a wine to savour over the next couple decades. Enjoy 2026–2040. Tasted February 2025. 95+ points. Matt Steeves – http://www.quercusvino.ca

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wine review: Tenuta Santa Maria Valverde Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG Classico

Tenuta Santa Maria Valverde is a small, boutique estate producing just 4,000 individually numbered bottles of Amarone each vintage. They're located high in the hills above Marano di Valpolicella, in the heart of the Valpolicella Classico zone northwest of Verona. Their vineyards sit at roughly 500 metres elevation, making them some of the highest in the entire appellation. These steep, terraced slopes—rich in limestone and ancient volcanic soils—benefit from excellent drainage and cool mountain breezes flowing down from the Lessinia plateau. This elevated setting naturally enhances freshness, aromatic definition, and long aging potential, giving the estate’s Amarone its hallmark elegance and finely textured structure. The 2020 Amarone Classico is a beautifully expressive and refined wine, opening with an elegant, rustic bouquet of dark cherry, dried fruit, potpourri, graphite, plum, and cherry Danish. The nose is layered and perfumed, offering both delicacy and depth. On the palate, it’s incredibly graceful—spicy dried fruit, fine light-textured tannins, and a whisper-soft, ballet-like elegance that glides effortlessly. This is an Amarone that speaks softly yet confidently, showcasing purity, aromatic complexity, and impeccable balance. Structured for longevity, the 2020 can be cellared for 25 years or more, evolving in nuance and finesse as it ages. Tasted February 2025. 95+ points. Matt Steeves – http://www.quercusvino.ca

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wine review: Drea’s Wine Co. 2023 Single Vineyard collection from Niagara on the Lake, ON

Andrea Kaiser’s Drea’s Wine Co. is one of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s most exciting boutique wineries, producing single-vineyard, low-intervention wines that beautifully capture the character of this unique terroir. Crafted in small quantities, these wines are not only deeply personal—dedicated to her late father, Canadian winemaking pioneer Karl J. Kaiser—but also proudly reflective of the land and the legacy she continues to build.

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Special Club Champagne – Terroir and Talent

While many know Champagne through famous houses like Taittinger, Krug, Lanson, Moët & Chandon and Dom Pérignon, there is a growing movement of Récoltants-Manipulants (grower-producers) who farm their own vineyards and craft wines that express their unique terroir. Among the elite is Le Club Trésors de Champagne, a group (currently of) 25 exceptional growers (including the three featured producers below) united by a commitment to quality, authenticity, and terroir expression. Within Le Club, the pinnacle of achievement is the Special Club — a bottle shape and designation reserved only for the very best cuvée(s) each grower produces in outstanding vintages. To be chosen as a Special Club Champagne, a wine must pass multiple blind tastings by a jury of fellow Le Club members and external oenologists, both as a still base wine and also post-second fermentation, generally 3+ years later before the wine is considered for commercial release. If the jury all agree that the wine merits the honour of carrying the Special Club label then it is permitted to be sold as a Special Club Champagne, in the distinctive, slightly antique-shaped bottle first used in 1971, signaling to collectors and connoisseurs that they are holding something rare and something that represents the height of Champagne craftsmanship.

Taittinger Uncorked: From Roman Stone to Michelin Stars

My visit to Taittinger was not only a walk through centuries of winemaking excellence, but also a celebration of Champagne’s future, where tradition and innovation unite in perfect harmony. A visit to Reims, France, would be incomplete without a stop at Maison Taittinger. From the awe-inspiring chalk cellars and historic Abbey remnants to the refined gastronomic experiences at Polychrome, it’s an immersion into the soul of Champagne.

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Sicily’s Volcanic Soul: Discovering the Wines of an Ancient Island

Sicily stands tall among Italy’s top wine-producing regions—not just for its scale, but for the extraordinary transformation it has undergone. As Italy’s largest wine region, with 23 DOCs, one DOCG, and nearly a quarter million acres under vine, Sicily was once associated with mass production and bulk exports. But over the past two decades, the island has shifted dramatically toward quality, terroir-driven wines that are now earning international acclaim—including growing attention here in Canada. With ancient varieties, extreme terroirs, and a generation of winemakers focused on quality and sustainability, Sicily has arrived! Its wines are expressive, authentic, and increasingly available to Canadian consumers looking for something special yet accessible. Keep an eye out for these labels at the LCBO and top wine shops—or better yet, plan your own visit. Sicily isn’t just a vacation destination that happens to make wine. It’s a wine destination that will stay with you long after the glass is empty.

wine review: Cloudsley Wingfield Vineyard Chardonnay 2023, Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Escarpment, Ontario

June 2025 Matt's review: From one of Niagara’s most compelling single vineyards, Cloudsley's 2023 Wingfield Vineyard Chardonnay delivers a stunning expression of cool-climate winemaking and site-specific nuance. The Wingfield Vineyard, planted in 1993 with Clone 76 Chardonnay, lies just uphill from the celebrated Foxcroft Vineyard on the Twenty Mile Bench, yet it carves its own... Continue Reading →

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wine review: York Vineyards 2018 Brut, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON

York Vineyards, Canada’s first dedicated sparkling wine house, delivers an exceptional traditional method cuvée with their 2018 Brut — a masterclass in precision, patience, and expressive winemaking. Crafted entirely from 100% Pinot Gris, it was aged an impressive 60 months on the lees, with one-third raised in 500L amphora and the remaining two-thirds in French oak, offering a layered and complex aromatic and flavour profile. This is a serious and thrilling Canadian sparkling wine, crafted with uncompromising attention to detail. A standout bottle that confirms York Vineyards’ bold vision for Canadian sparkling wine at the highest level. Tasted June 2025. 94 points. Matt Steeves

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