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Posts with category ‘Australia’

Santé, Australia and Prince Edward County

Posted on May 1, 2006

Pour a glass of spring riesling (Vineland 2005 Semi-Dry leaps to mind) and read on. It’s a busy time…The 7th annual Santé Food and Wine Festival is underway in the Bloor-Yorkville district this week, featuring a mix of large and small tasting, dinners both grand and intimate, “Sip, Savour and Shop” opportunities and seminars by wine experts. Unlike many traditional wine fairs, this is not an attempt to jam a gazillion wines and people into one room for a few hours, then boast about numbers. Eighty international wineries will be supplying events spread over five days throughout the community—a grassroots graze, albeit in a real green pasture neighbourhood. Perhaps this slightly foreign concept is the reason Santé fails to ignite passions in some. Knowing there was a charity beneficiary might evoke more empathy as well. That said, there is plenty going on, and the open-minded always find food for thought.

Twin Fin, Salmon Revival, Chateau de Beaucastel

Posted on May 4, 2006

It’s a rule of thumb (the purple thumb) that when the hype is about labels, demographics and price points, the wine in the bottle is likely mediocre—more so when cuddly critters are baring their commercial fangs. Which brings us to the LCBO general list and a new concept wine from California called Twin Fin (not the mascot of the San Jose Sharks). Twin Fin is actually decent wine but I’m not going to rave. It’s exactly the quality I expect from a $14.00 bottle, and fair value from California which still tends to be overpriced for what’s in the glass.

Value Wines, Calgary Dining, Portuguese Whites

Posted on June 26, 2006

Howdy, from the Hotel Arts in Calgary—site of the first International Value Wine Awards. There are 800 wines entered from 18 countries, all available somewhere in Canada for less than $25. As far as I know, this is the world’s first international judging for less-expensive wines, and I suspect there will be big world wide interest in this process. Results will determine a best red and best white under $25, then provide “top ten values” in each major varietal category—for example, the ten best shiraz in Canada under $25. They will also break out winners regionally or by country. By rough count, about 300 of the wines entered are found on Ontario’s general list or as Vintages Essentials, wines that I will be reviewing in the Toronto Life Eating and Drinking Guide this fall. The competition is being held in Calgary because Alberta, with a privatized market and over 700 stores, has the largest number of brands on store shelves of any province in Canada, over 10,000 at any one time compared to about 4,000 in Ontario.

B.C.’s Jackson-Triggs & Inniskillin, Australia’s C

Posted on July 17, 2006

"In my conversations with Constellation they have said nothing will change. They told me, ‘Keep on doing what you are doing’”. Which suits Jackson-Triggs Okanagan winemaker Bruce Nicholson perfectly. The former Niagaran has piloted JTO to critical acclaim in international and domestic competitions since the turn of the millennium, and if Constellation Brands, the new American owners of Vincor Canada, do not make changes, then we should all be glad. He and viticulturalist Mark Sheridan are doing fine work with grapes from the massive Bull Pine, Bear Cub and SunRock vineyards planted in the Sonoran Desert astride Osoyoos Lake in southern B.C.

Aussie Shiraz, LCBO Picks & Pans

Posted on July 31, 2006

The dog days of summer find me confined to my quarters, tasting virtually everything good, bad and indifferent on the LCBO general list, and on Vintages continuously available Essentials list. Hundreds of bottles are lined up for tasting in preparation for the fall publication of the Toronto Life Eating and Drinking Guide. It appears on newsstands in full magazine format in late October and then in the smaller Food and Wine CityGuide as a supplement to the December issue. I’m not quite ready to talk trends and observations, but I can offer faithful blog-readers a sneak preview. I will expand in the next couple of weeks as tasting continues; heaven knows that there is little else to report upon at this time of year. The wine world is on a summer snooze, much like my teenage sons.

Tetra Paks: The Good, The Bad and The Gaudy

Posted on March 19, 2007

Wine of the Week
Lizard Flat 2005 Chardonnay Verdleho *** Australia (20610, $13.15/1L)
What I expect from a Tetra Pak—a lively, fresh and simple white wine to take on a summer picnic or fishing expedition. The high acid verdelho grape is key to its vitality. Shows clean, almost floral lemony, kiwi and pineapple fruit in a light, crisp yet slightly sweet texture. Finish thin but it is appealing. I have tasted this twice; impressed both times. I have also tasted the companion Lizard Flat 2005 Merlot twice and found one box dull and somewhat oxidative, the other quite good.

The Extraordinary Peter Gago

Posted on July 25, 2007

Wine of the Week
Penfolds 2005 Thomas Hyland Shiraz, South Australia ($19.95, 89 points 611210)
I tasted this new vintage, just arriving as a Vintages Essential, alongside winemaker Peter Gago during a recent trade tasting of Penfolds 2007 releases. Very youthful, solidly built yet quite elegant for $20. Reserved, complex nose of cedar, mint, blackberry, clove and graphite. Dense, firm structure, excellent length. Some tannic bitterness, so age it a couple of years. Best 2009 to 2012.

Surprising Australians in Vintages’ new release

Posted on January 30, 2008

The upcoming March issue of Toronto Life (on newsstands February 7th) contains reviews of 10 wines from Vintages’ February 2nd release, all of which have been rated 90 points or higher by other writers. In the spirit of helping you critique the critics, my reviews in the magazine compare my impressions and ratings to theirs, but there are certainly more than 10 interesting wines on this release.

Legendary Henschke wines are coming to the LCBO

Posted on February 13, 2008

In most winemaking nations, there are a handful of family-run wineries that have risen to the summit of success based on unswerving quality. There is actually an auspicious international association called Primum Familiae Vini that promotes this notion (and they will be celebrating themselves with tastings and dinners in Vancouver, March 9 to 11). Thus far, they have no Australian members, so I would like to nominate Stephen and Prue Henschke, guiding lights to the benefits of family winery ownership, especially when that family is endowed with great passion, intelligence and inquiring minds.

California Greening

Posted on March 28, 2008

My column in the May issue of Toronto Life (on newsstands April 10) examines the burgeoning “green” wine movement, with observations and reviews based on tastings at the international Return to Terroir event in February, and Vintages’ organics release on March 29. Since then, I have compiled even more notes on the wine world’s most pressing trend. Much of the information and inspiration has come out of California, where “green” is becoming an industry-wide mantra. Grape growers are taking the lead in environmental practices and turning the heads of those in other sectors of California’s massive agricultural industry. Two insiders have told me that a stunning 55 per cent of Californian wine producers have now registered for a new program that allows for self-assessment of sustainable agriculture practices.

Cheers to Santé

Posted on May 6, 2008

The 10th annual Santé: Toronto International Wine Festival kicks off Monday, May 5, with a week-long tasting menu of winemaker dinners, special events and seminars in venues throughout Yorkville. California and Australia are this year’s headliners. Here is the roster of major events, complete with some of the wines and wineries worth investigating. For more details and tickets, check out the festival’s Web site, www.santewinefestival.net.

David Lawrason

David Lawrason

David Lawrason has worked full time as one of Canada's leading, independent wine writers and educators for over 20 years. He was the founder of Wine Access magazine and Globe and Mail wine columnist for 13 years before becoming resident wine guy at Toronto Life, where he pens a monthly column and writes an exhaustive review of LCBO general listings for the annual Food and Wine Guide. As a wine educator he has taught sommelier programs at George Brown, Humber and Niagara Colleges, and has run popular public courses in Toronto since 1988. He has visited every major wine major producing country in the world, while focusing recently on the booming Canadian wine scene, as founder of the Canadian Wine Awards program, and Canadian wine columnist for Wine Access.

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