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Posts with category ‘Sommeliers’

First Pour

Posted on April 24, 2006

Welcome back to weekly coverage of the topic that never tires. A place where once again—since departing the weekly “On Wine” column in the Globe and Mail in 1999—I can provide real-time news, views and reviews. This blog will review new releases from Ontario wineries, the LCBO general list, Vintages and Consignment. It will tell stories about people and places, and guide you to seminars and events. It will be your bookmark for what’s happening in the dynamic wine scene in Toronto and surrounding wine regions.

Sommelier School and Washington Whites

Posted on August 8, 2006

While most wine drinkers, buyers and sellers have booked off for a summer hiatus—to finally sit back and enjoy those great value rieslings, rosés and sauvignon blancs— a group of Toronto sommeliers are in summer school, with no relief on hot days. They are the second class to register for the intensive 39-week Sommelier Certificate Program at George Brown College, offered in conjunction with the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers. This trade association has chapters in Toronto and Montreal, with links to similar European organizations. Certified members of CAPS can compete in the annual Meilleur Sommelier du Monde Competition being held next year in Spain.

Treadwell: A Father and Son Match

Posted on August 21, 2006

Many chefs and sommeliers talk of food and wine matching, but it’s always a joy to walk into a restaurant where chef and sommelier actually talk together—and then deliver outstanding matches at the table. Even better when they are a father and son with a genetically linked sense of flavour, and where the chef father has instilled passion for wine in son. It happened Sunday at Treadwell in Port Dalhousie, Niagara as James Chatto and I, along with group of 30 merrymakers, wound up our annual Tour of Niagara. Treadwell was the bon voyage lunch after a 48-hour matching extravaganza, in which we savoured and poked our way through 20 different courses and 46 wines. (There were several other great dishes and wines, some of which are covered in Chatto’s Digest this week.)

Private Order Break Out

Posted on May 7, 2007

Wine of the Week
Bodegas Terras Gauda 2006 O Rosel, Rias Baixas, Spain ($26, 91 points, www.thewinecoaches.com)
Gorgeous aromatic, fleshy, lively and spicy white made on Spain’s northwest coast in Galicia, primarily from the local albarino grape (70%) with 20% loureira and 10% caino. Youth is so important with this style of wine that can sink into soupiness as it ages. This is as bright as they come, bursting with star anise, pineapple and grapefruit.

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Wine, Words and Wisdom

Posted on December 17, 2007

If you haven’t bought your special bottles for Christmas gifts you may be too late, as LCBO shelves will be emptying fast this week. Plan B? Nip into your local bookstore for a wine book.

My favourite wine moments of 2007

Posted on December 27, 2007

1Hidden Bench 2005 Nuits Blanche, Niagara
My head-spinning first tasting of a brilliant bordeaux-inspired white blend of sauvignon blanc and sémillon that went on to win white wine of the year at the Canadian Wine Awards. Hidden Bench opened in June and came out of nowhere to take runner-up for winery of the year.

Nova Scotia’s New Eden

Posted on April 17, 2008

Nova Scotia might soon be a remarkable source of high-quality, expensive sparkling wine—the Champagne of North America.

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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