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Toronto Life - The Wire

The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com

All stories by David Lawrason

The Dish

From the Print Edition
December 7, 2011 | 3:24 pm

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David Lawrason reveals his holiday wine buying strategy, along with nine of his favourite festive bottles

Drink, Drink and Be Merry

What are the best holiday dinner wines? This is a question I get every year, usually at the 11th hour when the asker is dashing off to the LCBO, only to find the selection depleted and the lineups winding back into the beer fridges. To those pathologically last-minute shoppers, I say break the cycle: shop early and shop once. With a little planning and a few extra dollars, you can put together a collection of wines that will make the evening truly remarkable. I’ve chosen nine of my favourites, including an award-winning Ontario bubbly for welcoming guests, bird-perfect pairings and a mellow sipper for after the feast has been demolished. They’re all excellent options for toasting the season of giving and gluttony.

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The Dish

From the Print Edition
November 1, 2011 | 2:19 pm

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David Lawrason picks nine new Tuscan reds to splurge on this fall

(Illustration: Jack Dylan)

Tuscany is Italy’s most famous wine region. At its centre, enveloping Florence and Siena, is Chianti, the hilly, vineyard-lined area responsible for the country’s signature wine. Made primarily with sangiovese grapes, Chianti is tangy with tart-edged redcurrant and earthy flavours that evoke the comfort of lazy, casual pasta dinners. But nowadays, there’s much more to Tuscany than rustic Chianti. Italian vintners have planted French varietals such as cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah.Whether blended with sangiovese or used on their own, they produce smoother, more sophisticated and complex reds (colloquially known as supertuscans). And the warmer coastal regions—Bolgheri, Maremma and Grosseto—are turning out big, rich, modern wines that could easily pass for New World reds. Several of these exciting new Tuscans are now available at the LCBO. The best ones are refined while still capturing the old-school vitality that made the region famous.

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The Dish

From the Print Edition
October 12, 2011 | 2:59 pm

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David Lawrason picks nine great, affordable pinot noirs from around the world

(Illustration: Jack Dylan)

Pinot noir is my desert island wine. It’s light and refreshing, and it pairs with just about any food. I adore it. For centuries, Burgundy, with its cool climate and limestone-rich soils, was one of the few places on the planet that could coax great wine from the famously precious, thin-skinned grape. As a result, pinot prices were inflated—one of the world’s most expensive reds is Burgundy’s Domaine Romanee-Conti pinot, which sells for $11,000. In the 1970s, under the disapproving gaze of the French, winemakers started planting pinot in Oregon, New Zealand, California and Ontario. The resulting wines were often exciting, though still expensive. Then 2004’s sleeper hit Sideways chronicled a pinot-swilling novelist’s road trip through California wine country and propelled the wine into the limelight. The heartbreak grape, as it’s known to vintners due to its finnicky nature, is now grown all over the globe and is much more affordable. While some may lament the popularization of the once-elite grape, I’m thrilled it’s more widely available. Here, nine bottles under $25 from Ontario, Australia and everywhere in between.

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The Dish

From the Print Edition
September 19, 2011 | 9:30 am

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David Lawrason rounds up some of the best Ontario wines from off the beaten track

New Ontario vintners are planting vines in unlikely places and making wine that will warm your indie-loving locavore heart.
By David Lawrason

(Illustration: Jack Dylan)

In the last five or so years, vineyards have popped up off the beaten track of Ontario’s wine circuit—in Norfolk County (Port Dover), Grey County (Collingwood) and the south of Prince Edward County (Milford). To adapt to the idiosyncrasies of their untested terroirs, trail­blazing winemakers are trying out new types of grapes and growing techniques. For example, at the Coffin Ridge winery near Owen Sound, they’re planting hybrid vines, like Marquette and Frontenac, that are designed to survive -34°C winters. To accommodate a growing season that’s two weeks shorter than that of much of the rest of Ontario, the Georgian Hills winery near Colling­wood plants early-ripening gamay. And at Burning Kiln, on an old tobacco farm near Port Dover, they’re drying ripe grapes in tobacco kilns to produce the big, flavour-rich reds that generally come from warmer climates. After a few years of experimentation, these small operations are now turning out intriguing, often very good wines, but because the LCBO doesn’t carry small-batch bottlings, you have to order them online or make the pilgrimage to the wineries. Here, nine bottles worth the extra effort.

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The Dish

From the Print Edition
August 8, 2011 | 10:30 am

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Why Greek wines are about to become the next big thing

Greek wines are as intriguing as their popular French and Italian counterparts, and they’re half the price
By David Lawrason

(Illustration: Jack Dylan)

Pine-scented retsina has left a bitter taste with many wine drinkers, but Greek wine has moved on, and it’s poised to become the next big thing, with more Greek labels making their way into trendy restaurants beyond the Danforth. More than 300 indigenous grapes are grown in the country’s 28 wine-growing appellations, which are home to more than 650 wineries. And the quality and value has only been getting better over the last 10 years. The new Greek wines combine the firm acid and mineral structure of many European wines with the ripe, bright fruitiness often found in hotter New World regions. The country’s core strength is aromatic yet steely whites, like moschofilero and assyrtiko, that will appeal to riesling and gewürztraminer fans. Lighter-weight, complex reds like xinomavro and agiorgitiko are similar to pinot noir and Italian nebbiolo. The LCBO’s selection is still meagre, but Vintages carries some excellent-value bottles, while Kolonaki Group, an Ontario-based Greek wine specialist, offers great buys by the case. Here, nine bottles worth trying, even if you’re not serving souvlaki.

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The Dish

From the Print Edition
July 5, 2011 | 9:01 am

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David Lawrason offers nine reasons why garnacha makes for great barbecue wine

(Illustration: Jack Dylan)

Backyard sommeliers bored with the usual summer reds (merlot, shiraz, zinfandel) should try fruity garnacha. It is more commonly known by its French name, grenache, but it originated in Spain and thrives in the hot, arid Mediterranean. Despite once being the world’s most widely planted red grape, it was usually considered unfit for fine wine on its own. Its tannin and acidity are low and its alcohol quite high, so it’s most often blended with syrah, mourvèdre and carignan, or torn out of the ground altogether to make way for merlot and cabernet vines. In recent years, however, such leading winemakers as Alvaro Palacios, Hugh Ryman and Norrel Robertson are reviving derelict garnacha vineyards in Spain. The old, gnarled, low-yielding vines make richly fruity, even creamy reds that are dense enough to match red meat textures, smooth enough to drink without aging, and ripe and peppery enough to handle any barbecue sauce yet invented. If you crave something light, garnacha is the base for dry Spanish and French rosés, and there is even a handful of whites made with garnacha blanca. It’s also affordable, so you can mix a case of different styles to keep your deck and dock guests happy all summer long.

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The Dish

From the Print Edition
May 18, 2011 | 9:08 am

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Nine West Coast wines that are flying off the shelves

By David Lawrason

Illustrated Portrait of David Lawrason

(Image: Jack Dylan)

California wine has always had a certain easygoing appeal, and the region’s big-ticket bottles have been a staple in collectors’ cellars for the last three decades. In my opinion, however, they’ve also suffered from excess—they’re too expensive, too candy-coated, too oaky and too hot on the finish. I get angry when I taste a $300 Napa Valley icon wine and discover it barely deserves 90 points—the quality doesn’t match the price. But a new generation of California winemakers is breaking away from tradition and working with new blends and grape varieties. Regions like Mendocino County, the Sonoma Coast and Paso Robles, which typically live in the shadow of Napa and Sonoma, are producing wine that’s more refined, better balanced and much more affordable (in the $20 to $40 range). This improvement, combined with a strong Canadian dollar, has boosted sales at the LCBO’s Vintages stores, where, for the first time ever, California wines are outselling those from Italy and France. In 2010, they brought in $70.8 million, which is a 21.5 per cent increase from 2009 and accounts for a fifth of all Vintages sales. I recently tasted several dozen of these top sellers and picked the best of the bunch.

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The Dish

From the Print Edition
April 13, 2011 | 8:55 am

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Return to Oz: the LCBO is introducing 30 new Australian wines. Here, David Lawrason picks the top nine

Faced with tanking sales, Australia’s winemakers are discovering smaller is better by David Lawrason

(Illustration: Jack Dylan)

Just three years ago, Australian wines were the darlings of the New World: cheap and cheeky, with cute critter names. But wine fashion is as fickle and furious as an outback brush fire, and Aussie sales around the world have been spiralling steadily downward. Recession-stricken consumers moved to cheaper wines from Argentina, Chile and South Africa for their New World fix, and, let’s face it, Australia’s mass-produced shirazes and chardonnays were starting to seem monotonously similar. Add to this downturn years of vineyard-crippling drought, and it seemed Australia was down for the count. However, on a recent visit, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Aussie winemakers are focusing on regionality, single-vineyard production and distinctive new grape varieties and blends. The last couple of vintages have shown an improved balance of alcohol, acidity and fruit, without losing their easy-drinking appeal. This month, the LCBO will introduce more than 30 new Australian labels that are, for the most part, high quality, moderately priced and full of character. Here, my picks from the new wave of wines from Down Under.

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The Dish

From the Print Edition
March 7, 2011 | 9:14 am

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Reinvention tour: Ontario vintners are showing off their chardonnays and changing minds about the infamous ’80s grape

(Illustration: Jack Dylan)

The consumer revolt against chardonnay, known as the ABC (anything but chardonnay) movement, hasn’t stopped Ontario winemakers from producing excellent chardonnays. The province’s cool climate and limestone-rich soils provide similar conditions to those in Burgundy, France—the region that put chardonnay on the map with such wines as chablis, pouilly-fuissé and meursault. As the Ontario industry and its vines mature, home-grown chardonnays are becoming truly impressive, especially the more expensive varieties that are fermented and aged in French oak. To get the word out, Ontario vintners are sending their best bottlings (as selected in a blind tasting by Ontario wine critics) abroad to wine fairs. At the first event in London last year, pundits were pleasantly surprised to discover such high-quality chardonnays from a province known mostly for icewine. The enthusiastic response prompted Ontario wineries to repeat the performance this month for Manhattan’s wine critics. Niagara will also become an international chardonnay hub this July, when it hosts a multi-winery festival in honour of the cool-climate grape. To prime your palates, we’ve selected the region’s most seductive bottles.

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The Dish

From the Print Edition
February 14, 2011 | 3:18 pm

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Just Desserts: sophisticated sweet wines worth the splurge

By David Lawrason

(Illustration: Jack Dylan)

Sweet wines generally get a bad rap. Even avid wine lovers tend to dismiss them as overly expensive, cloying or lacking in refinement. Yet the only wine I ever awarded a perfect 100-point score was a sweet Château d’Yquem 2001 Sauternes from Bordeaux. It was profound, powerful and exquisite. At a tasting of sweet wines—from Mediterranean muscats to Canadian icewines to Australian “stickies”—the quality of almost everything I tried was astounding. Most types are made from grapes that have lingered on the vine until they’re slightly raisiny, resulting in high sugar content, concentrated flavours and low juice volume (the same goes for frozen grapes pressed for icewines). In some cases, the wines are then aged in barrels for anywhere from three months to 40 years. The labour-intensive process accounts for the famously high price of sweet wine. But they aren’t always expensive, and the value is generally excellent, with each bottle presenting a range of flavours as complex as any pastry chef can conjure up. They make a terrific dinner party gift, paired with rich cheeses (port and blue is a no‑brainer), or sipped solo instead of dessert. Here, 10 great sweeties at the LCBO.

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The Dish

From the Print Edition
January 20, 2011 | 8:45 am

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All that sparkles: nine outstanding bottles of bubbly without the elitism

(Illustration: Jack Dylan)

French champagne is still the standard-bearer for the world’s sparkling wines. But New World winemakers are tinkering with its conventions and challenging its supremacy, making bubbly more fun and diverse—for celebrating everyday life, not just its highlights. Understanding sparkling wine means wrapping your head around confusing nomenclature: in champagne terms, the driest styles are called brut, but the sweeter ones are “extra-dry.” More extra-dry wine is being made whether labelled thus or not, reflecting the fact that most of humanity actually prefers sweetish wine. Of late, in the New World, we’re seeing grapes other than the champagne triumvirate of pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier—such varietals as sauvignon blanc, riesling and even shiraz. The final kick in the shins to champagne is that quality has improved substantially throughout the sparkling-wine spectrum—from Italian prosecco to Spanish cava, from French cremants to the global legions of chardonnay-pinot champagne emulators. Whatever the style, these sparklers are all cheaper than champagne, sometimes astonishingly so considering their fine quality.

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The Dish

From the Print Edition
December 6, 2010 | 9:39 am

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Of Great Import: The best wines from British Columbia

Finally, more of British Columbia’s premium bottles are available in Ontario. Here, the best of the west By David Lawrason

(Image: Jack Dylan)

It’s boom time in B.C. There are now nearly 200 wineries, and the quality just keeps getting better. In fact, with the recent influx of showcase wineries and new restaurants, the Okanagan Valley is being called Napa North. Winemakers have perfected techniques to harness the arid valley’s impossibly short but scorching growing season. The sheer diversity of wine is stunning: floral aromatic rieslings and gewürztraminers from cooler sites north of Kelowna; sophisticated pinot gris, chardonnays and pinot noirs from the Naramata Bench; and powerful cabernets and syrahs from the hot south near Oliver and Osoyoos. Until recently, however, it’s been hard to taste the western renaissance in Ontario. Supply is limited (B.C.’s output is two-thirds of Ontario’s), and the wine is still treated as an import here due to archaic interprovincial alcohol regulations. (For starters, it’s illegal for wineries to take orders from Ontario and ship directly to their customers.) Thankfully, more good B.C. wine is now trickling into Vintages stores and wine agencies. The selection below includes some of the best cutting-edge wines now available.

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The Dish

From the Print Edition
November 8, 2010 | 12:12 pm

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When in Rhône: David Lawrason picks the best wines from southern France

Robust, charming and fun, the recent releases from southern France are worth ordering by the case By David Lawrason

(Image: Jack Dylan)

Southern Rhône, the dry, rugged valley that snakes through south-central France to the Mediterranean, has become one of the most exciting wine regions to watch. Whereas the syrah-based reds from the steeper slopes of northern Rhône are consistently linear, sophisticated and cellar-worthy, bottles from the sprawling south are far more fun and surprising. The 2005, 2006 and just released 2007 vintages are all incredible. Blended from grenache, syrah, carignan, mourvèdre and cinsault, southern Rhônes are robust reds, perfect for casual meals—particularly as the chill of autumn arrives. Their plummy fragrance is often etched with pepper, rosemary, lavender and, above all, anise, which emanates from the area’s abundant shrubland, referred to as “garrigue.” (I chomped pounds of black licorice as a kid, so I must confess partiality to southern Rhône’s signature scent.) The varied soilscapes of the valley, hill outcroppings and high-altitude plateaus also help create fascinating flavour diversity from winery to winery. Vintages has a special release of southern Rhône 2007s this fall, and I’m going to buy as many bottles as I can afford. Here, a cross-section from basic Côtes-du-Rhône to top-rung Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

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The Dish

From the Print Edition
August 4, 2010 | 11:47 am

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Tiny bubbles: top picks from Prince Edward County’s first sparkling wines

Prince Edward County’s first sparklers are incredible: you’d swear you were drinking champagne By David Lawrason

(Image: Jack Dylan)

The first three sparkling wines to come out of Prince Edward County are taut, tender and dance across the palate: they taste more like champagne than any non-French bubbly I’ve ever tasted. The secret is in the dirt. The sunny farming region south of Belleville has almost as high a concentration of limestone in its soil as France’s Champagne district. Limestone is fissured and spongy, which allows vine roots to penetrate deep into the bedrock, and the wine it yields is full of refreshing minerality. The similarities in terroir and climate were so striking that two expat Torontonians, Jonas Newman, a former maître d’ at Scara­mouche, and his partner, Vicki Samaras, have opened Hinterland winery, the County’s first dedicated exclusively to bubbly. It’s one of 14 launches in the past year, bringing the total number of wineries to 31. The region once considered laughably marginal is full of undercapitalized but pioneering vintners. Many are eking out fewer than 1,000 cases from small acreages, making their wines scarce (most are unavailable at the LCBO) and expensive. But low yields create better quality wines. Here are some examples of PEC’s finest to seek out on your next, or first, trip.

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The Dish

From the Print Edition
July 5, 2010 | 12:20 pm

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Bio Picks: 10 top eco-wines

Eco-wines that taste so good your guests will never know they’re saving the planet By David Lawrason

(Illustration: Brian Rea)

I’m all for protecting the environment, but when it comes to wine, what I care about most is taste. Fortunately, there’s good news on the eco-friendly front. Like organics, biodynamic wines are free of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers, but the eco-balanced regimen is even more stringent. One of biodynamic vintners’ main aims is to strengthen the soil and, therefore, the vines. They bury cows’ horns filled with compost material in the soil and take cues from lunar cycles for planting and pruning. The techniques might sound paganistic, but such meticulous attention often results in better tasting wine. I’ve also found that biodynamic wines offer unparalleled expressions of terroir. The best I’ve tasted was a famous Loire Valley chenin blanc made by French biodynamic proponent Nicolas Joly. The Coulée de Serrant is a sinewy, incredibly intense wine that radiates flint and oyster shell—there’s no question that it comes from chalk soil vineyards in a maritime climate on the banks of the broad Loire.

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