Wine News and Features - International Wine Tribune

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection and distributed privately, Toronto, ON 18/07/08

I opened a bottle of Château de Monbazillac 2001 a friend gave me months ago and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Light amber in the glass but still youthful, fresh, and luscious on the palate with sumptuous richness and serious complexity from seven years of aging. Layers of orange zest, cedar, maple syrup, lemon twist, and an incredibly long Clementine, caramel, toasted nut, and warm vanilla bean finish. You can’t even tell it has 13% alcohol—a testament to the wine’s fine balance.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection and distributed privately, Toronto, ON 11/07/08

It’s time again to reach into my e-mailbag and answer some of those questions that have been piling up.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 4/07/08

Funny weather we’ve been having these days. One day, it’s sunny and sweltering. The next, we’re donning sweaters and shivering under umbrellas. As we wait for the gods to decide if it’s summer or not, let’s have a drink. May I suggest a glass of one of the nine finest wines being released July 5^th at the LCBO? Here they are.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 27/06/08

The Canadian wine industry has a dirty little secret. Did you know wines with Canadian winery labels with the tiny words “cellared in Canada made from domestic and imported grapes” usually on the back of the bottle are actually made from as little as 1% Canadian fruit. It’s true. It’s legal. And, what’s worse, you’ll find the bottles in the Canadian wine sections of the LCBO right beside true Canadian wine.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 21/06/08

Tomorrow is an exciting day. Usually when the LCBO casts out new releases, I find a handful worth buying with few if any under $15. This time around, I’ll be heading to the LCBO with a list of 13 wines (!) including three bottles that cost less than $15.

What’s more, the whites range from delicious honeyed-lime Riesling for pre-dinner sipping to zippy Spanish Albariño scented with lemon oil and sweet peach made for grilled fish.

Meanwhile, the reds slide from heady Australian Cabernet Sauvignon with a complex palate of chocolate, vanilla and cassis to a Spanish version of this grape variety packed with wild berry notes, cedar and tobacco conveniently sold by the half bottle.

And then there’s the long nutty Colheita Port from 1991 with warm toffee, dried fruit and creamy cappuccino notes.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 13/06/08

Sparkling wine always strikes me as the perfect summer refreshment. It’s light, effervescent, and crisp. But the flavours—and price—can vary dramatically region to region. So here’s a crash course in some of the most thrilling styles of bubbly on the planet, along with some of the best examples at the LCBO.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 06/06/08

“So, what do you think of Canadian wine?” I get asked this question all the time so here’s the scoop.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 23/05/08

If you’re like me, you’re looking for refreshment in wine—especially as the weather turns warmer. A good sip should cleanse the mouth, quench a thirst, slide easily down the throat, and leave you wanting more. And the best way to tell if a bottle will be refreshing is by glancing at the alcohol content.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 10/05/08

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you don’t need to spend more than about $20 to get a great bottle of wine at the LCBO and you can buy good ones there for much less if you know which to choose. Most of my recommendations, therefore, fall into the $10-$20 price bracket or thereabouts, which is what I usually spend for wines I drink at home.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 02/05/08

Scantily clad French folk quaff it on beaches of the

Cote d’Azur

. Euro-version “it” girls sip it in the stylish tapas bars of Spain. And fashionistas pour it in boardwalk eateries of California. Frankly, in places where rosé is de rigueur, the wine is drank rather than discussed because focus lies elsewhere—on tanned skin, on the view of the ocean, on easy afternoon chitchat—and the wet stuff in the glass merely lubricates and amplifies the moments. But the coral wines of the Cotes de Provence, the magenta Rosados of Spain, and the salmon White Zinfandels of California are loved locally.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 25/04/08

On Saturday April 26, the LCBO releases a new batch of wines. Of the 100 or so bottles I tasted, only six stood out as ones to recommend in good conscience. The wines noted below, my friends, are worth every penny.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 18/04/08

“Food and wine pairing is just a big scam”. That was the title of a recent blog entry on one of the most popular wine blogs on the web. The blogger ranted on for 27 angry paragraphs, arguing that the wine establishment has cynically “hoodwinked, tricked, bamboozled, and conned” wine drinkers around the world into believing some wines work better with any given food than others.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 11/04/08

On April 12^th, a batch of beautiful wines under $20 hit the shelves at the LCBO. Get your pens out; I’ve made a shopping list.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 29/03/08

On March 29th, the LCBO releases about 100 new wines. After tasting them through, I find—as usual—the best value wines sit squarely in the $15-$20 range. Fortified, dessert and sparkling wines can command slightly higher prices because they’re more expensive to make shifting the best value bracket to about $20-$30. After sifting through my notes, I’ve decided to list only the bottles that could probably sell for twice their price.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 21/03/08

I’m tired of expensive wine. There is absolutely no need to pay more than about $20 for a bottle of wine when you can get a very good one these days for less. We are in the midst of a wine-drinker’s market. Never before has there been so much excellent wine on shelves at affordable prices. And it’s time to take full advantage of that fact.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 14/03/08

A French winemaker once said as only a French winemaker could, “eef I wont to teaste woood, I wheel lick a plank.” And his words rang out and echoed over the hills and through the vineyards across borders and up into the heavens, expanding and shifting cloudlike across Europe before slowly making its way over the oceans to the New Worlds where the overly-oaked Chardonnays had taken great hold. And then the clouds released the words quietly into the collective consciousness of the people whose palates were starting to tire of the style they knew of only as Chardonnay. And with this, the words crystallized the thoughts of the people and released a powerful backlash against Chardonnay.

That’s not exactly how the story went but close enough. Now a lot of people are saying: I don’t like Chardonnay. What they mean is: I don’t like rich, alcoholic, oak-flavoured wine that reeks of vanilla from American wood. This style of Chardonnay is indeed the overweight gilded lily of the wine world and it recently flooded the market. Other styles of Chardonnay exist but are often disguised with names like Chablis, blanc de blancs, and white Burgundy.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 07/03/08

The first wine I fell in love with was zinfandel. Did I ever tell you that? Wait. Before you think of the pink sticky stuff called white zinfandel and write off my palate entirely, let me explain. I’m talking about the powerful almost plush red wine packed with black forest fruits and peppery spice.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 29/02/08

Here’s a secret. The Perrin family, which makes the renowned Château Beaucastel wine that fetches about $100 per bottle, also makes a great value gem that sells for a mere $11.55 at the LCBO and it’s stocked at almost every liquor store in the city. It’s called La Vieille Ferme Côtes du Ventoux. It’s red, smooth, and full of fruit in that restrained French style that recalls an earthy, mineral, berry mix rounded out with floral leafy notes and spice. Bright cherry and blackberry is called to mind along with a hint of pepper. I’m thinking about sauntering over to the LCBO to pick up a bottle or two.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 22/02/08

My friend is a wine enthusiast. Can you recommend a memorable gift for her 40^th birthday?

The gift of wine doesn’t have to come bottled. A ticket to a winemaker’s dinner or a tasting is an exhilarating way to explore wine and these events happen more often than you may think. If you visit http://www.localwineevents.com, you’ll find the details of 35 wine events in Toronto and the GTA.

By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, published in Outreach Connection, Toronto, ON 15/02/08

There’s good news at the LCBO. We should start to see more bottles of good sub-$10 wines according to a recent report in the Globe and Mail. This is welcome news since it is well-known that places such as Australia, Chile, South Africa, and Portugal make some very good value lower-priced wines but Ontario has been largely missing out simply because, until late last month, the LCBO’s buying focus centered squarely on more premium products. Now, the monopoly officially accepts lower-priced submissions so we can expect more $7 and $8 wines to hit shelves as early as April.

What are the best wines under $15 at the LCBO? I am asked this question a lot. The truth is most inexpensive wines taste confected (with sugar added to hide flaws), are over-extracted (creating heavy clumsy monsters that tire the palate after about a half a glass) or are out of balance, unclean, or just plain bland. But some wines are both inexpensive and a pleasure to drink. They make good mid-week quenchers or casual bottles for the weekend. Here are a few of my favourite lower priced wines at the LCBO.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it’s time to debunk a popular myth. Champagne and chocolates are not perfect partners. Truth be told, the match is a disaster.

If you’re reaching for Champagne, great. It’s a marvelous drink. But have it on its own or pair it with oysters in the half shell, salmon mousse on baguette slices, just about any mild fish dish, or even popcorn or potato chips. All of these partners pair beautifully with French fizz.

Winery workers in Niagara Canada were out in force yesterday for the start of the country's ice wine harvest.

With temperatures dropping below -8C (17.6F) in the early morning of 3 January, the conditions were cold enough to freeze the grapes on the vine – a prerequisite for harvesting ice wine.

A complex nose with subtle hints of poo: Burgundy is mad for a new kind of winemaking whose secret ingredient is cow dung

Nine years ago, the prestigious 289-year-old Burgundy winery Domaine Leflaive hosted a blind taste test of two of its wines. To be exact, the tasters, from the London wine merchant Corney & Barrow, were comparing two samples of the same wine: the 1996 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon. But one was made with organic grapes, the other with grapes grown using biodynamism, a method that's gaining popularity in wine circles -- although even its advocates will admit it sounds like something out of a Wiccan manual. Growers following one preparation are instructed to pack manure in a cow horn and bury it among the vines during the fall, dig it up in the spring and stir in rainwater vigorously for an hour, then apply it to the land after 3 p.m. The result: better grapes, apparently.

Constellation Brands has raised its hostile takeover bid to CAN$1.1bn to acquire Vincor International, North America's fourth-largest wine producer.

'In the absence of cooperation by Vincor, CAN$33 (€23.9) [per share] is Constellation's best and final offer,' Constellation's CEO Richard Sands said.

Recent studies suggest red wine may prevent ulcers and strokes, clear the arteries, suppress cancer, help the lungs, and act like an antibiotic against certain bacteria. Research has now shown the benefits could be captured in a tablet.

Plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay have been increasing for the last decade in all of the major wine producing regions in the world, fueled by consumer demand. Now, the wine trade and wine industry is starting to react to what has become a surplus of these two varieties.

The use of agglomerate was banned on 1st October for all bottling of Beaujolais, and across all appellations. This is just one of the 29 measures presented and implemented during the "Assises du Beaujolais", which took place last July in Lyon.

Labour shortages and rising production costs have plagued the port industry over the past 50 years and a steady decline in sales since 1980 has burdened the sherry industry. These regional pressures coupled with an increasingly competitive marketplace are spurring investment and innovation in production, marketing and sales.

Supermarkets account for an ever-growing share of wine sales around the world. This trend is reshaping the playing field, and has prompted a re-evaluation of the ways in which wine producers compete in the demanding grocery sector and beyond.

At first glance, New Zealand’s wine industry seems to be performing phenomenally well in the United Kingdom. It commands the highest average retail price per bottle at £5.85; its flagship variety Sauvignon Blanc has never been more popular; and now, the Kiwis predict the 2004 vintage will be a third larger than any previous one. Yet major challenges lie ahead.

New Zealand

wine producers will face significant challenges over the next few years if export trends continue.

The value of Australian wine exports has dramatically fallen by over a quarter in just one month, according to a new report issued by the country’s Bureau of Statistics.

Supermarkets continue to seize an increasing share of retail wine sales globally. This trend is reshaping the playing field, and gives rise to the question of how to compete in the demanding grocery sector and other market segments.

An Australian cork manufacturer says its Portuguese quality control laboratory rejects a quarter of all corks after analysis by its revolutionary new TCA detection equipment.

This year will be one of the best years ever, according to Chris White, general manager of Denbies Wine Estates in Surrey—England's largest wine producer. Others agree. Tom Shaw, managing director of Three Choirs Vineyards in Gloucestershire, is calling this year's fruit 'magnificent.'

Scientists reject GM for cold-resistant vine
By Carolyn Evans-Hammond, Decanter.com, 9/23/2003

Canadian scientists are close to identifying the gene that protects vines from extreme cold – and they're doing it without genetic modification.

Producers in Ontario expect a drastically reduced crop size this year after extremely low temperatures in January, February and March. Sue Ann Staff, winemaker of Pillitteri Estates Winery in Niagara says, '[W]e will be left with just 30% of a typical crop this year.' Other Ontario vineyards may not be hit as badly.