By Peter Vetsch and Raymond Lamontagne [These bottles were provided as samples for review purposes.] Everyone’s favourite proclaimed and grammatically questionable vinous holiday has returned: April 17th, 2022 marks the 11th annual Malbec World Day, which should almost certainly be “World Malbec Day” in its English formulation but officially is not. Unfortunately for this grandiose occasion, it happens to share the stage this year with an even bigger (and actually statutory) holiday whose date roves yearly with the lunar calendar. Happy Easter, everybody: if your Malbec attention span is absor ..read more

[These bottles were provided as samples for review purposes.] OK, these Bordeaux aren’t THAT new, but in a region that often measures time in centuries, a winery that is a scant two decades old counts as a fresh face. The wines (to my palate, anyway) also come across as efforts best explored while they are young and energetic, without the need to let them sit, mellow and expand as often seen in their counterparts. But it’s Bordeaux, so even the new wines from the new source are steeped in ancient history. Maison Sichel is a lion of the mid-range Bordeaux scene, with an astonishing array of la ..read more

By Raymond Lamontagne [These bottles were provided as samples for review purposes.] I almost literally jumped at this opportunity to blog an Ontario winery. Although I’m a western boy born and raised, and therefore somewhat imbued with the trappings of a “friendly rivalry” with all things associated with the centre of the Canadian universe, I do have some roots in the province. Trips out to see my wonderful in-laws have solidified a curiosity around Ontario wines, if not a budding passion that has so far survived some edifying (if not exactly lovely) experiences with bargain-priced local bottl ..read more

By Peter Vetsch [These bottles were provided as samples for review purposes.] Highway 97 runs south from Oliver to Osoyoos and is surrounded by vines on both sides. With Osoyoos Lake in the foreground and the roadway running parallel to a tiny tributary connecting the lake to the bodies of water further north, the landscape rises up sharply to the east and west, creating a large natural amphitheatre with tremendous sun and wind exposure for grape plantings. The highway’s crossroads count up from 1 as you leave Oliver, and if you turn right at the viticulturally famous Road 13 and go just up th ..read more

By Peter Vetsch [These bottles were provided as samples for review purposes] One of the most anticipated sets of releases out of the Okanagan Valley for me every year are those of Amulet, winemaker Dwight Sick’s Rhone-fuelled collaboration with Dylan and Penelope Roche. Made at Roche’s winery near Penticton, from grapes sourced via Sick’s extensive network of prime vineyard sources (including Kiln House Vineyard, which is assuredly Canada’s most established Grenache site), the Amulet wines are always honest, complex and expressive, firmly demonstrating that Rhone varietals might be BC’s most e ..read more

By Peter Vetsch [These bottles were provided as samples for review purposes.] A common tactic you’ll hear about value hunting in the world of wine is to take a highly exalted and pedigreed region whose wines always sell at a premium — and then see what grows next door, which is quite often similar grapes in similar (albeit never identical) conditions, for a fraction of the price. So if you like Chateauneuf-du-Pape, you should check out Gigondas and Vacqueyras just to the east, which produce reasonable facsimiles of the region’s top dog (absent religious uprisings) without breaking the bank. Of ..read more

By Raymond Lamontagne [These bottles were provided as samples for review purposes.] The fact that there are so many poorly known wine regions in France (at least to North American drinkers) is testament to just how deeply wine is ingrained into French culture. They make the stuff almost everywhere. We’ve all heard of, exalted, and perhaps even been oversaturated by (at times) the classics, but the south of France in particular makes up a hugely diverse patchwork quilt of wine regions, grape varieties, and winemaking regulations. The broad strokes are often familiar (e.g., the Rhone Valley, Pro ..read more

By Peter Vetsch [These bottles were provided as samples for review purposes.] And we’re back. After a brief summer hiatus that involved winery visits, wildfires, new home purchases, way too much packing (with much more to come) and a tiny bit of unplugging from the electronic world, we are hitting the ground running for the impending fall season and have a number of posts lined up for the next few months. Many of them, including the one scheduled after this, focus their attention on uncharted waters: new regions, grapes and bottles, the next frontier of wine exploration. One of the most beauti ..read more

By Raymond Lamontagne [These bottles were provided as samples for review purposes.] Although Drink Chenin Day is now in the rearview mirror for this year, our South African wine feature is but half complete. There is one more Chenin in the mix, but here South African cool climate “up and comer” Sauvignon Blanc gets its just due, along with a few classic red varietals and at least one oddball (if one can ever truly refer to the unobjectionable-to-a-fault Pinot Grigio as “odd”…I feel this grape might merit the designation in South Africa due to a relative lack of historical presence in the regio ..read more

By Peter Vetsch [These bottles were provided as samples for review purposes.] As far as concocted wine holidays go, this one has a rather organic beginning. The first Drink Chenin Day, a global celebration of the wonderful and perennially underrated Chenin Blanc, was not self-created by a trade association or a PR firm, but was held in 2014 by a group of American sommeliers and winemakers. Their initiative was picked up by the Chenin Blanc Association of South Africa, which has turned the third Friday of every June into an industry-backed festival of all things Chenin. This year’s Drink Chenin ..read more