Carpineto Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva Vertical Wine Tasting at EVOO Ristorante

Last year, I had the pleasure of tasting a fine vertical of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva wines from Carpineto. The tasting was led by the owner of Carpineto, Antonio Mario Zaccheo and hosted by Univins & Spirits at EVOO Ristorante in Toronto. Carpineto was founded in 1967 by Antonio and his business partner Giovanni Carlo Sacchet, setting out to produce internationally...

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Rolly Gassmann Rotleibel de Rorschwihr Auxerrois 2007 (Alsace) - Wine Review

Tonight's wine review was inspired after my visit to the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo on Thursday, where I visited the Vins d'Alsace booth and tasted some amazing white wines. This lovely late harvest white wine is made by a producer who has been vine growing since 1611. The Auxerrois grape varietal is grown mostly in Alsace (France), with other sizable plantings grown only...

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Ringbolt Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 (Australia) - Wine Review

My wine review for Thanksgiving tonight is this Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon from Australia. This red wine was purchased from an LCBO VINTAGES Release nearly 10 years ago to the day, back in October 2009. Of course, the 2007 vintage of this wine is no longer available for purchase, but since it is listed as a VINTAGES Essential at the LCBO, a newer vintage of the Ringbolt...

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Boutari Wine Tasting and Dinner at ONE Restaurant

In mid-October, I was invited to a very special and exclusive tasting of the fine wines from the Boutari portfolio. These Greek wines were paired with gourmet fare at Mark McEwan's ONE Restaurant in Yorkville, downtown Toronto. The guest speaker for the evening was Dr. Yannis Voyatzis, CEO & General Manager at Boutari, and one of the leading Oenologists in Greece. He...

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Taste of Greece - Top Greek Wines, May 2016

On Sunday, May 15th, I was very pleased to attend the Taste of Greece grand wine tasting held at the Royal Ontario Museum, where nearly 50 of Greece's most popular wineries poured well over 200 wines. I had the pleasure of tasting many delicious wines at this tasting, and many offered very good QPR (Quality-to-Price Ratio). I attended the media session just after lunch,...

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Top Wines from Port & Douro Tasting - May 2016

May was an extremely busy month for tastings, so I've decided to highlight some of my favourites from each tasting. The first post in this series is the Porto and Douro wine tasting - a small event held at the beginning of May. This annual tasting normally has a very low turnout, but this time attendance was very good. The room at the Hyatt Regency Toronto was also on the...

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Castillo Perelada Wine Tasting

On April 27, I had the pleasure of tasting some nice Cava and red table wines from Castillo Perelada. This old Spanish winery is making it's first appearance in Canada and I was delighted to be among the first group of people to try some of their delicious wines. Castillo Perelada was founded by Miguel Mateu when he purchased the site in 1923. This historic site is made...

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