Vietti Perbacco Nebbiolo 2020 (Piedmont) - Wine Review

Tonight's red wine review is an excellent, vegan-friendly Nebbiolo from Piedmont that arrived at the LCBO last month in the September 21 LCBO VINTAGES New Release Collection.It is produced by the prestigious and historic Vietti winery, which was established at the end of the 1800s by Carlo Vietti in the heart of the Langhe wine region, on the highest point of the medieval...

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La Luna e I Falò Barbera d'Asti Superiore 2020 (Piedmont) - Wine Review

Tonight's red wine review is a delicious red wine from Italy that's made with the Barbera grape varietal. It arrived at the LCBO last weekend in the August 19th LCBO VINTAGES New Release Collection.It is produced by Vite Colte, a co-operative winery whose name means the art of cultivating the vine. The co-op is made up of 180 small winegrowers with 300 hectares of vineyards,...

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April 29, 2023 LCBO VINTAGES Release Wine Picks: Classic European Regions

Here are my top wine picks from the April 29, 2023 LCBO VINTAGES New Release Collection which is titled "Fine Wines from Classic European Regions". Also included in the printed magazine is a sneak preview of the next release which will be the return of the monthly "Online & Flagship Exclusives" only release, with no associated in-store release. All of the wines from the...

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Michele Chiarlo Tortoniano Barolo 2017 (Piedmont) - Wine Review

After enjoying the beautiful 2018 Michele Chiarlo Reyna Barbaresco back in November, tonight's red wine review is a lovely Barolo that landed at the LCBO a couple of weekends ago as part of the January 7 VINTAGES Release.Even though Michele Chiarlo was only established in the 1950s, its story begins in 1898 with the birth of Pietro Chiarlo who was born into a farming family...

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Michele Chiarlo Reyna Barbaresco 2018 (Piedmont) - Wine Review

I got my first taste of this beautiful Barbaresco when a previous vintage made its debut in LCBO VINTAGES a few years ago. Tonight's red wine review is the latest vintage that arrived in LCBO VINTAGES on November 5 and is featured as part of the theme on "fine holiday wines that would make a perfect gift".It is produced by Michele Chiarlo, one of Italy's top wine producers...

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Fontanafredda Pradalupo Roero Arneis 2020 (Piedmont) - Wine Review

Following up on the lovely 2019 Fontanafredda Gavi di Gavi that I enjoyed last May, tonight's white wine review is another delicious Italian white wine from the same producer. This wine is made with the Arneis variety and arrives at the LCBO this weekend as part of the May 21 LCBO VINTAGES Release.Fontanafredda was founded in 1858 by the first King of Italy, Vittorio...

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Fontanafredda Gavi di Gavi 2019 (Piedmont) - Wine Review

Tonight's wine review is this lovely white wine from Italy made with the Cortese grape that arrives at the LCBO this weekend as part of the May 29 LCBO VINTAGES Release.The historic Fontanafredda was established in 1858 when Vittoria Emanuele purchased the estate as a gift for "La Bella Rosalina", the woman he loved. In 1866, Fontanafredda purchased their first Barolo vineyard...

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Tenuta Fratelli Povero Terre del Conte Roero Arneis 2019 (Piedmont) - Wine Review

To celebrate Earth Day, tonight's wine review is a lovely white wine made with the Arneis varietal from its native home in Piedmont and arrived at the LCBO last weekend as part of the feature on wines from Piedmont in the LCBO VINTAGES Release on April 17.It is produced by Cantine Povero, a family that has been winemaking on the lands of Roero, Monferrato, and Langhe in Piedmont...

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April 17, 2021 LCBO VINTAGES Release Wine Picks: Sustainable + Piedmont

The major theme of the April 17, 2021 LCBO VINTAGES Release focuses on Sustainable Wines from around the world, while the mini-theme looks at wines from Piedmont. All of these wines, plus those from the rest of the Release should be on shelves across Ontario by Saturday.We begin with the main theme on Sustainable Wines from around the world. Of the nineteen wines featured,...

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Great Italian Wines - Understanding Indigenous Grape Varieties - Nebbiolo & Valpolicella

On Thursday, I had the pleasure of attending a masterclass titled "Great Italian Wines" that focused on understanding the indigenous varietals of Italy. This class was the first in a series being held by the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario Canada (ICCO Canada) and focused on Nebbiolo and the varieties of Valpolicella.Italy is the world's largest producer of wine by...

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Boasso Barolo del Comune di Serralunga d'Alba 2015 (Piedmont) - Wine Review

Italy has been hit very hard by COVID-19, so for tonight's wine review, I opened this lovely Barolo from Piedmont. It is produced by the Azienda Agricola Boasso Franco, a family-run winery that started producing it's own wines from its family-owned vineyards in the early 1970's. It is located in Gabutti, a first-class sub-zone within the commune of Serralunga d'Alba and managed...

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March 21, 2020 LCBO VINTAGES Release Wine Picks: Classic Euro Regions + Okanagan + Annapolis

In these extraordinary times with COVID-19 at top of mind, this post seems almost irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. However, since the LCBO is still open (with reduced hours as of Thursday, March 19) and I think we would all like to step back and take a breather from all of the Coronavirus pandemic news, the next batch of new wines arriving at the LCBO are from the...

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Mauro Molino Barolo (Piedmont) Wine Tasting

At the beginning of October, I was invited to a special tasting of some very fine Barolo wines from Piedmont's highly acclaimed Mauro Molino. The tasting was held at the Fine Wine Reserve on King St. W. in downtown Toronto. Mauro Molino was born in Piemonte and graduated from Alba Winemaking School in 1973. After a few years of making wine in Emilia-Romagna, he returned...

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