Quench Magazine Spring 2022 issue no.370

FOOD

WINE

LIFE

Global

Euroc entric

COVER FUTURE

Cultural Stereotypes

PAST

Cultural Appropriation

Indoctrination

Education

Gender Equity

Chauvinistic

Accessibility

Elitist

sm Coloniali

Inclusivity

Cultural Diversity

Whiteness

Exclusive

Cultural Appreciation

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2022

370 SWITCHING THE CODE NEW NARRATIVES IN WINE

Democratiz ation Decolon ization

Variety with a capital V

The taste of summer, year-round

Crafted from the grape varieties you know and love: Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Gamay Noir and Merlot.

Dry or off-dry, lush or structured, yet always refreshing, there’s a VQA Rosé for every occasion, every season and every palate.

Pretty in all shades of pink VQA Rosé’s range of gorgeous pink hues comes from brief skin contact while pressing red grapes, each variety lending a different shade.

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We call it Ontario.

The leading edge of the world’s cool climate wine scene is right here.

Wines of distinction born from a unique combination of latitude, lakes and limestone.

A reflection of our place and the unquenchable passion of our winemakers.

So raise a glass and join us in shaping the next generation of wine.

winecountryontario.ca

Still or sparkling?

The choice is yours! Equally delicious on their own and also excellent paired with many different foods.

Please enjoy responsibly.

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ENTRÉES Global

FUTURE

Cultural Appreciation

Inclusivity Education

Cultural Diversity Gender Equity

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Breaking the Code: Conversations for New Narratives in Wine Christopher Sealy

In 2020, a ‘racial reckoning’ swept across the world, but how much has really changed in the wine industry.

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Storytelling Through Ice Cream

Neema Syovata

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Pooja Bavishi is using ice cream as the medium to transport people to India with a “decadent blend of cream and culture.”

The Insatiable Curiosity of Dr. Anna Schneider Michaela Morris

One of Italy’s foremost experts in the field of ampelography, Schneider has managed to combine her passions for plants, the outdoors and wine into a successful and rewarding career.

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The Fall and Rise of Hybrids in Eastern Canada Jacky Blisson MW

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It is a truth universally acknowledged that hybrid grapes make inferior wine. So why are they inciting renewed interest across eastern Canada?

Forecast: Still Dreaming in the Low Sixties Kathy Valentine

A Rock and Roll Hall of Famer graduates from college in her 60s, sets new goals and dares to start again.

AMUSE-BOUCHES 8 | THE BOOZY BACKSTORY Christine Sismondo After England’s 18th century “Gin Craze”, this liquor was associated with poverty, debauchery, and fallen women.

59 | BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO: VINTAGE REPORT 2017 Gurvinder Bhatia 62 | THE BUYING GUIDE The best wine, beer and spirits from around the world recommended by our experienced panel of tasters.

71 | BREWED AWAKENINGS Robin LeBlanc Good Things Grow Here.

72 | THE QUENCH CROSSWORD PUZZLE Test your wine knowledge.

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DIGESTIF 74 | AFTER TASTE Tony Aspler “I forget the name of the place; I forget the name of the girl; but the wine was Chambertin.” – Hilaire Belloc

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Soul Food’s Journey Adrian Miller

Soul Food is simultaneously one of the most marketable and misunderstood culinary terms around.

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The Debaters: Rosé – Wine of Substance or Pool Juice Elizabeth Gabay MW & Michael Apstein

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Quench approached two of the globe’s esteemed wine experts to consider the question.

The History of the Indian Paratha Amrita Amesur

A staple of the sub-continent reflecting its unique culinary history, ancient traditions, trade routes, colonization, migration and regional diversity.

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The Importance of Plant Material

Michelle Bouffard

Lilian Bérillon started his own nursery in the Rhone Valley to preserve genetic plant material and sell healthy vines that will not only live longer, but be able to adapt to climate change.

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Regenerative Organic Pioneers W. Blake Gray

Regenerative organics changes your farm into an engine for positive change for the winery, its workers and the people who buy its wine.

Naturally, Tablas Creek was the first winery to sign on.

SHAREABLES 18 | FAVE 5 with AMYTHYST KIAH Tom Murray 19 | CHEF PROFILE: CHINTAN PANDYA Aman Dosanj Unapologetically Indian 34 | CHEF PROFILE: CHERYL JOHNSON Michaela Morris “We wanted to build a restaurant that feels like people are coming to our house.”

44 | PROFILE: LAVENDER COUNTRY Tom Murray It’s taken five decades of not compromising to find his audience, but Patrick Haggerty’s still not ever going to be Nashville’s plaything.

47 | CHEF PROFILE: JOO WON Claire Kyunghwa Nam Joo has never hesitated to introduce Korean foods and food culture to a wider audience.

51 | FAVE 5 with JACKIE VENSON Kathy Valentine “No finite human is going to tell me what I am capable of.”

57 | CHEF PROFILE: INEZ COOK Tim Pawsey It’s unlikely anyone has done more to introduce Vancouverites to Indigenous cuisine.

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Letter from the Editor HERE’S THE REALITY. From a financial perspective, having Quench Magazine go back into print after the pandemic forced an unscheduled shutdown really didn’t and doesn’t make sense. In fact, all signs point against the sustainability of print and the stars seem aligned against its success.

Since the relaunch of print with the Fall 2021 issue, the cost of paper has increased by 40%, paper shortages have made sourcing paper for each issue an unexpected quest, and our printer wants to increase our cost even more if we pay by credit card. Canada Post has implemented minimum quantities per mailout for us to receive our discounted rate (despite this we attempt to do multiple mailouts to accommodate new subscribers), and advertisers, although they love the new look and renewed purpose of the print issues, prefer to spend their advertising dollars on digital. Financially, print makes no sense whatsoever and seems destined for failure.

So why stay in print?

There is a certain feel to print, a soulfulness and intimacy. It may sound old school, but the experience of receiving a quality magazine in the mail, holding it in your hands and immersing yourself in it page-by-page cannot be replicated by any other media format. There is also a credibility to print – which can be achieved digitally - but the attention, care and investment that print requires are different. The circumstances surrounding the production of print are enriching in a way that goes beyond the digital overload and clutter.

I still believe in print. I believe that the idea that print magazines are dead or dying is false. I believe there is a value to print that exceeds that of being an exclusively digital publication. But you tell me. The response to our editorial content and redesign has been overwhelmingly positive. But, ultimately, regardless of how much the editors, writers and readers of Quench believe in print, unless the financial side starts to make sense, the pockets are only so deep to support a revenue deficit operation (ie. money pit).

So, if, like us, you believe in print, we need more than kind words and positive feedback. If you believe that there is a value to what we are attempting to accomplish by being the most inclusive wine and food publication in the world, by expanding the voices and the audience for wine and food to be a truer reflection of society, by telling the stories that need to be told, the way they should be told, by the people who should be telling them, by providing a space for underrepresented voices and ideas, and by amplifying the cultural and historical context of wine and food, then we need your support.

Subscribe, tell your friends to subscribe, support the Quench Writers’ Fund on Patreon and, if you are an advertiser, trust in print.

Quench Magazine turns 50 next year. The plan is to be around for another 50.

Gurvinder Bhatia editor-in-chief

Scan the QR code for the quench.me website

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CONTRIBUTORS

Amrita Amesur

Amrita is a corporate lawyer who is deeply passionate about food. She has spent the last year dedicatedly studying and documenting all of her family’s food experiences, while learning to develop her own voice as a cook and a writer. Her favourite comfort food is ghee idli podi and her go-to restaurant that never disappoints is Café Madras in Bombay.

Editor-in-chief Gurvinder Bhatia editor@quench.me

Christopher Sealy

Managing Editor Tom Murray

A graduate of the University of Toronto with a French Language and Literature Degree, Christopher is the wine director for the alo food group. In 2019, Christopher was voted #1 Sommelier by Canada’s 100 Best. He is a mentor for Vinequity, an organization which aims to amplify the voices of Black, Indigenous, People of Colour and LGBTQ+, in the Canadian wine community. Christopher’s favourite comfort food is Bajan Coconut Bread and in addition to all things wine, he enjoys dark rum.

Elizabeth Gabay MW

No. 370 The Future of Wine; Growers

Contributing Editors Michaela Morris Tod Stewart Kathy Valentine – Music Columnists Tony Aspler Robin LeBlanc Christine Sismondo Contributors Adrian Miller Aman Dosanj Amrita Amesur Christopher Sealy Claire Kyunghwa Nam Elizabeth Gabay MW Fish Griwkowsky Jacky Blisson MW Michael Apstein Michelle Bouffard Neema Syovata Tim Pawsey W. Blake Gray

Elizabeth grew up a Londoner but always travelled around Europe with her family. After back-packing around the world, Elizabeth returned to London where, by accident, she fell into the wine trade when her parents bought a holiday cottage in Provence. Elizabeth passed the Master of Wine exam in 1998, and, in 2002, moved to a village an hour north of Nice. Her thirty years of working in Provence led in 2018 to her first book Rosé, Understanding the Pink Wine Revolution. With her son Ben Bernheim, they have put together an on-line Buyers Guide to the Rosés of Southern France, published in 2021.

A new guide on the Rosés of Southern France, focusing on regional differences and old vintages is due to come out this summer. Elizabeth recently released a natural rosé called Sen (Dream) made with Slovakian producer Vladimir Magula.

Editor & Publisher Gurvinder Bhatia editor@quench.me

Jacky Blisson MW

Accounts accounts@quench.me

Jacky is an independent wine educator, writer, and consultant with over two decades experience in all facets of the global wine trade. She is the first Master of Wine in Québec and one of only ten across Canada. After studying wine science and commerce in Beaune France, Jacky managed exports for Burgundian and Rhône Valley firms. She also worked harvest seasons in Beaune and Walker Bay, South Africa. Jacky produces a self-titled wine website and YouTube channel. Her go-to restaurant that never disappoints is L’Express in Montréal and the best concert she ever attended was The Tragically Hip on New Year’s Eve 2000.

Neema Syovata

Neema is a food writer, researcher, and photographer, who lives in an idyllic hamlet in the northeastern USA, by way of Nairobi, Kenya. She is obsessed with all things food and spends a lot of time thinking about the future of modern African cuisine and, also, how to create a more inclusive space for BIPOC to tell their culinary stories. She is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Gastronomy from Boston University to aid in that goal. In her spare time, she can be found backyard foraging, conducting culinary experiments, and drinking lots of chai.

Tasters Tony Aspler Gurvinder Bhatia Michaela Morris Michelle Bouffard Tim Pawsey Christopher Sealy Brie Dema Donatella Dicca Christine Sismondo Robin LeBlanc Creative Director Alex Chan Creative by Studio Reface Quench, Food and Drink Magazine (founded in 1972), is a registered trademark of Vinomania Consulting Inc. It is published 3 times a year (Fall, Winter, Spring).

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THE BOOZY BACKSTORY

Christine Sismondo

Photo credit: supplied

Photo credit: supplied

Ada Coleman bartending at the Savoy, circa 1920 - Public Domain

Mallory O’Meara, author of Girly Drinks

In one of the earliest scenes in Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci, the film’s main character, Patrizia Reggiani, orders up a Tanqueray martini at the bar of a lively party in Milan.

It’s a fateful moment, especially for the man caught behind the bar, who turns out to be none other than Maurizio Gucci (yes, that Gucci), who would fall in love with and marry Reggiani. Don’t cheer. She’s kind of a gold-digger. And they do not live happily ever after.

Gin is also an interesting choice for a character so tightly defined by class, gender, and morality, especially given the spirit’s history.

Long after England’s 18th century “Gin Craze,” this liquor was irretrievably associated with poverty, debauchery, and fallen women.

“One of the things about the gin craze that’s most notable is its feminine identity,” says Mallory O’Meara, author of Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol. “It was called ‘Mother’s Ruin’ and ‘Mother Gin,’ and it got that identity because people were so scandalized by women drinking it.”

So scandalized, in fact, that many thought women’s new drinking habits would cause the downfall of society. But there was more to this moral panic, circa the first half of the 1700s, than just gin joints.

“It was really the first time in London that there were lots of young, single, independent

She adds: “Let’s give people the basics of life and then maybe we can worry about that other stuff.”

women rushing to the city, trying to find jobs and having free time and money to spend on things like gin,” she continues. “What’s really clear is that it wasn’t so much that women were drinking more than men, it’s just that they were drinking at all.”

It was also the first time that a spirit was affordable and widely available. Prior to the mid-1700s, most people in England drank beer. A combination of lowered taxes for distillers and short-cuts made a pint of gin cheaper than a pint of beer.

O’Meara points out, however, that the real social upheaval of the era was caused more by the rapid growth of the City of London than cheap gin. But it was easier to focus on the “low-hanging fruit”—gin—than, say, housing, medical care, or adequate schools for children.

Funnily enough, O’Meara and I actually “met” (virtually) last year, when we were both asked to be guest experts on an NPR show about women and alcohol in the pandemic.

We were surprised how many callers were concerned about “wine moms,” who we found ourselves in the position of defending.

“We still see people doing the same thing today when they say we have to stop people from drinking so much and it’s just completely upside-down,” says O’Meara. “I feel like that should be so far down our list of priorities. Maybe we should get people healthcare and housing and reliable income.”

HANKY-PANKY

We could offer up a recipe for a Martini here, but it’s worth pointing out that Maurizio is a terrible bartender—he shakes this simple classic where he should have stirred. So, instead, we’re wrapping up this column with the Hanky-Panky, a drink invented by Ada Coleman, a trail-blazing bartender who ran the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in London from 1903 to 1925.

Coleman is the subject of an entire chapter in O’Meara’s new book and, unlike Mr. Gucci, she knew when to shake and when to stir.

1½ oz gin 1½ oz sweet vermouth ¾ oz Fernet-Branca 1 orange twist (for garnish) Add all liquid ingredients to an ice-filled mixing glass and stir for 45 seconds. Strain and pour into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a twist of orange.

Christine Sismondo, PhD, is an historian and the author of America Walks into a Bar: A Spirited History of Taverns and Saloons, Speakeasies and Grog Shops; Mondo Cocktail: A Shaken and Stirred History; and, most recently, Canadian Spirits: The Essential Cross-Country Guide to Distilleries, Their Spirits and Where to Imbibe Them (with Stephen Beaumont).

Sismondo also acts as Canada’s Academy Chair for The World’s Best 50 Bars and as a judge for the World Gin Awards. Christine lives in Toronto and is working on a new book about cocktails and art. Her cocktail of choice is a Pisco Sour.

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Quench Magazine is the longest-running wine and food magazine in North America and we know the importance of remaining an independent publication.

But we need your support.

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Breaking the Code:

conversations for new narratives in wine

By Christopher Sealy

Global

Euroc entric

Cultural Appreciation

Indoctrination Whiteness

Chauvinistic Elitist

Exclusive

sm Coloniali

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FUTURE

Cultural Stereotypes

PAST

Cultural Appropriation

Inclusivity

Education

Cultural Diversity Gender Equity

Accessibility

Democratiz ation Decolon ization

Photo credit: supplied

Photo credit: supplied

Christopher Wilton Photo credit: supplied

Julia Coney

In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic and a ‘racial reckoning’ instigated by the senseless murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor swept across the world.

Recognition of the daily racism experi-

enced by Black people became a catalyst for change. In the wine industry, the charge has been led spiritually and intellectually by several inspirational Black women who sought to revolutionize access and education in the wine world, calling out the wine industry for its lack of inclusion of Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC). This group of educators and experienced wine professionals includes Julia Coney (Black Wine Professionals), Tahiirah Habibi (The Hue Society and The Roots Fund), and Ashtin Berry (Radical Xchange), to name a few. Would-be gatekeepers quickly promised a fundamental rethink and wider partnership in the industry, but how much has really changed in the wine world since 2020?

As I write, the worst of the pandemic appears to be behind us; restaurants in Canada and further afield have reopened for business.

But post-2020, I wonder if the racial reckoning has really delivered on its promises? I am a sommelier and wine director in one of

Canada’s top fine dining restaurants with more than 15 years’ experience in hospitality.

Nonetheless, during dinner service and as I go about my business, I am still frequently reminded that as a Black man I am an oddity in this environment. Where are you from?

You speak so eloquently! How do you know so much about wine? Where did you go to school? These are just a few examples of some of the more ‘innocent,’ but nonetheless quietly insidious questions that I am confronted with almost daily.

Christopher Wilton, a sommelier, consultant, and wine educator in Peterborough, Ontario, explains that with these types of questions, “what is happening is an establishment of a relationship of power. The white person is questioning the fact that you are not from here or if you really belong in this space, as you don’t ‘look’ like one of us.” It is assumed, in short, that wine is a “white” (and predominantly male) space. Wilton elaborates on this point with greater clarity: “the sommelier occupies a dynamic space in

Tahiirah Habibi

the restaurant hierarchy. A sommelier has a specialized technical knowledge. When you are a Black sommelier you also execute and present in a manner that could be interpreted as equating to ‘whiteness’ even to a white person, and frankly quite often [more intelligently] than the average white person.” Despite all the professed awareness of the last 2 years, the continued frequency of these questions reflects the reality of being BIPOC in Canada, where the experience of racism is subtle and entrenched in notions of exceptionalism.

Sadly, it is not just in the restaurant or tasting room that the intelligence, knowledge, and humanity of the BIPOC wine professional comes under scrutiny. Microaggressions often begin in the classroom through instructors, educators and curriculum, and even continue with mentors and peers in the industry.

As Beverly Crandon, a certified sommelier based in Toronto and a co-founder of VinEquity, which focuses on advocacy, equity, and scholarship for the BIPOC wine community, told me recently, for BIPOC, a racist encounter “sneaks up on you and makes you realize how others see you. Women, especially women of colour are viewed as “party tricks” at wine events, especially in rooms with the ‘highly educated elite.’” As in so many other fields, systemic racism is baked into the wine industry at every level.

The reality is that the challenges of racism we face today in the wine world are very much the same challenges of yesterday.

Dorothy Gaiter, the prominent New Yorkbased wine journalist, author, and critic, has QUENCH.ME

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Photo credit: supplied

Beverly Crandon

witnessed the growth of the US wine industry in the current era. She espouses a big picture perspective in her view that “diversity, equity and inclusion in an industry is not charity,” it is “plain good business sense…addressing all individuals in meaningful and lasting ways… will equate to businesses surviving and growing by appealing to as many markets as possible.” This way of thinking requires good faith and participation on a real, human level, but outside of the BIPOC community there have been few progressive shifts in the industry, and regrettably these have been mostly token efforts. As Ashtin Berry, a New Orleans-based hospitality activist, writer, and educator, puts it “People [have] tried to copy-paste equity into their structures without questioning why their structures were so white in the first place!”

It will come as no surprise that the gatekeepers of the wine world have historically been, and in many cases continue to be, white people. They control and decide upon the quality of language employed in a classroom, the choice of the instructors, the content that is delivered and how, and ultimately who deserves a pass and what constitutes a fail for accreditation. After many years of working, teaching, and training in the wine industry, it is clear to me that despite plenty of well-meaning statements of allyship and promised change, this code was one that was never designed to be broken.

It is this realization that must inform how we as BIPOC in this industry now approach the future of the wine world. Although we 12

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can begin by questioning leadership, the ‘gatekeepers,’ and asking why there is continued resistance to change, Berry, for one, has made clear that she “can’t be concerned with their fears” and that “centering them in this conversation” is the problem for the advancement of BIPOC. Instead, we ‘‘must understand that we are all adults in this conversation, ‘white people’ are responsible for their own feelings. Their weaponized incompetence is no longer acceptable!”

Yes, gatekeepers are at the root of resistance to significant change, but pressure is much better concentrated elsewhere. As Wilton puts it, “White people need to challenge white people.” There can be no real change in the gatekeeper community until it happens behind those closed gates.

This brings us to the classroom and the institutions for wine education that provide certification. The Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) and the Court of Master Sommelier (CMS) are two of the most prominent of these, but there are many other international partner organizations, including colleges and universities, that offer general and specialized education in wine and use the WSET or CMS as their standard. When I returned to wine school last January to upgrade my certification, I was shocked that by-and-large the instructors, though accomplished wine professionals, were often not thoughtful educators. The syllabus did not aim to enlighten or clarify, it did not reflect the world outside the classroom. Instead it seemed in many cases to fall just short of a marketing text.

Fifteen years ago, I was the only person of colour to graduate from my wine certification course. Although the student body now spans all spectrums of race and identity, their experiences and interests are noticeably absent from the curriculum, and the teaching style has remained more or less the same as when I first began. This is a problem.

I raised this issue with Beverly Crandon.

She believes that, especially in Canada, “educators should look like the audience, the student body. Even like the outside world.” A truism which bears repeating is that diversity in instruction can create trust, credibility, and safe spaces in the classroom. It helps immensely when instructors and mentors have similar lived experiences to the students they are teaching. Dorothy Gaiter has observed that enrollment in wine institutions has been on the rise everywhere in the last 2 years, and “…that for many BIPOC and LGBTQ+ people, these certifications serve as a sort of armor that they feel they need to work in the wine industry.” A useful armour indeed, especially when dealing with micro-aggressive table-side questions, dismissiveness from a peer, or more generally when navigating an industry that is so heavily associated with white Europeanness.

Armour aside, the question of whether these institutions are still relevant and whether wine accreditation is delivered as education or indoctrination, remains a pertinent one. Ashtin Berry again offers a response. She tells me that it is “essentially a hierarchy of schools of thoughts, that give you entrance into a fraternity…if it doesn’t

Photo credit: supplied

Chasity Cooper

teach a full history and have a range of models relevant to the regions then it’s indoctrination.” Though Berry is not entirely against classroom education, she is quick to point out that considerable resources are available to help the aspiring wine professional learn successfully on their own. Chasity Cooper, for instance, is not convinced that institutional wine education was necessary for her.

Chasity is a Chicago-based certified sommelier, wine writer, and journalist. She admits that although certification on her way up gave her “the tools to navigate and translate the language of wine to her many different audiences,” she tells me she would not do it again without first seeing significant changes in the curriculum. Beverly Crandon puts it more bluntly “… going to wine school is useless if only for a certificate you earn so you can just talk to one another. One needs to take that information, process and apply it in meaningful ways.” In other words, we should be addressing the difference between an education that elevates and an accreditation that merely indoctrinates.

When we speak of indoctrination in wine education, the elephant here, as it always is when we discuss such dyed-in-the-wool notions of ‘elite’ culture, is the whiteness in the room. The bottom line is that some of what is currently being taught in wine institutions is no longer relevant in a post-2020 world and certainly not without institutional change.

Berry again: “Are these institutions and instructors willing to ‘acknowledge that colonialism is an integral component of the histo-

ry of wine?’ Are these institutions capable of ‘reassessing the [disproportionate] valuations they have given to different regions?”

Decolonizing wine’s rigid and biased language as well as its non-European history requires transparency and an acknowledgement that wine’s culture and past is not “neutral” or apolitical. Being transparent also means that at a minimum we acknowledge the African slave labour on which port towns such as Bordeaux and Nantes relied to gain their economic head start during the 1700s; we discuss that wine production on the Canary Islands in the 1500s displaced its indigenous inhabitants; and we recognize and accept that the transatlantic ships that brought Madeira wine to America also carried ‘cargo’ more precious and more poignant than wine.

As in society and education at large, there is also a history of misinformation and whitewashing in wine education that should be countered. Language, for instance, is a hot topic in the world of wine. There is growing acknowledgement that the tasting notes that we are currently tested against and are forced to assimilate to, are working at a deficit.

Most of the citrus fruits (Middle Eastern), cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla spice (South Asian) and countless other tasting notes and flavours do not originate in “white” Western food world history. They are appropriated or shared. To tell someone that they don’t taste cinnamon when they may have spent their whole life tasting cinnamon in other contexts, borders on the absurd. Reflecting more deeply upon these accepted interpretations

and developing new variations in how we talk about taste is one concrete way to challenge the language of wine and the exclusionary Eurocentrism within the culture.

In both the United States and Canada, BIPOC are organizing and preparing for a more inclusive wine industry with or without the self-appointed “gatekeepers.” In Canada, organizations such as Vinica in British Columbia and VinEquity in Toronto are taking action to effect permanent change. Through these and many sister organizations in the United States we will begin to shift the language and culture of learning within wine institutions and break down the barriers to true inclusivity. There is more wine being made and consumed than ever before and there is room for everyone. As we know, there is strength in numbers – diversity from the ground up is the key.

Christopher Sealy is the wine director for the alo food group. Christopher has been with the group since late 2015 when alo, the flagship restaurant, began to garner national and international attention as Canada’s premier fine dining tasting-menu only and wine pairing restaurant.

Alo currently sits at #90 on the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants. In 2019, Christopher was voted #1 Sommelier by Canada’s 100 Best. He is a mentor for Vinequity, an organization which aims to amplify the voices of Black, Indigenous, People of Colour and LGBTQ+, in the Canadian wine community.

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STORYTELLING THROUGH ICE CREAM

By Neema Syovata

To experience Brooklyn-based Malai Ice Cream is to be transported to the nostalgic flavors of India that Pooja Bavishi grew up with. Partake in her stories in which ice cream with flavors such as agate candy saffron, jaggery with tamarind caramel, and sweet roti and ghee is the medium and delight your senses with a “decadent blend of cream and culture.”

Photo credit: Morgan Ione Yeager

Pooja Bavishi 14

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Photo credit: Morgan Ione Yeager

As a first generation Indian American, her creations are inspired by nostalgic childhood flavors, cultural heritage, and her family’s food traditions. Growing up in ‘90s North Carolina, Bavishi was drawn to the kitchen at an early age, particularly by the sounds and aromas of her mother’s chai making each morning. At the age of 10, she remembers baking a white chocolate cheesecake for her family. “The thing that I remember most is the fact that I cut this cheesecake while it was still warm, which is the biggest no-no ever. I gave it to my parents and my sister and I can

still remember, however many decades later now, that their faces lit up. They were like ‘This is so good, Pooja.’ So, I made this connection early on that if you make something with your heart and soul, it’s really going to make people happy.”

What was your inspiration for starting Malai?

My parents are immigrants from India, so Malai in Gujarati translates to “cream of the crop.”

I grew up with a nostalgia for the India of my parents. I think because it was an experience

that I didn’t get to feel and breathe much in the same way, or at least in a way that I was craving.

My parents who were entrepreneurs themselves encouraged me to start my own business. At the time I didn’t feel that I had the business acumen, so I decided to enroll in NYU Stern School of Business.

They had gifted me an ice cream maker when I moved to New York, and it was just kind of sitting there. My sister and I always joked that growing up, whenever we moved apartment to apartment, my mom always came and stocked our kitchen - so there was always a section that

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Photo credit: Morgan Ione Yeager

connection to my stories. I’m also very intentional as it’s about smells, tastes, touch. All of the senses that are really active when you’ve grown up in a multicultural household.

As an example, for Diwali (which is the Indian New Year), my family makes a pastry called ghughra (it contains milk powder, sugar, nuts and cardamom). I wanted to translate that into an ice cream because it was/is such a deep-rooted part of my family’s culture. I wanted that to be really present in our Diwali offerings and so we actually make a lightly spiced cardamom ice cream and we put the ghughra filling throughout. The masala chai flavor is made with the exact same spice blend that was created by my grandmother and so that for me is very memory forward. The carrot halwa flavor is inspired by my father who enjoys carrot halwa with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, so it’s the best of both worlds.

Have people been more or less receptive to your flavors of ice cream?

Rose with cinnamon roasted almonds ice cream

we called the Indian side. It had things that, you know, allowed us to make our comfort foods. In November of 2014, I held this annual vegetarian friends-giving and made ice cream for the first time, pulling spices from there [the Indian side].

I actually think that was just these two sides of me that were finally coming together. Here I was with this concept where I always was so nostalgic for my parents’ upbringing, for India, and to tell that story of mine. And this was a perfect way for me to do it.

Why eggless ice cream?

There are two reasons for that. First, when I was tinkering with different formulas, I wanted to highlight these spices and flavors that hadn’t been present in mainstream ice cream before, and I found that the egg yolks muddled the flavors.

Secondly, my parents come from a part of India

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where a huge portion of the population is vegetarian and they don’t consider eggs to be vegetarian. I felt strongly that I didn’t want to pull from my cultural background and then make these products inaccessible to that population. I also made the decision that everything coming out of the Malai kitchen, whether that’s our ice cream, baked goods or anything else would be eggless.

How do you develop new flavors?

It really depends, but all of these flavors are meant to tell a story. I’m not just trying to throw things together and call it Indian-inspired. I am also passionate about my heritage and culture, and very conscious when telling my story because I’m not trying to be a representative of all Indian Americans. The only story that I know in this world is mine and that is a story that I’m telling. Now, I do believe that people feel a lot of

I think they are really receptive. Because these are flavors that I grew up with, I wanted to make them really accessible to people. There was this cake that we developed a couple of years ago, that we call the Gulab jamun ice cream cake now. Gulab jamun is like a milk-based donut that’s soaked in a syrup. It often has flavorings of saffron, cardamom or rose. We make this eggless cake that’s saffron syrup soaked and we put our rose with cinnamon roasted almond ice cream in between the layers. It is extremely popular. But when we debuted it, we actually called it saffron syrup-soaked ice-cream cake. And then very quickly, I was like you know what, I created this based on a Gulab jamun, so we should call it a Gulab jamun ice cream cake! Our customers will come in and ask questions about what is ghughra ice cream or shrikhand frozen yogurt? And that is something I am happy to both talk about and explain, and the same goes for our team.

MALAI ICE CREAM

SIGNATURE COLLECTION Photo credit: supplied

Has there been tension or conflict in balancing what you want to expose people to from a flavor/cultural context and what you thought people would be accepting of ?

and food entrepreneurs really is. I definitely felt the support.

I think that our ice cream is not for everyone, and I knew that from the very beginning. I know who our audience is, and our audience knows us.

They understand exactly what we’re trying to do and exactly what our brand represents. So, I don’t think that there’s a tension there.

When I first started in July of 2015, I had literally just graduated from business school and I sold my first scoop two weeks later at a street fair, pushing a chest freezer. Orange fennel was one of my first flavors that I created. This woman bought a scoop and then walked away, and then I saw her kind of do a complete 180 and walk back towards me. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I pulled the cash back out of the cash drawer and prepared to hand it to her because I was sure that she hated it. Instead, she came back and said “I just want to let you know that my Italian grandmother used to make orange and anise cookies, and I haven’t had this flavor since she’s passed. I just wanted to thank you.”

That was one of my very first [business] memories and an embodiment of what we’re trying to do at Malai.

There are some exciting things in the future, so stay tuned. The one thing I can say, is that we want to expand and develop Malai as a global brand. I love the idea of getting Malai to as many people as possible.

Is your business seasonal or do people line up for your ice cream all year round?

Ice cream is always a little seasonal, with our first quarter being the slowest. At the moment, we only have the one store in Brooklyn, but we also sell to grocery stores and our shipping part of the business really took off due to the pandemic. I will add that as a business owner, and as a person, it [the pandemic] taught me a lesson in resilience and grit in a way that I hadn’t experienced before. It also showed me how strong this community of food businesses

What can we expect from you next?

These signature collection ice creams are eggless (therefore not made from a custard base), but not vegan. While the mouthfeel may not be as luxurious, it doesn’t detract at all from the sensorial experience.

Rose with Cinnamon Roasted Almonds One of Malai’s most popular flavors, and for good reason. The floral notes are balanced with an unexpected but welcome variance in texture from the cinnamon roasted almonds, making this a most delectable sensorial experience.

Orange Fennel Fennel seeds are ubiquitous in Indian cuisines and are often served as a digestive.

With this ice cream, the anise-like flavor of the fennel is tempered by the citrus to produce a bright, zesty-yet-light flavor with a delightful crunch from the seeds that is reminiscent of a beautiful spring day.

Mango & Cream Neema Syovata is a food writer, researcher, and photographer, who lives in an idyllic hamlet in the northeastern USA, by way of Nairobi, Kenya. She is obsessed with all things food and spends a lot of time thinking about the future of modern African cuisine and, also, how to create a more inclusive space for BIPOC to tell their culinary stories. She is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Gastronomy from Boston University to aid in that goal.

In her spare time, she can be found backyard foraging, conducting culinary experiments, and drinking lots of chai.

This ice cream conjures memories of eating a ripe mango with the juices dripping down one’s arm in a tropical climate that is pure sunshine. A combination of tart and sweet with a creamy finish, it is sure to delight the palate.

Masala Chai If you have ever wanted to experience chai in ice cream form, well here’s your chance. A masala spice blend that belonged to Pooja’s mother is used to create that all too familiar feeling of the warmth and spiciness that is characteristic of chai.

It has a finish with notes of cinnamon, cardamom and ginger that linger leaving you wanting more, for the joys of chai drinking are beautifully captured here.

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Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

FAVE 5 with

AMYTHYST KIAH

By Tom Murray

It’s been a long road for Amythyst Kiah, but the payoff is beginning to happen.

Peters. It’s the first place I got my feet wet in a venue, so I feel really close to it.

“You know, you don’t start out playing stadiums, you start at the farmer’s market, or breweries, or coffee shops,” says the 35-year-old singer-songwriter. “You just work and see where it goes.”

For Kiah it’s recently led to a Grammy nominated song, Black Myself, taken from her collaboration with Rhiannon Giddens, Allison Russell, and Leyla McCalla as Our Native Daughters, a vocal track on Moby’s 2021 single Natural Blues (Reprise Version), and last year’s Rounder Records debut, Wary + Strange. Self-described as a “funny-talking, sci-fi-loving, queer Black,” Kiah also can’t be contained by genre, as proven by her sombre, acoustic cover of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart. Kiah has a long list of clubs in the United States that she loves to play, so much so that she agonized over the choices; here are five of them, in no particular order.

THE NEPTUNE, SEATTLE WASHINGTON

THE ORANGE PEEL, ASHEVILLE NORTH CAROLINA I live in Johnson City, Tennessee, which is like an hour drive from Asheville, so I go there pretty regularly when I’m in town. I get my nails done there, my girlfriend and I go to a restaurant that I like, and I get to The Orange Peel as much as I can. I just love it; I’ve seen Tegan & Sara there, Gary Clark Jr, even a burlesque festival that they host there in May. I recently opened for an alternative rock band called Luna at the Orange Peel, and it was everything I hoped it would be, because the sound engineers are super pro.

THE DOWN HOME, JOHNSON CITY TENNESSEE In 2000 I enrolled in a Bluegrass and Old Time music studies class at East Tennessee State University, and the last of the three required band performances was always at the Down Home. It’s been there since 1976, and it’s run by this singer-songwriter who modeled it after a club in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It looks exactly the same as it did when it opened, like it’s the exact same furniture, and there’s something special about it. It’s usually people from the bluegrass, country, and Americana realm like The SteelDrivers and Gretchen

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The Neptune is this big old theater with murals on the wall inspired by the god Neptune. I was there the month before the pandemic, on a two month run with a singer songwriter named Yola, who’s also a dear friend of mine. Anyways, Brandi Carlile, who lives outside of Seattle, surprised everybody by playing a solo set before me and Yola. By the time that news came out it was sold out. That room has an energy to it that I can’t describe but you can feel it.

HI FI INDIE, INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA I play a lot of theatres with seats but the Hi Fi Indie is more of a rock club, with standing room only. They’ve got a great Green Room and the people working there are total pros. They care about putting on a great show and everything sounding right. They’re very attentive at the board. If something’s going wrong they’re on it; they don’t just plug and play and then they’re on their phone. All the best clubs are like that, but not all clubs are like that.

9:30 CLUB, WASHINGTON D.C. I’ve played at the 9:30 Club twice; once in 2016 or 2018, once in 2020.

Again, the sound was great, hospitality was great, the crowd was amazing. I had a fantastic time playing there. Also, this was honestly not planned, but right now I’m wearing my (branded) 9:30 socks. I’m just walking around and I looked down and oh my God, I’m actually wearing them. So obviously I really love the place and can’t wait to get back there again.

Scan the QR code to watch videos of Amythyst Kiah

PROFILE:

Chintan Pandya: Unapologetically Indian

Dubbed as one of New York City’s most exciting new restaurants, Dhamaka is changing all the rules.

By Aman Dosanj

Photo credit: Unapologetic Foods

Chef Chintan Pandya of New York’s buzziest

new restaurant, Dhamaka, is the first to admit that Indian cuisine in North America is, well, shit.

“I was stunned when I moved here [in 2013] to see how bad the Indian food was,” he tells me over Zoom. “It was so shitty I was actually under a certain amount of depression [figuring out] why Indian food [was] so bad over here.” Travelling across the USA with business partner Roni Mazumdar—of Unapologetic Foods—Pandya experienced better quality ingredients. Stumped, the Indian-born chef pondered, “What is stopping us?”

An established chef, Pandya honed his skills at India’s super-luxe Oberoi Hotels, followed by a short stint at the one Michelin-starred Junoon before settling into New York City. For Pandya, the lack of formal training is partly to blame for the misrepresentation of Indian cuisine across the Atlantic. “There are chefs of Indian ethnicity and the chefs trained in Indian food—they are two different things,” he explains. “That’s why the food is lagging.”

He later shares, “I think with ethnic foods, everybody’s so suppressed, they’re scared to cook it in the right way.”

Now, Dhamaka—a Hindi slang term meaning blast or explosion—is entering the mainstream with regional, home cooking in mind. “The entire concept of the restaurant is to have a blast of flavours when you enjoy the food. It’s all about being unpretentious, [and] being true-to-our-roots with what we eat and [how] our food is cooked.” Ending 2021 Chintan Pandya QUENCH.ME

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Photo credit: Will Ellis

with best new restaurant nods from New York Times, Esquire and Eater, you can safely say Dhamaka—located in Essex Market on the Lower East Side—is doing just that.

“We, [as Indians] try to do things that will impress others. I have seen a lot of talented Indian chefs use a burrata in their cooking— and they feel very proud about it.” While some may see this as innovation, Pandya disagrees. “Give me one Italian chef [using] paneer, and the answer is [none]. So, we [ask], how can we create the best paneer possible at Dhamaka?”

“Our philosophy is backwards,” he says, “we are trying to simplify Indian food as much as possible.” While Dhamaka’s executive chef aims to “simplify,” their off-the-beaten-path menu items are, in fact, thoughtfully complex.

Every ingredient—and item—on Dhamaka’s menu tells a story. The fragrant pilau (rice) pressure-cooked to order in 12 to 15 minutes; the paneer made daily using high-fat milk (which is pound for pound more expensive than goat); the baby shark Machar Jhol reminiscent of coastal Bengal; and the Champaran mutton—sourced from Arizona—cooked inside a sealed handi (earthenware pot) after 4 months of R&D for the clay pot alone. Most sought-after—and nearly impossible to order—is the Rajasthani Khargosh (or Junglee Maas): the hunter-inspired rabbit takes 48-hours to prepare, with just one serving up for grabs each night. Dhama-

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ka’s brilliance stems from its back-to-basics approach to focus on not only the ingredients’ quality—but their availability—to craft that now-famous explosion of flavour.

Uncompromising in its approach, the restaurant is rewriting the rules. Removing the build-your-own nonsense commonly found in Indian eateries west of India, Dhamaka has a strictly dine-in, no substitution, no modification—including spicing—policy. “We have been so insecure and apologetic about everything. [If] a customer complains [about spicing], what is the first thing you do? ‘I’m extremely sorry, sir. Let me change it for you—I’ll make it mild.’” For Pandya, “What we cook and what we serve is our belief. I don’t need to be apologetic about [it]—that’s my culture. It’s all about the representation of our culture, our philosophies and what we have grown up with.”

It’s a path paved by Indian-born American chefs, including Junoon’s Vikas Khanna, and the late Floyd Cardoz (formerly The Bombay Bread Bar and Top Chef Masters), but Pandya acknowledges the need for more. “For a cuisine to move forward or [for it] to become popular, one person or group won’t be able to impact it so much. We need 10 to 20 more groups [to] take the cuisine forward and push it as much as possible. Otherwise, it’s not going to move forward,” he says. “What I always [ask is] how can we make sure everybody takes a step forward?”

Perhaps then, Indian culture—including its under-appreciated cuisine—will receive its well-deserved North American spotlight.

Until then? Well, this first-generation Indian will proudly—and rather excitedly—wait.

WHERE DO YOU LIVE:

I live in Jersey, in a small town called Sayreville, USA. WHERE DID YOU GROW UP:

I grew up in Mumbai, India.

FAVOURITE COMFORT FOOD:

My favourite comfort food is khichdi.

FAVOURITE INGREDIENT TO COOK WITH:

I love spinach. Actually, spinach [and] methi [fenugreek]—those are the things I love cooking.

I just love eating greens.

BEST CHILDHOOD FOOD MEMORY:

I’m Gujarati. My grandmother or mother would make daal dohkli on Sundays. Daal is lentils, and dhokli is like a dough that is [cooked] inside the daal. I never liked the dhokli, so my grandma would make something like an Indian version of ravioli with jaggery [a type of cane sugar] stuffed inside it. Those were only for me, so separately cooked by my grandma.

YOUR GO-TO RESTAURANT THAT NEVER DISAPPOINTS:

I’m a very simple eater, to be honest. I have specific restaurants for specific things. There’s a restaurant called Spice Symphony in New York, so when I want Indo-Chinese food I go there.

Photo credit: Clay Williams

Chef Chintan Pandya and Roni Mazumdar

Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development—so I was a part of that from 2001 to 2003. That’s when the entire journey started—I’ve been cooking [for] 21 years now.

WHO IS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CULINARY

YOUR FAVOURITE CULINARY REGION IN

INFLUENCE:

INDIA:

Chef Baranidharan Pacha was my teacher, and then I worked under [him]. He was my biggest influence actually, a mentor that I looked up to.

But there are different kinds of influences: those smaller [street food stall vendors] influenced me a lot because [of how] they would [cook] consistently, day-in-day-out.

I love food from the southern part of India, so I love Kerala.

THE MUSIC YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU COOK:

I don’t listen to any music. When you are in a kitchen, you have to communicate; you have to do things, so I avoid it. But when I’m driving or on my own, I listen to a lot of Bollywood music.

WHEN DID YOU START COOKING:

[India is] not like other countries where you can start cooking at the age of 15 or 16—it’s all about education. So, even if you want to become a chef, you need to do that schooling [first]. I did my three-year diploma, then I was part of Oberoi Hotels. They have a management school— the

FAVOURITE DISH ON THE DHAMAKA MENU:

There’s a dish called Paplet (Pomfret) Fry. This [dish] is from Mumbai, so it’s very nostalgic for me. It’s such a simple dish: it has [a marinade of] ginger/garlic paste, red chilli powder, some turmeric, lemon juice, salt; a spice crust, then deep-fried. You serve it with pickled onions and [green] chutney.

Don Khleh Photo credit: Paul McDonough

WHAT DO YOU DRINK AT HOME:

I start my day with masala chai—I love masala chai! I cannot leave my house without drinking [at least] three cups of masala tea. Once in a while, I’ll drink red wine [like Napa Cabernet Sauvignon].

Photo credit: Adam Friedlander

When I want to eat [the Indian street snack] chaat, I like a place called Kailash Parbat. For Thai, there’s Ayada Thai, and for cheesecake, I like Veniero’s Pasticceria and Caffe.

VISION FOR THE FUTURE:

To elevate Indian food further. Our business [strives to] keep pushing forward to get different aspects of regional food into the mainstream American population. Whatever we do, the financial economics of Indian restaurants will never be able to compete with a French, Italian or Japanese restaurant. The same people willing to pay, let’s say, $150 a person in an Italian or French restaurant, won’t be willing to pay that at an Indian restaurant. Our vision is how do we break that mold and make people realize that [Indian cuisine] is not as simple as buffet or takeout food—there’s a lot of intricacies, flavour profiles and depth to the dishes.

Gurda Kapoora

Scan the QR code for Chef Pandya’s recipes for Gurda Kapoora and Doh Khleh.

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The Insatiable Curiosity of Dr. Anna Schneider

By Michaela Morris

Dr. Anna Schneider likes plants.

Photo credit: supplied

She also loves the outdoors, and wine. Schneider is one of those lucky individuals who has managed to combine her passions into a successful and rewarding career. “I started to be, if you want to use that word, an ampelographer,” she says.

Considering she’s one of Italy’s foremost experts in the field of ampelography, which involves the identification and classification of grape vines, Schneider is also very modest.

She has been a researcher at the National Research Council of Italy, and the Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection in Turin since 1982. During her career Schneider has verified the varietal identity of numerous vines, thus helping untangle the mystery of many obscure grapes - for example, that Liguria’s Rossese is one and the same as Tibouren in France; that Calabria’s Mantonico Bianco is distinct from Montonico Bianco, which is found in Abruzzo, Le Marche and Puglia; and that Corinto on the island of Lipari is a seedless mutation of Sangiovese. The list goes on.

Born in the small city of Biella between Turin and Milan, Schneider grew up at the foot of Monte Rosa. Her father, like most of the area’s inhabitants, was employed by the local textile industry, but Schneider was more interested in food production and, above all, didn’t want to get stuck in an office.

“I always liked to be outside and was constantly observing what was around me – trees, plants, etc.” She studied agriculture at the University of Turin, focusing on botany, and graduated with a Masters in viticulture and oenology. Among her classmates was Aldo

Dr. Anna Schneider

Vaira, of Barolo producer G.D. Vajra. (The two were singled out as two of the most brilliant students.)

“At the time, ampelography wasn’t even taught at university,” Schneider notes. It was more art than a science until the late 1940s when Pierre Galet systematized the identification of grape vines by morphology – essentially

features that can be observed by the naked eye.

Identifiers include the shape and contours of vines leaves, characteristics of the shoots, the shape and size of the grape bunches and colour, as well as size and seed content of the grapes.

When ampelography courses were eventually introduced in the mid-80s, Schneider’s former viticulture professor asked if she

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Photo credit: supplied by Anna Schneider

Photo credit: supplied by Anna Schneider

Nebbiolo Rosé

Nebbiolo

would come back to teach them. “I didn’t know anything,” she claims – but agreed to the challenge. “Because I was teaching it, I needed to learn it myself.” Moreover, she quickly fell in love with the course, in particular time spent in the vineyard distinguishing different vines.

In the ‘90s, the breakthrough of DNA analysis changed the field allowing for vine identification through genetic fingerprinting. While classic ampelography is based on morphology, Schneider considers molecular genetics just another (notable) element of ampelography. She starts from the idea that ampelography comes from the words ampelos and grapho. Ampelos is the vine and grapho means to write, but in Greek it also means describe. “So that means ‘a description of the vine’ - which can be done in various ways. For me it’s all one.”

She explains that morphology works in tandem with DNA analysis. “If you are a good ampelographer in the field, you are able to reduce the amount of work in the lab.” Accurate identification of collected samples helps avoid errors such as mistaking a Pinot Blanc vine as a clone of Chardonnay – which has certainly happened. Schneider also points out that morphology is the only way to categorize ancient varieties, as the plant material no longer exists for DNA testing.

Conversely, molecular genetics can provide information about the relationship among grape varieties. “This is something that a morphologist can perceive by intuition perhaps, but they can’t demonstrate definitely,” Schneider says. The pioneering study was in 1996

when American grape geneticist Carole Meredith verified Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc as parents of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Since then, Schneider has also been involved in mapping out complex family trees.

She compares the process to a paternity test for humans. “Half of our genetics come from our father and the other half from our mother. If I analyse the genetic profile of a child, according to probability statistics, there could only be two parents that have the genetic patrimony compatible to give that child.” It is the same with vines. However, if a parent grape vine is extinct or has yet to be analysed, parentage is difficult to determine.

Such is the case with Nebbiolo, for example.

This work inevitably requires many hours in the lab. So, while Schneider doesn’t work in an office per se, she does spend a lot of time in front of the computer. Nevertheless, she still finds it stimulating. “To think that a five century-old variety comes from varieties that existed even before it,” she exclaims. “Like Riesling, which is the child of Gouais Blanc.”

While the latter barely exists today, it was once widespread. “The Romans would have passed by Gouais when they crossed through the Balkans,” Schneider muses.

In terms of practical applications, she argues that understanding the genetic structure of varieties helps determine which parents could bequeath interesting characteristics.

“The more we study how those characteristics are inherited, the more information we have about obtaining those characters in an offspring.” Finally, she points to the marketing

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aspect. “There is nothing like telling a story, a tidbit to captivate wine lovers.” Especially when it is factual.

Nevertheless, some discoveries have awkward implications. For example, Nebbiolo Rosé was long thought to be a subvariety of Nebbiolo (along with Michet and Lampia).

However, in 2000, Schneider and her colleagues discovered that the two are genetically distinct. Soon after, they determined that Nebbiolo and Nebbiolo Rosé are siblings.

While there is nothing sinister about this finding, it does call into question the regulations for Barolo and Barbaresco which state that these wines must be made from 100% Nebbiolo. Schneider believes that it is best to let sleeping dogs lie. “Nebbiolo Rosé is very much a part of the existence of Nebbiolo. They have always been found together. It makes sense to leave it in the mix.” Furthermore, relatively few plantings of Nebbiolo Rosé actually exist.

Schneider’s work has been a true labour of love. Many of the parentage studies have had no financing. “I was able to do this work thanks to bits of money and time from other work that was financed,” she explains.

Clearly it is worth it to Schneider, and she has certainly discovered many fascinating and unexpected relationships. One of these is the connection between Riesling Italico aka Welschriesling (which has no relationship with Riesling) and Barbera. They have one parent in common but the other parent of each is not yet known. “I would like to determine if Welschriesling, which is widely dis-

Photo credit: supplied Photo credit: supplied

seminated in the Balkans, actually has Italian origins,” she says. Herein lies the conundrum of her work. “It never ends because when you understand one thing you realize there is still so much more to understand.”

Alas, as of 2022, Schneider has officially retired from all her various teaching positions. Besides spending 34 years teaching Ampelography at the University of Turin she was a guest lecturer for Vinifera’s International Master of Science in Viticulture and Enology. “Soon I will be 70,” she discloses.

“I didn’t want to be like an old mussel that has become permanently encrusted on the rocks.” No doubt she will be missed by her students. At every lecture I’ve attended, the audience hangs on to her every word.

But retirement for Schneider is active; when I caught up with her, she was on her way to Nebbiolo Prima in Alba. At this annual event, which showcases the newest releases from Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero, she usually regales journalists with a seminar on her latest findings of Nebbiolo’s intricate family tree. This year she was bringing with her an experimental bottling of Pignolo Spano – another sibling of Nebbiolo, which her group determined is identical to Pignola Valtellinese. “It has certain aspects that are similar to Nebbiolo,” she describes. “And like Nebbiolo it will need time to evolve.”

Schneider’s ardour of vines is undoubtedly matched by her enthusiasm for wine. “My interest in food was born from wine,” she asserts. “I enjoyed drinking wine with my dad from the time I was old enough.” Always with

a meal, of course. Unsurprisingly she selects by grape variety rather than region or terroir.

“I like trying wines that are a bit peculiar - often minor grapes that we don’t normally talk about but might have genetic or historical importance for whatever reason.” She admits that not all taste good, but two that she is particularly fond of are Swiss grape Petite Arvine and French grape Chatus. The latter, by the way, she determined is the same as Piedmont’s Nebbiolo di Dronero.

Among northwest Italy’s better-known grapes, she singles out Barbera for everyday drinking. “I like the acidity, the colour. It can also be fruity with soft fine tannins.” As for international grapes, Schneider prefers Syrah to Cabernet Sauvignon, citing the former’s supple tannins, roundness, and complexity of aromas. “If I go to a restaurant, I never order a Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot.

I always try to find something a bit curious or local,” she adds. And if it’s a special occasion she veers toward Barolo. “It gives you different and new emotions.”

Every sip, like every step she has taken in her life, serves to satisfy Schneider’s insatiable curiosity.

Michaela Morris is an international wine writer, educator and speaker based in Vancouver, Canada. She has worked in various capacities of the industry for 25 years. Besides holding the Wine & Spirit Education Trust Diploma, Michaela is an Italian Wine Expert certified through Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) and leads seminars on Italian wine around the globe. Not surprisingly, her go-to cocktail is a negroni.

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NEED TO TRY

The Fall and Rise of Hybrids in Eastern Canada

By Jacky Blisson MW

It is a truth universally acknowledged that hybrid grapes make inferior wine - or so I was told when I began studying viticulture two decades ago.

Hybrid grapes are the product of crossbreed-

ing Vitis vinifera, for its desirable flavours, with American or Asian Vitis species, for attributes like increased disease resistance or cold hardiness. Despite their advantages, hybrids have long been dismissed as unpalatable.

Excessive acidity, insufficient tannin, and off-putting “foxy” flavours were among their most oft decried character flaws.

Twenty years ago, it would have seemed unfathomable to find a wide selection of locally produced Maréchal Foch or Seyval Blanc wines on Montréal’s hottest restaurant menus. Indeed, when Candide opened its doors in 2015, they were among the first Québec restaurants

to champion local wines. Their tasting menu format allowed sommelière Emily Campeau to guide patrons on their discovery of these predominantly hybrid grapes. Since then, the Québec wine industry has grown exponentially, in line with support from the sommelier community. “Demand has skyrocketed,” attests Campeau. “Everyone wants them.”

This isn’t simply a Québec phenomenon; hybrid grapes are inciting renewed interest across eastern Canada. “We’ve always called our best hybrids heritage varieties,” says Shiraz Mottiar, winemaker at Niagara’s Malivoire winery. "Now it is almost cool to call them hybrids again.” Experimentation is rife in the

Photo credit: Rick O’Brien

wine industry today, with a proliferation of winemaking techniques and styles. Flavour profiles are becoming more diverse, consumers more adventurous. “The local community doesn’t know, or care, if a wine is vinifera or hybrid,” supplies Simon Rafuse, winemaker at Nova Scotia’s Blomidon Estate Winery.

As cooler wine regions emerge, and grape growers seek out ways to limit vineyard sprays, hybrid grape breeding programs have multiplied across the globe. New grape varieties, with polygenic disease resistance and enhanced flavour profiles, are the result. Vineyard trials across Europe have shown such promising results that, in late 2021, the European Union issued a landmark ruling overturning a longstanding ban on hybrid use in protected origin wines.

Here at home, an interesting dichotomy has grown up between rejection and reverence of hybrid varieties. This divide is most keenly felt in Canada’s largest wine producing province, Ontario.

The creation of the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) in the late 1980s marked the province’s transition to a fine wine focus, based primarily on vinifera. As viticultural technique and site selection improved, vinifera plantings flourished. “We proved that we could grow vinifera successfully, so the industry moved that way,” Mottiar explains.

Eight hybrid varieties were granted VQA status; however, they could only be labeled under the generic Ontario designation. The right to claim appellation status was reserved for vinifera varieties.

Photo credit: Jean Martin

Shiraz Mottiar, winemaker Malivoire Wine Company

Seyval blanc grapes, Vignoble de l'Orpailleur QUENCH.ME

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Photo credit: Scott Munn

Photo credit: supplied

L’Acadie Blanc, Blomidon Estate Winery

As vinifera rose, hybrids remained the region’s workhorse grapes, producing higher, more consistent yields. “You can get more tonnage per acre with hybrids,” says Mottiar.

“They are cheaper to produce, so they are mainly used in International Domestic Blends.”

Interestingly, it is a hybrid grape that makes one of Ontario’s most revered and expensive wines. With its thick, rot resistant skin, bright acidity, and exuberant tropical flavours, Vidal is ideally suited to Icewine production. It is also a popular choice for a growing number of orange wines, Charmat sparkling wines, and pét-nats. According to VQA, production of varietal Baco Noir wine has nearly doubled in the past decade. And, in 2019, the cold hardy Minnesota variety, Marquette, was granted VQA status. As Ontario wine critic, David Lawrason observes, this is a real boon for vineyards in Ontario’s cooler, emerging wine regions. “I’ve tasted some really good ones,” says Lawrason, adding “I think they can be a real part of the local identity.”

In Nova Scotia, winemaking on a commercial scale is a more recent phenomenon.

Planted in the mid 1990s, Blomidon is among the province’s older estates today. “It wasn’t really until grapes like L’Acadie Blanc arrived that the industry started to take off,” says Rafuse. “It is the most consistent variety for our climate,” he adds, referencing its cold

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Mike Marler and Véronique Hupin of Vignoble les Pervenches

hardiness, resistance to rot, and early ripening appeal.

The L’Acadie Blanc, created at Niagara’s Vineland Research Station in 1953, has become a flagship grape for Nova Scotia. It is hugely versatile according to Rafuse. “You can pick it early for sparkling wine, with great acidity levels, and it also makes very good, lower alcohol dry whites.” When Benjamin Bridge established their vineyard in the late 1990s, the focus was on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for traditional method sparkling wine. However, as assistant winemaker Alex Morozov explains, to “de-risk” the project, L’Acadie, Seyval, Vidal, New York Muscat, and a handful of other cold climate hybrid varieties were also planted.

This proved a wise strategy. In 2012, Nova Scotia launched its first wine appellation, Tidal Bay. These light, aromatic white wine blends must be made from at least 51% hybrid varieties: L’Acadie, Seyval, Vidal, and/ or Geisenheim 318. “Today, our most popular wines are our hybrid-based Nova 7, and our Tidal Bay,” says Morozov.

While Blomidon, Benjamin Bridge, and a growing number of other Nova Scotian wineries have proven successful with their premium vinifera-based sparkling wines, hybrids continue to dominate the province’s acreage. The situation is similar in Québec.

Photo credit: supplied

Photo credit: supplied

Charles-Henri De Coussergues, of Vignoble de l'Orpailleur

Seyval blanc grape from Vignoble de l'Orpailleur

Vignoble de l’Orpailleur is one of Québec’s oldest wineries. Before planting their Dunham vineyards in the early 1980s, Charles-Henri de Coussergues and his co-owners sought the advice of preeminent French ampelographer Pierre Galet.

Galet recommended Seyval Blanc and to this day, Seyval remains one of l’Orpailleur’s most planted varieties. “It requires far fewer fungicides, ripens early, and has very pleasant flavours,” says de Coussergues. Forty years on, l’Orpailleur still grows over 90% hybrid varieties, with robust sales through their tasting room and at the SAQ. They have since diversified to include Frontenac and Petite Pearl, hardier varieties able to withstand Québec’s frigid winter temperatures. At l’Orpailleur, the French hybrids are buried over winter. It is a laborious process, but as compared to vinifera, de Coussergues has observed far less bud rot on his hybrids when unearthing the vines in spring.

Mike Marler, owner of biodynamic winery Les Pervenches, is less convinced by Québec’s hybrid varieties. Since acquiring their Farnham estate in 2000, Marler and his partner Véronique Hupin have experimented with ten different French and American hybrid varieties. Today, only one hectare of Seyval Blanc remains. Their other three hectares are planted with vinifera grapes.

Marler and Hupin found the hybrids to be “less interesting organoleptically,” notably due to far higher acidity levels. “We make wine without intervention,” Marler explains. “With our vinifera varieties we don’t need to de-acidify or chaptalize, and we can experiment with a wider range of winemaking styles.”

The hybrids also proved disappointing in terms of disease resistance. “Maréchal Foch is highly susceptible to downy mildew,” says Marler. “It is impossible to work biodynamically.” His Frontenac vines required almost as much copper as Pinot Noir, to ward powdery mildew and other diseases in early spring.

Marler estimates that Québec’s hybrid grapes currently require 25% less fungicides on average than vinifera, but he wonders how long the situation will last. Many of Québec’s vineyards were planted in virgin soil. “Is it really the hybrids,” he asks, “or is it the disease-free soil?” Recent outbreaks of a new, late season downy mildew clade in several of the province’s hybrid vineyards are a worrying sign.

Hybrid grapes are not a panacea against climate change. As fungal disease pressure shifts and evolves, resistance can wane. And growers are questioning how well some of the earliest ripening hybrids, so suited to Canada’s once cooler, shorter growing seasons, will fare in the increasingly warm summers.

Despite this, Morozov still feels that “hybrids have been a more predictable pillar of viticulture” for Benjamin Bridge, citing their tenacity against the extremes. Rafuse agrees that, at Blomidon, having a good mix of vinifera and hybrids is the safest way forward.

As climate challenges intensifies, it will be interesting to see which vinifera and hybrid varieties are abandoned in favour of more suitable and sustainable alternatives.

Perhaps, when I reflect on these changes in another twenty years time, it will be with a glass of Voltis sparkling wine in hand.

Domaine Bergeville L’integrale Extra Brut NV, Québec

Malivoire, Albert’s Honour, Old Vines Foch, 2019, VQA Ontario

Discreet lemon and chamomile aromas mingle with hints of baked bread on the nose. Aged thirty months on its lees, the palate is lively and ultra-precise, with fine bubbles, and a zesty, mineral tension that lingers on the finish.

Grapes: L’Acadie Blanc, Frontenac Gris, Frontenac Blanc, St-Pépin

Very inviting on the nose, with well defined earthy, dark fruit aromas and hints of espresso bean. The palate is crisp and medium in body, with fine depth of flavour, and subtle tannic grip. Should soften nicely with 3 – 4 years’ cellaring.

Grapes: 100% Maréchal Foch

Benjamin Bridge Pét Nat 2020, Nova Scotia The nose is immediately intriguing with its succession of fresh herbs, tangy gooseberry, and tropical fruit nuances. Vigorous bubbles and laser-like acidity give the palate an electric energy. Finishes dry, with refreshing citrus bitters.

Grapes: 100% Geisenheim

Blomidon Cuvée L’Acadie Brut NV, Nova Scotia Pretty aromas of green apple, wet stone, and brioche entice on the nose. The palate is racy and sleek, with lip-smacking lemon and saline flavours carried on a tide of exuberant effervescence. Finishes bone dry, without austerity.

Grapes: 100% L’Acadie Blanc

Vignoble de L’Orpailleur Blanc 2020, Québec A tangy, easy drinking white wine reminiscent of Côtes de Gascogne. Green citrus and orchard fruit flavours are underscored by fresh, grassy nuances. The palate is crisp and light, with a smooth, rounded structure.

Grapes: Vidal Blanc, Seyval Blanc, Frontenac Blanc

Les Pervenches Seyval Chardo 2020, Québec Initially reserved, with honeyed white stone fruit and green almond aromas emerging with aeration. The palate is vibrant and textural with subtly savoury flavours.

Pleasing bitters lift and lengthen the finish.

Grapes: Seyval Blanc, Chardonnay

Southbrook Small Lot Vidal, Skin Fermented White 2020, VQA Ontario Jacky Blisson MW is an independent wine educator, writer, and consultant with over two decades experience in all facets of the global wine trade. She is the first Master of Wine in Québec and one of only ten across Canada. After studying wine science and commerce in Beaune France, Jacky managed exports for Burgundian and Rhône Valley firms. She also worked harvest seasons in Beaune and Walker Bay, South Africa. Jacky produces a self-titled wine website and YouTube channel. Her go-to restaurant that never disappoints is L’Express in Montréal and the best concert she ever attended was The Tragically Hip on New Year’s Eve 2000.

Aromas and flavours of orange peel, gooseberry, and aromatic herbs entice on this lively, subtly earthy amber wine. Light, but not lacking in character, with its zesty acidity and discreet tannic edge.

Grapes: 100% Vidal

The Roost at Red Wing, Marquette 2020, VQA Ontario Pleasing notes of red cherry, cinnamon, and black pepper feature on the nose. The medium weight palate is held in thrall by mouth-watering acidity. Smooth and fruity, with reasonably well integrated cedar spice nuances.

Grapes: 100% Marquette

Georgian Hills Maréchal Foch 2017, VQA Ontario Fragrant dark berry aromas, with hints of cut flowers. The palate marries soaring, high acid with a dense, full-bodied core. Finishes smooth, with lingering cigar box and subtle barn yard hints.

Grapes: 100% Maréchal Foch

Blomidon Baco Noir Réserve 2020, Nova Scotia A fragrant, deeply hued red, redolent with ripe cassis, prune, violet, and cedar spice notes. Tangy, high acidity defines the full-bodied palate. Smooth, medium weight tannins frame the finish.

Grapes: 100% Baco Noir

Magnotta, Venture Series, Baco Noir 2017, VQA Ontario A lighter interpretation of Baco Noir, with bright red cherry, cranberry, and vanilla flavours. Soft on the palate, with lip-smacking acidity, and a veneer of toasty oak.

Grapes: 100% Baco Noir

Henry of Pelham Baco Noir, Old Vines 2020, VQA Ontario Intense aromas of ripe blueberry, black plum, and cracked pepper feature on the nose. The palate is rich and dense, with a sweet core of ripe dark fruit tempering the lively acidity.

Finishes smooth with lingering spicy oak notes.

Grapes: 100% Baco Noir

Château des Charmes Vidal Icewine 2019, VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario Tantalizing aromas of candied lemon, honeyed orchard fruit, and white flowers unfurl on the nose. The palate is silken in texture, with pitch perfect balance of crisp acidity, vibrant citrussy flavours, and luscious sweetness.

Grapes: 100% Vidal

Inniskillin Vidal Icewine 2017, VQA Niagara Peninsula An array of ultra ripe yellow fruit and butterscotch aromas fairly leap from the glass. The palate is equally heady, with its rich, layered flavours and opulent sweetness ably matched by juicy, refreshing acidity.

Grapes: 100% Vidal

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Forecast: Still Dreaming in the Low Sixties A Rock and Roll Hall of Famer graduates from college in her 60s, sets new goals and dares to start again.

By Kathy Valentine

Photo credit: supplied

Kathy Valentine circa 1986

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Photo credit: supplied

The Go-Go’s circa 1981, Kathy far right

In what must have been either a very optimis-

tic or a very covetous day over a decade ago, I compiled a list of 50 things I hoped to experience in life and then promptly forgot about it.

I know this because I recently came upon a leather journal tucked at the back of a shelf, flipped through a few scattered entries, and there it was, written at age 50, appropriately titled “50 at 50.” I began crossing things off, surprised at how many had been fulfilled, and wondering if the act of writing it down had set the actualization into motion—if words ignite intentions that power actions which manifest into reality. I contemplated how different my list would be today and if I’d still want some of those unrealized wishes.

I’m in my 60’s now: an age that for some means slowing down or retiring—settling

into the golden years. We also have those mainstays of Western living—marketing and consumerism—to remind us that we can fight it, by purchasing anti-aging products and protocols. A quick internet search brings up pages of articles encouraging us to accept and embrace aging—a concept which sounds okay in theory, but I’d rather hear a message that exhorts everyone to accept and embrace who they are and where they are in their life—not just us newly minted elders (to my thinking, the least offensive term when the choices are senior citizens, geriatrics, pensioners…oldsters.)

We might all face similar issues in different eras of our lives, but I really don’t like being divided or separated from other people because of age, especially people

who are doing the same things I like to do.

Recently I recorded a video and audio track of me playing bass for a cover version of Cherry Bomb, the infamous signature song of teenage rock band The Runaways from 1976. I first heard that song at age 16 and would have died laughing if you told me then that I’d be recording it at 63 years old. On top of that, I’m decades older than the other musicians who are on the compilation. And yet—there’s me—rocking like mad, looking great and fitting in perfectly with the other players. This is exactly how I want things to be.

In my high 50’s I discovered spin bike classes. Of all the exercise activities I’ve tried, spinning is the only one I’ve stuck with and look forward to. Yes, I’m talking about those dark rooms with pulsing lights and blasting QUENCH.ME

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Photo credit: supplied

Kathy in concert 2021

Write a book. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Go back to college, get a degree.

These were things I’d dreamed of and written down, alongside the fanciful, mundane, and unlikely other stuff. The completion of these big-ticket wishes has led to very different outcomes that will affect where my focus and energy goes. In 2020, All I Ever Wanted, my first book, a memoir, was published.

Rather than the crossed off bucket list item “write a book” appears to be, this caused my book writing effort to divide like a cell in mitosis, reproducing and creating new, lofty ambitions for a writing career.

Then in 2021, I was inducted into the Rock Hall with the Go-Go’s—one of the best nights of my entire life. But where does a lifelong musician go from there? I’ve had an exhilarating ride, a music career filled with extreme highs and lows. It was unexpected how striking this one off the list felt like the end of a story that started long before a “50 at 50” list. Closure doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning music—creative expression is

Photo credit: supplied

hip hop, mostly attended by very fit young ladies and a sprinkling of athletic men. No big surprises coming here: I’m decades older than everyone else, yet somehow, without looking or feeling out of place, I’m right there keeping up with the kids.

One day, during a brief Covid respite when the class was more full than usual, the instructor shouted out how excited she was to have a Go-Go in her class. Now, I’d prefer not to be noticed as a Go-Go unless I’m on stage—but okay, whatever. I thought she’d mention hearing us on the radio, or seeing a video, going to a concert—the usual thing. Instead, she told the class a little anecdote about the Go-Go’s being her grandmother’s favorite band. Ouch! I’ve heard “my mom was a big fan” many times. But this my grandmother business was a first. Sigh.

Obviously, the age gap doesn’t stop me from doing things I enjoy, but it’s not always easy to ignore either.

Getting back to that list—there were a few substantial, years-in-the-making items:

intrinsic to my well-being. I’ll always have room for songwriting, recording, and playing in a band, but these days it won’t be occupying the space that dreams need to grow.

And finally, now that I have a college degree the road has been cleared to apply for a graduate school MFA. A formidable prospect on its own, but then I stumbled upon a blog featuring a post from a woman complaining about feeling isolated and out of place as a grad student. She was 40. Uh oh. Immediately my thoughts were off and running, imagining myself in a workshop with a bunch of 25-yearolds, reading their writing, and them reading my own 63-year-old fiction. This kind of thinking is the opposite of dreaming—only useful for kicking up clouds of doubt and fear, obscuring all prior excitement. But when the doubt and fear dispersed and settled, the truth was still there: I want this. I want the structure, I want what I will learn, I want the tools and the feedback and the faculty and the challenge. I want it all. And I want it enough to feel uncomfortable—to feel scared even.

College graduate Kathy Valentine 2021

Photo credit: supplied

The Go-Go’s playing at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction, Oct. 30. 2021

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Photo credit: supplied

Photo credit: supplied

Photo credit: supplied

Kathy with her daughter Audrey in 2021 (top) and 2003

Kathy in concert 2021

This might be the key to my sixties, and it’s something I began to notice in my fifties.

When new opportunities came (acting in a film, giving a keynote speech for a major organization)—things I’d never done—I said yes. Because alongside the terror of “what if I suck?” was an exhilaration that felt distinctly un-elderly. Maybe this part of youthfulness should always be welcomed—the willingness to do something never before tried or done.

Even if it means being decades older and possibly unrelatedly apart from everyone else. Being young and inexperienced means nearly everything is new, it’s all scary, it’s all challenging. And then we get older and enjoy the results of all those professional years of practice, of doing, of succeeding at whatever it is we find. The security of being so comfortable with who we are is so nice and fuzzy we don’t even want to be nervously trying on new goals and aspirations.

As we lurch into a new year, I like to think I’m not alone in treading carefully, staying focused on keeping upright, and maintaining hope and optimism. And while a to-do list will get done easier than the depressingly named “bucket list,” there’s something about the wish list, the minimal eloquence of daring to try and willing to start again. Coinciding with the synchronicity of becoming an “empty nest” mom, my one daughter having moved out to attend college, I find myself now at 63, trudging a new, very unsure road.

Where does this journey start? The same place that teenaged me started when I picked up a guitar to start looking for the band, the songs, the sound, that would help me make my way through the world. That is to say, a lot of thinking and planning and strategizing and …dreaming.

Kathy Valentine has been working as a musician and songwriter for over 40 years, most notably as a member of the groundbreaking Go-Go’s – who, in 2021, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kathy’s acclaimed memoir All I Ever Wanted: A Rock and Roll Memoir was published in 2020. In 2017 she created “She Factory” a non-profit event series to benefit women-centered charities. In addition to ongoing music and writing pursuits, Valentine graduated from college in 2021 with a degree in English and Fine Arts. Music is always foremost in her creative pursuits. Kathy still shows up for gigs with her rock band The Bluebonnets in her hometown of Austin, Texas where she resides with a teenage daughter she says is her “greatest pride and joy.”

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Photo credit: Dominique Lafond

PROFILE:

Cheryl Johnson

By Michaela Morris

Cheryl Johnson is a self-professed ‘non-

planner.’ This might seem odd for a chef of over 20 years and co-owner of Québec’s highly awarded, insanely popular restaurant - Montréal Plaza.

Superficially, her life reads like a series of happy accidents, yet a closer glance reveals intuitive decisions made by someone who knows herself well. Perhaps this comes from her peripatetic upbringing. “Travelling is one of the best ways to get an education about life,” declares Johnson. “It really helped me become who I am and was a lot more positive than negative.”

Post secondary school, she enrolled in an engineering program in California. “I enjoyed math and science, but I really hated reading – literature I mean,” she recalls. But engineering wasn’t the right fit. It wasn’t long before she found her calling as a chef. “I grew up in a food family. My dad was a huge cook and I’m also half Filipino,” she explains.

Johnson’s first restaurant job was at Tomiko, a family-owned Japanese joint near 34

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San Diego. “I was managing a surf shop while going to school and there was this restaurant on a cliff overlooking the beach.” Despite never having eaten there or even setting foot in it, she was determined to work there. “I might have lied a little on my resume to get a job.” She started as a server, but the owners soon recognized her interest in cooking and invited her to work in the kitchen.

It was the owners of Tomiko who encouraged her to enroll at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Upstate New York. The twoyear program included a five-month practicum. While her peers had designs on internships at famous restaurants in the Big Apple, Johnson wasn’t keen on peeling carrots in a kitchen basement for 10 hours a day. She also wanted to use the opportunity to go abroad.

“The rule was that if you were doing a stage outside the country, you had to be able to speak that language 100%.” She got away with Montréal even though it is officially a French speaking city. The next hurdle was getting a visa. When the school cautioned that she wouldn’t be able to get one, Johnson replied, “fuck you, yes I can.” She applied to Normand Laprise’s Toqué! without knowing much about it. The reviews from previous apprentices attracted her. “Everyone said the same thing: ‘They take the time to teach you.

You are part of the team.’”

Johnson arrived in Montréal in 2000. “A, I fell in love with the city. B, I fell in love with the restaurant and the people.” This is where she met her now business partner Charles-Antoine Crête. After finishing up at the CIA, Johnson returned to Montréal and ended up working at Toqué! for nine years as Crête’s sous-chef.

Eventually she left Toqué! to help open a restaurant in Thailand. “I’d only worked at two places in my life, so I wanted to see something else.” What was supposed to be a three-month contract ended up being a three-year project.

Before leaving for Thailand, Johnson and Crête had already talked about opening a restaurant together. “We always say: each on our side we can accomplish a lot but together we can accomplish even more.” This became clear to her during her time in Thailand.

When Johnson returned to Montréal, she and Crête lived together to save money (she assures me that the relationship has always been platonic). “We wanted to build a restaurant that feels like people are coming to our house.” The 70-seat Montréal Plaza, which opened in 2015, is just that - one big, really fun dinner party. While it may be hard to put a finger on the specific cuisine, the restaurant is 100% pure Cheryl and Charles-Antoine.

The two are also partners in Foodchain.

Launched in November 2019, “it is the fastest fast food - and it’s healthy.” The vegetarian

FAVOURITE INGREDIENT TO COOK WITH:

Garlic. It always adds something. You can have pasta with just oil and garlic, and it tastes amazing.

BEST CHILDHOOD FOOD MEMORY:

Cooking with my father. I was always with him in the kitchen. He wanted to become a chef as well. But back then, it wasn’t a noble job.

YOUR GO-TO RESTAURANT:

WHO IS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CULINARY INFLUENCE:

WHERE DO YOU LIVE:

Montréal. I have been here for 21 years now. It is the longest place that I’ve lived and has become my home.

It depends on my mood. Less beer, occasional cocktails, more wine.

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP:

MUSIC YOU LISTEN TO WHILE COOKING:

FAVOURITE COMFORT FOOD:

Soup. I love Vietnamese Pho, but I am a huge fan of soup in general, all year around and all kinds.

It’s not just the eating, it is as much the smell at home as it is cooking.

Brussels sprouts

Juni. There are a lot of sushi places in Montréal but with Juni, it’s the pure form - classic, simple, good quality.

My father.

All over. I moved around a lot - Philippines, Georgia, Texas, Hawaii, Japan.

Photo credit: supplied

juice bar makes smoothies to order - each one packing in a pound of vegetables.

Johnson spends a lot of time in the kitchen and her love of food hasn’t waned, but it isn’t just cooking that keeps her there. “A large part of what I like is the human contact, especially with the younger kids.” She transitioned from mentee to mentor long ago. “We remember what it was like when it was us,” she says.

“They are the future of our industry, so we have to take care of them.”

The family feel at Montréal Plaza is palpable. And if you happen to hear AC/DC spilling out of the kitchen, you are in for an extra rocking night.

WHAT DO YOU DRINK AT HOME:

It depends on what I’m cooking and who I’m cooking for, haha! When we really want to pump everyone up in the kitchen at Montréal Plaza, it’s (AC/DC’s) Thunderstruck. But that’s not an everyday thing.

Scan the QR code for Cheryl’s recipe for Fried Brussels Sprouts Most people hate Brussels sprouts, but this recipe has cheese; it has fruit caramel; it’s crunchy, sweet and salty. We serve it on the branch. Even people who don’t like Brussels sprouts end up loving it. All year-round people ask – when does Brussels sprouts season start? When it does, it’s like - Brussels sprouts in the restaurant everywhere.

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Photo credit: supplied

Fried okra

Soul Food’s Journey

By Adrian Miller

Soul Food is simultaneously one of the most marketable and misunderstood culinary terms around.

Mention the phrase “Soul Food” to those

West African foods like black-eyed peas and rice, groundnuts, okra, and yams.

In colonial British North America, slaveholders tried to control enslaved people’s diet by distributing a certain amount of food on a weekly basis. These controlled amounts of food were called “allotments,” “allowances,” or “rations.” Rations usually included five pounds of a starch (cornmeal, rice or sweet Photo credit: supplied

steeped in, or merely familiar with African American food traditions, and you’ll generate excitement and knowing nods of approval. In my travels around the country and the world, I’ve noticed that the vast majority of people, even the ones who’ve heard about it, don’t really know what Soul Food is. Not to worry, I’m your guide.

Soul Food blends the ingredients, culinary techniques, and traditions of people from West Africa, Western Europe, and the Americas. The seeds for this fusion cuisine were planted when Europeans captured and enslaved hundreds of thousands of West Africans and forcibly brought them to British North America from the 1600s to the 1800s.

During the months-long boat trip across the Atlantic Ocean, known as “The Middle Passage,” enslaved captives were initially fed unfamiliar and rotting meat and vegetables from Europe. That maritime diet killed so many enslaved people that slavers started provisioning slave ships with more familiar

Cornbread muffins 36

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Soul food meal Photo credit: supplied

Fried catfish

potatoes), a couple pounds of dried, salted or smoked meat (usually pork, but it could be beef or fish), and a jug of molasses. Otherwise, enslaved African Americans survived by supplementing their diet through fishing, foraging, gardening and hunting during their leisure time.

In suitable climate conditions, the enslaved grew familiar foods from West Africa like black-eyed peas, millet, okra, sesame seeds, sorghum, and watermelon. Additionally, they substituted the foods that Europeans and Native Americans introduced to them like collard greens, corn (maize), pork, and sweet potatoes. The primary sources of protein were chickens, pigs, seafood, and wild game. Pigs and chickens were popular choices for meat because those animals were easy to raise and thus plentiful. It was during slavery that what would eventually be called Soul Food took shape.

Enslaved people’s diets varied depending on whether they were situated in cities, small farms, or large plantations. On the large plantations, a team of enslaved cooks prepared food for those working in the fields while another team of enslaved cooks fed the slaveholders family in their dwelling, which was usually called “the Big House.” What enslaved people ate on the large plantations has drawn the most attention from historians, so let’s focus there. Generally, enslaved people

Roaming Buffalo mac ‘n’ cheese

had a breakfast of crumbled up cornbread mixed with buttermilk. The midday meal, called dinner or lunch in the nineteenth century, consisted of seasonal and locally-grown vegetables that were boiled with some spices and flavored with a small piece of pickled, salted, or smoked meat. In the evening they had “supper,” which was usually just leftovers from the midday meal. The enslaved often ate from troughs and without utensils because the latter were potential weapons and slaveholders constantly feared a slave insurrection.

On weekends and special occasions if slaveholders felt generous and the work schedule slowed down, enslaved cooks got access to more refined and prestigious ingredients like coveted cuts of meat (ham and pork shoulders), white flour, and white sugar.

With these ingredients, they made things that would later become iconic dishes, things like barbecue, biscuits, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and sweet potato pie. From this mix of mundane and celebration food during slavery the most recognizable expressions of Soul Food took shape.

The Soul Food linguistic journey rivals the fascinating twists and turns of its culinary evolution. Before there was Soul Food, any food made in the American South--regardless of class, place, and race--was called “southern cooking.” After Emancipation, large numbers

of African Americans left the South for better opportunity in other parts of the U.S., in what is described as “The Great Migration.” As they took their food traditions with them, the migrant cuisine was first labeled “Down Home Cooking,” reflecting a longing for the places where they grew up. It wasn’t until the 1950s and 1960s, that African Americans race-consciously divorced their food traditions from others in the region. This was part of a broader effort by Black Power advocates to reinforce cultural ties between Blacks spread across the country. Soul Food was born as a culinary expression associated with what African Americans cooked and ate, and “southern food” became associated with whites.

This was news to white southerners who had eaten the same foods for centuries, but nonetheless, the culinary separation took hold. We’re still living with that legacy today, and a vibrant discussion of “culinary justice” has arisen to address how to reintegrate African American contributions into the southern food story. I often get asked the difference between Soul Food and southern food, and my short, snarky answer is that “Soul Food tastes better.” When pressed to elaborate, I happily explain that some distinctions emerged over time between Soul Food and southern food. The former tends to be more seasoned, rely more on variety meats,

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Photo credit: supplied

Nashville Hot Chicken from Lou's Food Bar in Nashville

and blur the lines between savory and sweet than the latter.

Today, Soul Food has a lot of variety, but there are traditional favorites that make up a typical meal. The entrée could be fried chicken, fried catfish or some sort of pork (chitterlings, ham or a pork chop). The side dishes include any combination of stewed black-eyed peas, candied sweet potatoes, stewed greens (cabbage, collards, kale, mustard, turnip greens, in particular), baked macaroni and cheese, and rice. Soul food breads can be either corn-based or wheat-based, and a hot sauce made with cayenne pepper, spices and vinegar is the condiment of choice. Soul Food aficionados often wash their meal down with a sweet beverage that has a red or purple color, respectively referred to as “red drink” and “purple drank.” The most popular soul food desserts are banana pudding, peach cobbler, pound cake, and sweet potato pie.

In addition to traditional soul food, new culinary trends have emerged. With the “Down Home Healthy” approach, cooks are more health-conscious by seasoning vegetables and using leaner meats like smoked turkey instead of pork, adding margarine instead of butter, frying with vegetable oil instead of lard, and using less salt and sugar.

The “Upscale Soul” trend reflects how cooks, usually fine dining chefs, use extravagant ingredients like heirloom vegetables, heritage

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breed meats, and exotic spices. The most popular and creative of the current Soul Food trends are vegetarian and vegan which avoid the use of meat all together. Vegans take the extra step of prohibiting the use of animal by-products like dairy and honey. Cooks are also experimenting by borrowing ideas from other cuisines to create interesting fusion dishes. Some examples are burritos or egg rolls (known as “soul rolls”) filled with things like collard greens, mashed sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, fried chicken with rice and gravy.

Soul Food’s popularity has caused this culinary label to become shorthand for all African American cooking. This is a mistake. Though related, the Creole cooking of Louisiana and the low country cooking of South Carolina have their own distinct culinary heritage and expression. Soul Food is more aptly described as the food that Black migrants took with them and transplanted in other places. In their new homes, they did what any migrant group does: they tried to recreate home through food. If they couldn’t get the exact same ingredients, they found substitutes, and mimicked new dishes they learned from their new neighbors from other cultures.

Soul Food simultaneously condensed and expanded the southern menu, and ultimately became something different than southern food. Soul Food remains a vibrant part of the

African American diet, and hopefully, you’ll be able to appropriately celebrate it by cooking and eating its delicious dishes. I promise, your soul and stomach will be satisfied.

Adrian Miller is a food writer, recovering attorney, and certified barbecue judge who lives in Denver, Colorado. He served as a special assistant to President Bill Clinton with his Initiative for One America – the first free-standing office in the White House to address issues of racial, religious and ethnic reconciliation.

Adrian’s first book, Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time won the James Beard Foundation Award for Scholarship and Reference in 2014. His most recent book, Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue, was published in 2021. Adrian is featured in the Netflix series High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America. His go-to restaurant that never disappoints is Georgia Brown’s in Washington D.C.

QUENCH PRESENTS THE DEBATERS

Rosé: Wines of Substance or Simply Pool Juice

The rosé wine category has been growing exponentially over the past several years. What was once a category defined by insipid White Zinfandels used as “transition wines” for those looking to “step up” from wine coolers, is now filled with an abundance of styles, many modelled after the region largely responsible for the category’s growth – the pale salmon coloured rosés of Provence. Quench approached two of the globe’s esteemed wine experts to consider the question. In traditional debate style, we assigned each of them the side they would argue in favour of – so, not necessarily a reflection of their personal opinion or point of view (although Elizabeth Gabay MW did literally write the book on the category).

RESOLUTION: ROSÉ – THERE IS SUBSTANCE BEHIND THE GROWTH IN ROSÉ, IS IT NOT JUST HYPE AND THE CATEGORY DESERVES THE ATTENTION IT IS GETTING. IE. ROSÉ IS MORE THAN JUST POOL JUICE. And now to introduce the debaters: Elizabeth Gabay MW grew up a Londoner but always travelled around Europe with her family. After back-packing around the world, Elizabeth returned to London where, by accident she fell into the wine trade when her parents bought a holiday cottage in Provence. Elizabeth passed the Master of Wine exam in 1998, and, in 2002, moved to a village an hour north of Nice. Her thirty years of working in Provence led in 2018 to her first book Rosé, Understanding the Pink Wine Revolution. With her son Ben Bernheim, they have put together an on-line Buyers Guide to the Rosés of Southern France, published in 2021. A new guide on the Rosés of Southern France, focusing on regional differences and old vintages is due to come out this summer.

Elizabeth recently released a natural rosé called Sen (Dream) made with Slovakian producer Vladimir Magula.

Elizabeth will argue in the affirmative supporting the resolution that there is substance behind the growth in rosé, and the category deserves the attention it is getting.

Michael Apstein MD has written about wine for over three decades. He received a James Beard Foundation Journalism Award in 2000 and was nominated again in 2004 and 2006. In 2008, he won the Les Grands Jours de Bourgogne Press Trophy and in 2010, he was nominated for the prestigious Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards. Dr. Apstein is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Division of Gastroenterology at the Beth

Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He lectures and writes frequently about wine and health and judges frequently at international and national wine competitions.

Michael will oppose the resolution and argue instead that rosé is predominantly an over-hyped category and wine lovers wouldn’t be missing much if the entire category disappeared.

Each of our debaters will have 1200 words to present their argument. There will be no rebuttal because this is print and we’re just having fun.

Quench readers will judge the quality of the evidence and arguments. Let us know who you think makes the best argument.

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The Rosé category is one of substance and deserving of the attention it is receiving.

Rosé—why bother?

By Michael Apstein MD

By Elizabeth Gabay MW

vs Like a reformed smoker, I am more passionate about rosé than most rosé drinkers.

I used to be dismissive, turned off by the marketing of drinking rosé by the pool or sea side and the image of the Mediterranean lifestyle (I live near the Mediterranean, after all). Rosés’ big marketing success has indisputedly been due to being promoted as a simple uncomplicated wine that anyone can drink, the antithesis to wine snobbery.

The message is simple. Even if you know nothing about wine you can drink rosé! No worries about vintages - drink it within the year. No need to be a fancy cook, with complicated wine and food pairings - rosé goes with all food. Use the glasses you have - there are no special glasses. Just drink and enjoy rosé fresh from the fridge and even add ice.

This approach has both enraged wine snobs and, more significantly, kept rosés in a category of wines which are not worth considering. Wine merchants, wine writers and consumers condemn the banality of the style, bemoaning its success, yet happy to profit from its saleability. It’s a Catch-22 dilemma: by keeping rosé accessible to a young and or inexperienced market, prices are kept low, which means that the vast majority of rosé wines tasted by most people will inevitably not be the most exciting of examples.

The popular image keeps rosé cheap, with a glass ceiling on the price. Many state that £/US$15-20 is the maximum price for a rosé and would never try a rosé at a higher price point, thereby denying themselves the chance to taste or to see the potential of a rosé wine.

When Chateau d’Esclans launched Garrus as the most expensive rosé in the world, it was its price, £80, that made it famous, rather than its quality, a situation unlikely to have raised an eyebrow for premium red and white wines.

Instead, the branding continues with the marketing hype of the colour pink (even Pantone has rosé wine shades) without looking at the style further. Rosé is undoubtedly pink, in shades from offwhite to almost red but why should this make rosé lovers also wear pink? Why are so many commentaries of the style so focused on the colour and nothing else? Pink is perceived as the gateway to sales success, as seen in the introduction of Prosecco, retsina rosé, and the increasing number of pink gins. I have nothing against

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Most rosé is innocuous, which explains its popularity.

I emphasize the word most in that sweeping statement and, of course, I am excluding rosé Champagne. Certainly, there is some high-quality still rosé on the market, such as those from Domaine Tempier or Château Pradeaux, to name just two. Indeed, the high-quality rosé category has grown over the years, as Elizabeth Gabay MW, will, I’m sure, point out as producers have moved away from the saignée method of making rosé. But fundamentally, rosé, as in “I’ll have a glass of rosé,” has replaced “I’ll have a glass of Chardonnay” as shorthand for “I want a glass of wine—I don’t care to know anything else about it” in North America.

Let me be clear, I don’t have anything against rosé. In general, they are soundly made. However, when given the opportunity to drink rosé, I’d almost always prefer to drink something else—more on that later. So, in this debate, I’m not trying to bash rosé, I’m just attempting to explain why I think it’s popular.

Wine is complicated. Rosé is not.

In a nutshell, that’s why rosé is so popular. People want to drink wine because it’s au courant and seems sophisticated, but most people don’t want to expend the energy to learn about wine. Wine, in general, is complex and intimidating. Knowing about vintages, aging requirements, geographic names, producers, labels with foreign words are just a few of the things that make wine complicated.

Ordering wine in a restaurant can be a nightmare. Is it from a good vintage? Is it ready to drink? Is it made by a good producer? Not to mention, how do you pronounce Vacqueryas? Most people are just not that interested in spending the requisite time to learn about wine, they simply want a “glass of wine.” Enter rosé.

Rosé is simple. It’s easy to order—I’ll have a glaass of rosé. No vintages to worry about, and it’s a word everyone can pronounce.

Assessing wine can be intimidating, and the reaction of people when you ask them what they think of a wine reminds me of seeing a deer in your headlights. It’s odd that people should be frightened to assess a wine; people easily critique movies or restaurants, but they’re scared to comment on wine for fear of “saying the wrong thing.” People can’t adequately articulate smells and tastes, so describing a wine is problematic for most. Furthermore, is that tannin-induced bitterness a good thing or a fault?

vs these drinks if, and it is a big IF, it is not just colour but there is also a distinctive rosé fruit character. Regional wine styles which have moved from their own character to pale ‘Provence style’, contribute to a decline in the diversity of styles. Chiaretto di Bardolino and Bordeaux rosés being classic examples of wines which are going down the Provence-style path.

The problem comes back to colour. Always. Often, I’ve tasted rosé with professionals or consumers who cannot move from the colour question. But I would suggest that - while much rosé produced is merely a puff of pink hype - this wine style also has an intellectual and artistic beauty that is ignored by too many wine aficionados.

Stepping back from the focus on pinkness, seeing rosé as a wine reveals a different world. There are red flags - high yields, overly early harvesting, minimal skin-contact for minimal colour, and cold fermentation, which creates the palest of delicate rosés in a relatively uniform style.

Critics who condemn rosé as being all hype and no substance will often claim their preferred exceptions to be Tavel (appellation generically), Domaine Tempier from Bandol - always Tempier with no knowledge of other Bandol estates - Tondonia from Rioja, Garrus from Chateau d’Esclans in Provence and a range of oddments.

Interestingly, these are all quite powerful rosés, many of which have been in oak, generally with ageing potential and mostly not pale. These critics do not limit their experience of an appellation’s reds or whites to one wine before forming an assessment.

The hype around colour obfuscates the search for these more complex rosés. Try googling “interesting rosé”, “complex rosé”, “different rosé”, “natural rosé”, “darker rosé” - or any adjective other than “pale rosé.” All largely give a similar listing of the same rosés which dominate the market. No wonder it is difficult to expand the market for more diverse styles.

It is important to define what a rosé is. If defined by colour alone - meaning the wine should be pink - many are so pale they could be defined as blanc de noir or white wine. At the other extreme, the copper onion-skin tones of some oaked or aged rosés closely resemble orange wines. And a few rosés are dark enough to appear a light red. L’Irréductible from Domaine de la Bégude in Bandol is dark cherry pink with lots of intense fruit, the complete antithesis of pale pink, but backed by the conviction of the winemaker that this is the best expression of Mourvedre rosé, succeeds.

My definition of rosé is based on two questions: Does the producer call it rosé? Is it made from a blend that includes red/black/ gris grapes that do not finish fermentation in contact with their skins? (Rosé des Riceys is a prime example of a rosé which includes a partial fermentation on the skins).

Good winemakers of all styles of wine are a creative crowd. They are busy exploring the possibilities of rosé, by playing with varieties, site selection, harvest dates, length of maceration, indigenous yeast (or at least very neutral yeast), temperature, vessels, ageing

Enter rosé. It’s simple to assess. The main criterion for its quality is color—and everyone can identify and describe colors.

Moreover, the pretty pink against most any background makes it Instagram-ready.

In North America, much, perhaps most, wine is consumed as an aperitif, without food. That pattern of consumption requires a low-acid, round wine. The acidity in wine is critical to keep it fresh and lively through the entire meal. In contrast, without food, people gravitate to low acid wines that don’t scratch the palate. These “aperitif wines” also need to lack power or concentration.

Enter rosé. It’s simple to drink. Even if not subtly sweet, most rosé are round so there’s none of the aggressive acidity to deal with.

And rosé is the antithesis of power.

In short, rosé is popular because it is easy. It’s easy to order. It’s easy to drink. It’s easy to assess. There are no bitter tannins, there’s no mouth-cleansing acidity. Mostly, there’s little taste, another plus for consumers who don’t like strong flavors. Rosé is uncomplicated, unlike many wines.

An added attraction is that rosé is always served cold, and we Americans like cold drinks. A big complaint from Americans traveling to Europe in the summer is the lack of ice in drinks!

To me, rosé is akin to mindless television after a long, stressful day at work. Sometimes you just don’t want to think—you want to relax. Rosé is perfect in that setting because it doesn’t require any effort. Rosé provides everything consumers love about wine: social lubrication, the alcohol-induced buzz, and the relaxation it induces. All without straining the brain.

Now, when I say why bother with rosé, I’m speaking to the small, but ever-increasing, fraction of wine drinkers who enjoy wine for everything it has to offer—its complexities, its subtleties, its history, its story, its expressiveness, and how it changes with age or even in an hour as it sits in the glass.

Those captivated by wine love its near magical qualities, like the magic of terroir—why do two wines made from the same grape by the same winemaker taste different? Why does Tempranillo taste so different when planted in the Rioja compared to Ribera del Duero? What accounts for the flavor development as it sits in the glass or rests in the cellar? Fruity flavors morph into something else—earthy or leafy ones. Call them what you like, but where did they come from? I’m not speaking only of rarified Bordeaux, or Premier, or Grand Cru Burgundy.

The same magic is true for Muscadet or Beaujolais, not prestigious appellations by any stretch. The variation of Muscadet depending on locale, Clisson versus Le Pallet, for example, is extraordinary. The range of the variation is equally dramatic in Beaujolais. Wines from each of the ten crus made by the same producer are unique because of where the Gamay grape was grown. Even within a single cru, wines from the different lieux-dits of Moulin-àVent that Château des Jacques or Château des Moulin-à-Vent bottle are unique. But appreciating those magical qualities takes effort

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vs on lees, aged rosés. Cirque de Grives from Chateau la Gordonne in Provence, a non-oaked premium rosé fermented in concrete eggs, is powerful, intense, extracted, and extremely well made, full of ripe fruit and vibrant acidity. Pinot Grigio ramato, with its copper pink colour, can have texture and complexity but is accredited with orange wine trendiness while wines labelled Pinot Grigio Blush are relegated to being rosé. The off-dry rosés of Anjou are damned for the twin horrors of being pink and sweet, ignoring amazing examples of finely balanced fruit, sugar and acidity and their excellent food pairing ability. Producers struggle knowing that those who dismiss their rosés are quick to praise their sweet Coteaux du Layon.

Start exploring rosé like this and there is a world of exceptional wines worthy of hype.

This is where I find rosé really exciting. The sense of exploration and discovery. The more rosé is dismissed as over-hyped with no substance, the more I am delighted to discover a wine which intrigues and surprises. Not all of the experiments work, and they are far from rivalling the grand crus of the world, but there is something vibrantly exciting about the exploration of a wine style no one else is considering, of being made to think how a wine is defined.

The ‘hype’ may be nothing more than a successful marketing campaign which created and fed into a fashion trend, but it would not have succeeded without the quality of wine behind it. Is there substance and validity to the category? Definitely! Those who dismiss rosé based on their marketing image need to see rosé not through pink tinted glasses, but with the eyes of a wine lover, and explore beyond the obvious. Rosé is more than just a wine with too much marketing.

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and study. Most people who drink wine don’t want to make that investment. They just want a glass of wine. I get it. Enter rosé.

Certainly, on a hot day in the sun-drenched south of France a cool rosé is a welcome addition to a salad Niçoise. And sometimes, as noted West Coast wine writer Blake Gray points out, even wine enthusiasts occasionally want an “uncomplicated” wine—a rosé— when having BBQ in the summer. I understand that, but I argue that there are a bunch of other wines that are far more interesting and deliver more character than rosé. How about chilling a light red, such as a simple Beaujolais or Beaujolais-Villages (wines from the crus don’t take a chill so well)? How about a Valpolicella or Bardolino, or a Côtes du Ventoux? Why not a Côtes du Rhone or a light Barbera from Piedmont?

And what’s wrong with white wines? How about a Pinot de Picpoul? Possibly a Vermentino from Sardinia or from Liguria?

There are also a bevy of Greek whites, such as Assyrtiko, Malagouzia, or Moschofilero that will do the trick, as well as an Albariño from Rías Baixas or a Verdejo from Rueda. Maybe take a look at a German Kabinett from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer. As a group, these are all refreshing wines that deliver more pleasure than a rosé whether enjoyed at the table or as a stand-alone aperitive.

True, you need to have spent some energy to learn about these hard-to-pronounce, less well-known grapes or areas, which is why, “I’ll have a glass of rosé” is so popular.

Offering one-on-one estate tasting experiences & private vineyard tours.

4516 Ryegrass Rd, Oliver, BC

(250) 498-2700

oliver@churchandstatewines.com

churchandstatewines.com

The majestic condors soar above the Andes capturing in their flight Argentina’s finest wine appellations.

2019 Flight of the Condor Cabernet Sauvignon 91 Points James Suckling 2019 Flight of the Condor Malbec 90 Points Tim Atkin MW

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Photo credit: Marie Tomanova

Lavender Country:

It’s taken five decades of not compromising to find his audience, but Patrick Haggerty’s still not ever going to be Nashville’s plaything.

By Tom Murray

Patrick Haggerty of Lavender Country

A number of years back, singer-songwriter Patrick Haggerty of Lavender Country found himself performing at a small, working man’s bar in Milwaukee.

“I walked in and the accommodations were not good,” recalls the 77-year-old Haggerty from his home in Seattle, Washington. “The stage was not really a stage, and there wasn’t enough room for the band. There was a pretty good-sized crowd, though, and in it were these six or seven black men from the neighborhood. Middle aged, somewhere between 50 to 70, clearly heterosexual. I’m looking at 44

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these men and you could tell they were thinking ‘what are you doing in our bar?’”

Truth to tell, Haggerty was thinking that as well. As an unabashedly queer, Marxist artist with a love for classic country, this wasn’t exactly his expected target market. Thing is, after years of battling homophobia and capitalism, a handful of skeptical straight men wasn’t going to put him off.

“I said to myself that my assignment tonight was to win these guys over. That’s what I’m gonna concentrate on, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Photo credit: Britton Strickland

Photo credit: supplied

Patrick Haggerty running for the State Senate in 1988 Photo credit: Sarah Wainwright

Lavender Country

You know how this plays out, of course.

By the end of the evening Haggerty had the men on the dance floor laughing and singing along with the audience. It’s a heartwarming anecdote about people reaching across artificial barriers, but Haggerty is also very aware that it took a long time to get to this point.

Born in the mid ‘40s on a dairy farm in Dry Creek, Washington, Haggerty’s predilection for glitter and girl’s clothing was an early indicator to his father that young Patrick wasn’t going to be like the other boys. However, unlike many other parents of the time, Charles Edward Haggerty was sympathetic to his son’s orientation, sitting him down as a pre-teen to advise Haggerty never to “sneak around.” It took the future musician and political activist a few years to fully understand the meaning behind them, but by the time he came out in his mid ‘20s (directly after the Stonewall Riots in New York) Haggerty realized just how important those words were.

In the late ‘60s he moved to Missoula, Montana for a short period of time, hanging with hippies, occasionally making trips across the Canadian border to see rock bands and smoke hash. After knocking about for a period of time he ended up taking graduate studies in Seattle, where he helped form Lavender Country in 1972. As groundbreaking as it was to have an out lead singer in a country band, it was songs from their self-titled, 1973 debut like Back in the Closet Again and Cryin’ These

Cocksucking Tears that shook up listeners both straight and queer.

“They like to propose that country music is the music of the white working class,” Haggerty scoffs. “Actually, the worst of it glorifies poverty; it’s sanctimonious and awful. I grew up with cardboard in my shoes on a dairy farm with ten brothers and sisters and no money. Poverty is not glorious. Struggles are important. I think the last song about class struggle out of Nashville may have been Take This Job and Shove It. I wanted to sing about things that mattered to me” In other words, Haggerty was not going to sneak around. With Lavender Country, a group of gay and straight musicians intent on upending classic country cliches, he did just that, replacing the usual banal country motifs with deeply heartfelt musings on gay identity and politics. Ahead of their time and also bounded by it, they were celebrated in the Pacific Northwest gay community and ignored outside of it. The band stuck it out for a few years, but mainstream country music was having nothing to do with them. When they folded in 1976, Haggerty was initially hurt but he quickly shifted, putting his energy back into activism and progressive causes.

“No regrets, darling; I had a great life being a screaming Marxist bitch,” he laughs. “(In the early ‘90s) I ran for office with folks in the Nation of Islam as part of a unity platform.

I fought against apartheid, I fought for gay rights and Black power. I got married to a lovely man and raised two children; nothing is more important to me than my children.

Patrick Haggerty

Some people will compare Lavender Country to my children, but I mean, don’t even go there.”

There was no chance that something as groundbreaking as Lavender Country was going to disappear completely, however. An article by the Journal of Country Music on gay country musicians in 1999 brought Haggerty and crew back in the spotlight, followed by a CD re-release of the album and a five song EP, Lavender Country Revisited. It was still too soon, however; Haggerty enjoyed the blip of attention and then happily went back into the world of activism.

When he and his husband J.B. retired outside of Seattle in the early 2000s, Haggerty began picking up the guitar again. He started up a duo with blues harmonica player Robert Taylor and started playing retirement homes as a sideline. As he and Taylor pulled out the classic country chestnuts for the retirees, Lavender Country was slowly being discovered by a new generation.

“A guy called me up and introduced himself as Robert Dekker,” Haggerty says. “He’s the director of an avant-garde ballet company called Post:Ballet in San Francisco. He told me that he’d been up all night thinking about how to choreograph Lavender Country, and would I be okay with a Lavender Country ballet?”

If anything was more surreal to Haggerty than the idea of gay country music, it was gay country music set to a ballet.

“I was like, sure, you’re going to fucking do a ballet about a queer, radical Marxist. Lo and behold, one thing led to another and there QUENCH.ME

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Photo credit: Jim Bennett

Patrick Haggerty with Orville Peck

were dancers moving to my music. At first it was to the original recordings, but then they asked me to come down and play live while the ballet dancers performed. I told him straight out, ‘You know, buddy, you are fucking nuts. I’ve never been to a ballet in my life.’

He talked me into it and we put on the ballet.

It was the artistic experience of a lifetime.”

It was also a timely reminder to Haggerty that the music Lavender Country made was of great value outside of his own world.

“I went backstage after a show and discovered them in the dressing room in a football huddle. I was like, ‘Oh, boy, what’s going on here?’ One of the ballet dancers looked up and said ‘You don’t get it. We don’t dance for money, we dance for art. Most ballet dancers never have a professional opportunity to dance to something that they believe in.’”

At that point things began to snowball for Haggerty, who soon found that the country music world was no longer as close-minded as it once was.

“It’s an interesting dynamic,” he says.

“What I’m finding is that a lot of great country musicians are approaching me, and what’s really going on is that they’re not hicks, they’re not rednecks, they’re really sympathetic. That whole world is filled with people who actually have pretty progressive politics. They’re doing what they know they have to do to get money and I don’t blame them. It was a difficult choice for me back in 1973 to not do mainstream country music instead of Lavender Country. But what’s really true about many, many country musicians is what was also true 46

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about the ballet dancers. They’re sick in the heart because they don’t get an opportunity to say what they actually want to say.”

A number of short documentaries and a new album in 2019 (Blackberry Rose) saw Haggerty quite clearly saying what he means to say. The younger generation, entranced by this “bitchy” septuagenarian rebel, has reached out to him. He worked with drag queen Trixie Mattel on a version of I Can’t Shake the Stranger Out of You for her third album, Barbara, and was personally invited to open for fellow queer country artist Orville Peck. The rising interest in Haggerty and Lavender Country led to Blackberry Rose obtaining a proper release on Don Giovanni Records in February of 2022.

“It’s been amazing,” Haggerty marvels.

“Just a few years ago I struggled to find gigs, but now people are paying attention. And the thing is, it’s not who I expected. One day I was invited to play a punk show where everybody was loud and talking over the music, which was really thrashy. Then Lavender Country came onstage and you could hear a pin drop.

We were so quiet and everybody in the room was absolutely glued to every word that came out of my mouth. Now that’s a fucking compliment, right?”

It may have taken Haggerty over five decades, but he’s finally found his people.

They’re punks, queers, country music fans, heteros, Marxists, folks drawn inexorably to the raw, confessional truths of his songs. He’s glad to have everyone along for the ride, but he also wants you to know that he’s not ever

going to be Nashville’s plaything.

“The record industry is all about control,” he rasps, warming to the topic. “You’re fine as long as you don’t talk about real struggles. Don’t talk about Karl Marx, don’t talk about organizing. Don’t talk about the real nitty-gritty of life. Slog it out with the bourgeoisie, and if you’re gorgeous and they might even make you into a star.” He sighs.

“That’s the corporate world, and I’m not talking about the artists themselves. Maybe that’s how that world operates, and it’s just an empty, vapid life for them. That was never anything I was interested in, however, and I’m still not interested. I am having a marvelous time sticking it to them now, though.”

Tom Murray is a freelance writer, barely competent gardener, and your first call mandolin player if anyone ever wants to start a Pogues cover band. He’s written about music, movies, art, and food for over 25 years.

As a touring musician he’s slept on more floors than anyone you know, and as a writer he’s angered an ex-member of The Byrds and hit it off with a hobbit.

Tom has nearly won a few regional writing awards, almost been in a hit Hollywood movie, and could have been a member of a critically acclaimed touring ensemble. As it is, he’s just happy to crank out words for a living and learn the occasional Earth, Wind, & Fire cover in his basement with friends. He lives in Western Canada with two dogs, a perennially angry cat, and a, thankfully, understanding wife.

Photo credit: supplied

games and more.

WHO IS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CULINARY INFLUENCE:

Alain Ducasse and Michel Bras. These two legendary chefs’ style of cooking influenced me a lot at the early stage of my career. Attention to detail, daily discipline, chasing excellence, knowledge of ingredients and their use, etc. Their books were always at my bedside, and I think they’re still brilliant.

MUSIC YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU COOK:

At home – anything my wife plays. At work – anything that brings good energy like rap, techno, rock, and indie.

PROFILE:

Joo Won

WHY AND WHEN DID YOU START COOKING:

By Claire Kyunghwa Nam

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP:

Born and raised in Busan, South Korea. I hardly left my city until I decided to go to London.

FAVOURITE COMFORT FOOD:

A Korean knife cut noodle soup called Kal guk su. This is a simple, lovely broth and chewy elastic noodle that everyone loves in Korea. There are different flavours but my favourite is Jang kalguksu, a really hearty, spicy, thick broth with a Korean fermented sauce base called Jang made of Gochujang (chilli sauce), Doenjang (soybean paste) and Ganjang (soy sauce). This is a musthave food when you are travelling around Korea.

FAVOURITE INGREDIENT TO COOK WITH:

Definitely pork. My favourite part is pork belly cooked simply over charcoal with sesame oil and salt, wrapped in lettuce with ssamjang. But I equally love every single part of this beautiful animal from nose to tail. It’s so versatile: slow cooked head terrine, soy braised trotter, leg ham, lovely cheek stew, roasted cutlet, and rich Korean offal soup. There is so much fun & flavours about this ingredient.

VISION FOR THE FUTURE:

I am over 40 and I would like to start my own establishment. I’d like to move away from fine dining and do more relaxed cooking with an easy to approach, affordable food and wine menu.

Most importantly, I want to offer Korean & British cooking that you cannot find at any other place in the UK. I have plans for other projects, but I need to start and settle our first restaurant project, Cálong, and I don’t want to think about other things until I get this done.

BEST CHILDHOOD FOOD MEMORY:

I have many memories of sitting with my family, chatting and eating around a large table. But when I was a little kid I used to cry all the time just because I didn’t want to eat anything and for no reason. I do remember one day my grandmother cooked spicy chicken stew, and it was my very first and earliest memory of food that I thought OMG that is so good! I still remember that light but tasty chicken flavoured with roasted chilli oil aroma from the broth.

Photo credit: Great British Chef

Chef Joo Won loves everything that food and drink bring to his life. A cheerful, warm-hearted, yet sharp and passionate personality, for Joo, being a chef is not just a job, it’s a way of life. It’s therefore essential that it also be fun.

Korean born and raised, Joo has been working as a professional chef for over 15 years in London, U.K. Starting at the Orrery with Head Chef Andre Garrett, Joo then moved to Galvin at Windows to work with the Galvin brothers as an opening team member in 2006, working his way up to head chef in 2013. He led the Michelin-starred Galvin at Windows until 2020.

Joo is now planning to open his own restaurant, Cálong. While the restaurant is dealing with venue issues, he’s planning out a menu of Korean-western twisted dishes to be served in a casual setting. Combining his skillful western trained techniques with native Korean flavours, Joo has been creating many dishes including his signature Kimchi Risotto.

Indeed, Joo has never hesitated to introduce Korean foods and food culture to a wider audience. Presenting Korean flavours to Le Cordon Bleu London’s students and designing and serving Korean influenced canapes and three course menus for the Winter Olympic Team’s Great Britain Charity Dinner at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum are just a few examples of this. Most recently, Joo was appointed as head chef for the London East Asian Film Festival 2021, creating a special ‘Taste of Asia’ menu for movie goers.

Joo doesn’t hesitate when asked what his favourite Korean flavour or ingredients are … it’s ‘perilla leaf’ (깻잎 kkaennip). “Such a versatile ingredient full of flavours, complex aromas and texture,” he says. “You can eat as a ssam (a Korean dish that involves wrapping leafy vegetables around meat), in a soup, or preserved as pickles. There are so many different ways to use it.”

I took industrial engineering, but after the first 3 months I realised there is nothing fun at all about it. I still finished it because I didn’t have anything else planned. After college I went to a local pastry & bakery institution to learn some skills to earn money (recommended by my mother!), and that was it, I found the spark to initiate an actual direction in my life. I wanted to go to Paris, the mecca of gastronomy at that time, but couldn’t speak any French. So I landed in London, just planning a short couple of years and then eventually moving to Paris. But then I saw that London was stepping up its game in the world culinary scene, especially at my first job, the Michelin starred restaurant. It was brutal but it made me really focus on absorbing everything about cooking. I did nothing else but cook for most of my 20’s, and I have no regrets.

Kimchi risotto

YOUR GO-TO RESTAURANT THAT NEVER DISAPPOINTS:

St. John in London. I just fell in love with the flavours they create with simple (but good) ingredients. No fuss, just honest cooking with good knowledge and experience. Especially their meat dishes like terrines, offals, roast, seasonal

Scan the QR code for Joo’s recipe for Kimchi Risotto

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The History of the Indian Paratha

By Amrita Amesur

Pratha, pronthi, parotta or even buss up shut; these are just some of the names for glorious layers of cooked dough.

Native to the ancient culinary traditions of

South Asia, the paratha lives in various forms across India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. With ancient trade routes, colonization and the resulting migration of Indian natives, these culinary traditions have travelled and evolved in regions all around the world. From India, to Africa, South-East Asia and all the way to the Caribbean Islands.

Often made with a freshly kneaded whole grain wheat flour dough or atta, the paratha is essentially a layered unleavened flatbread.

A dough is rolled out, stuffed with a filling or just coated with ghee/oil, and coaxed on a hot flat oiled griddle called the tawa, turning it into a crisp buttery paratha. It acts as a vehicle to carry a variety of sweet, savoury, seasonal and regional fillings. From spiced vegetables to a simple paratha with a smattering of ghee and herbs it is a much beloved and indulgent breakfast staple of the sub-continent. The dish is especially dominant in the bread-basket wheat producing region of North India, 48

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and can be the perfect accompaniment to most Indian meals.

Because of its versatility, the paratha has adapted to various formats in these regions and can be found dotted across the sub-continent in innumerable forms, textures and flavours, carrying with it endless hyperlocal possibilities. South-east Asia has roti canai, Kerala boasts gorgeous layers of white flour Malabari parotta. There are tandoor-made buttery kulchas in Amritsar, and Gujarat with its bittersweet methi theplas, and we can’t forget Kolkata’s Mughlai style kheema paratha with spiced minced goat meat. The paratha of each of these regions reflects its unique culinary history, showcases their available produce, socio-economic background and often varies with the seasons.

The manner of eating parathas is just about as diverse as the methods of making them – they can be eaten with pickles, dunked into spicey hot chai, tamed down with creamy yogurt, or elevated with a shmear of all manner of preserves and chutneys. Parathas are wonderful to mop up warm bowls of spicey regional gravies made with vegetables, chick-

Photo credit: supplied

Photo credit: supplied

Seasoned aloo

Aloo parantha

peas, meat or beans. Or you can eat them as is.

The textures of a paratha could range between soft and pillowy to almost laminated, crusty and buttery - even a delectable mix of both. A comfort food in its own right, parathas would sit nicely in roadside dhabas, along highways as wholesome meals and even next to crispy-crunchy street snacks and chaat of the metro cities.

Chitrita Bannerjee in her book Eating India: Exploring the Food and Culture of the Land of Spices speaks of her visit to the Parathewali Gali in Old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk. In describing the paratha she says, “Dough is usually rolled out into several layers, each brushed with fat and folded into triangular, square or round shapes and fried in a pan.” Bannerjee writes further that while we associate the paratha with mostly Punjabi and north Indian cuisine, it’s believed to be a close cousin of the poli from Maharashtra and Gujarat.

What she is referring to is the earliest recorded mention of a flatbread of this kind, the puran poli, in the 12th century Sanskrit text called the Mānasollāsa. In a chapter devoted

to food, the text speaks of a paratha made with wheat flour that was stuffed with jaggery and gram paste, that is today called the puran poli in Maharashtra and holige in Karnataka. K.T. Acharya in his book, The Story of Food refers to these as an early form of stuffed parathas.

Aloo Paratha Even the problematic colonization of the Global South by European imperialists has enriched and added to the parathas most beloved of renditions - the aloo paratha.

Arguably one of the most popular forms of the paratha, it is made with a mixture of spiced, tempered mashed potatoes and chillies stuffed within layers of wheat flatbread.

It is then griddle fried to a golden-brown perfection with dollops of ghee.

This is very much a product of the New World incorporated into traditional Indian origin culinary repertoire. Not native to India but indigenous to the Americas, potatoes and chillies came to India with early Portuguese traders and eventually became large scale commercial crops. The landscape of Indian cuisine now would be unrecognizable

without the inclusion of these two items.

With potatoes becoming the affordable daily starch vegetable over the course of the last 500 years, its consumption is now very much a part of daily Indian cooking. Particularly, in the context of the aloo paratha, it now has cult status. The aloo paratha can be found being made within tandoors in dhabas along the national highways of India, as much as at home on a stovetop tava.

Recipe and Technique The key to an excellent aloo paratha is a similarly excellent aloo filling. Since it must be filled within a dough casing, the aloo filling would necessarily need to stand up in terms of flavour and spice to be able to taste it through the dough and not seem underwhelming.

Universally, most recipes would involve mashing boiled potatoes and seasoning them with a bunch of spices before stuffing it into rolled out flat breads. While that would be perfectly delicious, I would recommend you go the extra mile to enhance and elevate the aloo filling masala in question. The technique QUENCH.ME

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Stuffing aloo paratha

I propose (one that my mother came up with) involves actually sauteeing the mashed potatoes in a hot wok with a beautiful tempering of cumin and minced green chillies.

Truly a case of a few ingredients turned into something extraordinary with just a bit of care. The recipe I propose involves three main components – potatoes, chillies and a tempering of desired spices. You really need nothing else if these components are well treated.

All this means is that you roast the mash in a bit of tempered oil, stirring and scraping soft roasty bits from a highly heated wok.

More importantly, you also cook and bloom the dry powdered spices added to the mash, which would otherwise remain in their raw and un-activated form. There are few things worse than uncooked dusty dry spices.

This process turns the potatoes from a fair mush to a golden brown, developing a thin delicious crust from the heat of the hot wok – the process we refer to as bhuna in Hindi.

The said mixing and scraping also activates starches in the potatoes, making them fluffier, smoother, and more cohesive. As the potatoes bhuno, you add in the dry powdered 50

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spices along with salt. Maybe some crushed red chilli flakes and something tart to balance the spice – dry mango powder is delicious, perhaps some black salt to finish, and maybe even sumac. Once done, this aloo masala would be decanted, generously showered with chopped cilantro and left to cool off in a corner.

Could you do a tempering of fennel seeds instead of cumin, with dried red chilli flake instead of fresh green chillies? Of course.

Could you add sumac instead of dried mango powder? Absolutely. Make it yours, with the spices and tart elements you most adore added to the potatoes.

With this method you will end up heightening the flavour of the potatoes tenfold and also ensure that your spices are actually cooked through, activated, and not just thrown in raw.

Since the filling goes inside a rolled-out roti, the flavours of the filling mute down, which is why they have to be powerful enough in themselves to stand out despite being covered inside a roti. This technique is entirely game changing, based on the understanding that unless your potato stuffing is fantastic, the

paratha cannot possibly be. If we wouldn’t eat plain mashed potatoes with raw spices dusted in as is, then we shouldn’t be using it as our stuffing.

Amrita Amesur is a corporate lawyer who is deeply passionate about food. She has spent the last year dedicatedly studying and documenting all of her family’s food experiences, while learning to develop her own voice as a cook and a writer. Her favourite comfort food is ghee idli podi and her go-to restaurant that never disappoints is Café Madras in Bombay.

Scan the QR code for Lata Amesur’s (Amrita’s mother) aloo paratha recipe.

FAVE 5 with JACKIE VENSON

By Kathy Valentine

Singer-songwriter Jackie Venson attributes the fiercely loyal fan base she has built to a mindset guided by a cosmic reckoning: “From the beginning, I refused to accept limitations.

The universe is boundless. No finite human is going to tell me what I am capable of.”

It’s an ethos that has served her well, second only to her talent and creative spirit. In 2011, the Austin, Texas native graduated from the esteemed Berklee College of Music majoring in piano and music theory, only to decide she wanted to focus on playing guitar. Eight years later she was voted “Best Guitarist in Austin”—a city teeming with ace guitar slingers. No limits, indeed!

Jackie takes the same unrestrained approach to her music, having released dozens of singles, EPs, live and studio albums across genres ranging from rock and soul to synth pop and DJ remixes. As a reigning DIY Queen who has booked tours all over the US and Europe, she wasn’t about to let the restrictions of a global pandemic stop her. Instead of being confined by the coronavirus, Venson actually grew her followers and fans by performing in daily live streams on every digital platform available. Any place a browser or device could connect her music to listeners, Jackie was there with a big smile, down-to-earth charm, smoldering voice, and guitar shredding mastery.

In 2021, Jackie made her first straight-up blues album, Love Transcends; her newest, Unplug the Machine, comes out in the Spring of 2022. It features piano and acoustic renditions of songs from her acclaimed Vintage Machine EP. Jackie says that despite her prolific output she’s in no rush to continually produce new records. “Music needs time. Time to sink in, to form impressions, to be internalized.” We spoke with the Austin native about five of her favourite places to play music and eat at home and abroad.

ANTONE’S HOME OF THE BLUES This is my favorite place to play. Not just because of the people who run the club— they are great—but I love being a part of the tradition, helping to carry on what has made Antone’s so unique and special to Austin. The club has always strived for diversity in the bookings and shows, ever since opening their doors over 40 years ago.

DAN’S BURGERS I’m a burger girl, a cheeseburger girl, but it needs to be a very specific kind of burger—the old-fashioned, classic, drive-in burger. Dan’s, an Austin landmark since 1973, is my go-to for a non-fast-food made-to-order burger in a great retro burger joint atmosphere.

CEDAR CULTURAL CENTER, MINNEAPOLIS When I announced I’d be playing here, my Minneapolis fans let me know right away they loved this place. It’s in the best part of the city, in the midst of places and people representing cultures from all over the world. It’s a non-profit and the people who run it are so nice, the stage and the sound are incredible—and the green room!!—it’s wacky and amazing, it’s huge and comfortable. You can just chill out in there and they’ll bring in food from one of the restaurants nearby.

DOWNTOWN BLUES CLUB, HAMBURG GERMANY This place is so fun to play. It’s the ultimate German experience, everything in one place. There’s a beer garden right outside with local beers on tap—it’s a great area to walk around exploring, come back, eat, drink, play for the happy, drinking, schnitzel-eating Germans!

JV’S MEXICAN FOOD, SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA Photo credit: Ismael Quintanilla III

Scan the QR code to watch videos of Jackie Venson

San Diego is my favorite city on Earth! It’s right on the beach, it’s by the border, the weather…what more could you want? I don’t even remember how I found JV’s. I said I want some real Mexican food, and someone brought me to this nondescript little corner of shops on the corner of a street—you can barely see it. This tiny place with this huge menu—choose anything, it will be great.

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Photo credit: supplied

The Importance of Plant Material

By Michelle Bouffard

Bérillon Wine Nursery

Lilian Bérillon is passionate, a man without compromise. clones which reduce diversity. However, while massal selection is allowed for the scion, it is not at this time permitted for rootstock selection. This is a mistake, he thinks. “Science has weakened many rootstocks which were not declining before. 161-49 Couderc favoured in Burgundy is an example,” Bérillon points out.

Diseases are another important reason why vines die earlier. Therefore, he sends his plant material to a laboratory for testing. PCR and ELISA tests are expensive, Bérillon claims, but necessary. On average, 2% of the vines are eliminated because they have diseases. Furthermore, to alleviate the growing problems of flavescence dorée, a phytoplasma disease threatening vineyards, he puts his plant material into hot water of 50 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes, thus killing the phytoplasma (bacteria). This is by no means a mandatory (or common) practice, but it is another tool he relies on to ensure he sells healthy plants to his clients.

Lilian Bérillon’s rigour is admirable and brave, but it comes with costly repercussions.

While most nurseries keep and sell 78% of their grafted plants, Bérillon keeps on average 55%. “I reject any plants not well welded,” he says. “But this is not the case of every nursery.” Without a doubt this adds to

the initial cost of the plants he sells, but in the long term a vine which lives longer has an economic benefit.

The other important part of the equation is soil management. Bérillon prescribes many key practices to his clients to ensure the vine thrives once planted. First, the land needs to rest between plantings. He compares this practice with a runner who needs to rest after a marathon before doing another one. “After 80 years of having vines planted on them, soils are tired, compacted and they have diseases,” he states. “You need to let the soil rest so it can heal. Afterwards when you replant, you have much better results.” Seven to eight years is prescribed between planting, but he realizes that this can be an economic chalPhoto credit: supplied

Early in his career he was distraught at the declining age of vineyards in France and elsewhere in Europe, noting that vines that used to have a life expectancy of 80 to 100 years now averaged 20 to 25 years. Bérillon’s observations led him to start his own nursery in the Southern Rhône more than fifteen years ago with the goal of preserving existing genetic plant material, selling healthy vines, and offering solutions to producers. Bérillon believes that by adopting best practices in the nursery and in the vineyard, vines will not only live longer, but they will be able to adapt to climate change.

So - what does Bérillon do differently than other nurseries? Many things, and every step is important. A visit to his nursery in Villeneuve is enlightening. First, all his 2.5 million vines are grafted by hand, and he favours the old-style whip grafting method over the machine omega grafting. Bérillon claims a better welding occurs between the rootstock (American rootstock) and the scion (vitis vinifera) with this technique.

Massal selection is also preferred over clonal selection. This method preserves genetic diversity by propagating a multitude of isolated individuals in multiple vineyards according to their characteristics, rather than focusing on

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Photo credit: supplied

Photo credit: supplied

Bérillon Wine Nursery in September

lenge for many wine producers. For example, Jean-Marc Roulot in Burgundy waits three to four years and he has good results, Bérillon notes. At his own nursery, though, he lets the land rest for eight years.

Soil preparation is another important step towards success. After pulling out the vines, the remaining roots need to be removed.

Otherwise, they provide food for nematodes which will continue to live and spread diseases. Bérillon also advises that the soil be worked in depth (50-60cm) with tools like ripper and chisel which protect the horizon while allowing the straight blade to aerate the soil. This prevents soil compaction and allows the roots of the rootstocks to go deep and establish themselves.

Bérillon deplores popular consultants who too often advise producers to work the soil in the surface (20-30cm). He also adds that during the resting period, the soil should always be planted with cover crops. This promotes microbial activities and biodiversity.

Biodynamic preparations are advised during this resting period, something Bérillon practises at his nursery.

The timing of the planting is also key. He has done multiple experimentations comparing different planting periods and the differences between the results were staggering. For example, in the Rhône Valley, he recommends to producers he works with to plant in January or February. This allows the vine to grow roots during the wet period, and by the time the drier months of May and June arrive the roots have sufficient depth to have access to water and survive the drought period. Planting later, such as in the month of April is likely to lead to numerous plants dying.

Bérillon strongly believes that all of these techniques combined will allow vines to thrive despite the challenges associated with climate change. “If a human is healthy, he is more likely to combat diseases and live longer. It is the same thing for a vine,” he shares. Many producers are trying to combat the repercussions associated with climate

Lilian Bérillon

change by turning to cépages résistants, the newly developed hybrids. Those were created to combat mildew and drought.

But Bérillon is not sold on this method.

Firstly, in the long term the vines are likely to lose their resistance to diseases, he explains.

Secondly, the resulting wines made from those cépages résistants are not nearly as good as those made with Vitis vinifera. Rather, he encourages producers to adopt best practices which lead to healthy and strong vines. Further investigation is also needed to the already existing options. “Diversity is key,” he insists.

“We already have an incredible genetic material available within Vitis vinifera. We need to explore this diversity further. And we need to do more research about rootstocks and study further the role mycorrhizae can play.”

Visiting Lilian Bérillon’s nursery is like opening the door to a world of possibilities and solutions. But it also raises an important and disturbing question: considering that everything starts in a nursery, why do so few people in the wine industry, including producers, know little to nothing about those

important practices? One can only hope that those who subscribe to his work such as Jean-Louis Chave, Christine Vernay and Lalou Bize-Leroy will spread the word. The clock is ticking and if we want to save European genetic material, the urgency to act is now.

Michelle Bouffard is a sommelier, author, speaker, educator and consultant based in Montréal. Her first book Dis-moi qui tu es, je te dirai quoi boire was published in 2017 and for the past six years, she has been the sommelier on the popular Quebec cooking show Curieux Bégin. In 2017, Michelle founded Tasting Climate Change, an international symposium to explore the challenges and solutions in the wine industry.

Ever the eternal perfectionist, she is continuing her studies at the prestigious Institute of Masters of Wine.

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Regenerative Organic Pioneers

By W. Blake Gray

Photo credit: supplied

The Haas and Perrin families

When the creators of a new farming regimen called “regenerative organic” went looking for a winery to be the first to join, naturally they approached Tablas Creek Vineyard.

Tablas Creek, organic from its inception,

imported most of the high-quality clones of Rhone grapes now used in California. The vineyard built a nursery to grow them, and rather than hoard for competitive advantage they instead shared them widely so Rhonestyle wines would improve. For weed control and fertilizer, Tablas Creek uses a large herd of sheep and a flock of chickens.

Based in Paso Robles, one of the most drought-prone areas of California, the winery adjusted its planting density so that even young vines don’t need to be irrigated. In addition, it plants heirloom fruit trees every

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year for biodiversity and to give its employees fruit to take home. Why wouldn’t Tablas Creek be the first to go regenerative organic?

“When they came to us, our first thought was, we’re already doing organic and biodynamic certification,” says Tablas Creek general manager Jason Haas. “Another certification? Seriously? We were already doing so much paperwork. But the more we looked at it, we thought it would be the gold standard for farming.”

“Regenerative” is the new buzzword for farming. The base concept is that farmers can help slow climate change by growing plants that

Photo credit: supplied

Harvest sunset at Tablas Creek

move carbon dioxide into the soil. Thus the goal is different from other well-meaning agricultural practices. I like to sum it up this way: organic is consumer-focused, while biodynamic is process-focused. Sustainable is business-focused (which is why big businesses love it). Regenerative organic is, in its infancy, ecosystem-focused. For Haas, that was appealing.

“Regenerative organic separated the soil health pieces of biodynamic from the mystical pieces,” says Haas. “That’s one of the things I have really high hopes for about regenerative organic. It doesn’t have that baggage attached to it. Organic is a list of things you can’t do. If you don’t use certain chemicals you can be organic. Biodynamics is a process by which you create a healthy ecosystem that eliminates the need for chemical inputs, plus some pixies and fairy dust stuff. Regenerative organics is, how do you change your farm into an engine for positive change for you and your workers and the people who buy your wine? The soil health pieces of regenerative organics come directly from biodynamics. The difference is that if you are farming through regenerative organics, you have to measure the carbon content of your soil. It’s more results-based, whereas biodynamics is process-based.”

Haas and Tablas Creek winemaker and vineyard manager Neil Collins both made time for me over the winter holidays to chat about regenerative organic viticulture because, both said, it’s important that this story be written.

“It’s more interesting to me to speak to you in the hope that another farmer will read it and go down that road than that a consumer

will read it and buy a bottle of wine,” Collins states.

Don’t discount the power of a pulpit. In December 2021, the much larger Fetzer Vineyards became the second winery to be certified regenerative organic; that makes it a movement.

Being the regenerative organic pioneer among wineries fits perfectly in the history of Tablas Creek. It was planned ambitiously from the start by its founders: Robert Haas, founder of the US wine import company Vineyard Brands, and the Perrin family, who own Château de Beaucastel in France’s Rhone Valley. Jacques Perrin started farming organically in the 1950s before the concept even really existed.

“The way that chemicals were being pushed just felt wrong to him,” Haas says. “He did a year without any of the chemicals and was just blown away by how much the wines tasted like Beaucastel compared to the previous decade. There was no certification then.

I don’t even think there was a word for it in French.”

Haas says his father and the Perrin family agreed that they would plant organically. They looked all over California for shallow, rocky limestone soils like those of Beaucastel, as well as that winery’s hot-summer-days, cool-nights climate. The best match was found in 1989 in what is now the Adelaida District west of Paso Robles. They were unusually patient for a startup, even for an estate winery. Deciding not to work with the Rhône grape clones then available in California, they instead imported cuttings of nine varieties from Beaucastel and

waited three years for them to clear quarantine. They couldn’t begin planting on their property until 1994.

“The clones that were in California, particularly Grenache and Mourvedre, at some point had been planted for productivity and not high quality,” Haas notes. “Grenache in the central valley was the main ingredient in Gallo Hearty Burgundy. We didn’t want to limit ourselves to the clones in California and wonder later if that’s why things were different.”

Robert Haas had a vision, and it extended to more than just the right clones.

“I tended to get sent to vineyards to work for the summer if I hadn’t found another job,” his son says. “There was a long game going on that I wasn’t aware of at the time. I spent two summers working at Beaucastel getting to know the next generation of Perrin kids.

I thought the idea was for me to work on my French. My dad did a good job of holding the door open for me to come into the family business, but without me feeling forced into it.”

Jason Haas joined the family business in 2002. His father and the Perrins had overestimated how easy it would be for an unknown winery to sell blends of little-known grape varieties; they had a warehouse full of unsold wine. Jason took over the marketing at first and became general manager a few years later.

During that time, the winery imported seven more grape variety clones: all the remaining Chateauneuf varieties for a total of 14, plus Viognier, Marsanne, Tannat, Vermentino and Petit Manseng.

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Photo credit: supplied

Robert Haas, with Jean-Pierre and Francois Perrin at Beaucastel, circa 1985

If you visit Tablas Creek, don’t skip the opportunity to buy wines in the shop. Tablas Creek makes single-variety wines out of some of these rare French grapes, and in at least one case (Vaccarèse) is believed to make the only single-variety version in the world.

The winery was organic from inception, but going biodynamic happened after a visit to Grgich Hills in 2009. Grgich Hills winemaker Ivo Jeramaz was an early advocate for biodynamic viticulture in Napa Valley. It was a drought year, but Grgich Hills’ vines looked vibrant. Robert Haas announced on the way home that Tablas Creek would try it.

“Bob, Jason’s dad, is like that,” Collins says.

“I was saying, let’s think about this or that and he said, let’s just do it.”

Part of biodynamic theory is to have a whole working farm, with animals.

“We started with about a dozen sheep that an employee happened to have,” Collins recalls. “We brought in a couple donkeys to guard them from predators. I didn’t want to have dogs because of dogs biting people. Donkeys are guarding animals. They can be pretty effective against coyotes; not so much about mountain lions. But maybe one donkey would have been better because we had two donkeys and they formed a donkey team and didn’t care so much about the sheep. We just lost too many sheep to mountain lions. We lost 26 sheep one year. We had to kill a mountain lion because it kept coming back. From my standpoint, having sheep to graze our vineyard isn’t sustainable if we have to kill the local wildlife.

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Spanish mastiffs. We lost one sheep that year and haven’t lost a sheep since.”

The main purpose of the sheep is to eat grass and weeds, turning them into fertilizer, but Tablas Creek also has a side business selling biodynamically raised lambs to local restaurants. The regenerative organic conversion started with a biodynamic lamb and wine dinner Collins hosted in Ventura, an affluent suburb of Los Angeles. One of the guests was Yvon Chouinard, founder of the clothing company Patagonia.

“He didn’t want to talk about wine. He wanted to talk about farming,” Collins said.

“He said the only way we’re going to reverse climate change is through farming. I wasn’t a Patagonia disciple. So many people I work with, all they wore was Patagonia. For me, it’s a bit expensive. But he was infectious and his dedication to farming was impressive to me. Talking to him got that ball rolling, and now here we are with the first regenerative organic vineyard in the world.”

Because the vineyard was already biodynamic, Collins said he hasn’t yet seen an impact on the vines per se.

“I can say that our wines have been constantly improving over the years since the biodynamic, and since the regnerative organic the wines have gotten better and better,” Collins said. “The original goal of Tablas Creek was to make wines that are of a given place. The wines keep improving. We like the wines more and more. Is it the effect of spraying quartz on the Syrah? I don’t know. But I know the Syrah tastes better than it did 10 years ago.”

Regenerative organic also has requirements for farm worker welfare, and Haas said he has already seen the benefit of that.

“You have to train your crew on their rights as farm workers,” Haas said. “You have to set up a system where they can provide feedback.

You have to pay them 10% above the living wage for your area. We have seen our vineyard crew, many of whom have been here for decades, on weekends they bring their families out to see what they’ve been working on.”

Why not? They are pioneers.

W. Blake Gray is US editor for Wine-Searcher, the world’s most-visited wine website. He has written about wine for many publications including the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times. In 2013 he won the Roederer Award for best online wine writer in the world. During the pandemic, Blake rediscovered his childhood love of cheeseburgers, but his death-row meal is steamed crabs. His cocktail of choice is a Manhattan. Blake lives in San Francisco.

Photo credit: pytphotography

PROFILE:

Inez Cook The Sky’s the Limit

By Tim Pawsey

It’s unlikely anyone has done more to introduce Vancouverites to

Indigenous cuisine than Inez Cook. Just prior to the city’s hosting of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Cook—who is originally from Bella Coola’s Nuxalk Nation—was attending the Okanagan Wine Festival. While there she noticed West Kelowna’s Kekuli Café, whose ‘Don’t Panic, We have Bannock’ sign is a fixture on the main highway.

“I said to my good friend Remi (Caudron) ‘I can’t believe Kelowna has a Native restaurant but there isn’t one in Vancouver any more. And the whole world is coming here.’”

Even though Cook had no direct business experience in restaurants, she went to work, opening Salmon n’ Bannock Bistro in 2010, with Caudron as her business partner. Launched to an appreciative audience with ongoing immense success, it remains to date the city’s only Indigenous owned and operated restaurant. Two years ago, the West Coast restaurateur became sole owner.

While the Olympics may have been the catalyst, Cook says it was actually her ‘day job’ of 31 years that had motivated her to open her own restaurant. “As a flight attendant, when I travel I really like to try the foods of the land I’m in. Through flying, I’ve lived all over the world—in the Middle East, Africa and India, and elsewhere. The cool thing is that my dream always was to open a restaurant and take people on a journey.”

An infant victim of the ‘Sixties Scoop,’ Cook credits her adoptive family for instilling in her early on a love of good food. As a youngster, she furthered her love of food by working in restaurants from age 13 on.

Salmon ‘N Bannock allowed her the opportunity to explore her Indigenous past and learn more fully about her First Nations heritage.

“What ended up happening is that I’m taking people on my own personal journey within. I’m learning about my own heritage and showcasing that.”

Indeed, in somewhat of a serendipitous manner, it was the restaurant that helped reintroduce Cook to her birth family, as Nuxalk Nation members eventually came by to check things out.

As Cook researched her menu she discovered traditionally Indigenous ingredients (such as fiddleheads and huckleberries) are not always easy to source. But, always in pursuit of authenticity, she persevered. Today her house-smoked Sockeye salmon burger (on bannock, of course) is the bistro’s hallmark—although other tastes, such as bison pot roast, are also popular. The entire team at Salmon ‘n Bannock—from kitchen to front of house—is Indigenous, with people from several First Nations, including Long Plain, Muskoday, Musqueum, Nuxalk, Nuu-chah-nulth, Ojibway, St’at’lmc, Squamish and Ts’msyen—and Maori.

Last year, in the midst of the pandemic, Cook was inspired to embark on opening another outlet, this time at Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Opening this spring as part of a licensed food court in International Departures, Salmon n’ Bannock On The Fly will introduce travellers to the Indigenous tastes that Cook has championed for the last decade. On the menu: a hot bison sandwich, the renowned house-smoked salmon burger, and power salad with Ojibway wild rice. It will be the first indigenous food to be served at the airport—against a mural painted by Cook’s friend, noted Quw’utsun’ artist Charlene Johnny.

When Cook talks about ‘reconciliation’ she prefers to refer to it as ‘reconcili-action’, a process in which food can play a significant role.

Ultimately, she truly believes it’s “about bringing people together, breaking bannock together and learning.”

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PROFILE: Inez Cook (con’t)

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP:

I grew up in Vancouver but found my First Nations family later.

BEST CHILDHOOD FOOD MEMORY:

Probably my grandma’s pierogis. Or my aunt’s waffles!

FAVOURITE INGREDIENT TO COOK WITH:

Local ingredients. Even when I go to Paris I love going to the local market. It’s about getting inspired, about the season and what’s available. I love inspiring me and my team by finding new local ingredients—especially if we can use them in a different way than expected.

YOUR GO-TO RESTAURANT:

There’s a few of them! Bodega on Main, Oca Pastificio (on Commercial Drive), Kissa Tanto, and Salade de Fruits.

WHO IS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CULINARY INFLUENCE:

I really like Jamie Oliver. I like the fact that he was changing stuff up.

Especially for the children—going into the schools and trying to get them more healthy. I mean, it starts with the children, right? I like the fact that he saw that.

MUSIC YOU LISTEN TO WHILE COOKING:

Are you kidding me! I studied radio broadcasting. I’m constantly making mixes for everybody too. I love anything 80s dance, Chicago House, probably Gay anthems—if that’s a genre!

WHY AND WHEN DID YOU START COOKING:

I started when I was about 12. My mom saw that I liked cooking; she got me a cookbook, and I was able to plan a menu every week. I was allowed to cook one dinner a week. But the menu had to include a salad, a main and a dessert. So every week I was allowed to choose, she would go and get the ingredients. And then I was able to make it. I loved doing that.

VISION FOR THE FUTURE:

Honestly, it’s so hard. I don’t think you can make your own visions anymore. COVID taught us that. I think you just have to live in the moment and do the best you can—day by day. I’m going to open at YVR. I’m going to launch my retail products. In three years the Broadway lease will be up. I’m sure they’re knocking that building down. I’ll be looking for a little bit bigger location eventually. And (after 25 years) I’m retiring from Air Canada this year. So, that’s the plan!

Photo credit: Matt Law

Sage-smoked salmon burgers, Matt Law

Scan the QR code for Inez’s recipe for Sage-smoked Salmon Burgers

michaeldavidwinery.com

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BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO 2017 & BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO RISERVA 2016

VINTAGE REPORT

Gurvinder Bhatia

It wasn’t so much the heat, but the drought, which is how most producers summed up the 2017 vintage for Brunello di Montalcino. And while the alcohol seems to awkwardly stand out in some wines, that is no different than in other warm vintages (and some “regular” vintages) including the relatively well regarded 2015. What seems evident is that wines from cooler sites – ie. higher elevations, the presence of cooling breezes, north and east exposures, and those surrounded by woodlands – fared better and were able to maintain freshness. What seems even more evident is that the great producers produce good wine regardless of the vintage – but their wines do reflect the particulars of the vintage, as they should.

Lorenzo Magnelli at Le Chiuse calls 2017 a “modern vintage.” He says it was warm, but not like 2011 or 2003. The issue with 2017 was the lack of rain which, according to Magnelli, “makes it harder to get over-ripe grapes, so you don’t get the jammy flavours and you actually have good acidity in the wines. The problem in this kind of vintage is the opulence, sometimes the wine can be too heavy – too large, but not deep.”

At Le Chiuse, they did their earliest harvest in their history – Sept 6th – 3 weeks earlier than usual to avoid “the opulence and preserve the freshness.” They also reduced maceration times from 24 days to 19 and the wine spent 30 months in old barrels versus the usual 36-38 months.

The result was that the wine was bottled 6 months earlier than usual which, according to Magnelli, “helped the wine preserve a good integrity” and freshness and elegance, two of Le Chiuse’s hallmarks. Le Chiuse also benefits from a north facing exposure, relatively high elevation (300m+) and clay soils which retain moisture better – all mitigating factors given the warm and dry conditions of the 2017 vintage.

Laura Gray, estate manager at il Palazzone since 2003, indicated that “our oldest vineyard, La Vecchia, fared extremely well in spite of the 2017 heat and drought thanks to its very developed root system. Fruit from our cru vineyard, Le Due Porte, high in elevation (540m), northwest facing with ‘fresh’ soils and great ventilation and thermal excursion, surrounded by woodlands, was crucial to our interpretation of 2017” in which il Palazzone only produced their annata.

Producers also had to be strict with their selection to avoid astringency and bitter tannins. As Gray says, “we had smaller grapes and fewer grapes than usual and we did a lot of pre-pick selection in the fields to get rid of heat-damaged grapes and, as always, our vibrating sorting table proved invaluable. We brought forward our harvest date, picking intermittently from 13th-20th September. This was the first time in our history that we ever brought in Le Due Porte before 1st October. Our total 2017 production is approximately 30% less than our 2016 production.”

In addition to the 2017 annata, the 2016 Riservas were tasted at the latest edition of Benvenuto Brunello in Montalcino, held in November 2021. The 2016 vintage is much heralded (the 2016 Brunello vintage report appeared in the Fall 2021 issue of Quench, which can be viewed online at www.quench.me) and there are so many outstanding Riservas on offer.

Perhaps the lesson learned from Benvenuto Brunello 2021 is that the best of the 2017 Brunelli are elegant and pleasurable and likely early drinking – ideal for restaurants, for those who do not want to or are not able to cellar their wines and for those to have wines to drink while waiting for the 2016 Riservas to age, evolve and develop into the stunning wines so many of them already are and will continue to be for the next 15-20 years and more.

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO ANNATA & VIGNA

Le Chiuse Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, 2017

Col d’Orcia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG ‘Vigna Nastagio’, 2016

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

The elegance, vibrancy and balance in Le Chiuse’s wines are striking and make then incredibly pleasurable to drink when young, but allow them to age gracefully. Spice, berries, forest floor, earthy notes and silky tannins combine for a firm, yet inviting wine with a lingering, mineral finish.

Created as a result of a collaboration with the University of Florence, the Nastagio is youthful and approachable with aromas and flavours of red and black berries, plum, tobacco, fresh herbs and spice, firm, velvety tannins, nicely integrated with bright acidity and an underlying structure that should allow this to develop nicely for years to come.

Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino DOCG ‘La Casaccia’, 2017 The aromas on this wine are captivating with floral, spice, black cherry, mint and earth. Incredibly complex with penetrating flavours that mirror and compliment the aromas, silky, grippy tannins, electric texture, mineral, juicy, focused, balanced and long.

Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, 2017 An abundance of perfumed tart red fruit, savoury herbs, spice and flinty notes with a firm, youthful backbone and elegant, precise tannins surrounded by morello cherries and wild berries, energetic and bright, concentrated and expressive, finishing long and mouth-watering. Delicious!

Lisini Brunello di Montalcino DOCG ‘Ugolaia’, 2016 A pretty wines that while possessing an abundance of youthful, fresh fruit, stays elegant and restrained with well-integrated acidity, refined tannins, electric minerality, savoury spice, tight core and impeccable balance. Enjoy its evolution over the next 10-15 years.

Padelletti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, 2017 It takes a bit of time for this wine to express itself, but once it starts to open up, the perfume is alluring with dusty herbs, dried cherries and leather. Lively and graceful on the palate with bright red berries, spice and balsamic notes, refined tannins and a mineral, mouth-watering freshness.

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Uccelliera Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, 2017

Il Palazzone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, 2017

La Magia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG ‘Ciliegio’, 2017

Concentrated and elegant with silky, but precise tannins, bright red fruit, dried herbs, floral perfumes, generous mid-palate and mineral and spice on the finish.

This is a pretty and charming wine with an elegance that is not easy to find from the vintage. Floral, red fruit and spice aromas bring you in and the palate holds you with its soft delicate fruit, spice, mineral notes, and juicy acidity, refined tannins and bright, lifted finish.

A big, bold Brunello with an abundance of spice, vanilla, tobacco and ripe berries on the nose, big fleshy, fruit-coated tannins that firmly embrace the palate, mouth-coating, slightly drying, but then stays fresh with mineral, spice and tart fruit on the finish. A hefty style, but done rather well.

Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG ‘Filo di Seta’, 2017 Powerful, finessed, concentrated and rich, but with a tight core. Aromas and flavours of cocao, black berries, dark cherries, savoury herbs and a ferrous quality, verging on effusive, but kept fresh and vibrant with mouth-watering acidity and a long, mineral lifted finish.

Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, 2017 Dark, floral and spicy aromas lead to flavours of dark berries and herbs, slightly fleshy texture with firm, silky tannins, and a saliva inducing salinity on the long, bright finish.

Castiglion del Bosco Brunello di Montalcino DOCG ‘Campo del Drago’, 2017 Rich and savoury with black fruit, liquorice, forest floor, mocha and spice, full, fruit-coated tannins with a firm, structured core, and a youthful liveliness to keep it fresh. A bigger style, but balanced and well-integrated.

Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, 2017 From the first sniff, this wine drew me in with its perfume of red berries, spice and citrus peel. The palate was just as engaging with its elegance, purity of fruit, silky tannins, salinity and energy. A vibrant wine that finishes with an enticing bitterness that kept drawing me back for another taste.

Talenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG ‘Piero’, 2017 Dark and concentrated with crushed blackberries, mint, chocolate and savory herbs, big velvety tannins, concentrated and firm, with black fruit, dark chocolate and mineral notes on the finish.

Altesino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG ‘Montosoli’, 2017 Bright and lively aromatics with lovely floral notes, crushed berries and spice, elegant and alluring with fine tannins, tart red fruit, mouth-watering citrus, and a finish that seems to go on and on. A wine that will keep you coming back for more.

Sesta di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, 2017 Textural with a generous amount of fruit, sour cherries, spice, mint and citrus zest, the tannins are refined, yet grippy, finishing dry with enough bright acidity to keep everything balanced and the alcohol in check.

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RECOMMENDED

Camigliano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, 2017

Pretty, wild red fruit with spice and dried herbs on the nose, soft, smooth, juicy, fruit coated tannins, liquorice notes, with a savoury finish. Drinking quite pleasantly now.

Sesti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, 2017 Rather delicate and sleek with ripe red cherry and strawberries, citrus and dried herbs, well integrated tannins, good focus and a nice mouth-feel, with a sweet/tart character on the finish. Should drink well over the next 2-5 years.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, 2017 Quite soft with red berry and floral aromas, pepper, spice and wild herbs, palate-coating with firm, grippy tannins, bright acidity and a nice combination of lifted fruit and savoury herbs on the finish.

San Polino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG ‘Helichrysum’, 2017 A lovely perfume of red berries, plum and Tuscan herbs emanates from the glass, followed by red and dark berries, savoury spice, velvety tannins and texture with a sweet, savoury and lightly earthy finish.

San Polo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG ‘Vignavecchia’, 2017 Dark and concentrated aromas of black cherries, plum, red currants, orange citrus and smoky earth, rather closed in the core and the tannins are a little hard with the oak standing out, but the wine has a nice mix of wild berries, fresh mineral and savoury notes and a fleshiness that needs a little time for it to settle and come together. A year or two in the cellar should make a significant improvement in the balance and integration of this wine.

Cava d’Onice Brunello di Montalcino DOCG ‘Colombaio’, 2017 Nicely structured with dried flowers, mineral and spice aromas and flavours, firm texture, dark cherry flavours, grippy tannins and bright freshness on the nicely persistent finish.

Ciacca Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello di Montalcino DOCG ‘Pianrosso’, 2017 Lively, fresh and focused with juicy but not over-ripe red cherry, raspberry and red currants, citrus, floral notes, spice, well-integrated tannins, wet stone minerality and a soft, slightly hot, but fresh finish.

Castiglion del Bosco Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, 2017 This definitely shows the heat of the vintage with loads of red and black sun-warmed, verging on, but not-crossing-the-line-to-jammy fruit, dried floral notes, concentrated and full, with big, grippy tannins, enough acidity to maintain a level of freshness with a bit of an in-your-face attitude on the finish.

Corte Pavone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG ‘Fiore del Vento’, 2017 A well-knit wine with spice, bright cherry, and fresh flowers on the nose, bold, well-integrated tannins, mineral-tinged crushed red berries, savoury herbs and more spice on the inviting, juicy and long finish.

La Gerla Brunello di Montalcino DOCG ‘La Pieve 6170’, 2017 Loads of ripe cherry, blackberry, currants and plum fruit, savoury herbs, a balsamic note, liquorice and spice with a rich texture, slightly drying tannins, structured with a salinity that keeps the wine focused and youthful.

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG ‘Vigneto Poggio Doria’, 2017 The aromas of this wine are upfront with ripe cherry, plum and tart currants, spice and vanilla, the palate is somewhat awkward on the entry and the tannins are a tad rough, but there is ample fruit, mineral and fresh herbs that just need a little time for the gangly to gain some grace.

BRUNELLO RISERVA HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva, 2016 Wow, wow, wow! From a vintage that produced so many exceptional wines, this is a standout. Beautifully intense and fragrant with layers of alluring floral, currants, savoury herbs and fresh earth, a tight core with a purity of fruit, wet stone minerality and spice, precise, penetrating and focused from start to its lasting finish. This is built to last and will continue to develop more layers, complexity and depth with time. Stunning!

Le Chiuse Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva ‘Diecianni’, 2012 Waiting 10 years to release the winery’s Riserva allows for a true distinction from the annata according to Lorenzo Magnelli. The wine is elegant, layered and structured, still so youthful with firm velvety tannins, a tight core, cherry, balsamic and liquorice notes, vibrant acidity and a concentrated, layered, graceful finish. A beauty now, this still has another decade plus of pleasure to give.

Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva ‘Vigna Paganelli’, 2016 Complex and bold with dark fruit, liquorice, a mélange of herbs, and spicy aromas, complimented by a rich texture showing vibrant young fruit, zippy acidity and earthy lifted finish that keeps the wine fresh and its bigness in check and makes this immensely enjoyable now, but without question will develop more layers and complexity with several years of cellaring.

Padelletti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva, 2016 The aromas are elegant and perfumed, but this is a hefty, structured wine with dense fruit, a tight core and grippy tannins. But wait, the bright acidity and salinity lifts the wine, cuts through the initial perceived heaviness and reveals a purity of fruit and mint and more of the elegance present on the nose. A blockbuster that needs some time to develop into the stunner it will most certainly evolve into.

Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva, 2016 Lovely aromas of tart red fruit, spice and citrus zest, this is dark and closed on the palate, but all the components are there – fruit, spice, structure, bright acidity, firm, refined tannins and a mouth-watering salinity that slowly, ever so slowly reveal themselves the longer the wine stays in the glass. Resist the temptation to try and coax the character of this wine now – as intriguing as it does start to show – and stash what you can as this will be a brilliant showstopper with at least another 5 years in the cellar.

Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva, 2016 Don’t let the delicacy and finesse of this wine lead you to overlook its underlying tight core.

The crushed fruit is bright and vibrant, the herbs are fresh, the tannins are silky and the finish is vivacious and lifted. Incredibly enjoyable now, but has the components to age well for a decade and more.

San Polino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva, 2016 Aromas and flavours of dark cherries, forest growth and citrus, rich fruit, dry earthy tannins, elegant and rich, finishing lively and bright. An appealing and alluring, well-constructed wine.

Uccelliera Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva, 2016 I always love tasting the Uccelliera wines when they are young as their vibrancy, richness and depth are so well integrated and pleasurable on release, even though they have the structure and components to age well. This balances savoury spice, mineral freshness and rich fruit with firm, velvety tannins and a saliva inducing finish.

Energetically delicious.

but velvety and the depth of flavour only starts to sneak out from behind the upfront fruit with a little coaxing. But when it does, it shows depth, energy and a long mineral-tinged length.

Sesti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva ‘Phenomena’, 2016 This is a stunning beauty with aromas of citrus peel, spice and sour cherry, deep and complex with firm, fruit coated, precise tannins, lively acidity and a persistent, lifted finish.

Talenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva ‘Pian de Conte’, 2016 Bright aromas of tart red fruit, spice, mint and vanilla notes, more structured on the palate with dark fruit, herbs and citrus, well-defined tannins, complex and layered.

The wine carries its components well, although it comes across as a little hot on the finish.

Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva, 2016 A pretty, elegant and refined wine with lovely aromas of dried flowers, wild berries and mint, bright red fruit, a refreshing tartness, tobacco and spice with polished tannins, silky texture and long, sleek finish.

La Magia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva, 2016 Bold, dark and concentrated with loads of bright, crushed black cherry, plum, spice, liquorice, fresh herbs and flinty notes, fleshy, velvety tannins, dense and rich, but with ample lifted acidity to keep it fresh and keep the oak influence in check. Big and lush, but well integrated. Needs a little time to settle into itself.

Capanna di Cencioni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva, 2016 Alluring aromas of crushed red fruit, fresh herbs and wet earth, full-flavoured and mouth-filling, the tannins are firm, but accessible, and the spice and mineral saltiness keeps the wine inviting and persistent. Needs a few years in the cellar to open up and really become welcoming.

Argiano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva, 2016 Robust and dense, it takes some time for the layers and complexity of this wine to start to reveal themselves. The aromas are more enticing with dark cherries, tobacco and Tuscan herbs. The tannins are structured,

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The Buying Guide All wines listed are recommended by our experienced panel of tasters. Each wine is rated based on its varietal character, representation of style and/or region, balance and price-quality ratio. Readers should assess these, and all wines, using the same criteria. Browse our experts’ tasting notes to find the wines that may appeal to your taste or pique your interest to try something new. After all, one of the best parts about wine is the discovery. The prices listed are approximate retail prices and will likely vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. A large number of these wines can be purchased across Canada and the USA, so check with your local private wine store or liquor board for availability.

Our tasters are Tony Aspler (TA), Gurvinder Bhatia (GB), Michelle Bouffard (MB), Michaela Morris (MM), Tim Pawsey (TP), Christopher Sealy (CS), Brie Dema (BD), Donatella Dicca (DD), Christine Sismondo (CSO) and Robin LeBlanc (RL).

Stellar Values (Buy by the Case): Incredible values that overdeliver with respect to their quality/price ratios. Ideal for everyday drinking and entertaining. Wines in this category retail for less than $25.

Fattoria di Piazzano Ventoso Sangiovese IGT Toscana, 2019, Tuscany Italy ($17) Dense purple in colour. Cedary, cherry bouquet with oak spice and a note of vanilla.

Medium-bodied, dry and firmly structured with sour cherry and blackcurrant flavours.

Beautifully balanced with ripe tannins. (TA)

Dehesa La Granja Vino della Terra Castilla y León, 2015 Castilla y León Spain ($21) This is the perfect red to drink when you seek comfort on a cool night. Lush with vibrant notes of plum, licorice and a touch of iodine, vanilla and sweet tobacco. Tempting to drink on its own but the firm tannins and bright acidity makes this wine an ideal partner with grilled lamb, ribs or - for a simpler night hamburgers. Great value. (MB)

Clos Roussely L’Escale Sauvignon Blanc Touraine AOC, 2020, Loire Valley France ($22) An everyday wine that splits the defense and scores with those who love and those who hate Sauvignon Blanc. We begin with joyous primary fruit aromas of apple, pear and grapefruit that direct you to ripeness akin to New Zealand SB. Then, the palate drives with verve and lemon citrus zest, grass, herbal and vegetal energy. There is a Sancerre-like, saline minerality to the chalky texture but this wine is about serious fun. Great value and will satisfy all at the table - food and friends! (CS)

De Angelis Rosato Marche IGT, Le Marche Italy ($22) Without question, some of the best value wines in the world are grown in Italy’s Marche region. Located on the east-central coast along the Adriatic, Marche is still predominantly rural with a strong agricultural spirit.

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that may be why this region is still able to offer wines at bargain deals compared to its Mediterranean big brother. The strong culture of agriculture and attachment to the land perhaps also resulted in a strong attachment to the native grapes of the region. All of De Angelis’s vineyards are certified organically farmed. Fresh and zippy with strawberry, citrus and watermelon.

A tremendous value from one of Marche’s most consistent producers. (GB)

Winery of Good Hope Syrah ‘Mountainside’, 2020, Stellenbosch South Africa ($23) Radford Dale was founded in 1998 when Ben Radford and Alex Dale first made wines together. Their focus is on producing wines of character and place with minimal intervention and they fully accredited for environmental, ethical, and social-upliftment practices and are founding members of Premium Independent Wineries Of South Africa (PIWOSA). The Syrah is bright and vibrantly fresh with an abundance of juicy plum, strawberry and cherry, meaty and minerally with lifted acidity on the finish. (DD)

Kruger Wine Works Fram Shiraz Swartland WO, 2019, Coastal Region South Africa ($23) Deep ruby in colour with a toasty, spicy, slightly smoky, blackberry bouquet.

Full-bodied, dry, with blackberry and blackcurrant flavours and ripe tannins, this ends on a floral note. (TA)

Mary Taylor White Label Blanc Bordeaux AOC, 2020, Bordeaux France ($24) (95% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Semillon) Part of Taylor’s ‘White Label’ appellation focused series, this wine embodies the nature of Entre-deux-Mers and its undervalued dry whites. Easily recognizable as Sauvignon Blanc with upfront stone fruits, grapefruit, melon and white blossoms. It manages to present as refined yet powerful. Incredible value for its modest price point. (BD)

Mary Taylor White Label Rouge Anjou AOC, 2020, Loire Valley France ($24) From complex vineyard soils spanning tuffeau, clay and slate, this is a very approachable yet serious Loire red. It is fleshy but taut, with showy black and

red cherry and tart red plum. Smoke and rosemary enhance a beautifully lifted violet tone. Another amazing value wine from this négociant. Bonus points for its vineyard work being HVE (Haute Valeur Environnementale) certified. (BD)

La Motte Cabernet Sauvignon, 2018, Franschhoek South Africa ($25) Deep purple in colour. Cedary, blackcurrant nose with leather, savoury dried herbs and a floral top note. Medium-bodied and dry with black plum and blackcurrant flavours, lively acidity and well-integrated oak. (TA)

OFF THE WALL (Absolutely worth a shot): Unique, distinct, interesting wines from lesser-known grape varieties or regions that are worth tasting because they are that good. Don’t bypass them because they may be unfamiliar or judge them by the first taste. They are well made wines and your palate deserves to give them a shot even if it takes a little time to get to know them.

Marchesi Incisa della Rocchetta Grignolino d’Asti DOC, 2020, Piedmont Italy ($26) So pale, this almost looks like a dark rosé.

Aromas are a bit fleeting at first, slowly revealing strawberry, cranberry, rose and orange blossom. Slender and vertical with a lightness of texture though still scratchy in Grignolino tannins. Tart acidity makes the mouth water. The finish explodes and lingers with white pepper and florals. Believe me, this is a wine that grows on you. (MM)

Arrowleaf Petit Arvine Okanagan Valley VQA, 2020, British Columbia Canada ($26) Located in northern Okanagan’s Lake Country, Arrowleaf was established by the Zuppiger family when they immigrated to Canada from Switzerland. Now, 20 years later they have released British Columbia’s first ever Petite Arvine – the flagship grape of Switzerland’s Valais region. It is fermented

searingly dry and goes through malolactic fermentation - though it’s so zippy, you wouldn’t know it. Meadowy accents and a hint of stone fruit ripple across the palate fluidly. Aging is in neutral oak which seems to lend savoury nuance. I can’t wait to taste this wine as the vines get older. (MM)

Maurer Oszkár Kadarka Subotica PDO, 2020, Subotica-Horgoš Serbia ($27) The Kadarka grape is of Eastern European origins - with some claiming that Serbia is its ancestral home. This bottling, from sandy soil vineyards located in Subotica, highlights its most approachable attributes: on the palate a low tannin expression, lots of juicy freshness and moderate abv (11.5%).

It is an aromatic standout with red currant, strawberry, rosehip and wild herbs. Both the grape and the hands-off winemaking (only one racking, indigenous yeast fermentation, large neutral oak) are evident here, and they complement each other wonderfully. (BD)

Domaine Gayrard Loin de L’Oeil Gaillac AOP, 2018, South West France ($28) Native grape to the southwest of France, Loin de L’Oeil (or Len de l’El in Occitan dialect) translates literally as ‘far from the eye’. The name may reflect the morphology of vine – a long stalk means that the bunch is far from the bud - but it also encapsulates the obscurity of this variety. Fermented and aged in new oak, it very honeyed with acacia, toasted almond and intense apple blossom aromas. Fairly substantial though not heavy this nutty, chewy white is comfortable in its generosity. An underlying minerality gives balance and even freshness. (MM)

Elena Walch Schiava Alto Adige DOC, 2020, Trentino-Alto Adige Italy ($30)

Antoniolo Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG, 2020, Piedmont Italy ($30) In a region that is best known for the Nebbiolo grape of the great red wines of Barolo, Barbaresco and Alto Piemonte, comes this intriguing white made from the hyper-local Erbaluce grape. Fresh notes of green things with a lovely mouth-watering character, floral notes, and a savoury, blanched almond finish. This will develop more complexity and minerality with a few years in the bottle. A versatile food wine having the ability to pair with everything from vegetarian dishes to fritto misto and soft cheeses. (GB)

Save Our Souls Sagrantino, 2017, Murray Darling Australia ($35) Save Our Souls is the side project of winemaker minimalists William Downie & Jason Searle who met at renowned Pinot Noir producer Bass Phillip. In their words, “we don’t want accolades or shining medals, we just want to make delicious wines that punch above their weight, to be shared with friends.” But Sagrantino in Australia?

The wine is much more approachable in its tannins than what an Umbrian Sagrantino drinker might expect, but it possesses density, fleshly, juicy dark fruit, and a savoury quality that just works. Bring on the charcuterie and braised meats. (GB)

Elena Walch Lagrein Alto Adige DOC, 2020, Trentino-Alto Adige Italy ($36) Dark and bold with crushed red/black fruit, plenty of spice and herbs and earthy notes, creamy texture, firm and fleshy, but elegant tannins and a mineral finish. (DD)

Los Bermejos Listan Negro Lanzarote DO, 2018, Canary Islands Spain ($36)

Also known as Sudtirol, Alto Adige is heavily Austrian and German influenced.

That shouldn’t be a surprise as Alto Adige was a part of Austria for hundreds of years.

If fact, you could be forgiven, when traveling in the region, for forgetting that you are still in Italy. The influence is evident in the language, culture, food and the wines. Floral and spicy with lots of bright, cherry and wild berry aromas and flavours, a silky soft texture, tingling minerality and a juicy, lifted finish. (DD)

On Lanzarote, the closest Canary Island to the west coast of the African continent, it’s so dry that each vine is planted in its own two-metre crater carved out of the volcanic soil and protected from the wind by a rock shield. Due to the challenging terrain, everything is hand-cultivated and harvested. Forward red berries, spice and vanilla notes precede a plush and juicy well-balanced palate defined by spice and mineral elements. Anise and clove notes are wrapped in approachable tannins through a lengthy end. (TP)

Château Boucasse les Jardins Philosophiques Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Sec AOC, 2017, South West France ($30)

Kikelet Dry Furmint Tokaj PDO, 2018, Tokaj Hungary ($37)

In France’s southwest, overlapping with the red wine appellation of Madiran, Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh specializes in sweet whites. Comparatively few are made dry or ‘sec’ like Château Boucasse’s les Jardins Philosophiques. Local grape Petit Courbu is complemented by Petit Manseng giving quince and honeyed aromas. Overt and extraverted, the palate presents sweet meadow flora and traces of tropical guava on a backbone of pink grapefruit acidity. A structured, expansive, unctuous white, it is ready to drink now with hearty fare. I’d also support putting a bottle away for another three or so years as a reasonably priced aging experiment. (MM)

Furmint is one of the world’s most interesting white grapes, yet it is relatively unknown.

It reaches its apogee in the region of Tokaj in Hungary where the vines flourish on volcanic soils. Kikelet is the union between Loire native Stéphanie Berecz and her husband Zsolt who is from Hungary. The resulting wine is characterful, structured and mineral with notes of passion fruit and citrus. A world-class white. Absolutely stunning! (MB)

Forjas del Salnés Goliardo Tintos de Mar Rías Baixas DO, 2018, Galicia Spain ($45) My how I have been enjoying exploring Spain’s less-known gems, especially punchy

and refreshing reds like this. Goliardo is a rare red from Rías Baixas, which is much more famous for its Albariño-based whites.

Here local grapes Caiño Tinto, Espadiero, Loureiro Tinto and Souson come together for a mouthful of succulent stones, briny olives and pepper-flecked black and red currants.

Finessed, unimposing tannins make it a great red match with fish. It even held its own with mackerel when I tried it. (MM)

Maccario Dringenberg Luvaira Dolceacqua DOC, 2020, Liguria Italy ($48) Liguria’s claim to fame, at least among tourists, is the mecca of Cinque Terre - a string of five fishing villages. Whatever wine you are drinking when you visit will be good thanks to the impossibly picturesque setting. But Liguria does make great wine that is well worth seeking out. Further up the coast is the pretty town of Dolceacqua and its equally lovely mid-weight reds made from the local Rossese di Dolceacqua grape.

Maccario Dringenberg is among the top names. One of the estate’s cru bottlings, Luvaira is youthfully floral showing violet, orange blossom and lavender soap scents.

The palate is wonderfully lithe with the gentlest of tannins. Plump cheerful raspberry is offset by tart cranberry and pleasant orange peel bitterness. VERY easy to drink especially when chilled. (MM)

CELLAR-WORTHY (Rewarding patience): Wines that will not only benefit from some time in your cellar, but will evolve, develop and reward those with patience. Cellaring times are recommendations only and optimal drinking windows will depend on each individual wine lover’s personal preference.

Culmina Family Estate Winery Hypothesis Golden Mile Bench Okanagan Valley VQA, 2016, British Columbia Canada ($46) A Merlot dominant blend yields lifted red and black fruit with wild bramble and earthy hints, before a palate of cassis, black cherry, dark plums, blackberry, leather, clove and pepper spice. Layered with supple tannins and velvet mouthfeel through a lingering, spicy finish. (TP)

Clos de L’Oratoire des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC, 2019, Rhône Valley France ($56) Rich and powerful yet elegant, this is spicy with concentrated notes of dried herbs, black olives, ripe raspberries and cassis. While the wine has great balance, it needs 7 to 10 years to come together and show its full potential.

Classic and well-executed. A tribute to the talented winemaker Édouard Guérin. (MB)

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Château Branas Grand Poujeaux Moulis-en-Médoc AOC, 2016, Bordeaux France ($58) (Merlot 50%, Cabernet Sauvignon 45%, Petit Verdot 5%) 2016 was an outstanding vintage in Bordeaux and there are many gems for the cellar at affordable prices. This is a great example. Lush and ripe yet fresh with notes of cocoa, plum, cedar and integrated vanilla.

Already enjoyable to drink now but with time, the tannins will soften, and the wine will exude more depth. (MB)

Paolo Scavino Barolo DOCG, 2017, Piedmont Italy ($60) The bouquet has many layers and the combination of rose petal, red cherry, black licorice, leather and sweet tobacco is very seductive. However, the palate is tight right now. With time, the dusty tannins will resolve and integrate, and this will show more equilibrium and complexity. Hold 7 to 10 years if you can. (MB)

Domaine Labet Chardonnay Côtes du Jura AOC ‘Les Varrons’, 2017, Jura France ($90) I decided to taste this wine over two flower days in accordance with the biodynamic calendar as flower days are said to accentuate the floral aromatics for white wines raised with biodynamic methods. This Chardonnay is from one of the top natural wine producers of the Jura. Immediate notes of ripe golden apple and apple skin with subtle tones of sweet white florals, wet stone and the brightness of tart citrus. Day 2, the wine revealed more mellow and expansive aroma. Made in the ‘topped up’ style of Jura wines, it is crystal clear and showing harmonized reductive tones. On the palate, the Chardonnay hits you with intensity and verve. Angular citrus flavours and tension are key characters of the wine. Length and persistence for days. Decant and enjoy this wine over a few hours. (CS)

Galardi Terra di Lavoro Campania IGT, 2013, Campania Italy ($99) Truly one of Campania’s great reds based on the flagship variety Aglianico. There is a healthy dose of Piedirosso which serves to soften. Time has also mollified tannins somewhat, though they are still chewy and firmly present as they spread across the palate. Lashings of licorice, smoke, earth and tobacco envelop black plum and dried cherry fruit. Already nine years old, this still has a solid five years of prime drinking ahead of it. If you get your hands on a more recent vintage, best to tuck it away for a couple of years. (MM)

Nicolas Feuillatte Palmes d’Or Brut Champagne AOC, 2006, Champagne France ($135) Though co-op producer Nicolas Feuillatte is better known for high-volume, wallet-friendly Champagnes, Palmes d’Or is their flagship cuvée. It is an equal blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from vineyards located primarily in the Vallée de la Marne. The wine shows 64

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a striking balance, benefiting from the roundness, weight and fruit from the Pinot and the elegant, fine aromas and flavours of the Chardonnay. It carries just enough sugar to bring forward the body of the wine and drive the fresh-baked brioche notes.

Drinking very well at present but could also be enjoyed over the next 5 to 7 years. (BD)

TOP SUSTAINABLE WINE PICKS: Sustainability refers to social, economic and environmental practises.

It is important to understand that it is a process and journey rather than a finite destination. No one is perfect and we make no claims as to the degree to which the practises of these producers align with varying global standards, guidelines and certifications. But, the wines selected for this category are from producers who appear engaged in sustainable practices and, in the opinion of the reviewers, deserve recognition. Of course, they also taste great.

Domaine Trapet R.Q.W.R. Gewurztraminer Alsace AOC, 2016, Alsace France ($27) Achieving balance when making Gewurztraminer is not easy. Too often, it becomes a caricature of itself by being too scented and flabby - definitely NOT the case with this wine! The talented Andrée Trapet produced an elegant and harmonious wine.

Delicate notes of rose petal, lavender and litchi mingle with orange blossom, honey and red apple. The minerality and pleasant bitterness on the finish compensates for the soft acidity and the 14% abv is perfectly integrated. Impressive! (MB)

Domaine La Ferme Saint-Martin Les Terres Jaunes Beaumes-de-Venise AOC, 2019, Rhône Valley France ($27) This wine is completely disorientating. While you expect to get a rich and dense red from Beaumes-de-Venise, Les Terres Jaunes is fresh and vibrant with juicy notes of red plum, black pepper and dried thyme. The wine is a blend of 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah made from vines planted between 250 and 500 metres of altitude on the Dentelles de Montmirail. While the brightness can be attributed to the location of the vineyard, very few producers manage to achieve that level of freshness. (MB)

Yalumba Bush Vine Grenache Barossa 2019 South Australia ($29) Opening scents of candied red berries and cinnamon make way for more precise spiced plum and orange oil aromas. On the palate

voluptuous raspberry and blueberry are punctuated with sweet thyme. Tannins are very light and glossily textured. The acidity is soft acidity but juicy. Finishes with an explosion of fruit. A member of International Wineries for Climate Action founded in 2019

by Familia Torres and Jackson Family Wines, Yalumba has been exploring and implementing meaningful sustainable practices throughout all aspects of production for over 25 years. (MM)

Domaine Loew Riesling Ostenberg Alsace AOC, 2017, Alsace France ($31) The first two words that came to my mind when I tried this wine blind were ‘complete’ and ‘precise’. While this Riesling is rich, it has tension and vitality with razor-sharp acidity that makes the mouth water. The aromatic profile is just as harmonious with pretty notes of honey, lemon and lime zest mingling with discreet wet stone and petrol. A natural with cheese fondue, raclette or Quiche Lorraine. I enjoyed it with homemade Peking duck, and it was delightful. (MB)

San Polo Rubio IGT Toscana, 2019, Tuscany Italy ($32) Besides top-notch Brunello, San Polo’s offers a stellar straightforward and fresh Sangiovese in pureza with the Rubio bottling.

Aromas of plum and sunbaked earth lead to a sumptuous mouthful of lush, pulpy red cherry fruit. Vibrant and bouncy, this is buoyed by plenty of acidity and framed by brisk grape tannins. The estate was purchased by Marilisa Allegrini in 2007.

Since 2015, winemaking has been under the direction of Riccardo Fratton who has led the estate through organic certification. He is also experimenting with natural homeopathic remedies to protect vines from drought and fend off disease. The winery building is the first in Tuscany to receive CasaClima certification for its energy efficiency and sustainable use of resources. (MM)

Tasca d’Almerita Fondazione Whitaker Mozia Grillo Sicilia DOC, 2020, Sicily Italy ($32) Mozio is an island off the west coast of Sicily - close to Marsala where Grillo has long been used in Italy’s now unfashionable fortified wine. In recent years, Grillo is making a name for itself as a dry table white. Medium-bodied with tons of personality, Tasca d’Almerita’s is savoury, saline and tactile with gorgeous jasmine and citrus blossom fragrances. It can stand up to richer snacks like bone marrow and cleanse the mouth of any fried tidbit such as chickpea fritters.

I test drove both! Alberto Tasca is one of the founding members of SOStain. Beyond ‘green’ vineyard practices, Sicily’s sustainability certification also assesses categories such as carbon footprint and packaging to employee and community welfare. (MM)

Le Vieux Pin Cuvée Violette Syrah Okanagan Valley VQA, 2019, British Columbia Canada ($35) This is, in my mind, the best Canadian Syrah. It has been for many years thanks

to the great site and delicate winemaking style of Séverine Pinte. This vintage does not disappoint. Its lifted seductive aromas of violets, iodine, plum and black pepper combined with the bright acidity recall Crozes-Hermitage. Then the wild sage notes bring you back to the Okanagan Valley. Fine and elegant tannins. Delicious now but Cuvée Violette can age. I recently had the 2013 – the first vintage ever made - and it was exquisite. (MB)

Domaine Mathieu et Camille Lapierre Morgon AOC, 2020, Beaujolais France ($38) When the now-deceased Marcel Lapierre was making the wines, I could not skip a vintage. Lapierre’s early inspiration was the acclaimed father of natural wines, Jules Chauvet. Chauvet’s quest was to make natural wines with pure aromas. He was a chemist and understood oenology.

Natural wine did not equal faults. Quite to the contrary. It takes a lot of knowledge to achieve greatness by doing little - and Marcel Lapierre knew how. His son Mathieu and his daughter Camille followed the same path, and the 2020 is so pure. Silky with notes of cranberries, raspberries and red cherries lifted by a gentle herbal and floral touch.

Irresistible now but will show even more depth in 8-10 years. (MB)

Feudo Montoni Nerello Mascalese Sicilia DOC ‘Rosé de Adele’, 2020, Sicily Italy ($40) Owner Fabio Sireci calls Feudo Montoni “an island within an island” because it is located at elevation in the centre of the island of Sicily. Sireci’s characterization describes not just the winery’s remote location, but the isolation of its vineyards due to the massive fields of durum wheat that have surrounded Montoni for at least the past 600 years. The result, according to several wine experts, is a purity in the DNA of the estate’s vines, unaffected by outside influences, giving the wines of Montoni a unique sense of place.

Feudo Montoni farms organically and in addition to grapes, they also grow heritage grains, wild oats, fenugreek, chickpeas, honeysuckle, fava beans, lentils, dill, wild fennel and olive trees. Organics (organic in Italian is biologico and bios means life) is a philosophy that Sireci believes extends beyond agriculture and to the people of the region, giving them the possibility to work and providing them with a sense of purpose and pride. The rosé is made from 100% Nerello Mascalese grapes and has lovely aromas of peach and spice, a fleshy texture, bright and lively with flavours of pear and melon finishing with a refreshing minerality.

Will pair with everything from spicy cuisine to salads to seafood to roast lamb. And really delicious on its own. (DD)

Yves Leccia E Croce Patrimonio AOC, 2017 Corsica France ($40) E Croce blends 90% Nielluciu (aka Sangiovese) with 10% Grenache grown on a thin layer of chalk over pure schist in the northern reaches of Corsica. Wild and funky

at first, then sundried tomato, sunbaked herb and flowers come to the fore. No sign of oak here for indeed there is none – refinement is in stainless steel. Gritty grape tannins stick to the palate which reveals licorice and iron-tinged berries with tangy acidity. It seems made for grilled fatty sausages. This is Yves Leccia’s second vintage with organic certification. Beyond that, he works tirelessly to preserve Corsica’s patrimony of heirloom varieties (adhering staunchly to the local spelling). (MM)

Elvio Cogno Barolo DOCG Ravera, 2017, Piedmont Italy ($129)

Delinquente High Crimes Arinto & Albarino Riverland ‘Basshams Barmera Vineyard’, 2021, South Australia ($50/1500ml)

Typical of the power and presence of a Barolo from Serralunga d’Alba, this is still in its early years with tight, very firm tannins and the perfume-like magic beginning to weave together. Aromatically, it’s more earth than flowers – with smoky church incense and deep red fruits. Such reward will be given for waiting 5 more years on this beauty - though it has a longer life than that if you have the patience and desire. Rivetto is the first Barolo producer to gain Demeter’s biodynamic certification. (BD)

(80% Arinto, 20% Albarino) From hot and dry Riverland, this is a clever use of Iberian origin grapes. Both retain their acidity well and don’t require irrigation, thus preserving water supply in a region known for excess use of this precious resource. This wine is uber fresh, saline and edgy but with peachy, slightly tropical notes. The hip term to use here would be crushable, which is suited to its bag-in-box packaging and drink-now personality. It scores a point for light-weight packaging as it has come a long way from its Australian home. (BD)

Henners Brut, n/v, East Sussex England ($65) From the heart of England’s sparkling wine production in East Sussex, Henner’s classic non-vintage cuvée blends Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. A full three years on the lees as well as a dash of reserve wine lends richness and depth to notes of red currant and salted caramel apple. There is plenty of zip, and the mousse is soft yet lively.

Appetizing toasted accents linger on the finish. A founding member, and one of just 19, Henners is part of Wine GB’s Sustainability Programme which launched spring of 2021.

The certification focuses on reducing water, carbon foot-print and non-renewable energy consumption while promoting environmental conservation and biodiversity. (MM)

Villa Guelpa Sizzano DOC, 2017, Piedmont Italy ($65) Alto Piemonte is located in the northern part of Italy’s Piedmont region in the foothills of the Alps. In the 1700s & 1800s, wines from Alto Piemonte were actually much more famous than the wines of Barolo, but today, there are less than 1,000 hectares of vineyards left due to several factors including a devasting hail storm in 1905.

Many producers simply abandoned their vineyards and there was a mass exodus from the wine industry. But in the last 20 years, there started to be a revitalization of Alto Piemonte led by people like, Daniele Dinoia of Villa Guelpa. The Sizzano is a blend of 70% Nebbiolo and 30% Vespolina & Uva Rara and is a rich, and complex wine alluring perfumed aromas and multi-layered flavours of cherry, citrus, a savoury minerality and an incredibly long finish. It will continue to age well over the next 10-15+ years. (DD)

Bright and focussed with perfumed floral aromas, a massive amount of red fruit, spice and mineral, firm tannins that are fruit-coated and elegant allowing for the wine to be enjoyable now if given enough time in a decanter, but it will benefit from a decade or more in the bottle. (DD)

Enrico Rivetto Barolo DOCG ‘Briccolina’, 2013, Piedmont Italy ($130)

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva, 2013, Tuscany Italy ($155) Donatella Cinelli Colombini has a family history that is impressive to say the least.

Donatella was a part of the Barbi wine dynasty which dates back centuries. In 1998, Donatella left her family’s estate to start her own projects. In a relatively short period of time, she established herself as a major winemaking and cultural force. The Riserva is a little restrained at first, but opens quite nicely with floral and berry aromas, spice and earth with a silky texture, bright acidity, red and dark berry fruit and mineral notes with a long, although somewhat closed finish. This is just a baby and will need time to age to fully integrate, but should be a stunner in 5-8 years and beyond. (GB)

QUENCH HOUSE WINES: What the editors and writers of Quench are drinking at home and why.

Gérard Bertrand AN 806 Corbières AOC, 2018, Languedoc-Roussillon France ($18) A blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre.

Opaque purple in colour with a bouquet of blackberries, vanilla and light cedar notes.

Full-bodied with richly extracted blackberry flavour and an herbal note. A well-balanced wine and well worth the price. (TA)

Chaberton Gamay Fraser Valley VQA, 2020, British Columbia Canada ($20) Classic Gamay character of vibrant red berries and earthy notes with a light to medium bodied palate. Lively and fresh fruited cherry chocolate notes with good structure, nicely balanced acidity and tannins leading to spice through the close. (TP)

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Fangareggi Vigna Rosa Lambrusco dell’Emilia IGP, 2020, Emilia-Romagna Italy ($23) This frizzante is a light, pale red Lambrusco from the Fangareggi family who have resumed winemaking as of 2004 but have a history of the craft dating back to the 19th century. It is primarily Lambrusco di Sobara (85%) which gives delicate floral aromas and a refined mouthfeel, along with bright, wild berry notes. At 11%, this is modest in abv, which is great because every time I’ve opened a bottle, I’ve always wanted a second pour. (BD)

Fabien Jouves Haute Côt(e) de Fruit Malbec Cahors AC, 2020, Cahors France ($25) Often, Malbec from Cahors is big, dark and brooding, tannic, oaked and extracted. Well, this wine is not that. Made much more in the style of Malbec from the Loire Valley (where it is known as Côt), this is electric and minerally, with no oak to preserve the purity of lively fruit, spice and mouth-watering savouriness. Incredibly delicious and a tremendous value that you won’t get tired of drinking. (GB)

Yohan Lardy Les Michelons Moulin-AVent AOC, 2019, Beaujolais France ($28) Cru Beaujolais has been a staple in my house for years and this wine is a great addition!

Bright with charming notes of wild strawberries and raspberries, it is lifted by a pleasant herbal character owing to whole bunch fermentation. Delicate yet firm tannins. Just as suited for roasted chicken as it is for liver, coq au vin or grilled salmon. As they say in French: it is passe-partout (a wine that goes with everything). (MB)

Burlotto Verduno Pelaverga DOC, 2017, Piedmont Italy ($30) One of Piedmont’s most sublime producers with a grape they have helped bring back into the spotlight. A luminous ruby colour to the eye, with aromatics of black cherry, candied cherry, strawberry and plum. The bridge to the palate shares clementine and a tea-like character with subtle spice. This Pelaverga is generous in fresh and ripe red berry fruit on the palate. Gentle gripping tannins and just enough texture give the wine individual character above others in its class. This wine clearly sits in the light-to-medium body camp and will satisfy those who want to be transported, any day of the week, to the rolling hills of Piemonte. (CS)

4 Monos GR-10 Sierra de Gredos Vinos de Madrid DOP, 2017, Madrid Spain ($33) I cracked this bottle after a long-haul, international flight home. Immediately, the stress of traveling in the time of Covid melted away and I was filled with the joy of summer berries that wafted from the glass.

Despite an innate fruitiness, it has a serious side as nuances of sweet herbs, lilac and pulverised granite wrap around crunchy cherries and raspberries. Tannins are light

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with a fine clayey texture. Garnacha-led with some Cariñena and a splash of Syrah, this is beautifully mid-weight. You don’t have to wait for warmer temperatures to enjoy a chillable, chuggable red. 4 Monos is now a staple in my home. (MM)

Rizzi Barbera d’Alba DOC, 2020, Piedmont Italy ($38) Barbera is one of the most planted grapes in Italy and it grows in almost every region.

It is also one of the 20 most planted grape varieties in the world. While Barbera can often be quite easy drinking, that does not mean that the wines should lack character.

Rizzi’s offering is deep and perfumed, elegant, well-balanced and persistent with lively, fresh cherry and plum flavours and a soft texture. The perfect Tuesday night pizza wine. (DD)

BEST OF THE REST: Wines that are Recommended and Highly Recommended by our experienced panel of tasters listed by price from low to high: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Hester Creek Old Vine Cabernet Franc Golden Mile Bench Okanagan Valley VQA, 2019, British Columbia Canada ($26) Some original plantings in this vineyard date from 1968. This is aged for 18 months in mainly French barriques with some neutral American barrels. Aromas of intense red and black fruit lead to a full-bodied palate with pepper spice and cedar notes wrapped in juicy acidity and well-managed, structured tannins. Some mineral hints and spice on the finish. (TP)

Malivoire Analog Demo Series Twenty Mile Bench VQA, 2020, Ontario Canada ($27) In my books, Ontario’s most exciting red grapes are Cabernet Franc and Gamay. Here they are co-fermented in a bright and vibrant 73%/23% blend. Pure red cherry and red currant aromas emerge with a swirl. Though light weight in style, it soars with purity and juiciness. Flavours of cranberry and raspberry fill out the red berry spectrum. Good length and mouth cleansing energy. (MM)

Vignoble du Reveur La Vigne en Rose Alsace AOC, 2018, Alsace France ($29) A co-fermented wine of Gewürztraminer and Riesling. Striking aromas of gentle yet vibrant rich florals jump from the glass. The wine invites you to taste it. The palate is a mouthful of rose water, honeyed apple and light creamy viscous weight. Rich and round, not cloying…with all the finesse of Gewurtz yet tamed by the elegance of Riesling. You must try it at least once. This does everything for everybody, no strings attached. (CS)

Fort Berens Riesling Reserve Lillooet VQA ‘Dry Creek Vineyard’, 2019, British Columbia Canada ($30) Winter damage reduced 2019 yields to about one ton per acre, which contributes to this wine’s intensity. On the nose, developing petrol hints, with honey, citrus and stone fruit. The palate sports peach and tropical flavours with a touch of minerality. The textured mouthfeel is amplified by juicy acidity and a lengthy, gently off-dry ending.

Excellent aging potential as it continues to evolve. (TP)

Tenuta Olim Bauda Freisa d’Asti DOC Secco, 2017, Piedmont Italy ($30) A direct descendant of Nebbiolo, the lesser-known Freisa grape is worth trying for its own merits. Olim Bauda puts out a convincing example. It boasts truffly scents, along with rose, violet and rooibos tea. Full but not rich, the palate is hemmed in by grainy, long-chained tannins. Pleasant bitter chinotto accents offset wild raspberry. This all melds seamlessly together and should drink well over the next four to five years.

(MM)

Elena Walch Pinot Bianco Alto Adige DOC, 2020, Trentino-Alto Adige Italy ($32) Also known as Sudtirol, Alto Adige is heavily Austrian and German influenced.

That shouldn’t be a surprise as Alto Adige was a part of Austria for hundreds of years.

If fact, you could be forgiven, when traveling in the region, for forgetting that you are still in Italy. The influence is evident in the language, culture, food and the wines. This offering from Elena Walch has bright yellow stone fruit aromas and flavours, fresh apple and mineral depth, lively acidity, incredible balance and a fresh, inviting finish. (DD)

AC Christmann Spätburgunder Pfalz, 2017, Pfalz Germany ($28)

Ollier Taillefer Grande Reserve Faugères AOP, 2017, Languedoc-Roussillon France ($33)

Expect a blast of delicious fruit energy in this biodynamic wine from the Pfalz. Expressive red florals and ripe sun-kissed black cherry lead to a savoury cherry tomato earthiness.

The palate exudes warmth with tart candy red fruit to strawberry flavours. Best served fresh, to maintain a sleek and demur experience on the palate. Distinct in mineral tone with just the right amount of tension.

Present without intruding. (CS)

From unique schist soils, this is a blend of certified organically grown Carignan, Grenache and Syrah. Vibrant aromas of red and black berries with spicy undertones lead to a plush medium-bodied palate supported by well-managed tannins. A hint of appealing herbal notes lingers through the finish. Superbly balanced. To be enjoyed with roasted red meats and braised dishes, not to mention tourtière. (TP)

La Spinetta Ca’ di Pian Barbera d’Asti Superiore DOCG, 2018, Piedmont Italy ($33) Polished and stylish, Ca di Pian is a concentrated, barrique-aged Barbera made from 45-year-old vines. The nose is frisky with an herbal minty edge, chocolate and intense blackberry and plum. The plush, wood-framed, spice-infused palate unfolds with supple velvety tannins while succulent acidity keeps it lively. Hard not to like. (MM)

Tinhorn Creek Oldfield Reserve Chardonnay Golden Mile Bench Okanagan Valley VQA, 2019, British Columbia Canada ($35) Bright, straw colour with a toasty, spicy, apple nose and a light apple blossom note. Medium to full-bodied and dry with apple and pear flavours. Rich and full on the palate with well-integrated oak and a lovely mouthfeel. Beautifully balanced and lingering. (TA)

Meyer Family Vineyards B Field Blend Pinot Noir Okanagan Falls Okanagan Valley VQA ‘McLean Creek Road Vineyard’, 2020, British Columbia Canada ($35) This new cuveé from Meyer is a winner! B is for Burgundy. It references the combination of Pinot Noir clones that are picked and fermented together. It’s aged in seasoned barrels so there is no new oak to get in the way of the fruit expression. Focused and perfumed, the nose reveals high tone floral and cranberry nuances. It is lean and precise on the palate with a subtle earthiness, sweet spice, silky tannins and crisp acidity.

Fantastic weight, balance and poise here.

(MM)

Save Our Souls Pinot Noir, 2018, Yarra Valley Australia ($35) Vibrant and juicy with a richness that maintains freshness and crushability, loads of crushed berry fruit, earth and spice with supple tannins and a long, zippy finish.

Ideal with duck carpaccio or chops off the barbecue. (GB)

Les Equilibristes Les 7 Vaillants Syrah Vin de France, 2018, LanguedocRoussillon France ($36) The magnificent trio of grapes - Syrah, Cinsault and Grenache - makes for a most pleasant journey in a wine that is juicy, juicy and juicy in the spectrum of black and blue fruit with a lift of cherry and spice. The palate is generous and soft with enough structure to make this a great Friday night wine. Make sure you save a few sips for Saturday lunch!

(CS)

Jean Stodden Spätburgunder, 2017, Ahr Germany ($39) This wine is very much for the Pinot Noir lover, especially those who believe that Germany can’t produce red wines. Bright and earthy in aromatic tone, with tart fleshy red fruit of currant and cherry. One is reminded of the shift to the autumn in tasting the wine.

The palate is clean, lean and with interesting, gentle fruit energy - easy going like your favourite scarf. There is a mineral and iron tang - indicative of this cool climate region.

Very Pinot for the senses of sight, smell and taste. (CS)

Quinta dos Roques Touriga Nacional Dão DOC, 2018, Dão Portugal ($45) The Dão wine region is central north Portugal. Vineyards on elevated plains are surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides. To savour the wine is to taste flavours unexpected in most Portuguese wines. The wine eases gently into fleshy dark berry fruit aromas, floral, with a pine or fresh forest lift. The berry fruit is framed with a layer of light cocoa and sweetish pour-over morning coffee. Texture and fine tannins balance the palate of more rich dark fruit. Finished with a mineral tickle. This is a mountain wine as rich and intense in freshness as it is in flavour. (CS)

Le Clos Jordanne Grand Clos Pinot Noir Twenty Mile Bench VQA, 2018, Ontario Canada ($45) I am very impressed by this vintage! The generous and ripe palate shows notes of wild strawberry jam, peony, vanilla and mocha.

Fine-grained tannins with bright acid and a long finish. While the notes of oak are not fully integrated, I suspect they will with a few years in the bottle. A world class Pinot Noir that exudes the depth and complexity one can achieve in the region of Niagara. (MB)

Le Clos Jordanne Grand Clos Chardonnay Twenty Mile Bench VQA, 2019, Ontario Canada ($45) One of the things I love about great Chardonnay from Niagara is the thirst-quenching acidity you can count on to balance the richness of the wine. This is exactly what you have here. The aromatics are just as enticing. Lemon zest and Meyer lemon are in symbiosis with notes of butter, hazelnut and vanilla. Long lingering finish. Perfectly suited with mushroom risotto or lobster if you want to splurge. (MB)

Le Clos Jordanne Grand Clos Chardonnay Twenty Mile Bench VQA, 2018, Ontario Canada ($45) Yet another stunning wine from the talented hands of Thomas Bachelder. It walks the line; freshness, finesse and bright acidity in harmony with fruit development and subtle oak from its 20-month élevage in 228-litre barrels. Saline, citrus, orchard apples – this is classic cool climate Chardonnay. Excellent concentration makes me want to cellar this beauty for 5 to 7 years. (BD)

Painted Rock Merlot Skaha Bench Okanagan Valley VQA, 2018, British Columbia Canada ($45) Up front aromas of vibrant red berries, with mineral and camphor hints lead to a complex, generously fruited but structured palate of damson, spice and mocha. This is buoyed by fresh acidity and wrapped in

seamless, well-integrated tannins through the lingering, gently spicy finish. Leans more towards Bordeaux than British Columbia.

Excellent potential to reward for several years to come. (TP)

Marisa Cuomo Furore Bianco Costa d’Amalfi DOC, 2020, Campania Italy ($45) If you have ever been lucky enough to travel to the Amalfi Coast, this will bring you back to its steep rocky cliffs, salty sea air, fruit stands laden with giant lemons and the fragrant flower lined streets. Or you can simply buy a bottle and taste it all in the glass. Made from 60% Falanghina and 40% Biancolella grown on coastal terraces between 200 to 550m, Marisa Cuomo’s Furore so gorgeously captures the intoxicating nuances of Campania’s coastline. It fills the mouth but leaves it clean and revived as it lingers with hints of blanched almond. (MM)

Luis Pato Quinta do Moinho Vinho Regional Beiras, 2008, Portugal ($54) The wine delivers ‘the experience’ that reminds you of aged fine wine. Then you ask, but where is this from? The adventure begins… Made by the G.O.A.T. that is Luis Pato - the Michael Jordon in the wine making game when it comes to the Baga grape. His Quinta do Moinho vineyards which rise into the interior of Atlantic Portugal offer up wines that are world class. The 2008 vintage offers lifted and forward aromatics of evolved dark fruit that give way to dry tomato leaf and savoury herbed tones of birch bark. Fine grained tannins offset the palate that is still energetic and complex. (CS)

Domaine Philippe Gavignet Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits AC ‘Clos des Dames Huguette’, 2019, Burgundy France ($55) Lovely, refined and elegant with an abundance of expressive aromas, silky red fruit, depth and concentration with a cool, silky texture and incredibly long finish that makes you want to keep drinking. Immensely enjoyable on its own, but also a versatile partner with just about anything on your dinner table. (GB)

Privato Pinot Noir Grande Reserve British Columbia VQA, 2016, British Columbia Canada ($56) Sourced from North Okanagan’s Lake Country, this sees partial whole cluster fermentation and 18 months aging in French oak. Up front forest floor and earthy notes with red berries. On the palate - strawberry and savoury elements, superbly balanced fruit and spice, silky tannins and great length. A lovely lighter style. (TP)

Pedro Parra Monk Cinsault, 2018, Itata Chile ($58) Monk is a reference to the great jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. The wine presents as stylish and iconic as the man himself, and on tasting, shows subtle yet vibrant, candy caramel apple with roasted red cherry. There is a note of flint, mineral wet stone moving QUENCH.ME

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to full-bodied and dry with lively acidity, plum and blackcurrant flavours and a note of orange peel on the end taste. Fine mouthfeel and ripe tannins. (TA)

vines, it delivers intense flinty, wet stone minerality and energy balanced by pithy grapefruit and exuberant gooseberry. A zingy mouthful! (MM)

Harper’s Trail Pinot Gris Thompson Valley VQA ‘Thadd Springs Vineyard’, 2020 British Columbia Canada ($20)

Chateau de Santenay Bourgogne CôteD’Or AC ‘Pressonnier’, 2019, Burgundy France ($38)

Loads of character with an abundance of red fruit, fresh herbs, spice and mineral wrapped up with silky smooth tannins, impeccable balance, layers and layers of flavour and a long, lively finish. Perfect with roast duck, grilled salmon and tandoori chicken. (GB)

An exciting burst of pure orchard fruit leads to excellent varietal expression, with fresh apple and pear notes on the palate, nicely balanced fruit, bright acidity and a lingering, dry finish. Characterful and focused, this is a welcome contrast to often homogenous BC Pinot Gris. (TP)

This has pretty aromas of red currants, light cherry, strawberry, and mineral with nice ripeness of the fruit on the palate, elegant, but grippy tannin, and a light herbal character. hint of ripe stem. Nice as an aperitif wine, but also with poached salmon salad. (DD)

Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Kamptal DAC ‘Ried Lamm’, 2017, Niederöstereich Austria ($75)

Joan d’Anguera Darmos Garnatxa Montsant DO, 2018, Cataluña Spain ($32)

An estate and monastery with deep roots in Kamptal. A benchmark expression of grand cru Grüner Veltliner - evident in the expressive perfume of orchard fruit and stone fruit laced with florals of freesia and white pepper typical of Grüner. This single vineyard reaches great heights of finesse and elegance with a very fine creamy, yet tart citrus, white and yellow fruit flavour experience on the palate. Very few wines of the world can match the versatility and energy of very good Grüner Veltliner. This wine does not disappoint! Truly a fine wine of the ‘fine wine’ category. (CS)

This Spanish gem is whole cluster Garnatxa that is foot trodden, giving way to floral and bright sweet cherry aroma, Twizzlers and sun-dried olive. The palate is raw with juicy cherry fruit that is at once tart and lifted in tone, then hits with a volume reflective of the sun and heat of Mediterranean Spain. An elegant wine that shows clarity. This wine is a reflection of the current Spanish wine renaissance. (CS)

to iron. Clarity and precision are what makes this cuvée distinct. The palate is dry, medium-bodied with coarse tannins that are composed around great fruit energy. Monk carries its own complex rhythm and flow, very charming once you catch it. (CS)

Etude Pinot Noir ‘Grace Benoist Ranch’, 2018, Carneros California USA ($68)

Podere Il Carnasciale Carnasciale Toscana IGT, 2018 Tuscany Italy ($98) Caberlot is the grape, thought to be a natural crossing of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. A cult wine that you might have yet to experience?!? What happens in the bottle is a true ‘Super Tuscan’ that reminds you of its French grape heritage, though designed in Italy.

Nothing is over done here in ‘Il Carnasciale’, the second wine to the top cuvée ‘Il Caberlot’.

Prêt-à-porter aromas of black and blue currant fruit with herbs and peppered spice make for a stylish wine. Vineyards at altitude in the Valdarno valley reveal cool-minted, soft and plush dark berry flavours with cedar and wood spice accenting the true flavours of the vintage. (CS)

RECOMMENDED Divino Silvaner Trocken, 2019, Franken Germany ($17) Bright straw in colour with a minerally, peach pit nose and an engaging floral top note. Medium-bodied and dry, this beautifully balanced wine has a white peach flavour, lively acidity and an almond note on the finish. This comes in a Bocksbeutel (bottle said to resemble the shape of a goat’s scrotum), difficult to cellar but worth finding room for it. (TA)

Santa Ema Carmenere Gran Reserva Valle de Cachapoal DO, 2018, Central Valley Chile ($19) Deep purple-ruby in colour with a lightly cedary, spicy black cherry nose along with vanilla and dark chocolate notes. Medium

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Tightrope Cabernet Franc Naramata Bench Okanagan Valley ‘Thomas Vineyard’, 2018, British Columbia Canada ($35) Ripe and fleshy with bright acid. Notes of pencil shaving, raspberries and plum are reminiscent of the aromatic profile found in Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley. I love that the producer has resisted the temptation of lavish oak. The tannins are slightly hard and rustic, but they soften when served with steak. I enjoyed it with a piece of wagyu beef prepared by Chef Mark Filatow, owner of Waterfront Wines Restaurant in Kelowna.

It was delectable. (MB)

Monte Creek Pinot Noir Reserve Okanagan Valley VQA, 2016, British Columbia Canada ($35) Sourced from The Rise Vineyard, situated on a south facing slope overlooking the north end of Lake Okanagan, near Vernon.

It is known for producing good Pinot. Wild fermented and aged 10 months in French oak and stainless steel. Up front vibrant wild red berry and vanilla notes. The generous but focused strawberry and cherry palate is underpinned by silky tannins and shows spice and cedar hints through the lingering finish. (TP)

Gérard Fiou Terroir Silex Sancerre AOC, 2020, Loire Valley France ($35) When I spied this on a wine list, I had an instant craving for Sancerre, especially as I was just about to tuck into a fish feast. I wasn’t disappointed. Gérard Fiou’s vineyards are located in the east part of Sancerre –across the river from Pouilly Fumé. Here the soil is characterized by a high percentage of silex (aka flint). Crafted from 63-year-old

Envinate Lousas Viñas de Aldea Ribeira Sacra DO, 2019, Galicia Spain ($42) Mencía exploded on the wine scene several years ago – full-flavoured, full-bodied. Today the friends behind Envinate aim for a lighter hand with this old vine Mencía. The wine exudes cherry, layers of orange peel and pith with the right amount of heady floral aroma. The palate is gentle and sweet with ripe pomegranate, red current and Cara Cara orange. There is very little not to like in this wine. New school Spain! (CS)

Tenuta di Bibbiano Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva, 2018, Tuscany Italy ($43) Consistent quality Sangiovese from a warm southern corner of Chianti Classico. Expect classic cherry, fresh plum fruit, dried rose petal and red floral aromas. Think of leather touched by tobacco and light notes of vanilla, moving into an earthy mocha energy that keeps this wine grounded and elevated at the same time. The palate is elegant, with tannins as fine as cocoa powder, and the same berry flavours on the palate. Chianti is no longer a wine of the past. This is a renaissance wine with noble and humble origins. (CS)

BEFORE… Sparkling wines, fino sherries, other wines that would traditionally be served before dinner Val d’Oca Brut Millesimato Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG, 2020, Veneto Italy ($20) Pale straw in colour with a volcanic mousse.

Lightly floral nose of wet stones and crab apple.

Medium-bodied and dry with white peach and apple flavours. Well-balanced with a creamy mouthfeel. One of the best Proseccos I have tasted. (TA)

Gray Monk Odyssey Traditional Brut Okanagan Valley VQA, 2018, British Columbia Canada ($26) Pale straw in colour with an active mousse of tiny bubbles. A bouquet of apple and pear with crusty bread notes. Light to medium-bodied and crisply dry with lemony acidity, Granny Smith apple flavour and a hint of almond on the finish. (TA)

Time Winery Brut Okanagan Valley VQA, 2018, British Columbia Canada ($30) A blend of 55% Pinot Noir with 45% Chardonnay gains added complexity from fermentation in a combination of neutral French barrels and stainless steel. Lively bubbles with a good mousse, forward notes of brioche, citrus and stone fruit before a well textured, generous palate through a creamy, lengthy end. (TP)

Tantalus Blanc de Blancs Okanagan Valley VQA, 2018, British Columbia Canada ($32) (100% Chardonnay) Tantalus’ claim to fame is its racy old vines Riesling. While this is usually what I stock up on when I visit, the last time I went, I added a few bottles of the 2018 Blanc de Blancs to my stash. This is the finest sparkling I have had from Tantalus.

Tangy with a delicate mousse and a gentle touch of brioche rounding the austere edge.

Nice harmony between the lemon zest, jasmine and subtle peach notes. A great substitute for Champagne, and much gentler on the wallet. (MB)

Benjamin Bridge Méthode Classique Brut, 2015, Nova Scotia Canada ($50) (78% Chardonnay, 22% Pinot Noir) This wine supports the argument that Benjamin Bridge makes world-class sparkling. Bottled after four years on lees, this leans to the reductive and smoky side, though the citrus fruit and honeyed, floral notes are still very much present. Beautiful, fine bubbles and very precise mouthfeel. It is in a great spot but should also round out a bit after another 3 to 5 years of aging. (BD)

Valdespino Don Gonzalo Oloroso VOS, n/v, Jerez Spain ($80) A benchmark Oloroso sherry, and tremendous value for a 25 (average)-year-old wine.

The main solera for this wine dates back to the mid-19th century, and the grapes come from the renowned Carrascal vineyard.

Walnut, marzipan, spiced orange, rich oak undertones. Full and rounded on the palate with a lengthy, complex finish, it hints at a ghost of sweetness. A great sipper enjoyed any time, but my favourite is as an apéritif on a rainy, cool day. (BD)

…AND AFTER Dessert wines and digestifs that would traditionally be served after dinner Inniskillin Riesling Icewine Niagara Peninsula VQA, 2019, Ontario Canada ($80/375ml) Bright, shining golden colour. Magnificent, honeyed mango and grapefruit nose.

Medium-bodied, luscious, intense and unctuously sweet with orange, honey, peach and apricot flavours. Beautifully balanced with racy acidity that stops it from being cloying.

This could be the best Inniskillin Icewine I’ve tasted. (TA)

SPIRITS Dos Magos Sotol, Mexico Although tequila and mezcal get the lion’s share of attention, there are other traditional spirits made in Mexico. That includes Sotol, a spirit made from the plant of the same name, a shrub that grows wild in the deserts of northern Mexico. As more sotol makes its way to Canada, keep an eye out for Dos Magos, a great introduction to the category thanks to its smoky aroma, light body, and delicately minty herbal finish. (CSO)

Sotol Ono, Mexico The vast majority of Sotol brands on the market are made by about a dozen “Sotoleros”—one of the most famous being Maestro Sotolero Gerardo Ruelas, who is responsible for about 13 expressions, including Sotol Ono. Its saline and vegetal nose hints at an esoteric, possibly earthy, tasting experience but it confounds expectations and is, instead, a pretty light, bouncy and super easy-drinking spirit. (CSO)

Flor del Desierto, Mexico Also made by Maestro Sotolero Gerardo Ruelas, Flor del Desierto shows off the flavour profile of another species of the “desert spoon” (another name for sotol) from a different region. Flor del Desierto has a bigger mouthfeel than Sotol Ono, and tastes briny with a touch of fruit candy and a lovely pepper finish. The complexity keeps you coming back for more. (CSO)

Cantarelle: Gin de Provence, France Almost every French gin we’ve tried adheres to a style that we’d characterize as somehow very “French.” Light on its feet, aromatic, airy and bright, Cantarelle is no exception.

Although the juniper is present and accounted for, it takes a backseat to candied pink grapefruit and coriander, two botanicals that get along nicely. Although you could drink it with tonic, its subtle and restrained flavour would be lost. Instead, enjoy it chilled—martini or rocks, your call. (CSO)

Bottega Bacur Gin, Veneto Italy Since renowned gin producers all over the world source their juniper from Italy, nobody should be surprised that more Italian producers are getting into the spirit, including Bottega SPA, a winery known for its bubbles. Plenty of piney juniper on the nose and tongue, mixed with a pronounced hit of lemon oil and peel, as well as a little herb to heighten the complexity of this rich and full-bodied gin. (CSO)

Isle of Harris Gin, Scotland Although adding seaweed to gin might seem like attention-seeking behaviour, the handful of dulse-and kelp-infused gins we’ve tried are all lovely spirits and unique tasting, thanks to the umami quality that these ocean botanicals add to the gin. Isle of Harris gin is no exception. Made with sustainably-sourced sugar kelp from the lochs on Isle of Harris in Scotland’s outer Hebrides, this premium gin has a touch of salinity, but just enough

juniper, spicy coriander, and citrus to keep the London Dry crowd happy. (CSO)

Mermaid Gin, England If you tasted this blind, you might guess that Mermaid Gin contains botanicals harvested from the ocean, but the marine note is almost certainly owing to the distillers’ use of “rock samphire” (a.k.a. sea fennel), a wild plant that grows in craggy cliffs and rocks in coastal regions. The gin’s unique algae bloom taste is balanced out with elderflower, licorice, citrus and a hop variety that imparts intensely earthy notes—a profile divided between the land and the sea, just like the mythical creature after which it’s named. Excellent with a light, low-sugar tonic and a spritz of grapefruit or lemon. From The Isle of Wight Distillery. (CSO)

Kuzuki Gin, British Columbia Although award-winning Kuzuki Gin isn’t technically a Japanese gin (since it’s distilled in British Columbia at Sheringham Distillery) it’s certainly a terrific homage to a new and burgeoning category of spicy, floral and clean gins from Japan that we’ve seen making their way to Canada over the past several years.

Kuzuki is a sensationally bright and fresh tasting gin, packed with yuzu, bold spice, and a distinct cherry blossom dimension. Easily one of the most exciting Canadian gins we’ve ever tried. (CSO)

BEER Spearhead Brewing Co. Oatmeal Cream Ale, Kingston ON, Canada (5.4% ABV; 473mL can) Kingston’s own Spearhead Brewing has regularly been pushing the envelope of interesting flavors with their Globetrotter series of beers. Beers like the Candy Cane Lager, brewed with peppermint, and the Swiss Chocolate Raspberry Porter have all been hits among the brewery’s fans. This latest addition, however, has the brewery opting for a simple done well approach, amping up the humble cream ale to something that feels both elevated and approachable. Right off the bat the beer has a lovely smooth and creamy mouthfeel brought forth by the oats and a flavour profile that’s very similar to an oatmeal cookie or a hearty bowl of apple cinnamon oatmeal. (RL)

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Hazy Little Thing, Fletcher NC, USA (6.7% ABV; 355mL can) The quality and care Sierra Nevada puts into their beers is unquestionable by now.

Their flagship Pale Ale, for instance, is still considered the gold standard of the style and a thought experiment for how to incorporate subtle notes to a beer. For years it’s gone unchallenged, but the brewery’s entry into the haze wars, Hazy Little Thing IPA, has been getting ever closer to becoming Sierra Nevada’s best selling beer. Hazy Little Thing is incredibly smooth thanks to the addition of wheat and oats. Notes of pineapple, orange rind, and grapefruit are dominant on the palate with a lingering note of lemon drop and pine towards the finish. (RL) QUENCH.ME

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Godspeed Brewery Polotmavý Ležák 11°, Toronto ON, Canada (4.4% ABV; 355mL can) Godspeed is never one to do things by half measures. Owner and brewmaster Luc “Bim” Lafontaine has committed himself to creating amazing and accurate-to-style Czech beers, even going so far as to work directly with the Czech consulate. In this case the Polotmavý Ležák 11° goes above and beyond. It’s a beer that is triple decocted, lagered for 6 weeks, naturally carbonated, and uses Saaz hops and Czech floor malted barley. The result is a well-balanced amber with notes of caramel, granola, and toasted bread followed up by a distinct bitterness in the finish. Just a very well done, amber-rich beer that is a testament to Lafontaine’s talents as a brewer. (RL)

Rebellion Brewing Co. BEER!, Regina SK, Canada (4.8% ABV; 473mL can) I’ve long been a fan of Regina’s Rebellion Brewing Co., because they have a fun, adventurous spirit brought forth by their mullet-rocking president Mark Heise.

BEER! is intended to be just that…a “beer that tastes like beer.” Based on the German Kölsch style, it aims to be right down the middle and it achieves that. Sweet notes of honey and bready malts are evened out by grassy hop flavors along with light hints of lemon. (RL)

Back Home Beer Persian Lager, Brooklyn NY, USA (4.9% ABV; 355mL can) Born to Iranian immigrants who relocated to America during the revolution, the Brooklyn-based brewery’s founder Zahra would hear countless stories about her grandfather, who would make beer to share with the local community in Shiraz. From those stories, Back Home Beer was born with a clear mission to empower women, support immigrants, and take care of local communities, all while making delicious and unique beer. The Persian Lager is a classic lager that’s both crisp with notes of grassiness from the saaz hops with a twist of being brewed with blue salt from the city of Semnan, Iran. This is a tribute to Zahra’s grandfather, who liked a pinch of salt in his beer. (RL)

Oskar Blues Brewery Double Dale’s Imperial IPA, Lyons CO, USA (9% ABV; 355mL can) Oskar Blues Brewery is synonymous with excellent quality beers and their famous Dale’s Pale Ale has been a massive hit since the brewery first launched it when they opened in 1997. Now the brewery has taken the infamous beer to another level with the release of Double Dale’s Imperial IPA. Developed by Oskar Blues Lyons’ Head Brewer Juice Drapeau (wow, what a name!) the beer retains some of its usual citrus and caramel characteristics but goes full tropical with a healthy addition of El Dorado and jabs of pine from the Talus hops. (RL)

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Equity Brewing Co. Solidarity Saison, Norman OK, USA (5.5% ABV; 355mL can) Having opened their doors only last summer, Equity Brewing is Oklahoma’s first all-women owned brewery. Under the saying “lifting you up one beer at a time,” mother-daughter team Suzette and Hannah Grillot are committed to doing their part to make the brewery a force for positive change, unapologetically incorporating their ethos into the names of their beers and never backing down from talking about the issues that matter. The Solidarity Saison is one of their most-brewed beers, with notes of lemon, warm malt flavors, and spice in a peppery finish with a light body that finishes smooth. (RL)

Backcountry Brewing Widowmaker IPA, Squamish BC, Canada (6.7% ABV; 473mL can) Since opening their space in the beautiful mountain town of Squamish back in 2017, Backcountry Brewing has been rocking it in the B.C. scene with their excellent beers, quality food, and frankly awesome tasting room with a 1970s ski cabin vibe.

The Widowmaker is not as intimidating as it sounds, with its light malt profile backing up the grapefruit and orange hop profile making for a solid east coast IPA. (RL)

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Genesee Brewing Co. Cream Ale, Rochester NY, USA (5.1% ABV; 355mL can) If you want a brewery that brewers themselves turn to when they clock off from work, look no further than Genesee Brewing in Rochester, one of the largest and oldest operating breweries in the United States.

With a history that dates back to 1878, It’s safe to say that the brewery has reached iconic levels and their cream ale has become a constant in upstate New York fridges since its introduction in 1960. Smooth and clean in a medium body with hints of bready sweetness and sharp finish, this is a prime example of a beer that is simple and made well. (RL)

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Shacklands Brewing Co. Tripel, Toronto ON, Canada (7.9% ABV; 473mL can) Now celebrating their fifth year in business, Shacklands is a fun brewery with a primary focus on Belgian styles. Located in the Junction area of Toronto, it’s honestly a fun place to be in, with a taproom full of eclectic items behind the bar tended by owner Dave Watts and constant rotation of excellent beer from head brewer Kalev Nisbet. The multiple award-winning can conditioned Tripel is a strong, traditional offering with notes of banana, clove, and nutmeg. (RL)

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BREWED AWAKENINGS

Robin LeBlanc Photo credit: supplied

Good Things Grow Here Edgar Ramirez of Pleasant Valley Hops

Photo credit: supplied

IT’S A KNOWN FACT THAT THE PAST DECADE HAS BEEN A TREMENDOUS TIME OF GROWTH FOR THE CANADIAN BEER INDUSTRY. In just a short amount of time we’ve gone from an emerging market that was roughly five years behind the American craft scene to releasing beers that are truly world class, proving themselves a cut above the rest by finding success in international competitions such as the World Beer Awards.

There’s also been a more literal form of growth to be found in the agricultural landscape of where we get ingredients. Now, it is true that the majority of the country’s barley is grown in Western Canada, and massive malting operations like Canada Malting have often been considered the standard for Canadian-grown malts for beer. But, over the past five or six years we’ve since learned that not only is quality barley grown in provinces outside of the west, there are also smaller malting operations bringing forth a high quality product that’s better than what has typically been available.

Even better, more breweries are realizing that other ingredients for beer can be rather easily sourced from within the country. To get hops that appeal to North American tastes, for instance, Yakima, Washington has often been the popular place to go. In the last few years, however, hop farms like Maple Bay Hop Farm in B.C. and Pleasant Valley Hops in Ontario have been growing and working hard for years to bring forth a superior local product that works with the terroir and makes some damned fine beer. If you’ve ever enjoyed the beers from Ontario breweries Matron Fine Beer, Muskoka Brewery, or Parson’s Brewing, chances are good you’ve tasted Pleasant Valley Hops and enjoyed them.

Even yeast, which often had to be shipped in from other countries or shared among brewers, is now cultivated in Canada by the incredible minds over at Escarpment Labs. With their wide selection of yeasts that touch on a variety of exciting styles (including some limited edition releases) they have made the commercial brewing and homebrewing scenes all the better for their presence.

Returning to malt, though, I like using MacKinnon Brothers Brewing out of Bath, Ontario as an example. Situated on the family farm, which has been operating for over 200 years, the current generation made it a brewery farm, growing their own barley and hops to use in their beer. To malt their barley they turn to Barn Owl Malt in Belleville, run by husband and wife team Devin and Leslie Huffman, who work frequently with small Ontario barley farmers. Using the historical method of floor malting, in which the steeped grain is spread out on a clean, flat concrete floor and allowed to germinate over a four to five day period before moving to the kiln for malting, the results are a malt that is just unparalleled in quality. Is the method rather labour intensive? Well, sure, but it’s a method that allows for a closer interaction

Malting rake at Barn Owl Malt

with the process that you just can’t get with automated systems, so it’s more than worth it.

The results show in the beer that MacKinnon Brothers make. While all of their beers are fantastic, the brand that shows off the biggest difference between house-grown and small batch malt is the annual release of their Harvest Ale, which makes a point in showcasing the malt and underlining the differences each season can bring to the final product. Somewhat bready, with a mild toasted note, the beer is always a treat when it arrives in Autumn.

With all the hype it gets, many people can forget that beer itself is an agricultural product and the crops we grow are a part of our national identity. Drinking a 100% Canadian beer, particularly one with small batch ingredients, is a bit more than a marketing stunt. While some might not think too much about it in regards to taste, having a deeper connection to our home is something worth raising a glass to.

Robin LeBlanc is an award-winning beer columnist, author, and podcaster with over a decade of experience in writing about the ins and outs of the beer world. In 2011 she started her blog The Thirsty Wench, which went on to win multiple awards including the Saveur Magazine Best Food Blog Award in the beer category. She has been a contributor, columnist, and co-author of both editions of the Ontario Craft Beer Guide.

In addition to her regular contributions in multiple publications, she is the co-host of the Ontario Craft Beer Guide The Podcast. Robin lives in Toronto.

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This iconic Barbaresco producer also boasts projects in Bolgheri, Montalcino and Etna.

This French word is often used to describe pink grapes or wine - but it doesn’t mean “pink”.

The most widely planted variety in Italy.

French wine region making aged worthy reds based on Mourvèdre.

Name given to a 6-litre Burgundy or Champagne bottle.

Which country was the world’s largest wine exporter between 1930 and 1960?

Within the EU, indicates a dosage level in sparkling wine of up to 12 g/l.

Strong south-easterly wind that cleanses, and sometimes pummels South Africa’s vineyards.

Argentina’s flagship white.

What does Trocken mean on German wine labels?

Dormant volcano that shields the Montalcino region from hail and storms.

In which region is Sherry made?

If you were eating lamprey (large, fatty, eel-like fish) stewed in and served with the local red, you’d likely be in this wine region.

Marlborough winery that immortalized New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

The ripening stage of grapes - when they begin to change colour.

This late British journalist staged the Judgment of Paris tasting in 1976, which helped put California wine on the map.

Spanish region making premium red wine from old vines Grenache and Carignan.

Northern Rhône region making premium sparkling wine from Marsanne and Roussanne.

This important 20th century ampelographer identified more than 100 distinct grape varieties belonging to the Pinot family.

Southern region in Germany known for making top-notch Pinot Noir.

Which grape is Chardonnay often blended with in the region of Jura?

This French hybrid was England’s most cultivated wine grape at the end of the last century.

Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc are this grape’s parents.

The smallest of Beaujolais’ 10 cru.

A shallow, two-handled often beautifully decorated cup from which wine was drunk in Greek antiquity.

The plug used to close a wine barrel.

With a 65-degree incline, the steepest recorded vineyard in the world is in this region.

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In the original book, Hannibal Lecter eats someone’s liver with this; it was changed to Chianti for the film. category referring to skin-contact wines made from white grapes.

Most planted white grape in Spain.

Along with the Garonne, this river contributes to the specific climate conditions that produce the botrytis affected wines of Sauternes.

A British cocktail consisting of curdled milk, alcohol, and sugar that was the precursor to eggnog.

1951 was the first vintage of this icon Aussie red.

Classification assigned to the Médoc’s most prestigious chateaux.

Japan’s most promising young wine region has no summer rainy season, but frost is a problem.

This former NBA player founded a winery in Napa Valley in 2012.

This bottle, developed in the 1700s, is used to distinguish wines from the Langhe territory.

The indentation in the bottom of a wine bottle.

A grape variety whose parents are two different vine species.

The conversion of sugar to alcohol carried out by yeast.

Portugal’s famous brand of medium-sweet, slightly sparkling rosé that comes in a flask-shaped bottle.

Region in Western Australia known for its premium reds made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

Biodynamics is based on the theories of this Austrian philosopher. a single, vintage-dated Tawny Port.

Spanish producer who has made significant financial investments into researching climate change solutions.

Benedictine monk who lends his name to Moët & Chandon’s most prestigious Champagne.

In the song “Sweet Virginia”, Mick Jagger thanks this region for its wine.

Taylor Swift’s friend Este knows her husband is cheating on her when she tasted this in his mouth.

District within New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay region characterized by welldraining alluvial pebble deposits.

Grape designated to make Muscadet.

Drake’s got this by the liter.

Wine casks in Chile were historically made of this type of native wood.

British Columbia’s main wine growing region.

The white grape responsible for Sancerre.

Trademarked wine preservation system that draws wine out of the bottle through a small needle and replaces it with Argon gas.

Term coined in the mid-1980s referring to a wine made outside the denomination regulations for Chianti.

This river, which runs through Sonoma County, was named after explorers seeking a place to grow crops to feed colonists in Alaska.

This wine vessel was widespread 2000 years ago; and it’s trendy again today.

In the Jura, name given to film of yeast that forms on the wine’s surface while aging in barrel to make Vin Jaune.

The southernmost appellation in the Northern Rhône Valley making Syrah.

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AFTER TASTE

Tony Aspler

“I FORGET THE NAME OF THE PLACE; I FORGET THE NAME OF THE GIRL; BUT THE WINE WAS CHAMBERTIN.” – HILAIRE BELLOC If you are old enough, you will remember where you were when you heard the news that President Kennedy had been assassinated, or with whom you watched the very first moon landing.

For younger readers, such a seminal event would probably be September 11, 2001 (9/11), a life-changing moment that will stay burned indelibly into your psyche.

Wine lovers view memory through the lens of wine, a condition so beautifully encapsulated in the words of Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc, above.

Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian and one of the most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century.

Among his long list of works, he wrote a curious book for a nephew who was about to be married, entitled Advice on Wine, Food and Other Matters. Evelyn Waugh wrote the preface in which he said, ‘(Belloc’s) interest in food, wine and domestic economy was strong and idiosyncratic to the verge of perversity.’

Two examples of this perversity: Belloc suggested baptising the wine with a couple of drops of water - to be added to the first glass of red wine.

More dangerous was his recommendation on how to open a bottle of champagne. He advised his nephew to cut off the mushroom top of the cork and then apply a corkscrew! A sure way to dislocate a shoulder, but I digress.

Returning to my theme of wine as an aide memoire...

All the significant events of my adult life have involved wine in one form or another. I recall the wine that I opened to propose to my first wife (Haut Brion 1954) and the champagne that we did not drink at my second wedding. (The secret of a happy life, I have learned, is to marry your second wife first).

Regarding the champagne that we did not drink. I won’t name the brand because accidents can happen in the best of houses.

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For the wedding reception, I had ordered two cases of champagne from an importing agent (a friend) who generously offered to take back one case and give me a Balthazar instead (a Balthazar contains 16 bottles). The idea was that all the guests would sign the bottle as a memento of the occasion.

The reception was held at a Toronto restaurant and when the time came for the champagne toast, the sommelier came up to me and whispered that he couldn’t serve the wine.

“What is the problem,” I asked. “Can’t you lift the bottle? Can’t you pour it?”

“No,” he replied. “You wouldn’t want your guests to have it. It’s corked.”

Sixteen bottles of champagne down the drain because of a faulty cork.

The importer, who I called the next day, was upset and embarrassed, but it seems some bottles are just cursed. My friend delivered the said bottle to me the day before the wedding. He had just picked up a new convertible that morning. We were to meet in the parking lot at the LCBO’s main store.

He opened the trunk of his new car and lifted out what looked like a small wooden coffin and placed it reverently in the trunk of my car.

To seal the deal, he threw his car keys in the air; but when he went to catch them, he missed and they fell down a drain.

He did ultimately make amends for the corked bottle by sending me a case of the same wine, only from a vintage year. We are still friends.

Tony Aspler, Order of Canada recipient, has been writing about wine since 1975. He is the author of 18 wine books, including The Wine Atlas of Canada and three wine murder mystery novels. The best concert he ever attended was Rush with the Tragically Hip as the opening band.

His favourite comfort food is milk chocolate and his cocktail of choice is a Kir Royale. At home, he drinks wine (lots of wine).

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