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Top 5 Brunello at the LCBO
D’Amato & Szabo: Wine Thieves – Episode 23
Sangiovese: A Reflection of Terroir in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano The Wine Thieves get their hands dirty with a star quartet of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano producers to learn why and how soil matters most to sangiovese, more than any other production parameter. Weighing in from their estates in Montepulciano are: Andrea Lonardi of Tenuta […] More
*NEW SERVICE* Buy the Case – March 2021
*NEW SERVICE* Great wines to buy by the case These are not 97 point wines. With the recent proliferation of online wine sales, our inboxes, like yours, are overflowing with offers that look too good to be true. It’s tempting to click and purchase. But if you’ve lost all confidence in hyper-inflated scores and florid […] More
Top Values at the LCBO (March 2021)
Values for our last month at home (maybe?) by Steve Thurlow March will see most us in Ontario still spending lots of time at home due to the continuing pandemic restrictions, so economy will still be called for this month. I have found seven lovely wines, all less than $14, to help you save. I […] More
National Wine Awards of Canada
Discover Canada's best wines! In 2016, 22 judges tasted 1,535 wines from 230 wineries across the country to identify Canada's top wines.
View Award-Winning Wines
World Wine Awards of Canada
Seventeen judges tasted 1,000 wines in 21 categories in 2015 to find the world's best wines sold in Canada under $50.
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Brunello di Montalcino is one of the most prestigious appellations in Italy, born in the 19th Century in its present form thanks to the efforts of the Biondi-Santi family, who defined its rules and have largely guided it to the present day. The wines are made from 100% Sangiovese grape, in particular from a clone called Sangiovese Grosso, or also as Brunello - hence the appellation's name. Traditionally, the wine goes through an extended maceration period where color, tannins and flavour are extracted from the skins. Following fermentation the wine is then aged in oak. Traditionally, the wines are aged 3 years or more in "botti" - large Slovenian oak casks that impart little oak flavour and generally produce more austere wines. Some winemakers will use small French barrels which impart a more pronounced vanilla oak flavour and add a certain fruitiness to the wine. Whatever the approach, wines must be aged for for years (with a minimum of two years in barrel) before being released, according to appellation rules.
