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February Archive

Prince Edward County bubbly is born

Posted on February 6, 2008

A couple of milestones were celebrated during last Friday’s snowstorm, with the pop of a single cork at Huff Estate Winery in Prince Edward County. It was the first pouring of the first sparkling wine made in Canada’s newest VQA region, and the debut of Ontario’s most expensive sparkling wine to date (not counting sparkling icewine). Its proper name is Huff Estate 2004 Cuvée Peter F. Huff, named in honour of proprietor Lanny Huff’s late son. The price is $49.95—right up there with the many basic French champagnes that it dares emulate.

Legendary Henschke wines are coming to the LCBO

Posted on February 13, 2008

In most winemaking nations, there are a handful of family-run wineries that have risen to the summit of success based on unswerving quality. There is actually an auspicious international association called Primum Familiae Vini that promotes this notion (and they will be celebrating themselves with tastings and dinners in Vancouver, March 9 to 11). Thus far, they have no Australian members, so I would like to nominate Stephen and Prue Henschke, guiding lights to the benefits of family winery ownership, especially when that family is endowed with great passion, intelligence and inquiring minds.

Cabernet: Antidote to February

Posted on February 20, 2008

Cabernet sauvignon can do one job better than most wines: lift your spirits. And if Family Day didn’t quite cut it during this miserable February, may I recommend one of the following 90-points-plus cabernets sauvignons for the table one night this week. Buy some lamb from your favourite butcher, decant the wine the moment you get home, slip into your comfy duds, read the mail, start cooking, then breathe deeply. No other red grape is as capable of such soaring blackcurrant fragrance, such complexity, such power and elegance. At its best it combines true grit and symmetry.

Sweeping the pinot noir minefield

Posted on February 27, 2008

Every article I have ever read about pinot noir has noted that this is a grape that disappoints as often as it thrills—that it is necessary to be an adventurer, to be forgiving and able to get back in the saddle after forking out a substantial sum and finding the wine tart, mean or downright funky (especially when dealing with burgundy of lesser provenance) The red flag goes up again on March 1, when Vintages releases several burgundies from producers rarely seen here. There are a couple of winners, but overall the selection leaves me to ponder whether anyone is critically tasting these wines before they buy them. There is also a smattering from elsewhere, including Niagara, Oregon, California and B.C.’s Okanagan Valley, again with mixed results. As your minesweeper—and from the vantage point of pinot being my favourite variety—here is a review of every pinot I have tasted on this release, from best to worst:

David Lawrason

David Lawrason

David Lawrason has worked full time as one of Canada's leading, independent wine writers and educators for over 20 years. He was the founder of Wine Access magazine and Globe and Mail wine columnist for 13 years before becoming resident wine guy at Toronto Life, where he pens a monthly column and writes an exhaustive review of LCBO general listings for the annual Food and Wine Guide. As a wine educator he has taught sommelier programs at George Brown, Humber and Niagara Colleges, and has run popular public courses in Toronto since 1988. He has visited every major wine major producing country in the world, while focusing recently on the booming Canadian wine scene, as founder of the Canadian Wine Awards program, and Canadian wine columnist for Wine Access.

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