Merlot has become the great forgotten red grape since being mercilessly panned in Sideways. David Lawrason believes there may be a resurrection in the offing

Illustration by Kyle Brownrigg

Once a wine hits mainstream success, it tends to fall out of favour with wine critics, sommeliers, and even some winemakers themselves. This has been the fate of merlot, one of the world’s most widely planted red grapes.

When mellow merlot became so widely popular in the 1990s, the wine opiners began to look down their collective noses at it (it happened to chardonnay too).

This gave rise to a famous line in the 2004 Academy Award-nominated movie Sideways in which the lead actor threatens to leave a restaurant if his companion orders “a fucking merlot.”

Since that low blow, merlot has wallowed, bruised and dejected, in the shadow of pinot noir (the star of the same film) and, to some degree, syrah. Merlot is still out there on the shelves (so someone is buying it), but wine pundits continue to ignore it.

I have decided to break the silence after finding myself actually enjoying merlot of late. To me, a good merlot is a mid-weight, middle-of-the-road red — not too light, not too heavy. The aroma is generous but not too intense, with ripe red fruit — raspberry, perhaps — and a bit of warmed fruit compote. It should also have a dried herb-tobacco note in the shadows. Ideally, the wood has been nicely digested by fruit, offering echoes of spice, smoke, and vanillin. The texture should be fairly soft but not soupy, the tannins gentle, the alcohol subsumed. And when the wine is of excellent quality, the flavours should stay focused and travel long into the finish. It’s a wine that can fit easily into casual situations but at times soar to great heights.

Here is a global selection of excellent and/or good-value merlots. Those who are geographers may notice that many come from regions near 40 degrees latitude, both north and south, the world’s temperate zones. Let’s call it merlot of Middle Earth.

Jackson-Triggs 2010 Black Series Merlot
$13.95  • Niagara Peninsula, Ontario  • 87 points

This is a fragrant, well-made merlot from the best Niagara vintage yet for this grape variety. There’s no great depth or complexity, but the blackberry, tea, fennel, and light cedary-smoky scents are spot-on and mindful of bordeaux. It’s mid-weight and fairly fleshy, with a dry, twiggy, and warm finish. Best now to 2016. LCBO 109959.

Les Jamelles 2011 Merlot
$12.95  •  Languedoc, France  •  87 points

One of the better inexpensive merlots from the sunny south of France, this style was created in the 1990s to compete with merlot success in California. It captures the essential raspberry jam and tea flavours in a typically mid-weight, soft, and agreeable style but with a bit more fruit and less earth than many French merlots on the market at this price. LCBO 245324.

Concilio 2010 Merlot
$12.95  •  Trentino, Italy  •  86 points

Northeast Italy has long been a haven for light, usually unoaked merlot. This example from the higher altitudes in Trentino is fresh, fragrant, juicy, and charming, with raspberry, currants, leafiness, and earthiness. It’s light but has some creaminess and substance, finishing with pleasant firmness and bitterness. Chill lightly. LCBO 293506.

Cono Sur 2011 Bicicleta Merlot
$9.95  •  Central Valley, Chile  •  86 points

Merlot was once confused botanically with carménère. This one packs in considerable complexity, depth, and nicely focused merlot character for the money. The nose is generous, with toasty tobacco and licorice notes around the raspberry fruit. Expect a slightly meaty finish. LCBO 457176.

Oyster Bay 2011 Merlot
$18.95  •  New Zealand  •  86 points
This is the largest-selling merlot from New Zealand in a challenging vintage that makes it leaner than in other years. It has a reserved nose, with typical berry floral and tea aromas, plus considerable oak. It’s mid-weight, fairly gentle, fresh, and spicy, with some tartness and tannic grit. LCBO 692343.

This story appears in the April edition of Ottawa Magazine. Buy the magazine on newsstands in April, or order your online edition.

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With the depths of winter upon us, David Lawrason profiles 10 cold-weather wines guaranteed to warm you from within

Maybe you’re planning to take advantage of the cold to spend some quiet cuddle or reading time beside the fire — or perhaps Mother Nature is about to unleash a blast that forces you to do just that. Either way, the key is to be prepared. And this season, being prepared means considering tippling some fabulous winter wines instead of the heady single malts or cognacs usually associated with the season. Winter wines are lightly fortified (up to 20 percent alcohol), sweet, and most definitely rich, complex, and concentrated.

There is a wide world of such exotica — ports, sherries, tokays, vins santos, and vins doux naturels — that rarely get attention nowadays because they don’t fit the fast-paced, calorie-counting lifestyle that yanks us away from the table too soon and sends us to bed too early.

But the fact that these wines are currently less popular is also keeping their prices ridiculously low, given their quality.

Seriously, these are some of the world’s great, classic wines — many of them rooted deep in history and employing time-honoured techniques that contribute to their complexity. Many are aged for years — even decades — in barrels or bottles, which adds greatly to their cost. I really don’t understand how the producers are making any money from them — and perhaps they are not, which may be why some wines, such as marsala, have all but disappeared and others are teetering on the brink of extinction.

Time to give these smooth, rich wines the love and attention they deserve. In return, they not only will warm the cockles of your heart but are compelling and challenging enough to fill the well of your intellect. So surround yourself with fine cheeses, chocolates, pastries, nuts, and all manner of nibbling indulgences, light that fire, and settle into your winter’s night.

Burmester 10 Year Old Tawny Port
$24.95 • Douro, Portugal • 94 points

Aged 10 years in casks, this is an unbelievably good tawny that pours the colour of fallen red autumn leaves. The nose is superb, redolent of molasses, walnuts, red plum, and smoke. It’s rich, very silky, seductive, and warm. So smooth, with such effortless power! Drink at room temperature; food not required. Vintages 223958.

De Bortoli 2008 Noble One Botrytis Semillon
$29.95 375 ML • Australia • 94 points

Patterned after French sauternes but now a superstar original in its own right, Australia’s most beloved dessert wine offers a rich, sweet nose of crème caramel, orange, persimmon, and fresh mint/thyme. It is very sweet but braced by great acidity. This signature dessert wine can best be described as outstanding — riveting and with great length. Pair with fruit-based and citrus desserts and flans. Vintages 917252.

Poças 1994 Colheita Port
$27.95 • Douro, Portugal • 93 points

Colheita refers to a vintage-dated tawny port. This is an amazing price for this 18-year-old perfectly matured example. The nose is a blast of walnut, dried apricot, honey, molasses, licorice, dried orange peel, and earth — so complex! It’s full, powerful, hot, and gritty but presents a tidal wave of flavour. Serve alongside nut-based cakes, stilton, or roquefort. Vintages 216424.

Puklus Pincészet Tokaji Aszú 3 Puttonyos
$20.95 500 mL  • Tokaj-Hegyalja, Hungary • 92 points

Tokaji — Hungary’s ancient and regal dessert wine — is made from botrytis-affected Furmint grapes that have been fermented, sweetened, and aged long in the barrel. This particular example boasts a classic overripe, incredibly complex nose of dried apricot, honey/mead, caramel, pumpkin pie, and some acetone. It’s full-bodied, sweet, and viscous, yet nervy, with dried orange and herbs hitting outstanding length. Chill. Pair with flans, orange/lemon cakes. Vintages 980805.

Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim 1999 Vintage Port
$54.95 • Douro, Portugal • 91 points

Vintage port needs long bottle age, so it is rare to find a ready vintage at this kind of price. From the single estate, or quinta, owned by one of the most famous producers (the Symington family), this is a very elegant, refined, and savoury mature port with a complex nose of ripe cherry/fig fruit, chocolate, herbs, and terrific hot stone minerality on the finish. It’s full-bodied, dense, and even. Serve at room temperature with stilton. Vintages 487850.

Osborne Pedro Ximenez 1827 Premium Sweet Sherry
$17.95 • Jerez, Spain • 91 points

This well-aged beauty (1827 is a brand, not its age) from the Pedro Ximenez grape pours black and thick as molasses. It has an extraordinarily rich, complex nose of raisin pie, walnut, and exotic spice. It’s full-bodied, very sweet, and treacly, with surprising balance and silky texture. The flavours carry into next week. My best advice: pour over vanilla ice cream (but appreciate it solo first).  Vintages 47944.

Ruffino 2008 Sereele Vin Santo Del Chianti
$24.95 • Tuscany, Italy • 91 points

Vin santo is Tuscany’s signature dessert wine, made from white grapes that have been aged at least five years to morph into this bright orange-bronze colour. The nose is soft and pure, with almond, corn syrup, orange marmalade, and apricot jam. This delectable dessert wine is lighter than port or sherry (15.5 percent). Initially sweet, it then dries to a classic bitter walnut and anise finish. Chill lightly. Perfect for dunking biscotti. Vintages 1008.

Chapoutier 2009 Banyuls
$19.95 • Roussillon, France  • 90 points

This is an elegant, sweet, fortified (16.5 percent alcohol) vin doux naturel made from Grenache, Carignan, and Syrah grapes grown organically in the rugged seaside hills of Banyuls in the southeast of France. Expect pretty, floral, plummy/blackberry aromas flecked with savoury herbs and tobacco. It’s young, yet well composed, delivering fruit to very good length through a veil of drying tannin and some stony earthiness. Best in another year or three, but definitely drinkable now. Milk chocolate. Vintages 709436.

Lillet Blanc
$15.25 • Bordeaux, France • 90 points

Lillet is one of the most historic aperitif wines of France, fortified to 17 percent alcohol through the addition of orange macerated in brandy to barrel-aged sauvignon blanc and semillon. The nose is generously spicy, cedary, and laced with licorice and orange scents. Lillet Blanc is  medium-sweet and fairly soft, with a pleasant balancing warmth and bitter orange-lemon and herbs on the finish. Try serving it on a bit of ice or cut with sparkling wine to impress your guests with an intriguing pre-dinner experience. Vintages 322297.

Loukatos Mavrodaphne of Patras
$7.95 375 mL • Greece • 89 points

Huge value here! This sweet red wine from Patras in
the Peloponnese is made from Mavrodaphne grapes
fermented in large vats exposed to the sun, fortified to
15 percent alcohol, then aged underground. It is sweet yet nervy, with fascinating aromas of dried figs/prunes, walnut, chocolate, caramel, and almost ginseng/amaro-like spice. Slightly nutty and pleasantly bitter on the finish. Best served at room temperature. LCBO 292797.

This story appears in the Interiors edition of Ottawa Magazine. Buy the magazine on newsstands in February and March, or order your online edition.

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Drink up: David Lawrason and his fellow 13 judges tasted more than 300 wines as part of the Ottawa Wine Challenge. Illustration by Kyle Brownrigg.

After tasting their way through 337 wines as part of the Ottawa Wine Challenge, the experts have their say on which wines you should seek out at this year’s Ottawa Wine & Food Festival

By David Lawrason

This story appears in the Winter edition of Ottawa Magazine. Buy the magazine on newsstands or order your online edition.

The task was a pleasant one for an autumn Saturday — find the best wines out of 337 bottles submitted to the Ottawa Wine Challenge. The purpose? To guide visitors attending this year’s Ottawa Wine & Food Festival (Nov. 7 to 11 at the Ottawa Convention Centre).

Yes, one of the big joys of browsing the show is making your own discoveries, but with hundreds of wines, beers, and spirits on offer, it certainly helps to have some direction. And so 14 judges — sommeliers, wine writers, and LCBO product consultants from the capital region, along with a handful of interlopers from Toronto — assembled a few months before the festival for a blind-tasting competition.

Pourers dealt out over 50 flights of numbered glasses among four panels. Here, collected in one list, are the best white and red of show, plus six other gold medallists and two silver medallists that I personally think are of particular interest. The ratings out of 100 are mine, as are the tasting notes. The unveiling of the gold medallists at day’s end revealed some great surprises — all of them, of course, pleasant.

BEST OF SHOW WHITE
Alpine Valley 2011 Sauvignon Blanc
$14.95 • Marlborough, New Zealand • 88 points
Outfitted with a “popping” screw cap, this new label from a higher-altitude region within Marlborough has intense, exotic flavours of green mango, green bean, and something like ginger/lime salsa. It’s medium-weight with some sweetness but finishes with a sour edge and buckets of fruit. The energy and excellent length were, for me, the gold medal elements. Chill well. LCBO 241810.

BEST OF SHOW RED
Coyote’s Run 2010 Red Paw Vineyard Pinot Noir
$24.95 • Niagara Peninsula, Ontario • 90 points
The small patch of iron-rich, organically infertile red soil of this vineyard at the foot of St. David’s Bench has turned out intriguing pinot noirs for the past decade. From an excellent Ontario vintage, this red has great character and intensity, with cran-raspberry fruit embellished by toasty oak and herbs. It’s mid-weight, taut, and juicy, with excellent length. Try it now, but age it three years. Its predecessors have won numerous awards. Available for delivery at www.coyotesrunwinery.com.

GOLDS
Ferreira Dona Antonia Reserva Port
$18.95 • Portugal • 90 points
This sweet fortified wine is made in a particularly elegant, sensuous style, with generous aromas of cedary earth elements and youthful black cherry-plum and raisiny fruit, almost like Black Forest cake. It has a lighter feel than many ports and a silky texture but weighs in with a powerful, very sweet, hot, and spicy finish and a touch of tannin. LCBO 157586.

Peter Lehmann 2009 Clancy’s Red
$17.95 • South Australia • 90 points
Aussie reds did well at the Ottawa Wine Challenge, but this rich composed blend of shiraz, cabernet, and merlot outshone them all with well-defined, rich, and complex aromas of blackcurrant/cassis, menthol, chocolate, and toasty oak. It’s full-bodied, smooth, and refined for its size, with excellent gold-medal length. LCBO 611467.

Konzelmann Estate 2011 Shiraz
$12.95 • Niagara Peninsula, Ontario • 89 points
This was, for me, the most pleasant surprise of the challenge — a spiffy, nicely balanced shiraz with pure, correct aromas of white pepper, mint, blackcurrant/blackberry, and wood smoke. It is aged in French oak barrels, but not for long (it is 2011). It’s light-bodied, smooth, and savoury, with incroyable length at under $13. LCBO 144857.

Marqués de Riscal 2007 Reserva
$20.75 • Rioja, Spain • 89 points
This has a traditional, heavily wood-accented, and maturing nose of leather, earth/burlap, and campfire embers, with dark cherry-olive fruit and marzipan. What the nose may lack in grace, the palate achieves. It is mid-weight, smooth yet lively, with focused flavours (same as the nose) hitting very good length. The real deal in traditional rioja.
Best to 2016. LCBO 32656.

Penfolds 2011 Koonunga Hill Chardonnay
$14.95 • South Australia • 88 points
This was a huge surprise. It steers a much lighter course than most Aussie chardonnays, perhaps the result of the very cool vintage down under in 2011. It has a mild, dusty, spicy almond and lemony nose. It’s mid-weight, with some flesh and sweetness, then a tart lemony follow-up with an earthy/woodsy palate. The tale is in the surprisingly long finish. LCBO 321943.

Matua Valley 2011 Sauvignon Blanc
$15.95 • Hawkes Bay, New Zealand • 87 points
In an era of intense, bombastic sauvignons, this cucumber-cool entry caught the judges’ eyes. I have run into a few bottles with some flinty/matchstick sulphur, but its leafy/minty green notes, grapefruit, and passion fruit come through. It’s a lighter style — fairly tender, fresh, and compact, with some sweetness. The finish is like lemongrass or, perhaps, cucumber/dill. LCBO 619452.

SILVER PICKS

Amalaya 2011 Torrontés Riesling
$10.95 • Salta, Argentina • 88 points
This combines two aromatic grapes grown in the remote high-altitude Cafayate region. It is not as aromatically intense as straight-up torrontés, but it captures lime-orange citrus, lavender, green herbs, and riesling’s pear fruit. It’s mid-weight and off-dry but crisp on the finish where the riesling shines. Excellent length. Chill well. LCBO 270470.

Santa Rita 2010 Carménère Reserva
$13.95 • Rapel Valley, Chile • 88 Points
Now emerging as one of Chile’s most exciting grapes, Carménère is a great explorers’ selection. This lovely fruit-drenched example captures pure blackcurrant, mint, rosemary, and some minerality. It’s medium-to-full-bodied, with good density and some sweetness, but the finish is dry, with mild, twiggy green tannin. The length is very good. Best now to 2016. LCBO 177774.

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Floral, fruity, and silky, it’s about time gamay received some love By David Lawrason

This story appears in the September edition of Ottawa Magazine. Buy the magazine on newsstands or order your online edition.

Illustration by Anthony Tremmaglia.

Poor gamay! The thin-skinned grape that makes those juicy, fruity reds of Beaujolais, France, has long struggled for respect. Yet when it works, it is one of the most satisfying, easy-drinking, versatile, and inexpensive reds on the market. And I see glimmers that it is bouncing back.

It’s not as if gamay’s problems are a new phenomenon. The disrespect began way back in 1395 when it was kicked out of its namesake village of Gamay in Burgundy’s Côte-d’Or district by a local duke named Philip the Bold who considered gamay an inferior ruffian compared with princely pinot noir.

Gamay took root in warmer Beaujolais’s granitic soils to the south, and there it languished for centuries, known as the cheap, easy-drinking “country wine” that fuelled the taverns of Lyon. In modern times — the 1980s, to be exact — someone got the bright idea to create Beaujolais Nouveau, an overly perky, gassy, barely fermented grape juice released every third Thursday of November, just weeks after the harvest. Nouveau, which is now in decline, was so successful that it obscured the fact that the Beaujolais region was capable of so much more.

Nor has gamay fared much better overseas. Few New World countries have taken it on. Here in Ontario, there is wistful sentiment that gamay — an early ripener — makes sense in our shorter season, but in a comparative tasting of gamays from Beaujolais, Niagara, and Prince Edward County, many of our winemakers (the exceptions are noted in the wine suggestions accompanying this story) are not responding well to the challenges of our climate and soils. The gamays tend to be thin on fruit, rather tart, and joyless, but because it’s not a more expensive and mainstream grape, few seem to care.

So why bother with gamay, you ask? Well, it’s all about the lovely floral, fruity pleasure and silky satisfaction I get from a good bottle. A 1976 Fleurie (one of 10 cru appellations that make more highly regarded Beaujolais) resonates as the seminal gamay in my wine journey way back when. In the past year, several very good 2009 and 2010 cru Beaujolais have arrived. Then this past spring I travelled to Beaujolais to visit Yves-Dominique Ferraud, a fifth-generation gamay specialist. I fell in love with the rich Ferraud wines and the subtle variation among the 10 cru wines that he offers (and will sell as a set in Ontario). They can be ordered through Trilogy Wine Merchants in November. Finally, Beaujolais seems poised to get the respect it deserves. I have highlighted the best bottles from home and abroad. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, and enjoy when you want a red wine that is calm, smooth, and fruity — especially as summer turns to fall and you look to bridge refreshment and satisfying richness.

Domaine du Penlois 2010 Juliénas
$16.95 • Beaujolais, France • 90 points
Locals believe Juliénas was the first village planted by the Romans. Its gamays are known for their florality, and this example is spot on. It is seriously good, gentle yet quite rich, with plum-cherry fruit, floral violet/rose scents, plus a dried herbal/woodsy undertone. Medium-bodied, fairly smooth, and refined. Vintages 112532.

Malivoire 2010 Gamay
$17.95 • Niagara Peninsula • 89 points
Malivoire captures the juicy gamay spirit that has made it so popular in Beaujolais. This smoothie has deep colour and sweet strawberry-cherry jam fruit with typical gamay pepperiness. It’s light-bodied, luscious, and refined, with herbal tea notes. The even better Courtney Gamay is available only at the winery. Vintages 591313.

P. Ferraud & Fils Domaine Ferraud 2009 Les Charmes Morgon
$17.95 • Beaujolais, France • 89 points
Morgon is a cru village that produces a firm, earthy, and age-worthy style of beaujolais. This vintage is deep purple, with a lifted, savoury nose of plums, pepper, and spice and a meaty note mindful of pastrami. Powerful, with the minerality of Morgon’s stony soils and tannic structure to age it for five years. Vintages 268052.

Vignerons de Bel Air Crépuscule 2010 Indian Summer Brouilly
$15.95 • Beaujolais, France • 89 points
The hill of Brouilly is a Beaujolais landmark, and the vineyards around its base are known for making light, charming wines. This silky but fresh example catches the spirit with bright ruby-purple colour and lifted floral aromas of roses, peony, and raspberry jam. It’s light-bodied, very pure, fresh, and almost silky, yet lively with florality throughout. Vintages 159749.

Cave Spring 2010 Gamay
$14.95 • Niagara Peninsula • 88 points
Ontario’s ripe 2010 vintage is kind to gamay, lowering acidity and boosting fruit sweetness. Winemaker Angelo Pavan has caught the mood with an example featuring peppery spice, woodsy notes, raspberry/cherry fruit, and a hint of cola. It’s mid-weight and quite soft, with a touch of sweetness and warmth. LCBO 228569.

Louis Jadot 2010 Combes aux Jacques Beaujolais-Villages
$15.95 • Beaujolais, France • 88 points
Jadot is one leading Burgundy house that does respect gamay, with dozens of bottlings from Beaujolais. This is one of the most popular reds at Vintages, delivering fresh, plummy, candied-strawberry gamay fruit with floral and woodsy notes. It’s medium-bodied and smooth, with a dry, earthy, and twiggy finish. Vintages 365924.

Angels Gate 2010 Gamay Noir
$12.95 • Niagara Peninsula • 87 points
With years of experience making light reds in Ontario and Australia, winemaker Philip Dowell found the simple joy of gamay in Niagara’s ripe 2010 vintage. This has a pretty peony nose with strawberry-cherry fruit. It’s light, silky, and smooth, with just enough tart berry acidity and a touch of minerality on the finish. LCBO 107714.

Georges Duboeuf 2010 Beaujolais-Villages
$12.95 • Beaujolais, France • 86 points
Georges Duboeuf is the largest producer of beaujolais, capturing the gamay’s signature fruity exuberance. Sourced from within a group of over 20 villages in central Beaujolais, this wine sports a mild, fresh nose of strawberry and red plum, with background freshly dug earth and meaty character. Light-weight, with a sour-edged, slightly coarse finish. LCBO 122077.

Casa-Dea 2011 Dea’s Rosé (Sparkling)
$19.95 • Prince Edward County • 87 points
Something new here. Winemaker Paul Battilana has crafted a fetching sparkling gamay made from grapes grown at Casa-Dea, with secondary fermentation done at Hinterland (a neighbour specializing in bubbly) under the supervision of Battilana. Dea’s rosé is pale pink and bright, with a fresh nose of strawberry/cherry jam. Light and dry, with tight minerality and freshness. Available at the winery only. www.casadeaestates.com.

Trumpour’s Mill 2009 Gamay Noir
$14.95 • Prince Edward County • 85 points
Due to the need for oak aging, Trumpour’s Mill reds are often intentionally a vintage behind other releases so that they’re ready to drink when they are sold. The nose is very lifted and loaded with peppery hayseed spice, cran-raspberry fruit, and some acetone. It’s light- to mid-weight, juicy, intensely flavoured, and quite smooth before turning sour-edged on the finish. Very good to excellent length. LCBO 615062.

SCORES
David Lawrason assigns scores on a 100-point scale. They reflect a wine’s overall quality. A rating of 95 to 100 is outstanding; 90 to 94 excellent; 86 to 89 very good; 80 to 85 good.

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In the wake of the huge success of Fuzion, the versatile wine country strives to move beyond the bold malbecs that made it famous  By David Lawrason

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It’s an ever-changing dining landscape out there. Why, just a year ago, if you’d said you were planning to head to Hintonburg for an evening of fine food and drink, your friends would have wondered what you were talking about. And just three or four years ago, if you’d floated the idea of joining the gang for small plates, few would have understood the concept.

Trends change fast. Chefs move around, restaurants revamp their menus and dining rooms, and the city’s ever more cosmopolitan diners are always on the hunt for restaurants — and food shops — that reflect their evolving tastes and knowledge. Older notions of fine dining have given way in 2012 to a more casual approach to eating. Though we still respect the great cooking techniques, we’re also looking for food that offers comfort and whose provenance can be traced to local producers.

The premier issue of Ottawa Magazine’s Eating & Drinking Guide regales you with a list of 300+ enthusiastic recommendations — food shops that stand above the crowd, new restaurants we hope will prosper and older ones we’d recommend to our best friends, and great wines from near and far. Think of this book as your culinary go-to guide for the city — a compendium to inspire your eating, drinking, and food sourcing choices for 2012. Bon appétit!

CONTENTS

RESTAURANTS

• New Kids on the Block: Ten noteworthy additions to the local dining scene in the past two years
•  The 2012 Restaurants List: A guide to the 80 restaurants Ottawa Magazine’s critics think you should know about

PLUS: Must-Try Brunches, Sandwiches, Burgers, and Pizza

WINE

Ottawa Magazine wine critic David Lawrason selects 100 bottles for all occasions

• Summer Sipping
• Best of the New World
• European Picks
• Great Gift Wines
• Bargains under $12
• Top Picks from Ontario

FOOD SHOPS

Tempting the palate with the city’s top gourmet groceries, delis, butchers, bakeries, coffee shops and more

PLUS: Must-Try  Accompaniments, Desserts, and Chocolate

The premiere issue of Ottawa Magazine’s Eating & Drinking guide will be on newsstands April 19. Eating & Drinking will also debut at this year’s Bon Appetit culinary event on May 1.

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What reigns in Spain: Heart-warming Spanish values for the dead of winter

By David Lawrason

One of the great revelations on a recent trip to lesser-known wine regions of Spain was the value of the wines I encountered. At every price point, I found shockingly good wines selling for much less than wines of equivalent quality from France or California. Being known as a “value wine region” can be a double-edged sword, attracting the budget-conscious consumer but often, at the same time, pigeonholing a region as cheap or somehow incapable of producing top-quality wines. Spain continues to walk that thin edge, with many of its wines currently at the LCBO selling for $10 or less. That said, in my view, Spain has recently become much more focused on making fine wine.

Illustration by Alan King.

Most of Spain’s quality red wine comes from the north, with Rioja being the best-known and largest region. As Bordeaux is to France, Rioja is to Spain — both having huge market presence and a deeply rooted tradition of aging wines a long time in barrel and bottle. But modern tastes have moved to fruitier, earlier-drinking wines, and while Rioja has embraced this trend to some extent, lesser-known regions such as Navarra, Ribera del Duero, Toro, Bierzo, Penedès, Priorat, Montsant, and Cariñena have moved faster.

Of those, Ribera del Duero (on the banks of the Duero River, which flows west into Portugal, where it becomes the Douro) is the best established, with some big-name houses, such as Vega Sicilia, Alion, Pesquera, and Aalto, commanding luxury prices. But elsewhere, countless small, new wineries are blooming on the arid steppes, many of them boasting young but well-travelled winemakers at the helm. In each of three small appellations I visited last fall — Rueda, Toro, and Bierzo — the number of wineries has grown from about a dozen to over 50 in the past decade. These new wineries are focused on the export market and are making very good wines styled for international tastes.

The dominant grape in this region is tempranillo, a bit of a chameleon that makes medium-to-full-bodied reds that vary greatly depending on where it is grown. I have always found cheaper, mass-produced tempranillos to be indistinctive, undistinguished, and coarse. But the quality of basic Spanish reds is on the rise, with winemakers taking advantage of lower yields, shorter aging in French oak, and skilful blending with other varieties, such as local garnacha (grenache) and cariñena (carignan) and French varieties like cabernet and merlot. Here are some of the better examples at the LCBO — wines that will transport you to sunny Spain in the dead of winter without wearing out your wallet.

Marqués de Cáceres 2007 Crianza
$16.95 • Rioja • 88 points
A crianza designation requires a minimum of 18 months aging before release. This mid-weight, fairly dense, fleshy, and dry rioja shows off complex, fragrant cedar; leather; dark chocolate; meatiness; and dried fig fruit aromas. It’s mid-weight and well-balanced, with some tension and very good length. Best 2012 to 2015. LCBO 69294.

Montecillo 2006 Reserva
$18.45 • Rioja • 88 points
This is a traditional Rioja classic, aged to smoothness with complex leather, lead pencil, coconut, ripe dates, and cigar notes that will appeal to fans of older Euro reds. It’s medium-weight, dense, and silky, with a dry finish. Best 2013 to 2015. Decant 30 minutes. LCBO 621003.

Viña Zaco 2008 Tempranillo
$14.95 • Rioja • 88 points
From the traditional house of Bilbaínas, this new listing is generous, upbeat, smooth, and easy-drinking. Shows typical American oak, coconut, and weathered wood, along with plummy/fresh fig fruit. It’s medium-weight and mellow, with good density. Best now to 2015. LCBO 243097.

Beso de Vino 2009 Selección
$9.95 • Cariñena • 87 points
Great value at $10 from a small appellation in the northeast. It’s an 85 percent syrah, 15 percent garnacha blend that pours dark purple-black with New World-style flavours of blackberry jam, peppery spice, char, and cola. It’s full-bodied, rounded, and fleshy, with chalky tannin, considerable heat, and a tarry finish. Best 2012 to 2014. LCBO 231787.

Castano 2009 La Casona Monastrell
$8.75 • Yecla • 87 points
The monastrell grape grown in the southeast offers dark, thick, and juicy reds. From a leading producer focused on reviving this variety, La Casona is a full-bodied, soft edition with typical monastrell blueberry/blackberry pie notes, plus pepper and lavender. It’s juicy and rich, with firm tannin. Best 2012 to 2014. LCBO 143743.

Castillo de Monseran 2010 Garnacha
$8.95 • Cariñena • 87 points
Huge value in a modern, old-vine garnacha. It is unoaked, unabashedly simple, and exuberantly fruity, with flavours of hot raspberry/blueberry pie. It’s almost a wine smoothie, with sweetness, soft tannin, and nicely contained alcohol (only 12.9 percent). Now to 2013. Chill lightly. Enjoy with burgers, ribs, and wings. LCBO 73395.

Milcampos 2009 Tempranillo
$9.85 • Ribera del duero • 87 points
The label of the 2009 vintage sports a 92-point Robert Parker medallion. It is indeed a very good modern Spanish red but, in my opinion, doesn’t have the depth or complexity to strike beyond 90 points. The nose pre-sents dark chocolate and ripe blackberry fruit, with nicely sewn nuances of herbs and leather. It’s medium-to-full-bodied, fairly dense, and rich, with a dry, sour-edged, and slightly earthy finish. Age it a year. LCBO 173625.

Chivite 2009 Gran Feudo Edición Tempranillo
$11.95 • Navarra • 86 points
Chivite is the dominant exporter from the verdant province of Navarra in northern Spain, a higher-altitude region that captures some finesse. This new listing has generous chocolaty oak, ripe cherry/prune, and leathery flavours that follow through to good length, with some mouth-watering acidity and dusty tannic bitterness. Best 2012 to 2015. LCBO 255877.

Torres 2009 Infinite Tempranillo Cabernet Sauvignon
$12.95 • Penedès • 86 points
From a large, innovative winery that introduced cabernet and other French grapes years ago, this is a young mid-weight blend with grapy, yeasty/bready notes around the dried raspberry/goji berry fruit. It has some poise, richness, and vibrancy, with lively acidity and moderate tannin, but it needs age. Best 2013 to 2016. LCBO 231795.

HOW WE DO IT: Prices are for 750-mL bottles unless otherwise indicated. Private-order bottles are generally bought by the case from the agent.

SCORES: are assigned on a 100-point scale and reflect a wine’s overall quality, but don’t consider price. A rating of 95 to 100 means outstanding; 90 to 94 excellent; 85 to 89 very good; 80 to 84 good.

This article appeared in the February 2012 edition of Ottawa Magazine.

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WineAlign.com's David Lawrason (who also publishes reviews in Ottawa Magazine) is at the Wine & Food Festival all weekend

Stopped in at the Ottawa Wine & Food Festival to do a little sipping and schmoozing. Ottawa Magazine (and Toronto Life) wine writer, David Lawrason, is running tutorials and manning the www.WineAlign.com booth (Booth 522). So stop by, say hi, and ask about all the cool wine stuff on the website. We came straight home after the show and watched the site’s fun series of videos, in which the experts (Lawrason, sommelier Sara d’Amato, wine educator Steve Thurlow, and master sommelier John Szabo) face off in a series of blind “taste-offs.”

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DAVID LAWRASON sits in as a panellist on the Ottawa Wine Challenge, rates the
competition, checks in on a speed dating meets wine tasting event, and highlights some don’t-miss wines to look for at the Ottawa Wine & Food Festival

As the Ottawa Wine & Food Festival moves into the fabulous new convention centre, it also promises to take it up a notch this year. The festival, which now takes place over a full five days (Wednesday, Nov. 9 to Sunday, Nov. 13), offers up hundreds of wines. Indeed, more wines than one palate could possibly assimilate over such a short time frame. So check out the website, see which events intrigue you, and plan your tastings.

To my mind, one of the most interesting additions to the show in recent years has been the Ottawa Wine Challenge competition. Ottawa Citizen wine columnist Rod Phillips and Foreign Affairs wine adviser Janet Dorozynski acted as competition chairs, joined by several local and out-of-town wine judges who gathered in late September to blind-taste hundreds of wines. As a member of the panel, I offer my tasting notes on some of the best-of-show winners below.

The show has long been known as a great dating occasion. Wine Access magazine offers a new spin on that theme this year with Meet Your Match on Thursday, Nov. 10. After the magazine unveils the grand winners of the 2011 Canadian Wine Awards (CWA), guests will have eight minutes to “speed date” one-on-one with some of the winning winemakers. Billed as a chance to “get up close and personal and discover first-hand the intimate secrets of some of Canada’s coolest producers. You will find out about their life, loves, and preferences — as it pertains to their best wines.” I will be joining CWA judge Anthony Gismondi that evening. I will also be leading Ontario wine seminars throughout the festival and hanging out at the WineAlign.com booth.

For program details and tickets, go to www.ottawawineandfoodshow.com. And if you can’t make it to the show, track down these great best-of-show buys at the LCBO or from the wineries and importers listed.

WHITES

Cono Sur 2011 Organic Chardonnay
$11.95 I San Antonio, Chile I 90 points
From a new, cool coastal region of Chile, this chardonnay is stylish, elegant, and rich at the same time, with intriguing subtropical yellow pineapple-papaya fruit and a gently applied background of oak spice and butterscotch notes. Shockingly good for $12. Scheduled to debut at the LCBO in late fall. LCBO 230565.

Mike Weir 2008 Riesling
$14.95 I Niagara Peninsula, Ontario I 90 points
Mike Weir wines are made at Château des Charmes, long a leading producer of award-winning rieslings. This one carries on the tradition in a distinctively vibrant yet rich style that emphasizes honeyed apple-peach fruit, petrol, and spice. Finishes dry, with excellent length. Chill well. Try with roast pork. LCBO 229286.

Rosemount 2010 Pinot Grigio
$13.95 I Southeastern Australia I 89 points
I tasted this at the winery in February and was pleasantly surprised by the improvement of the 2010 vintage. It is very well made, cool, vibrant, and well balanced, with green apple and cucumber aromas. An ideal sipping starter white as guests assemble. LCBO 112813.

Strewn 2008 Select Late Harvest Vidal
$15.95 I Niagara Peninsula, Ontario I 89 points
Made by a second pressing of icewine grapes, this Strewn offering is less concentrated than icewine — and much less expensive. It’s quite charming and elegant, with peach pie, lemon, and some grainy complexity. Very stylish and sweet, with good balancing acidity. Chill very well and serve with lemon and cream pastries. LCBO 107219.

Flat Rock Cellars 2008 Chardonnay
$16.95 I Niagara Peninsula, Ontario I  88 points
Now showing some maturity, this is an edgy, powerful, slightly green chardonnay with fresh dill, lemon-peach, and considerable oak smoke. It’s medium-to-full-bodied, with a polished texture, elegance, and impressive depth. Not as ripe as you might expect from chardonnay, but this is very good value. Vintages 1552.

RED WINES

Henry of Pelham 2009 Baco Noir Reserve
$24.95 I Ontario I 90 points
The new vintage of Niagara’s best-known baco stays on track (better than 2008), with generous smoky, chocolaty, and nutty oak framing baco’s rootsy beetish/blackberry fruit. It’s full-bodied, fairly dense, and quite tart and vibrant, thanks to 2009 acidity. The tannins are easy enough (baco is not a tannic variety), and the length is very good. Will age best 2012 to 2018. Available through the winery. www.henryofpelham.com.

Bonterra 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon
$19.95 I Mendocino County, California I 89 points
Bonterra is a leading organic producer, and there is a real sense of outdoors and forests in this wine. Good complexity for $20, with meaty clove spice, chocolate, and vibrant blackcurrant/juniper notes. It’s full-bodied, dense, and rugged, if not hugely concentrated. It is also young. Best 2013 to 2016. Decant one hour. Vintages Essential 342428.

Marqués de Riscal 2006 Reserva
$20.95 I Rioja, Spain I 89 points
This vintage seems to break away from Riscal’s old-school style, which was too oaky, soft, and tired. It is quite rich and vibrant, with all kinds of juicy, sour-edged, plummy fruit liberally bathed in smoky, spicy oak, and meaty notes. Not elegant, but very flavourful and great for spicy meat and pasta dishes. LCBO 32656.

Rodney Strong Estate Vineyards 2009 Pinot Noir
$24.95 I Russian River Valley, California I 88 points
This mid-weight, rounded, sweetish pinot is California all the way. Look for ripe raspberry-plummy fruit with perfumed and floral notes. It’s medium-bodied, very smooth, and a touch sweet, with a woody note on the finish plus some heat and tannin. Vintages Essentials 954834.

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DAVID LAWRASON calls it his desert-island wine: versatile, light, and chillable. The added bonus? With Thanksgiving dinner hovering on the horizon, his beloved pinot noir is the perfect complement to turkey

Illustration by Jeff Kulak

Until the 2004 hit film Sideways exposed pinot noir to the masses, it was a wine suffering from rarefied self-importance — and priced accordingly. A 500-year reign as the only red grape grown in Burgundy created a mystique that the ornery, low-yielding, thin-skinned, heartbreak grape needed to suffer in cool climates and be grown in limestone-laced soils for its greatness to be evoked and appreciated. Burgundy’s top wine, Romanée-Conti, is the world’s most expensive red, a bottle selling for $10,000 on release.

But in the 1980s and 1990s, some daring Burgundy-inspired pinot pioneers began to gain respect for their efforts in cool pockets of Oregon, California, New Zealand and, yes, Ontario. Their top wines were exciting — and expensive (charging $50 a bottle was a bit of a stretch when their experiments didn’t quite pan out). Still, the New World winemakers persevered and succeeded, spawning the cult following uncovered in Sideways, which chronicled a pinot-swilling road trip through southern California. Since then, pinot has been on everyone’s lips. Versatile, light, refreshing, and chillable, pinot is my desert-island wine — as long as the food on the island is really good and includes rare red meats, all manner of poultry, grilled salmon, pasta, risotto, and any recipe incorporating mushrooms.

In recent years, pinot has gone even more global, expanding into cooler nooks of Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Chile, and parts of Europe not previously on the pinot’s GPS. There are suddenly hundreds of “commercially priced” pinots out there. And so I offer a world tour of pinots under $25 — a survey of how pinot is doing from the perspective of a man who still believes that it’s the world’s greatest grape.

Amity Vineyards 2007 Pinot Noir
$24 I Willamette Valley, Oregon I 89 points
Amity’s Myron Redford was an early ’80s pioneer in Oregon’s southern Willamette Valley, near Portland, and has stayed with a Burgundian footprint while some Willamette neighbours tilt toward a softer California style. This pinot noir is coarse and edgy, loaded with complex cranberry fruit inlaid with oak spice and barnyard notes. LCBO 124594.

Rosehall Run 2009 Cuvée County Pinot Noir
$21.95 I Prince Edward County, Ontario I 89 points
This cool limestone-laced region on Lake Ontario south of Belleville is North America’s newest stage for the pinot noir passion play, growing from zero to over 30 wineries in the past decade. This light, crisp, floral, cran-cherry-scented example embodies the charm, precision, and minerality of County pinot. Available through the winery only.

Barwick 2010 White Label Pinot Noir
$15.95 I Pemberton, West Australia I 88 points
Great value! This far-flung cool corner of southwest Australia is very promising, if barely on the global pinot radar. This offering is light-to-mid-weight, fairly smooth and juicy, with classic pinot cran-cherry fruit, tobacco smoke, and underbrush character. Tannins are fine; there is some heat. LCBO 215194.

Hahn 2008 Pinot Noir
$18.95 I Monterey County, California I 88 points
New commercial-scale plantings in Pacific-cooled Monterey County are delivering better value than such established California regions as Carneros, Sonoma Coast, and Santa Barbara. This charming easy-drinking pinot packs complexity and richness with generous oak mocha, cranberry-sour cherry jam, leather, and meaty notes. LCBO 226555.

Lenswood Hills 2010 Pinot Noir
$17.35 I Adelaide Hills, South Australia I 88 points
Pinot was considered folly in hot Australia until the emergence of cooler sites in Tasmania, the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, and the forested slopes in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs. This energetic, tense light red blasts classic cran-cherry fruit with floral, cinnamon, and pine forest. It’s zesty and a touch green, with gritty and juicy acidity. LCBO 215095.

Stoneleigh 2009 Pinot Noir
$19.95 I MARLBOROUGH, NEW ZEALAND I 88 POINTS
New Zealand is becoming a world leader with pinot noir, especially in the under-$25 category. This is a generous, complex pinot, maturing and ready to go, with nutty, woodsy, and marzipan notes around cherry/raspberry fruit. It’s medium-to-full-bodied with a sweet-and-sour palate. The length and complexity are very good to excellent. Drink over the next 12 months. LCBO 54353.

Bouchard Aîné & Fils 2009 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
$16.95 I Burgundy, France I 87 points
Under $20, most basic burgundy (called bourgogne) is scrawny and tart. But the generous, warm 2009 vintage has packed in good ripeness and weight with sour cherry fruit fitted with cedary spice and wood smoke. It’s mid-weight, a touch sweet, and juicy, with peppery spice and some new oak tannin and resin. LCBO 665406.

Cono Sur 2010 Pinot Noir
$10.95 I Central Valley, Chile I 87 points
Chile is warm for pinot noir, but Cono Sur, a large and innovative winery, has taken it under its wing, designing a separate winery just to make it. It’s not graceful, but few deliver better pinot character so cheaply, with vibrant cranberry, cherry, cinnamon, and green herb flavours. LCBO 341602.

Cave Spring 2009 Pinot Noir
$17.95 I Niagara Peninsula, Ontario I 86 points
Ontario’s cool climate and limestone-based soil are more like Burgundy than any place in the world, so expect classic cool-climate, high-acid, low-alcohol wines with cran-raspberry fruit. This is a pale, light prototype with herbs and some toasty oak. Quite complex and accurate for the money, if sour-edged. LCBO 417642.

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