Bar Cart: Castello di Ama San Lorenzo 2017
An approachable representation of Chianti’s finest.
There is no doubt that Chianti Classico’s best producers are creating wines of distinction according to their own distinct philosophies.
There is no doubt that Chianti Classico’s best producers are creating wines of distinction according to their own distinct philosophies.
The quality of its top wines, exemplified by Donnafugata’s range, means Sicily will soon take its place as one of Italy’s leading wine regions.
In the world of wine, few names have the prestige of barolo and barbaresco, with bottles selling for hundreds and even thousands of dollars. These wines hail from Piedmont, Italy’s second-largest region. Piedmont has the ideal combination of Mediterranean sun and cooled Alpine air to produce the highest-quality grapes. If you’re looking for the perfect bottle to pair with holiday meals, here’s a primer on seven wines and the winemakers to look for.
Collavini brings together two apparently contradictory practices: making wines in pioneering styles and drawing on indigenous varieties that have grown in Friuli for centuries, perhaps millennia. Call it blending innovation with history.
When you think of celebrating with bubbly, champagne is usually the first thing that springs to mind. Some reach for prosecco, or maybe even cava, but there’s a little-known region near Milan producing fantastic sparkling wine using the traditional method (metodo classico) that often costs less than a bottle of champagne.
Fans of pinot grigio, the second-most-consumed white wine in North America, will surely know of Livio Felluga, possibly the most prestigious producer of white wine in Italy. The history of the Livio Felluga estate is well known not just to the people of Friuli Venezia Giulia but to all Italians and oenophiles.
Chianti is not Tuscany, and Tuscany is not Chianti. Chianti co-exists with other Tuscan wine regions that sometimes struggle to escape the shadow of their better-known sibling.
Calgary’s newest hotspot, D.O.P, in the former home of Bar Von Der Fels, seems to have respected the codes and customs of its namesake authority. The traditional fare of its downtown 1 Street SW address is distinguishable by its adherence to the exhilarating admixture of rusticity and gastronomic boldness.
While Luce plumbs the depth of the fruit each vintage, the second wine, Lucente (about $35 in Canada), is made in a more approachable and modern style.