News

The Globe and Mail - Push your palate: Six reasons to sip wines from the wild side

By: Beppi Crosariol, The Globe and Mail, July 25, 2013

The road less travelled has rewards. Sport-utility vehicle makers tap the allure with fantasy clifftop money shots that say: “freedom four-wheel-drive.” Wine enjoyment can be a little like that – exciting when you dare to venture off the steamrolled asphalt. Yet in vino as in vehicles, most people rarely stray from the smooth and familiar. Cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, merlot, pinot noir and, at most, one or two dozen other popular grapes account for the vast majority of North American consumption. The wines are easy to pronounce, easy to find and easy to understand. No big surprises. / Read More

The Globe and Mail - Moon Curser Syrah 2010 - 91 pts

By: Beppi Crosariol, The Globe and Mail, Sept 6, 2012

This full-bodied Okanagan red has one foot in the Rhône Valley, showing French syrah’s hallmark peppercorn spice against a rich backdrop of berries, cinnamon and chocolate. It’s richly fruity but with good acid balance. A year or two in the cellar would bring it into even better balance. Try it now with saucy short ribs... / Read More

The Globe and Mail - Moon Curser Petit Verdot 2010

By: Beppi Crosariol, The Globe and Mail, August 16, 2012

An intense, full-bodied red from a fine Okanagan estate, this offers up flavours of currant, cherry and prune along with chocolate and spice. The sticky, astringent tannins, characteristic of the petit verdot grape, come on strong, but they frame the ripe fruit beautifully. Decant it if you can and try it with duck breast or rare steak, or cellar it for one to five years if you can wait... / Read More

The Globe and Mail - Moon Curser Merlot 2009

By: Beppi Crosariol, The Globe and Mail, September 8, 2011

This top-notch, single-vineyard red from the warm South Okanagan is full-bodied and smooth yet has a dry finish and excellent structure. Cherry and plum flavours mingle with coffee and mocha characters, juicy acidity and polished tannins... / Read More

The Globe and Mail - Moon Curser Tempranillo 2009

By: Beppi Crosariol, The Globe and Mail, August 18, 2011

Medium full-bodied, dry and moderately tannic, this unusual B.C. red based on a Spanish grape is a compelling effort, with notes of juicy cherry and tobacco... / Read More

The Globe and Mail - Bevvies fit for a Duke (and Duchess)

By: Beppi Crosariol, The Globe and Mail, June 25, 2011

It's expected to be one of Parliament Hill's biggest Canada Day celebrations ever. And why not? The stars next Friday will be two non-Canadians. The irony hardly bothers us, of course. It shouldn't. This country has carved an identity out of making others welcome, a perfect theme for July 1. Besides, this is Prince William and Princess Catharine we're talking about, two newlyweds who live in castles. That's fairy-tale stardom Hollywood can't match. And England dovetails with the essence of Dominion Day, as it was once called... / Read More

The Globe and Mail - Seeking world domination, one chardonnay at a time

By: Globe and Mail, October 28, 2010

If there's one thing that distinguishes us as Canadians besides excessive politeness, a passion for hockey and devotion to public health care, it's this: a need for foreign approbation.

The Ontario wine industry got that in spades late last month at an event in London. The occasion was a tasting of top Ontario chardonnays held, symbolically, at Canada House on majestic Trafalgar Square. Organized by Bill Redelmeier, owner of Southbrook Vineyards in Niagara, it was designed to showcase some of the province's best bottlings to the British press, a group that has historically held inordinate sway in the adjudication of fermented-grape juice... / Read More

The Globe and Mail - Try on these warm-me-up-wines

By: Beppi Crosariol, Globe and Mail, October 13, 2009

I recently shared a drink with a visiting chef from Chile, Pilar Rodriguez. She's cooking in Toronto this week to promote Chilean wine and food on behalf of her country's foreign-affairs department. It may sound like a plum job, but there's a downside; she's forced to spend lots of time with nerdy wine writers like me.

For our meeting, she kindly brought along a bottle of Perez Cruz Syrah Reserva Limited Edition that she wanted to show off. At about $25, it's not your usual bargain Chilean red, which I think was the point. And I must say I liked it. But it was how she described the wine that turned me on to it as much the flavour: She called it "sexy." ... / Read Try on these warm-me-up-wines