Let the WineAlign Critics help you find the Right Wine
for the Right Price, Right Now!
Top 5 Brunello (Sangiovese) at the LCBO
John Szabo’s Annual Fizz Guide 2025
By John Szabo, MS, with notes from David Lawrason, Sara d’Amato and Michael Godel Fewer Bubbles, Better Quality Welcome to our timely annual Fizz Guide! What’s in store for you this year? A parade of premium bubbles, featuring top Canadian sparkling, a category which remains hard to beat for quality and price. It’s easily our […] More
Wine Lovers Go to School on Ontario’s Craft Ciders
By David Lawrason, with notes from John Szabo, Michael Godel and Sara d’Amato This feature was commissioned by Ontario Craft Cider Association. I am a “fruit guy” but not a fructarian — the fruit equivalent of a vegan. I start every morning with a vitamin C-laden whole orange or mandarin. Breakfast always includes fresh anthocyanin-antioxidant […] More
If I Could Buy Only One – November 22nd Vintages Release
We asked our writers,“If you could buy only one wine from the November 22nd release, which one would it be and why?” Tornatore Etna Rosso 2022, Sicily, Italy$24.95, Nicholas Pearce Wines Inc.John Szabo – Competition this week was fierce with a plethora of good value wines, but if I must buy “only one”, it will […] More
National Wine Awards of Canada
Canada's premier wine awards. In 2022, 24 judges tasted over 1,900 wines from 250 wineries across the country to identify Canada's top wines.
National Wine Awards of CanadaExchange Wine Club Subscription
The Exchange delivers an exclusive curated, mixed case of top quality wines directly to your door once a quarter. Mixed, All Red and All White options.
Exchange Wine Club Subscription
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.
