There are still a few of these left in the system, though not as many as I thought there would be: Pierre Sparr 2004 Pinot Gris Reserve, 13%/$16.95. (Vintages April 28 release.) I’ve always been a bit ambivalent about Pinot Gris, J. more unqualifiedly enthusiastic, so it was good to find a bottle we couldcontinue reading

One for the martini folks “For myself, I learned all I needed to know about the rules of proportion from the dry martini. (The addition of an onion turns this martini into a Gibson. Cocktail titles proliferate like ranks in the Ruritarian army.) The law is: main ingredient (gin), subordinate ingredient (vermouth), and grace notecontinue reading

Vintages has always brought in a few wines from Portugal but I’ve never paid much attention for whatever reason–I think they’ve never really made a serious attempt to market them. Not so any more. Last Saturday’s release includes over a dozen Portuguese wines, mainly red, ranging from about $12 at the low end to $40continue reading

I recommended the 2004 Terrale here a while ago. They’ve replaced the 2004 with the 2005 at the LCBO and unfortunately it is a pale version of the 2004. Sic transiit gloria Siciliae(?). (With apologies to GH for unwittingly unloading a bottle on his household earlier this week.)

It seems wrong to fulminate for two posts without posting something positive about something. We had a great $10 wine ($9.95 with deposit) with our pizza two Sundays ago, Domaine de l’Ameillaud, VdP de Vaucluse at 13.5%. This is a southern France Vin de Pays, predominantly Grenache-based apparently. It does a convincing imitation of acontinue reading

Second day of fresh Ontario asparagus at our greengrocer! Feasting tonight –

An ad in the Star’s business section, November 30, 1971. (Click on image.)

Maths cracks beer froth mystery Mathematicians have come up with a formula that predicts how the head on a pint of beer will change after pouring. Their advance could shed light on why the foam on a pint of lager quickly disappears, but the froth on a pint of Guinness sticks around. The math lookscontinue reading

There are still lots of bottles of d’Arenberg “The Hermit Crab” Viognier Marsanne in Toronto Vintages stores. We uncorked a bottle to celebrate my last in-class exam on Wednesday, to go with a yummy though artery-clogging pasta with prosciutto cream sauce. According to the LCBO Robert Parker somewhere says “notes of honeysuckle, apple blossom, andcontinue reading