GRIGNOLINO -PIEDMONT’S UNIQUE GRAPE VARIETY

Grignolino is a wine of contrasts, a wine that has never followed trends.

Grignolino is one of Piedmont’s historic grape varieties, with a presence documented for centuries, particularly in the Monferrato and Asti regions.

Its name probably derives from the Piedmontese term ‘grignòle’, which refers to grape seeds; these are particularly abundant in this variety and contribute to the wine’s distinctive tannic character – one of the elements that makes it instantly recognisable.

Originating in the hills of Monferrato, Grignolino is one of Piedmont’s most ancient anddistinctive grape varieties: it has undergone periods of great popularity and more difficult times, only to return to the limelight today thanks to the growing interest in authentic, terroir-driven and less standardised wines.

Grignolino doesn’t aim for immediate impact, but rather for the ability to intrigue and tell a different story.

Grignolino does not try to please everyone, but rather one that opens up a whole new world if you just stop to listen and appreciate its hidden complexity. The first thing that surprises you about Grignolino is its appearance. In the glass, it often appears as a brilliant ruby red with complex aromas, freshness and a structure that pairs very well with food.

On the nose, it reveals floral and fruity notes; on the palate, it is dry, fresh, elegant, slightly tannic and bitter, with a lingering aftertaste that is sometimes pleasantly almondy.

One of the best reds for the summer: perfect served chilled from the fridge, like a white wine, at 6–8°C, to pair with grilled meat, savoury tarts and salads.

Grignolino is a very demanding grape variety, not easy to cultivate, requiring the right soil composition and exposure, and one that is also challenging to vinify. The result, however, is a truly exquisite wine.

Wineries produce Grignolino to preserve an important part of Monferrato’s history. The hills of this area, characterised by soils rich in marl, clay and limestone, offer ideal conditions for bringing out its freshness and elegance.

CHIANTI – ITALY’S MOST FAMOUS RED WINE

This northern Italian region was famous in the 14th century and has become world-famous due to emigration to North America, Australia, and South America.

In all these countries, Italians opened restaurants and featured Italian red wines, including Chianti.

The appellation has two distinct divisions classico, was original, simple Chianti was added much later.

Today there are 70 000 hecters for Chianti

and classified

Chianti

Chianti superiore

Chianti Riserva Gran Selezione

Gran Selezione wines may include cabernet sauvignon and merlot but must be at least 85 per cent sangiovese, Italy’s most planted red wine grape variety.

Gran Selezione is unquestionably the best tasting of all, depending on the vintage.

2019, 2020, and 2021 were the best in this century so far.

In a recent tasting, the following Gran Selezione Chianti

were chosen by experts.

Chianti Classico Gran Riserva 2023, Barone Ricasoli

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Roncione 2020, Barone Ricasoli

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Colledila, 2023, Barone Ricasoli

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigneto Il Poggio, 2021, Castello Monsanto,

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna Graspoli, 2021, Lamole di Lamole

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna Il Corno, 2021, Castello di Rada

Chianti Classico Riserva, 2019, Castello di Monsanto

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna di Sessina, 2022, Dievole

Some of the above may be offered in the future by the Vintages, a division of the LCBO.

Prices vary from anywhere from $ 55.00 to well over $ 100.00

WINE CRYSTALS

Colloquially known as ‘wine diamonds’, these small crystals are not only harmless but also a possible indicator of quality. Some equate their presence as a mark of quality, in that the wine has not been overly manipulated in the cellar.

The main component of these deposits is potassium acid tartrate, the potassium salt of tartaric acid. Traces of other elements – pulp, dead yeast cells, tannins, pigments – contaminate, and potentially colour, the potassium acid tartrate crystals. This is why in white wines the crystals are mostly colourless and perfectly-shaped, while in red wines – and to an extent orange wines – tannins and pigmented tannins make the crystals reddish brown, smaller and irregularly-shaped.

Malic acid is partially or fully converted to the creamier-tasting lactic acid during malolactic fermentation. Tartaric acid, on the other hand, is chemically more stable and remains dissolved in the finished wine, contributing to the wine’s final pH levels and resistance to microbiological spoilage.

Tartaric acid compounds are less soluble in alcohol and water solutions than in water or grape juice. While it may remain in a supersaturated state in the final wine, it will crystallise, mostly due to temperature fluctuations that change solubility levels. The pressure from consumers and retailers to avoid these unexpected findings led the industry to develop multiple techniques to ensure tartrate stabilisation.

The solubility of tartaric acid compounds increases with temperature. Colder temperatures therefore cause crystals to form.

If you find crystals in your wine at home, once formed they will never disappear, but they won’t affect the aroma, taste or quality of the wine.

Most mass-market wines will undergo tartrate stabilisation to avoid the unpredictable formation of crystals. The most common process is cold stabilisation: the wine is refrigerated for several days before bottling to between -5 and -10℃, which causes the tartrate crystals to precipitate. These are then filtered out, and the wine is brought back to cellar temperature. The final tartrate levels are low enough for it to be very unlikely for more crystals to precipitate in a customer’s fridge, restaurant’s cellar or supermarket stock room.

Because many of these processes can hurt the flavour and structure of the wine – mostly because they will also remove other components and, because the pH increases, the wine will be microbiologically more unstable – higher-quality and/or age-worthy wines will likely avoid tartrate stabilisation. Hence why you will likely find sediments of some sort in aged bottles of renowned wines.

How a wine is stored will determine how and where the crystals will cluster – and whether they will be noticeable at all. Tartrate crystals will typically gather and stick to the cork – and therefore be removed when the wine is opened – if a bottle is stored upside down. If stored upright, the crystals will settle at the bottom and likely be poured out with the last glass.

Instead of being alarmed, you should view the presence of crystals as a sign of lower-intervention winemaking in which the preservation of the wine’s full character and its longevity have taken precedence over reassuring predictability.

TANNINS – HELP PRESERVE WINE Tannins are bitter, astringent chemical compounds found in nature, particularly in the bark of many trees and in numerous leaves, legumes, and fruits, including grapes. They combine with other molecules, especially proteins, causing them to precipitate. Because tannins bind with other proteins, including those in human saliva, they create a characteristic astringent, mouth-coating sensation in the mouth. Their primary role is to make unripe fruits and seeds unpalatable, to dissuade animals from eating them when not yet ripe. Ripening changes the structure of the tannins through polymerisation – an increase in their overall length due to the combination of smaller molecules – and interaction with pectins (sugar compounds whose presence increases with maturation) and anthocyanins (red colouring compounds). Different harvest dates therefore mean different tannin structure and, ultimately, different tannic structure of the final wine, provided no corrections are made in the cellar. In wine, they originate primarily from the skin, seeds, and stems of the grapes. During alcoholic fermentation, the juice, skins and pips (and stems if the winemaker decides to do full or partial whole-cluster fermentation) macerate together. As sugar is processed and alcohol produced, colour and tannins are released into the wine. Tannins are water-soluble; the longer the skins and pips macerate during and after alcoholic fermentation, the more tannic the wine will be. White and rosé wines are fermented by excluding skin contact, and tannin levels are lower than in reds. White wines fermented with extended skin and pip contact have tannins, and the colour changes from yellow to amber. Tannins can be best described through the tactile sensations they produce, like mouthfeel rather than aroma or flavour. Bitterness is a taste character, while astringency is a textural sensation. Even though tannins are not flavour compounds, they can produce a feeling of bitterness in addition to the mouth-coating sensation, especially towards the end of the tongue. This is particularly true for young red and orange wines. Some grapes are naturally higher in tannins than others. Varieties notably high in tannins include cabernet sauvignon, nebbiolo, sangiovese, malbec, mourvèdre/monastrell, syrah/shiraz, tannat and tempranillo. Thinner-skinned grapes – such as pinot noir, gamay, and grenache yield less tannic wines. The latter also accounts for the different expressions of the same variety originating from different regions. Barossa shiraz is softer than a Rhône syrah. In terms of winemaking, decisions such as fermentation temperature, length of maceration, number and vigour of punch-downs or even the type of yeasts used will have an impact on the amount of tannins that are extracted from the grapes and leached into the wine. The amount of wood tannins leached into the wine increases the longer it remains inside the barrel. Finding the sweet spot at which the ideal wood influence has been achieved is a complex and extremely subjective decision. The presence of tannins generally gives wine more longevity. Tannins are mostly associated with red, dark rosé and skin-macerated white wines.

LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT IRISH WHISKEY

The Irish may or may not have invented whiskey (they spell it with an “e” as opposed to Scots and Canadians), but once you taste the best that the island has to offer today, you may believe they have created it.
Decades ago, Jameson, Bushmills, Paddy, and Tullamore Dew tasted light, smooth, “clean”, pleasant, but offered little on lingering aftertaste, as did Scotch whiskies.
In the 19th century, Irish distilleries exported huge quantities of pot still whiskey derived from both malted and unmalted barley.
By the late 29th century, there were only two distilleries left due to the Irish Rebellion, the Depression, and two World Wars, and the ”Troubles”.
Emigration dwindled the population, and hence affected consumption.
In those days, distilleries started using Coffey stills (columnar stills) and aged their whiskies for only a few months. Meanwhile, Scottish whisky merchants and distillers `discovered` blending, and how it changed flavour and texture, not to mention cost.
Irish did not blend as their whiskies could compete with Scotch on price anytime and anywhere.
Irish whiskey in general is not `peat` kilned. Only hot air is used, and distillers now use very large alembic stills.
These days, Connemara Distillery makes and markets a few `peated` Irish whiskies, but so far, it is the only establishment that does it.
In the 1930s, distilleries needed to reduce costs for low-end products. In order to cut costs, they started blending regular whiskies with grain distillates. This made them `tame` and insipid.
By the 1980s, taking a lesson from Scottish distilleries who had much success with their single malt whiskies aged in Sherry, Bourbon, Port, Bordeaux or Burgundy barrels, Irish distilleries started emphasising flavour, texture, smoothness and `character` in an attempt to cater to a more demanding market. Now they are experimenting with old recipes incorporating mixing barley with oats and rye, ageing longer, for some 12 years or longer.
There are now three distilleries in Ireland, of which two are owned by Pernod-Ricard from France and the other, which opened in 1987 with capital from local sources north of Dublin.
Irish whiskey is less “spicy”, and somewhat lighter than its Scottish counterpart.
The Vintages division of the LCBO frequently offers fine Irish whiskies.
Cask Strength Peated Single Malt 12 Years Old, at 60 per cent ABV,
Coonemara
18-Year-Old Limited Reserve, Jameson
Ten-Year-Old Single Malt, Bushmills
are some that are available from time to time.

PROFESSOR B’S WINE RECOMMENDATIONS

Wine improves with age. The older I get, the better I like it.
Anonymous

White wines

The Three Pinots, NV, Pele Island Winery, Ontario,
$16.95

Pinot Grigio, 2024, Lumina, Italy,
$ 16.00

Albarino, 2024, La Vale Vineyard, Spain
$ 23.95

Red wines

Agiorgitiko, Thalia, Greece
$ 13.25

Reserva Tannat, 2023, Bodegas Garzón, Uruguay
$ 23.95

Vinum Pinot Noir, 2023, Radford Dale, South Africa
$ 23.`95

Drink red wines at 15 C

White wines 12 C

Sparkling wines 9 – 10 C

Rest wine bottles for three or four days after purchase.

MENCIA – SPAIN’S OTHER GREAT RED WINE GRAPE

Most wine enthusiasts know that tempranillo is Spain’s most popular and admired red grape, but very few know about mencia.

Mencía, a native of Spain and Portugal, captivates with its deep violet hues and aromatic intensity, reflecting its high anthocyanin content and terpenoid composition. If you like pinot noir, you are likely to appreciate the delicacy of mencía.

Mencía releases a floral bouquet intertwined with strawberry, raspberry, liquorice, black cherry sauce, and a hint of pomegranate.

On the palate, mencía wines surprise with a peppery burst, balanced by tart notes of sour cherry and red currant with high levels of acid. Tannins range from smooth and moderate to light yet noticeable. Depending on its region of origin, a mineral-like texture may be present, enhancing its peppery character.

VANCOUVER ISLAND WINES AND WINERIES

British Columbia is the second largest producer in Canada.
The mainland’s most important and largest region is around Okanagan Lake.
Vancouver Island now has 17 wineries that benefit from the long, cool growing season to produce a range of red, white and sparkling wines.
The mild climate works especially well for pinot noir and pinot gris.
Winemaking began on Vancouver Island as early as the 1920s, with fruit wine made from local berries—a tradition that endures today, with not only fruit wine but honey wine (mead) and still and sparkling wine from grapes made here. It was a provincial government research project in the 1980s, tasked with identifying grape varietals that could thrive in the maritime climate (such as many hardy hybrid grapes), that really fuelled the modern wine industry.
Most are boutique-sized estates with grapes grown and wine made on site, and among them are many family-run enterprises where you’ll find a welcoming clan member pouring your tasting. Some offer tours and tastings only seasonally; if you’re visiting outside the June to September period, check ahead to confirm hours.
Black Sage, Fort Berens, Rust Wine Co., Blue Grouse, Chronos and Unsworth are some of the wineries.
You can order their wines online as provincial wine shipping is legal.

CASK STRENGTH SCOTCH WHISKY

Blended, widely advertised and marketed whiskies are almost always bottled at 40 per cent ABV.

Whisky is distilled out at 65 – 70 ABV and cask-aged for at least two years, most of them for four to five years, during which the alcohol content diminishes by two to two-and-a-half per cent in the first few years, depending on the humidity of the cellar or storage area.

Whiskies aged for eight years cost considerably more than those aged for three to four years. This is due to volume loss and tied-up capital.

More and more small Scottish distilleries are now marketing cask strength products, which means the strength is as the whisky comes out of the barrel. It may be as low as 43 per cent and as high as 56.1 ABV.

The older the whisky, the lower the alcohol content.

Cask strength whiskies offer intensity, more authentic flavours, contain little or no caramel for additional colour and uniformity, and ought to be enjoyed from a snifter and savoured. 

BEER AND UV DON’T MIX

German beer gardens in Munich serve beer in steins (earthenware mugs of 500 ml or 1 litre) to keep it as fresh as the first sip.

If you expose it to the sun’s rays, your fresh pleasure will quickly turn sour, or worse… This interaction can make your beer absolutely undrinkable.

After a spring and early summer that left a taste of autumn, here we are finally under the sun and the heat. With this summer weather window, you jump at the chance to invite your friends to drink a beer on the terrace. While you are savouring its precious rays, your lager is changing.

Ultraviolet rays and beer don’t mix: they completely transform its taste. And if that sunbathing goes on for a long time, you may even turn your eyes away at the next sip. You thought a lukewarm beer was the height of disgust? You are not at the end of your troubles. Beer is made up of four main ingredients: water; malt, a sprouted cereal that gives it its inimitable flavour (most often barley); yeasts, essential for alcoholic fermentation; and hops, the famous flower bud that completes its bouquet. It is the latter that ensures the balance of the beverage by giving it its refreshing bitterness. The problem is that hops do not like the sun. When ultraviolet rays penetrate the liquid, an undesirable chemical reaction occurs.

Some molecules in hops – acids called isohumulones – degrade and recombine into 3-methylbut-2-ene-1-thiol. A barbaric name that scientists describe more simply and more eloquently as “stinky thiol”. And for good reason, it shares the same aromatic compound as the pestilential liquid secreted… by skunks. It is “the smelliest molecule known”, summarise brewers. A smell of rotten eggs, of pipes? No, the bar terrace is not located above a manhole; it’s your nose that is a little too close to your pint of lager. Next time, reserve a place in the shade or ask for a stein of lager.