We drink a lot of fizz here at Gismondi On Wine. A lot. Trust us. This year alone, we reviewed 200 sparkling wines from around the globe, across numerous grapes, regions and styles. Sixty of the wines reviewed were from the epitome of the style, Champagne,
Ideal weather conditions at the end of harvest season put a smile back on the faces of the Loire winegrowers, who had to deal with a complex array of weather patterns throughout the year. But this vintage is set to be flavorsome and fruit-driven,
There is little doubt that the cabernet sauvignon grape is responsible for some of the biggest (tannic) wines on the planet. Certainly the physical nature of cabernet tends to be big, angular and tannic in its youth and, while it mellows with age, even
I work every day surrounded by cheese. I spend a lot of time in the fridge sorting, rotating, and caring for the amazing products that we are lucky enough to source. It’s easy to become obsessed with the finished products, and how they taste, what
It's a funny thing about fizz. Unless it says "Champagne" on the label, it never gets the respect afforded the famous French region, even if most of us wouldn't be able to distinguish between the two in a blind tasting. This is partly because people reserve
There’s no shortage of unnecessary wine gifts out there. You know, the kind that end up in a drawer or on a shelf after a single use, never to be taken out again. Sticking to the basics like glasses, decanters, books and special bottles
Like many wine regions around the world, the wines of Sicily have improved exponentially over the past 30 years. The benchmark of most Sicilian winemakers has evolved from quantity to quality. But perhaps the most surprising development in Sicilian winemaking
"2016 is the first vintage in more than a decade from which we will not produce any Vendange Tardive or Sélection de Grains Nobles". After three years of extremely low yields, we can at last say 2016 has been a generous vintage! Unlike most of
The people of the Bourgogne wine region like a story with a happy ending. The wines of the 2016 vintage have granted this wish, exhibiting a quality that was quite unexpected given the difficult start to the year. Climate events in the spring took a severe
Germans have a lot of Sekt. Sekt, of course, is the German term for sparkling wine, and last year (2015) Germans drank more than 305 million litres of it. But their taste for fizz is not just limited to their own production: Germany is the world's largest
It’s been a long time coming. I’m thrilled to see an increasing number of interesting, modern and fresh South African wine landing in our BC market. For too long, most of the selection sold in this province has nothing to do with what is actually
The 2016 California winegrape harvest was early, with a mostly normal yield of exceptional quality fruit throughout the state. A relatively even growing season followed welcome winter rains that helped to alleviate the drought. “It’s been
It’s that time of the year when hope springs eternal inside wineries. The 2016 harvest is well underway thanks to another early spring and a mostly warm growing season, especially in the Okanagan Valley. There is no way to know how it will
First time pinot noir drinkers usually succumb to its silky, juicy fruit while veteran swillers simply admire the concentration and depth of flavour that springs from this mysterious red, as fickle as the wind. But ever since we met would-be novelist
I well remember my first wine class. Not more than twenty years old, knowing next-to-nothing, and practicing things like pronouncing gewürztraminer and spitting in public. Everything was blurring together in a sangria of names and soils and fruits
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