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,
It's that time of the year when sparkling wine sales skyrocket as people ring in the holiday season with a glass (or two) of fizz. We drink sparkling wines year round, of course, and plentifully so. But there is something festive about popping that cork
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
I love fall. Not only is it harvest season - a glorious time to be in the vineyard - but it's the first release of reds, often lighter ones, like pinot noir and gamay, perfectly suited to wild mushrooms and autumn squash. I've just updated Anthony's Perfectly
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
Is it just me? Where did summer go? Time flies when you're having fun I suppose, and we certainly do at GOW. We've tasted a few hundred wines this summer, mostly sun-friendly whites, rosés and fizz (we posted 17 sauvignon blanc reviews today).
The numbers are in. The standings are out and the results impressive for the 2016 National Wine Awards of Canada. Let’s look at the maths: 230 wineries across the country entered over 1500 wines, all of which were tasted blind over 5 days by 23
Though we spend much of our time tasting wine from around the globe, so far this month Anthony and I have been pretty focused on wines from around the Pacific Northwest. He's just spent a week in BC wine country, touring around the Okanagan, interviewing
July 1 marks more than our nation’s birthday. It’s the unofficial kick off of summer holidays, a pretty-much-promised stretch of warm sunshine, and for Anthony and me, the signal that we’ve emerged intact from another National Wine Awards
We've just published a Canada Day article summarizing all the things we've been up to here at GOW over the past couple of weeks. We've also taken a look back at the first half of 2016, with a list of the top 25 Canadian wines we've reviewed this year
I'm writing this from the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre, on a brief break from judging the National Wine Awards of Canada. Anthony is here, though to be honest, I've seen very little of him since he's running the back room as head judge - a massive
April Fools’ Day, 2015. It would have been easy to think that British Columbia’s main beverage alcohol retailer – the government-owned and operated BC Liquor Distribution Branch (BCLDB) – was playing a joke, by fundamentally shifting
May Day, May Day. That's what I feel like shouting out sometimes in the midst of spring and fall releases. A cherry blossom shower of wines are arriving to taste, as well as near daily portfolio tastings. It's a delight to taste the new whites and rosés
Marking its sixth instalment in 2016, Malbec World Day will be celebrated April 17th. While malbec is grown the world over, the day was established by Wines of Argentina to celebrate the country's flagship grape, as well as to raise global awareness