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By John Szabo, MS Campania is a region of singular beauty in the southern Italian Peninsula. It includes the Phlegraean Islands, Ischia, Procida, Vivara and Nisida, and the jewel, Capri, under its administrative umbrella. With nearly 6 million inhabitants, it is Italy’s 3rd most populous, and, as anyone who has travelled in its capital city […] More
Buyer’s Guide to Vintages November 4th Release
John Szabo’s Vintages Preview November 2: Premium (Greatest Hits?) California, and The Best From Campania Felix By John Szabo MS, with notes from Sara d’Amato, David Lawrason, and Michael Godel This week Vintages brings us a release with a “Premium California” theme, though the LCBO’s selection could well have been named “California’s Greatest Hits.” Those […] More
By John Szabo, MS Last week representatives from 18 of Italy’s leading estates stopped in Toronto to pour their latest offerings. The Istituto Grandi Marchi, a private association of high profile, family-owned wineries representing Italy from the Dolomites to Sicily, was created in 2004 with the aim of promoting premium Italian wine on a global […] 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.
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Exchange Wine Club SubscriptionPort is a Portuguese, fortified wine from the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. It is typically a sweet red wine, but also comes in dry, semi-dry and white varieties. It is often served as a dessert wine. Wines in the style of port are produced around the world in several countries, but under European Union guidelines, only the product from Portugal may be labelled as Port. There are many styles of ports, divided into two major families: rubys (which includes vintage and late bottled vintage ports) and tawnys (including the single-vintage colheitas). Vintage ports, which are bottled young in only the best years, when a vintage declaration is allowed by the consortium overseeing the production of port, fetch the highest prices and can age for decades if not centuries. A Tawny Port is made from a red Port wine that has matured in wooden barrels, whose permeability allows a small amount of exposure to oxygen, and experience what is known as "oxidative" aging. If red grapes are used, in time the red colour lightens to a tawny colour - these are known as Tawny (or sometimes Wood) ports. They also lose volume to evaporation, leaving behind a wine that is slightly more viscous and intense.