One of my favourite bottlings from Havana Club, Selección de Maestros is a collaborative effort from the Maestros Roneros Guild of Cuba, spearheaded by Havana Club’s premier rum master, Don José Navarro. Loaded on the nose with coffee, orange peel, caramelized peaches, vanilla and cedar, this hyper-fruity yet decidedly dry rum is a joy to sip. It’s so smooth that only the depth of flavour hints at its barrel strength (45%).
Altbiers have terroir — it is hard to replicate the flavour without tasting one made in a Düsseldorf altbier brauerei. These amber-hued lagers are perfectly balanced, crisp German classics that deserve veneration. When it comes to this tightly defined beer style, Uerige is an outlier, beloved for its higher hop bitterness. It is rare to find a Düsseldorf example in Canada, so hunt down this Altbier at the LCBO in Ontario this fall.
A blend of Mourvèdre, Carignan, Grenache and Syrah, this is a savoury treat with a funky nose of blueberry, cherry, mocha, cinnamon, plum, roasted coffee bean and earth. It displays sweet, ripe fruit on the palate with added tar, smoke, mint and spice with decent acidity and soft tannins. Try with well-aged gouda and cheddar.
Medium ruby in colour; lightly floral nose of cherries with spicy oak notes; medium-bodied, dry, firmly structured, red cherry flavour a well-balanced wine with a firm tannic structure.
Minerals, lime, powdered candies and stone fruit are all present in this beautiful Riesling. Its low alcohol content combined with fresh acid and a smidge of residual sugar make it all the more attractive. Sushi, anyone?
Despite the rather generic “Vin de France” description on the label, this resembles Sauvignon with a much more impressive pedigree. It offers fine citrus, green apple and floral scents with succulent green and yellow fruit flavours, creamy texture, appetizing acidity and great overall balance.
As the label alludes, this is filled with the perfume of thistle, which overrides (to a degree) the reductive notes stewing underneath (air is this wine's friend). From El Alto Vineyard in Ugarteche, Luján de Cuyo, this vineyard rests on sandy clay loams at 1,050 m. Big, punchy plum, blueberry and blackberry fruited, with a fine peppery spice and tautly gritty tannins to a warming finish. This is a kicky, youthful wine, 13.5 degrees, for drinking now with grilled pork or empanadas.