LCBO Food & Drink Autumn 2017

WINE  BIG TIME

entertaining FOR DAYTIME

When you want to make an anniversary, baby or wed- ding shower or other daytime party a gala celebration, open magnums of these light and festive whites.

our picks

BLU GIOVELLO PINOT GRIGIO LCBO 669085, 1.5 L, $24.25

The cobalt-blue bottle is as crowd- pleasing as the crisp minerality and fresh apple nose on this wine. It’s brilliant with poultry or with brie or Camembert cheese. JACOB’S CREEK MOSCATO LCBO 406843, 1.5 L, $22.20 This off-dry wine dances almost effervescently on the palate, espe- cially when served with Caprese salad, prosciutto and melon spears, or any seafood, especially shrimp and salmon. OPEN RIESLING GEWÜRZTRAMINER VQA LCBO 492231 3 L, $39.95 Lovely with Asian flavours or salads, this wine would also make a perfect punch or spritzer base. Serve from pretty pitchers or from decorative bottles.

sizing it up

Estimate 6 to 7 glasses per litre or approximately 10 to 12 glasses per magnum of wine. “Opening a magnum saves time, so the host can focus more on entertaining,” says Serguei Kourokhtine.

12 L

9 L

6 L

4.5 L

3 L

1.5 L

MAGNUM The equivalent of two stan- dard-size bottles of wine. The name comes from the Latin word magnus , meaning “great in size.”

DOUBLE MAGNUM A bottle of this size is sometimes also called a Jeroboam in Cham- pagne (but not in Bor- deaux: see right).

JEROBOAM In Bordeaux, it’s 5 L. For Champagne, it’s called a Rehoboam. Like most large sizes, both are named for ancient kings.

METHUSELAH This size is sometimes called an Imperial when it contains still wine. Named for a long-lived king, it’s synonymous with old age.

SALMANAZAR There’s a full 12-bottle case of wine in one of these bottles, named for a series of Assyrian kings.

BALTHAZAR It’s reportedly named for one of the three wise men or magi (as is a Melchior, contain- ing 18 L, or 24 bottles).

BEYOND BALTHAZAR Nebuchadnezzar (15 L), Solomon (20 L) and Melchizedek (30 L) are named after specific kings, and the 25-L Sovereign and 27-L Goliath are self-explanatory titans!

110  FOOD & DRI NK AUTUMN 2017