LCBO Food & Drink Autumn 2023

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Cave Spring Gamay VQA LCBO 228569, $18.95

Flat Rock Pinot Noir VQA VINTAGES ESSENTIALS 1545, $24.95

Hidden Bench Estate Riesling VQA VINTAGES 183491, $24.95

Malivoire Ladybug Rosé VQA VINTAGES ESSENTIALS 559088, $17.95

Somewhereness is Ontarioness A group of Ontario wineries was so passionate about “somewhereness” (a term coined by U.S. writer Matt Kramer, describing wines that taste of where they were made) that they used it to “elbow our way into the conversation,” says Stratus-based winemaker Charles Baker. A handful of pioneers that first held Somewhereness tastings 15 years ago has swelled to 13 like-minded Ontario VQA member wineries today. Growing small lots of site-specific vines, many of them Sustainable Winegrowing Ontario–certified, they’re making high-quality wines that speak of the land and respect its stewardship—anticipating, by a decade, today’s global zeal for low-intervention wines with a sense of place. Baker declares: “We are a hardworking group of winemakers with something to say.” The Somewhereness wineries are 13th Street Winery, Bachelder, Cave Spring Vineyard, Charles Baker, Domaine Queylus, Flat Rock Cellars, Hidden Bench Estate Winery, Malivoire, Rosehall Run, Southbrook Organic Vineyards, Stratus, Tawse Winery and Westcott Vineyards. (somewhereness.com)

Tawse Sketches of Niagara Chardonnay VQA VINTAGES ESSENTIALS 89037, $21.95

VINEYARD: STEVEN ELPHICK

FOOD & DRINK AUTUMN 2023 113