LCBO Food & Drink Spring 2020

The Raw Deal A series of global Raw Wine fairs around the world celebrates small-batch, artisanal “natural” wines. London, Berlin, Miami, New York, Los Angeles and Montreal are among the Raw Wine host cities in 2020.

Feel like a natural wine? There is no universal definition of “natural wine.” However, some use the term to describe a style that uses organic or biodynamic grapes (see coming pages), naturally airborne ambient yeasts or a low-intervention winemaking style that adds and subtracts as little as possible in the winery.    That means that the wine’s acidity, flavour, texture, freshness and other qualities aren’t adjusted with chemical additives, as they can be in conventional winemaking. It’s often described as “low- intervention” winemaking, and the terms “living wine,” “grower wine” and “raw wine” are sometimes used to describe modern wines that hearken back to the way it was made centuries ago, sometimes even using earthenware pots (amphorae).    Taste it at Après Wine Bar, Sapori, Bar Isabel and Bar Raval and Grape Witches events in Toronto; and at Ontario restaurants such as Archive 909, Paris Paris, Brothers Food & Wine and Cava in Toronto plus Backhouse and The Restaurant at Pearl Morissette in Niagara.

Skin in the game Skin-fermented white wines (a.k.a. orange wines) are made in an ancient method that gives them hues ranging from amber to coral and orange. Watch for seasonal Ontario selections like Southbrook’s Skin Fermented Vidal, Cooper’s Hawk Orange Splash and Reif Estate The Sun Skin-Fermented Vidal at the LCBO.

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FOOD & DRINK SPRING 2020