LCBO Food & Drink Summer 2023

RED ALERT

Pinot Noir Ticks All the Boxes What’s red, dry and fruity with tons of class and minimal tannin? Food-friendly Pinot Noir is the number one choice for all these reasons. Great Pinots from Burgundy and Ontario deserve your undivided attention (and a temperate environment) but there are plenty of more casual examples that would suit a backyard barbecue party beautifully—with a brief chill to perk up the wine on a hot day.

Cigar Box Pinot Noir

LCBO 545707, $14.95 Here’s an old-vine wine from Chile that seems surprisingly full, dark and rich for a Pinot—and at a real bargain price. Its ripe black cherry fruit is braided with coffee, smoke and prunes with an understated acidity. Cuvée Michèle Pinot Noir VQA LCBO 454967, $16.95 Such good value for a mature Niagara Pinot! Fresh, fruity cherry and straw berry notes lead into a long earthy finish with bright, Avalon Pinot Noir LCBO 25842, $18.75 The Sonoma-based winery uses cool coastal-grown fruit to make a rich, ripe wine with cherry-­ berry flavours. Sweet toasty oak is a big part of the profile. At a hefty 14.5% ABV, every thing stays perfectly in place after 30 minutes in the fridge—the slight chill just a gentle wake-up call. Château des Charmes well-integrated acidity and soft, subtle tannins.

Why not just add ice to your vino? Of course you can. The problem is ice melts. If you don’t mind dilution, no worries! If you do, consider investing in Viski Glacier Rocks—stainless steel “wine globes” you keep in the freezer until needed. Put two in your glass of wine to cool it down rapidly (set of Red on the Rocks?

four, $52.99, wayfair.ca).

HOW TO TELL IF IT’S COOL The issue here is assessing the temperature of the wine inside the bottle, not how cold the bottle itself might be—which is the rap against wrap-around wine thermometers that cling to the side of the bottle. Infrared digital wine thermometers are designed to solve this problem; AllTemp Select’s version is a popular model (available at amazon.ca for around $75).

50 FOOD & DRINK SUMMER 2023