NEW YEAR, NEW YOU, NEW WINES
There are all sorts of ways to help you stick to your New Year’s resolutions, but one way is having a great glass of wine on hand that’s nicely aligned with your new direction. This approach could strengthen your resolve by factoring in some pure pleasure
GO VEGETARIAN 2014 Masi Campofiorin IGT, Veneto, Italy (LCBO 155051 $21.95 in stores and online)
Most wine is clarified and stabilized with a fining agent from animals such as egg whites, milk protein, gelatin, isinglass (fish bladders) or chitin (crustacean shells). But Masi is one of a growing number of producers that does not use animal byproducts or animal derivatives to make its wines. So if you’re now vegetarian and take issue with drinking wine that used animals to make it, consider having a bottle of this red on hand. It offers a smooth, palate-drenching hit of red and black cherries and stone fruit with an earthy undertow that’s downright delish.
Score: 92
LOSE WEIGHT
2016 Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio, Valdadige DOC, Italy (Vintages Essential 106450 $19.95 in stores and online) Wines lowest in both alcohol and sugar have the fewest calories. So if you’re watching your weight, keep a bottle of this bone-dry, light wine in the door of the fridge for that little indulgence. A small glass not only won’t blow your program, it might help keep you on track by limiting that sense deprivation that can derail your diet. With every sip, expect a beam of lemon-lime fruit that fans out with notes of talc, salt and grapefruit zest. Works with all sorts of salads, chicken and fish dishes that are super-slimming. You got this.
Score: 88+
SPEND LESS
2016 The Pavillion Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon, Western Cape, South Africa (LCBO 222299 $11.95 in stores and online) If your plan is to be extra thrifty this year, keep a bottle of this riveting red on hand. It truly could sell for more with its smoked plum aromas that lead to a harmonious, crushed velvet swirl of cassis, black cherry, roasted red meat, warm earth, pipe tobacco and mixed peppercorn flavours. Solid proof you don’t need to spend a fortune for a great glass of wine; you just need to know where to look. Pour it with less expensive cuts of beef cooked low and slow.
Score: 93
TRAVEL MORE
2016 Fazi Battaglia Verdicchio dei Jesi DOC Classico, Marche, Italy (LCBO 24422 $12 in stores and online) The cool thing about wine is it somehow transports you to its place of origin on some level. So take a trip to Italy with each sip of this dry, restrained white with no rough edges or sugary fruit. Hailing from the Marche region on the eastern seaboard of that country, it offers a steely-crisp, linear centre laced with dry-roasted almond, lemon pith, grapefruit and stone and goes marvelously well with fish and seafood. It’s a charming alternative to yet another glass of Pinot Grigio.
Score: 89
SPEND MORE TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS
2015 Beau Bonhomme Organic Red, Jumilla DO, Spain (LCBO 528042 $13.95 in stores and online) An easy way to encourage you to spend more time with friends is to have a bottle of this supremely affable red blend on hand. Even the label with its winking, open-armed stick figure is reminder to engage with others. And its juicy-jammy, slightly off-dry goodness that calls to mind sweet plum and super-ripe raspberry purée edged with black olive, tar and dark chocolate tastes works well with such tapas as chorizo sausage, manchego cheese and Serrano ham. Total crowd-pleaser.
Score: 90