Carolyn Evans Hammond finds the five best wines served by the glass in Toronto,
December is the month of holiday cheer, when everyone has someone they want to meet for a drink. For wine lovers, that calls for a truly great glass of wine. But many places get the by-the-glass selection horribly wrong. So here’s your cheat sheet — five of the best wines by the glasses in Toronto, with a sure-bet pairing for each
The wine: 2016 K. Decombes Morgon, Beaujolais, France ($17/ five ounces $10/ three ounces) The food: Beef flank tartare ($17)
The place: Midfield Winebar & Tavern, 1434 Dundas St. W. This exciting find is a cru Beaujolais, one of the most undervalued wine styles in France. Cru Beaujolais hails from any of the 10 top growing areas, or crus, in the region — in this case Morgon. Here, the expression of Morgon delights the senses with earthy-but-elegant flavours of crushed white and pink peppercorn and muddled mixed berries with a touch of black tea. Bright acidity lifts the supple fruit and cleanses the palate between bites of flank tartare on toast. The raw, chopped beef from Penokean Hills Farm in Ontario (which prides itself on raising animals with a stressfree lifestyle) is seasoned with smoked oil, then sprinkled with chives and roasted beech mushrooms, and dotted with lumpfish caviar and mayo made with burnt onions. Fabulous pairing. The wine: 2015 Lucien Muzard & Fils Santenay 1er Cru “Maladière”, Burgundy, France ($26/ five ounces, $16/ three ounces) The food: Venison carpaccio ($16)
The place: Archive 909, 909 Dundas St. W. If you’ve ever wondered why red Burgundy is the Holy Grail of wine for so many people — or are already a card-carrying Burgundy hound — you’ll want to taste this beauty. Made from hand-picked organic and biodynamically grown fruit from 35+ year old vines, the pure Pinot Noir shines pale ruby in the glass and draws you in with feathery scents of coffee and wild berries before gliding like silk over the palate, tasting sunlit and pure. It quietly suggests violets, raspberries and beetroot. Then, it tapers to reveal gentle notes of coffee, cherry and crushed hazelnut on the finish. Goes very well with the red deer venison from Quebec offered on the menu, which comes topped with pickled Ontario blackberries, black truffle shavings from Burgundy, sorrel leafs, sunchoke puree, toasted hazelnuts and extra virgin olive oil.
The wine: 2013 Lunaria Coste di Moro Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOP, Italy ($19/six ounces, $9.50/three ounces) The food: Bone marrow ($18) The place: Harry’s Steak House, 3277 Bloor St. W. This organic and biodynamic red from Lunaria exudes earthymeaty aromas before swathing the palate with a mouthcoating, plush entry that instantly saturates the palate with layers of sultry flavours — black cherry, dried plum, black olive and warm tobacco. The meaty core is shot through with just the right amount of palate-cleansing acidity for the slow-roasted, melt-in-your mouth marrow that comes strewn with chopped chives and pickled red onions, with toasted baguette on the side. What I love about Harry’s, Toronto’s hottest new steak house in Toronto’s west end with a large bar area, is that they will open any bottle on its 200+ bottle wine list and serve it by-the-glass with a commitment to buy two glasses.
The wine: 2016 Westcott Vineyards Estate Chardonnay, VQA Vinemount Ridge, Ontario ($15/5 ounces $27/9 ounces) The food: Ontario burrata ($24) The place: Montecito, 299 Adelaide St. W. Locavores will want to head to Montecito for a glass of this shining example of Chardonnay from Ontario. The wine begins with wispy scents of smoked lemons and orange zest before the beamlike satin entry quickly broadens to reveal mixed citrus and poached pear threaded with Chantilly cream, toasted nut and a touch of burnt sugar. This dry white wine tastes lit from within paired with a bite of the Ontario burrata on grilled Blackbird Bakery sour dough. Delightful. Taste that first. Then, for a more playful array of flavour combinations, nibble away at the salad of radicchio, Bartlett pear, persimmon, toasted hazelnut streusel and poached cranberries with a touch of oil and Niagara Baco Noir balsamic vinegar served with the burrata and bread. With this wine, it all works.
The wine: NV Vitteaut-Alberti Crémant de Bourgogne Brut Rosé, France ($14/four ounces)
The food: Terrine de poisson fumé ($14.95)
The place: Le Select Bistro, 432 Wellington St. W. This delicate, coral-tinted sparkling rosé from Burgundy never disappoints, and is always my go-to wine when I head to this Toronto institution. From the soft peach-raspberry fragrance to the brisk attack of the same laced with notes of sea salt and lemon curd, it offers instant elegance and easy refreshment at a steal of a price. But this wine really glows when it chases a bite of the rich terrine de poisson fume — or smoked fish mousse — spread thickly on the house-baked and grilled focaccia. Whitefish sustainably sourced from Lake Huron is whipped with white wine, shallots and anchovies into the smoothest mousse imaginable then chilled and served in a perfect block — with crunchy bits of toasted grains and seeds on top and a little kohlrabi krout on the side. Decadent.