Written by Brenda McMillan | 16 February 2011

When in Rhône

Written by Carolyn Evans-Hammond | 09 February 2011

I taste a lot of sock squeezings disguised as wine that sell for way too much dosh but I don’t write them up. Nor do other critics. We tend to focus on what’s good instead. How badly do you really want to read about a $50 bottle of wine that tastes like under-ripe raspberries crushed in someone’s armpit, steeped in black tea for 32 hours, and then strained through a pair of used boxer briefs?

Written by the Tidings Staff | 02 February 2011

For the 4th consecutive year, Tidings' tasting team has been hard at work sampling as many wines and spirits from around the world as possible in an effort to bring you a list of the best of the best. Each year, Tidings hands out the Mav Wine and Spirit Awards to those that best demonstrate each winemaker's goals and visions. The wines and spirits below exemplify what each winery is all about. Now it's your turn. Sit back and enjoy this year’s selection. The tasters were Gurvinder Bhatia, Tony Aspler, Sean Wood, Gilles Bois, Evan Saviolidis, Jonathan Smithe and Harry Hertscheg.

Written by Evan Saviolidis | 17 January 2011

Before boarding a flight for a recent trip to central Portugal, I took stock of what I knew about the country’s food and wine. Port wine, a passing familiarity with the dry reds, salt cod (en masse), linguiça, caldo verde, pork and clams and pastel de nata (fabulous custard tarts) were the items that came readily to mind.

In regard to Portugal’s local wines, a high percentage are made from indigenous grapes. Its location on the western tip of the Iberian Peninsula, an anemic economy in the early 1900s and a military dictatorship which lasted for almost 40 years left Portugal in self-imposed isolation for most of the 20th century. Without outside intervention, vineyards were left to their own devices at a time when other European countries scrambled to plant as many international varietals as possible.

This is not to say that Portuguese wines were completely forgotten. Port and Madeira continued to thrive on the world market during this time. Also, one of the greatest wine marketing successes of the 20th century, the semi sparkling/pink wines known as Mateus and Casal Mendes flourished throughout these turbulent times.