This summer we had both, when our trip to British Columbia brought us the Larch Hills Winery in the Salmon Arm area. Upon discovering at our hotel that the Okanagan’s northernmost vineyards were only a few minutes’ drive away, we headed out with GPS in hand.

A winding, switch-back road took us to the top of a mountain, where both a vineyard and a spectacular view awaited.

Larch Hills specializes (for obvious reasons) in cool-climate viticulture. We tasted several of the winemaker’s offerings, and found, to our surprise, that our favourite was made from a seldom-heard-of grape variety called Madeleine Angevine.

A French grape that produces wines with Germanic style, it impressed with a full-on floral nose that reminded us of a bouquet of flowers…and a nicely balanced body and flavor that complemented that impression.

Inspired by our discovery, we decided on our return to Regina to continue our summertime wine exploration by looking for other unfamiliar varieties.

There are many single-varietal wines that are relatively new to consumers, such as Chenin Blancs and Argentinian Malbecs, but we wanted to find varietals we’d never even heard of.

There’s no shortage of those. Worldwide, thousands of varieties of grapes are used to make wine. More than 60 varieties are grown in the Okanagan alone (though only about 20 of those receive the bulk of the attention).

Many unfamiliar wine grapes are varieties of Vitis labrusca or Vitis aestivalis, native to North America, rather than the Vitis vinifera of European fame. Concord grapes are an example of labrusca (and yes, Concord grapes are used to make wine). At a Missouri winery a few years ago we tasted Norton, a variety of Vitis aestivalis that is the cornerstone of that state’s wine industry (and the state’s official grape).  Other less-familiar grape varieties may be hybrids of better-known varietals, or a cross between European and North American ones.

One easy way to find unfamiliar varieties is to look at wines from emerging wine-exporting areas such as Uruguay or Hungary, whose local vinifera grapes are just showing up on store shelves.

Or you can just wander through the liquor store reading labels, looking for grape names you don’t recognize. Which is how we found our first two choices: a Greek Agiorgitiko and an Italian Negroamaro.

Agiorgitiko Boutari

Agiorgitiko is an important red grape in Greece, sometimes referred to “the noble red grape.” We found this wine to be earthy and leathery on the nose and very smooth in the mouth, with lots of berry and a bit of spice (although not Shiraz-level). It was also very reasonably priced for its quality. Boutari, founded in 1879, has wineries all over Greece, and seeks to preserve and promote Greek varietals, shipping them all over the world…much to our benefit!

Mezzomondo Negroamaro Salento

“Negroamaro” means “black bitter” in Latin. A grape hailing from the “heel” of Italy, it’s often blended. On its own, as we found it, it is well-rounded, without a lot of tannin, but perhaps better as an accompaniment to food than for sipping on its own.

Having taken a hit-or-miss approach for our first two unfamiliar wines, we next asked a couple of experts, who pointed us to two more wines, one from Italy, one from France.

Colli di Luni Vermentino

Vermentino, a white grape varietal grown on the island of Sardinia, off the coast of Italy, as well as in southern France, is being used for more and more New World wines. It was by far our favorite of our we’ve-never-heard-of-these-before quartet, light and fruity (peach and apricot), with an excellent balance of acid and sugar and delightful honey characteristics.

Domaine de Pellehaut

We hit the jackpot with this wine, which blends six wines (Ugni Blanc, Colombard, Gros Manseng, Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Folle Blanche), four of which were mostly unfamiliar to us.

Ugni Blanc is widely planted in France and, under the name St-Emilion, is the predominate grape in cognac. Gros Manseng is grown almost entirely in southwest France and is also most often part of a blend. As for Colombard, while its plantings are declining in France, it is increasing in popularity in California and South Africa.

On the nose, we detected pear; in the mouth, green apple, giving it a kind of “sharpness” on the palette.

“There are more wines in heaven and earth…than are dreamt of in your philosophy,” Shakespeare famously wrote.

Or would have, had he been a wine writer.

Margaret Anne and Edward Willett drink wine, buy wine, taste wine, write about wine, conduct wine tastings, belong to three different wine clubs, and have more corkscrews than they can count.

Our readers recommend…

Dr. Alice Goodfellow

E&E Black Pepper Shiraz

We first tried E&E Black Pepper Shiraz at the International Wine and Food Festival at the Banff Springs Hotel. When we discovered that the Still was sold out at the on-site wine store we decided to try the Sparkling. It was our first sparkling red and it remains our favourite. Various vintages continue to deliver a complex dark red/purple wine full of ripe blackberry, coffee, dark chocolate and spice. It’s a splurge wine, but well worth it.

Dr. Alice Goodfellow is a retired paediatrician who practiced in Regina during the 1950s and early 1960s. She is a long-time wine enthusiast, belonging to a number of local wine societies.

Robert Ursan

Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio Valdadige

Some people think that Pinot Grigio wines are too mass-produced and a little tasteless. (I’ve heard them described as the vodka of wines.) And then you taste something as wonderful as the Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio Valdadige, and everything changes. This is a great crisp wine, with excellent tang and lovely hints of citrus and quince. (Which, oddly, rhymes.) It’s a little pricier than most Pinot Grigio, but the flavour and complement it brings to so many foods makes this well worth it. I love Italian wine. I love big bold flavours. For a white wine, this is perfect.

Robert Ursan, a composer, performer, music teacher and director, is Music Director for Do It With Class Young People’s Theatre Co. and co-Artistic Director of The Golden Apple Theatre.

Gerry Bezaire

Vina Maipo Gran Devocion Carmenere/Syrah 2008

“Great Devotion” is what I tasted when I happened upon this blend from Chile. The soft tannins of the Carmenere embrace the peppery spice of the Syrah to produce a full, round, deep, dark, sensuous glass for your sipping pleasure. This wine is bold enough to pair nicely with the most savory of foods, red meats and lively cheeses, yet friendly enough to drink on its own.  I’m not sure what percentage of each grape is used, but they got it right; and priced under $20, it’s a bargain.

Gerry Bezaire is a New Home Specialist employed by Boychuk Homes in Saskatoon and a food and wine enthusiast.

Case in point: my editorship of Fine Lifestyles Regina, Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon, Fine Weddings Regina and Fine Homes Regina.

I wrote for the first two issues of Fine Lifestyles Regina, but just a story in each. The offer to edit came along in the summer of 2009, and since then I’ve overseen the writing of five issues of FLR, and two each of FLS, FWR and FHR. But when I started editing, there was only one magazine: with the others coming on-stream, and more in the works, the publishers decided they needed a fulltime editor, and I’ve mentioned more than once I’m not particularly interested (as in, not really at all) in a regular fulltime job after 17 years as a fulltime freelancer. And so the current issues will be the last I’m editing. The new editor is Thom Barker, and I think he’s going to do a great job.

I’m not severing my connection with the magazines, since I’ll continue to do as much writing for them as I’m offered, and The Willetts on Wine, the wine column I started with my wife, will run at least in the winter issue and I hope beyond that (though no guarantees). But my brief tenure as their editors is officially over.

On the other hand, the day after the new editor was officially announced, I got confirmation that I’ll be taking on another but very different and substantial bit of work on a book. Like I said, the freelance life is one of ups and downs…I’ll post more information on that later, when it’s all official.

***

It’s Canada Day as we write this, and we’re feeling patriotic. Today’s Rider game is even a classic East-versus-West match tailor-made to resonate with the Canadian psyche.

This is a wine column, not a sports column, but that East-versus-West dynamic can be found in the world of Canadian wines, as well…and here in Saskatchewan, we’re right in the middle of it.

Grapes and wine make an early appearance in Canadian history. What we call Newfoundland Leif Ericsson named Vineland way back in 1001 A.D., after the grapes reportedly discovered by his foster father, a German (and therefore very familiar with viticulture), who wandered away from camp one day and returned, delighted, with the fruit in hand.

Half a millennium later, on his second visit to New France in 1535, Jacques Cartier found wild grapes growing in abundance on a large island in the St. Lawrence, first named Île de Bascuz (after Bacchus, the god of wine), later renamed Île d’Orléans. Five kilometres east of Quebec City, the island was home to one of the first French settlements.

A couple of centuries later, retired German soldier Johann Schiller, who had wine-making experience in the Rhine valley, started growing and fermenting early American hybrids in what is now Mississauga. Today he is the acknowledged father of the Canadian wine industry and the famous Niagara Peninsula wine region.

The Okanagan didn’t get into the act for another half a century. In the 1860s, the Oblate Fathers began growing grapes at their mission just south of Kelowna. The farmers that came later, though, were mostly interested in fruit orchards; there wasn’t a commercial grape-growing venture in the region until 1907 (in Salmon Arm) and the first commercial winery, Calona, didn’t open until the 1930s.

Both the Niagara Peninsula and the Okanagan are at the same range of latitude as the Old World’s major wine-producing regions. Ontario spans an area that is the same as Southern France’s Languedoc, Spain’s Rioja and Italy’s Chianti Classico regions. The mitigating effect of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie allow for the growing of wine-quality grapes, reflecting light to shore and storing summer’s heat as the land cools during the winter months.

In contrast, in British Columbia there is much lower humidity, producing desert extremes of heat and cold day by day; there are also more hours of sunlight than in southern Ontario, a plus for ripening grapes. (Although most of the wine available to us in Saskatchewan comes from the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys, wines are also produced in the Fraser Valley, on Vancouver Island and in the newest designated area, the Gulf Islands.)

B.C.’s wine industry, somewhat younger than Ontario’s, originally used more French hybrid grapes as opposed to native North American varieties (although this has now dramatically changed).

When you look for Canadian wines in Saskatchewan’s SLGA stores, you’ll notice that the Ontario selection is rather thin. The shelves are full of the inexpensive large-bottle wines and the easy-to-reach-for insert-name-of-your-favourite-golf-or-TV-star brands, but look past those and the flashy ice wines and you’ll find that the Niagara wineries that led the estate winery revitalisation of Canada’s industry, Inniskillin, Pelee Island and Henry of Pelham, are mostly/only represented by their entry-level wines, which really isn’t fair to these great producers—or the public!

In the new private stores we do see the well-established Cave Springs, known for its Riesling and Chardonnay (and its famous restaurant, On the Twenty). An exciting alternative choice is Tawse, a family-owned winery that’s a relative newcomer on the Niagara scene, founded in 2001. Give their Misek Vineyard and Echoes Rieslings a try.

Look to the west, though, and the selection expands. From B.C. you can find not only entry-level wines (such as the very good entry-level-priced Pinot Noir from Ganton and Larson’s Prospect Winery, which we have served on a number of occasions) but more mid- and premium-priced wines.

So which way should you turn for Canadian wine—east, or west? What to drink and taste?

Our answer is always, simply, “Whatever is good!” But that’s not very helpful, so…

In broad terms, we’d say go west for reds and east for whites, but both Niagara and the Okanagan are cool-climate viticulture areas which produce wines with high acidity and natural aging potential. Niagara generally produces lighter, fruiter wines, and the Okanagan, benefitting from greater extremes in temperature, offers full-bodied, highly flavoured wines with good acidity, comparable to the wines of the Rhine.

“East is east, and west is west, and never the twain shall meet,” Rudyard Kipling famously wrote, but in the case of Canadian wines, he was wrong. They meet in Saskatchewan.

So take your pick! With the ever-increasing quantity and quality of wines available here in the true North, strong and free, you really can’t go wrong.

Margaret Anne and Edward Willett drink wine, buy wine, taste wine, write about wine, conduct wine tastings, belong to three different wine clubs, and have more corkscrews than they can count.

Like to see your wine recommendation in a future Fine Lifestyles Regina? Contact the Willetts on Wine at ewillett@sasktel.net.

***

Our readers recommend…

Garth Huber

2004 Nakad Rouge, Bekaa Valley

I always like to keep my eye out for something unusual when I am browsing through a wine shop. The wine may be either an uncommon varietal, or from an unusual growing area, or both. Sometimes I might like the wine and sometimes I might not, but it is an inexpensive and fun way to broaden one’s horizons. And so my eye was attracted to a bottle of red wine from Lebanon sitting on the shelves of Willow Park Wines & Spirits: “Nakad Rouge, 2004, Bekaa Valley.” In addition to coming from an unusual area, it is also an uncommon blend of cinsault and carignan grape varieties combined with cabernet sauvignon. The wine is fruity and of moderate body. The general consensus from my friends was that it went well with our potluck dinner, being one of the favourites of the evening. Recently the Bekaa Valley has been more known for armed conflict than winemaking, so it is definitely worth a try.

Garth Huber is a Physics Professor at the University of Regina, and is on the local executive of the Society for Americas’ Wines. He has no formal wine training, but enjoys trying many different wines and learning from the experience.

Deana Pageot

2007 Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel

Labels often grab my attention as I go down the aisles in a wine store, the labels grab my attention, and that was certainly the case the Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel. I was pleasantly surprised the first time I tasted this wine. The nose is very strong of black cherries, the color is  dark red to black, and the flavors are of black cherries and peppercorn that lingers on the palate. I’m not a professional wine taster, but I do enjoy great red wines such as the Gnarly Head. I have recommended this particular Zin to many people. It pairs so well with a variety of dishes: rack of lamb, prime rib, pizza, ribs, chili, Thai food and aged cheeses. Besides that, it is a yummy wine to drink on its own.

Deana Pageot is a retired school teacher who is presently teaching English as a second language to immigrants and refugees at The Open Door Society and also does some contract work for the department of education at the University of Regina. For the past 20-plus years, she has served on the board of The Society for Americas’ Wines, learning about wine and working with many chefs in Regina planning wine-and-food pairings.

Derryl Murphy

2008 Cono Sur Organic Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenere

I’m primarily a single malt fan, but I do have a growing collection of wines in my cellar. Instead of one of those more expensive wines, though, it makes sense to single out a less costly bottle that I’ve enjoyed several times recently. The 2008 Cono Sur is a Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmanere blend from Chile, from organically grown grapes, and is surprisingly subtle without the overload on tannins I find many cheap wines hold. Do seek it out.

Derryl Murphy writes science fiction and fantasy in Saskatoon. His next novel, out in 2011 from ChiZine Publications, will be Napier’s Bones.

***

When you go into the liquor store, you’re faced with a bewildering selection of wines. So many bottles, so many possibilities. How do you choose a good one?

You could judge the wine by its label, of course, and many do. Which is why wineries try so hard (sometimes a little too hard, if you ask us: Fat Bastard, anyone?) to come up with unique names for their wines, and labels that will stand out on the shelf.

Still, you can put any old plonk in a fancy bottle with a beautiful label, and the wine will still be bad. So how do you get beyond appearances and figure out what to drink when you yourself haven’t tasted a wine?

If you’re knowledgeable enough, you probably already have some idea of what to expect from a given bottle based on its country of origin, the varietal, and the reputation of the winery. But even that can be a moving target as, vintage to vintage, grape-growing conditions vary.

What you really need is advice. And that’s where wine-rating systems come in…

…but guess what? There’s more than one of those, too. Whose ratings do you trust?

Putting the systems to the test

The best way to find out is to take a wine that you already know well, and love, and compare your tasting of it to the reviewers’ take. (Or, alternatively, you could use a wine that you loathe, but it seems a bit masochistic to drink a wine you really hate just to find out if the wine reviewers hate it, too!).

With that in mind, we thought it would be interesting to look at various systems with respect to one of our go-to family dinner wines, Wyndham Shiraz Bin 555.

One rating system you’ll see everywhere is the 100-point system made popular by guru Robert Parker of The Wine Advocate. Similar systems are used by other publications, such Wine Spectator. Scores in this point system are frequently displayed in liquor stores to help you make an informed decision…or at least to encourage you to buy certain wines!

Introduced by Parker in 1978, the strength of these 100-point systems lies in the universal understanding of what a high percentage means. (Although, ironically, Robert Parker never rates a wine below 50 points, so is it really a 100-point system, or…?)

Our Wyndham Shiraz Bin 555 (at least the 2005 vintage) was rated 88/100 by Wine Spectator and, by way of comparison, 91/100 by Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine (um, who?).

But when was the last time you saw a wine rated 23, or even 61? In fact, you never seem to see wines rated below 80…which makes the 100-point system more like a 20-point system.

That being the case, why not use a 20-point system?

The U.C. Davis system

That’s what we usually use when we rate wines ourselves. The one we like was developed by the University of California Davis, the hot-bed of viticultural study and research. It’s been around for a long time: it was established in 1959 to give the university a way to rate the large number of experimental wines produced there.

The simple and straightforward U.C. Davis system allows you to rate the wine based on 10 basic characteristics: appearance, colour, aroma and bouquet, volatile acidity, total acidity, sweetness/sugar, body, flavour, astringency and general quality. A rating of 17 to 20 indicates a wine of outstanding characteristics having no defects; 13 to 16 indicates a standard wine with neither outstanding character or defect; nine to 12 indicates a wine of commercial acceptability with noticeable defects, five to eight indicates a wine below commercial acceptability, and one to five would mean a completely spoiled wine.

Putting our standby wine to the U.C. Davis test gives us a score of 16—right at the top of “a standard wine with neither outstanding character or defect,” which sounds just about right.

There are other rating systems out there as well, all of which can help you choose a good bottle of wine—especially if you put them to the test and find the ones where the assigned ratings match up to your personal taste.

Ultimately, though, all you really need is a two-point system: either you will buy the wine again, or you won’t.

When it comes to the Wyndham Shiraz Bin 555, that one’s easy: yes, we will!

Our readers recommend…

Neil McClughan

Pirramimma Petit Verdot

A favourite wine? What if I don’t have one? Life is too short to limit your wine experience to a handful of wines. For reds, I tend to gravitate to bigger, bolder wines, especially those that are unique in some way or from smaller boutique producers. One example is Pirramimma from the McLaren Vale region of Australia, made from 100-percent Petit Verdot. Petit Verdot is one of the five Bordeaux classic red grapes, though it is seldom used in Bordeaux anymore since it is extremely late-ripening and often subject to frost. However, in Australia it thrives. The Pirramimma Petit Verdot is a huge wine and can be quite overpowering when opened. Give it a few minutes in the glass to breathe, and it will change immensely. It’s great with stronger cheeses or with rich-flavoured braised meats.

Ellen McClughan

Prosecco Di Conegliano

I was introduced to Prosecco 18 years ago and loved it! It is great to see North America picking up on the European trend of this refreshing light sparkling (frizzante) wine with biscuit-like notes. As sparkling wines go, Italian Proseccos range from very dry to slightly sweet, usually with small persistent bubbles. The cheaper ones can be a bit harsher. It is a great aperitif and is wonderful for any occasion, with any food. Prosecco is also great for making Bellini cocktails.  The name is derived from the Veneto-region Italian village where the grape is believed to have originated. One great example available at SLGA stores is Prosecco Di Conegliano by Canella. A regular staple in our cellar as is Villa di Maser Prosecco, available through the Saskatchewan Opimian Wine Society.

Ellen and Neil McClughan (Level 2 Certificate from the International Sommelier Guild) are past Opimian Society representatives for South Saskatchewan. Ellen is a Systems Administrator and Neil is a co-owner of Tice Consulting Inc., a Business and Strategic IT Management Consulting firm. They love gourmet food, meeting fellow wine lovers, and practicing wine sampling as often as possible.

Sharon Scott

Divinus 2005

Aglianico del Vulture DOC

Recently, my partner Brad chose Divinus for me for a blind tasting at home—what a choice! I was intrigued by the lush, deep garnet colour and aromas of chocolate, leather and tobacco. Smooth and dense, the taste was equally intriguing, with flavours of dark fruit, sour cherry, cocoa, vanilla and spice. I was almost certain this was a blend. But in fact, Divinus is a varietal, produced from Italian aglianico (ah-LEE-AH-nee-koe) grapes. I enjoyed it on its own, but I wouldn’t hesitate to serve Divinus with red-meat dishes, cheeses and more. You can find this divine wine at Saskatoon’s new private wine shop, Cava Wines & Spirits (at River Landing near the Farmer’s Market).

Sharon is an enthusiast and student of wine and a communications professional at the University of Saskatchewan.

***

It seems like cooking dinner these days is a high-wire balancing act. You’re expected to perfectly balance protein, veggies and carbohydrates while also serving up fresh (preferably local) ingredients, delectable tastes, and tantalizing textures.

Throw in the expectation of a perfect wine match, and the whole act may end in disaster (there’s no safety net for dinner-party hosts!).

If your personal knowledge of wine is limited to the fact that some of it is red and some of it is white, then maybe it’s time you got some expert advice.

There are lots of wine reference books, but one of our favorites is Harmony on the Plate by Shari Darling (no, really, that’s her name!). Her advice can be summed up by two basic tips, either of which can lead to an excellent food/wine match: 1) match like flavours with like (but make sure the wine’s flavor characteristics are stronger than the food’s), or 2) when in doubt, remember that opposites attract.

Sometimes, though, you don’t have the time or energy to worry about the perfect match. When we feel that way, we reach for one of our reliable standbys. If we’re in the mood for a white, that’s likely to be a Viognier. The floral aromas and fruity peach and apricot flavors marry well with almost any food, and Viogniers are much easier to find than they once were. Our go-to choice? The Clay Station Viognier from the Lodi foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada.

On the lighter end, check out Rieslings. Their crisp taste and light body make them good matches with a variety of foods, from fish to fowl to smoked pork. They can even go well with strongly flavored and scented spicy foods with lots of acid and heat.

While you can find Rieslings from Australia, the U.S. and Canada, start with wines from the country most famous for the variety, Germany.  Even if you find their wines too sweet for your taste when drunk alone, you may find they’re just the thing to match with food.

For a red, we more and more often turn to the Spanish section of the liquor store. Many Spanish wines feature a great balance of fruit and earthiness that goes well with the rich, flavorful cuts of meat we place on our plates today. You’ll find many of the vintners have already aged the wine for you, so that you can pick up a 2001 vintage right off the shelf. The Marqués de Cáceres reds, from Crianza to Reserva to Gran Reserva, are ready to go when you are.

With the festive season approaching, the need to find a great wine to match great food will grow. Surely, with all the varied flavours at the Christmas table—especially that scrumptious turkey!—a big Chardonnay or maybe one of those Rieslings we just recommended would be the way to go?

Our advice? Forget everything we just said. Holiday flavours are so complex that matching them is a terrific challenge. Many a fine bottle of wine has crashed and burned alongside our turkey or ham dinners.

But don’t give up! There is a grape that offers a way out of the holiday wine-matching dilemma: the finicky, hard-to-produce heartbreak grape known as Pinot Noir. The challenge here is finding a Pinot that tastes like it’s worth the money.

Here are two choices to consider, both fruit-forward New World-style wines: Greg Norman’s Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara, California, and the Prospect Pinot from the Okanagan. As a bonus, both will also go great with salmon if you’re planning a non-traditional Christmas dinner.

Right after Christmas, of course, comes New Year’s. Champagne, Cava, Sekt…whatever you call it, sparkling wine is a tradition well worth keeping as the old year gives way to the new. Although our recommendation is French, it’s not Champagne: it’s the Saint Odile Cremant from Alsace. Not as hard on the holiday-depleted wallet, and with many more nuances of toasty yeast and fresh lemon than its counterparts at this price point can boast.

Try it! And not just on its own: its fizzy freshness effectively counters the typically salty seasoning of New Year’s appetizers. It even goes with salt and vinegar potato chips!

You don’t have to spend a fortune to get your high-wire food-and-wine act together, at the holidays or any other time. There’s more wonderful wine available in Regina than ever before, something for every taste, every budget—and every recipe you attempt.

And with every issue of Fine Lifestyles Regina, we’ll be here to point you toward more of it.

Cheers!

Edward and Margaret Anne Willett drink wine, buy wine, taste wine, write about wine, conduct wine tastings, belong to three different wine clubs, and have more corkscrews than they can count.

Our readers recommend…

Leah McDonald

Terre Dei Volsci Velletri Rosso Riserva

A crackling fire, a good book and a glass of wine make Regina’s cold winter nights enjoyable. Terre Dei Volsci Velletri Rosso Riserva is an Italian blend of Cesanese, Sangiovese, Montepulciano and Merlot grapes. It has a rich, dark colour, with complex tastes and a good nose (more Merlot than anything else.) Good by itself, it also complements a roast, steaks, lasagne, or spaghetti with a rich red sauce. Regina’s new Willow Park Wines & Spirits will special-order it from Alberta.

Leah McDonald is a Regina schoolteacher and past president of the German Wine Society.

Charles Eisbrenner

Ex Nihilo Riesling

The Okanagan creates great wines! Two Okanagan Rieslings won gold medals at recent Riesling Du Monde competitions. The judges’ comments: “Beautiful colour, rich aromas and superb complexity, a Riesling of pleasure!” Even more of a pleasure: you can actually purchase one of these winners, the Ex Nihilo 2007 Riesling, here in Saskatchewan. This fall, I tasted the 2006 and 2007 vintages at the Ex Nihilo Winery. I preferred the 2006; the 2007 needs more time in the bottle.

Charles Eisbrenner is a Regina IT consultant, gourmet cook, and passionate oenophile.

I recommend pages 124 and 125, which is where you’ll find the new wine column my wife and I are co-writing, “The Willetts on Wine.”

I’m also going to be editing the new sister publication, Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon, launching this spring.

(As we approach the release of the next issue, I’ll post “The Willetts on Wine” and my cover-story interview with ex-NHL player Mike Sillinger on this blog, as well.)