Let the WineAlign Critics help you find the Right Wine
for the Right Price, Right Now!
Top Values at the LCBO (October 2021)
Delists at LCBO Create Values That Will Soon Disappear by Steve Thurlow At this time of the year, the LCBO often delists wines that have not been selling well enough, so as to make way for new listings in its stores. Every wine has a sales quota, which if not met, leads to its removal […] More
Napa Valley Wine – Special Report
Grand Crus of Napa Valley By John Szabo, MS This feature was commissioned by Napa Valley Vintners. On Main Street in St. Helena at the northern end of Napa Valley, the scent of wine, and prosperity, is everywhere. You’ll see fashionable boutique after quaint antique shop, bakeries, cafés, restaurants, tasting rooms, gourmet food shops, a […] More
If I Could Buy Only One – September 18th VINTAGES Release
We asked our writers, “If you could buy only one wine from this release, which one would it be and why?” ($35.00, Two Sisters Vineyards) Sara d’Amato – This week I was struck by this effortlessly compelling, home-grown Two Sisters Riesling 2018 with a Mosel-like freshness and depth of flavour. Delicately perfumed with lily and […] More
National Wine Awards of Canada
Discover Canada's best wines! In 2021, 24 judges tasted over 2,200 wines from 260 wineries across the country to identify Canada's top wines.
View Award-Winning WinesThe Exchange
The Exchange is a club that taps into the world of wines beyond retail stores and delivers a curated, mixed case of top quality wines directly to your door. All the wines are 90pts+ and have been carefully chosen by our panel of critics for their quality and value.
View The ExchangeMarket Matcher
Looking to find new export markets for your wines? Looking for new wines to import into your market? Market Matcher connects wineries with importers.
View Market Matcher
The main white grape of Burgundy has become ubiquitous in the wine world, and remains one of the most popular of the "international" grape varieties. Planted all over the globe, from the most southerly regions of New Zealand to Québec's Eastern Townships, the Chardonnay grape itself is relatively neutral, with many of the flavours commonly associated with the grape being derived more from the specific climate and geology or the vinification and aging methods than from any intrinsic aromatic components. In fact, the notes of butter and vanilla, so often associated with chardonnay, are actually derived from oak and a process called malolactic fermentation, rather than from the grape itself. With such a transparent character, it shouldn't be a surprise to see it vinified in many different styles, from the elegant, "flinty" wines of Chablis to rich, buttery Meursaults and New World wines with tropical fruit flavors. Chardonnay is also an important component of many sparkling wines around the world, including Champagne.
