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Dec 5, 2024 | 
winealign.com | John Szabo |Megha Jandhyala |Michael Godel
By John Szabo, MS, with notes from David Lawrason, Megha Jandhyala and Michael GodelAnnual Fizz Guide 2024: Flat BubblesBy John Szabo MS, with notes from David Lawrason, Michael Godel and Megha JandhyalaIt’s Fizz Guide time! So, what’s new this year? On the one hand, this was the largest WineAlign Annual Fizz Guide tasting ever conducted at, with an enamel-stripping just-shy-of 150 bottles of bubbly submitted for consideration.
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Dec 3, 2024 | 
winealign.com | John Szabo
By John Szabo, MSPure, pine-scented alpine air and bright sunlight greets me on a warm July afternoon as I step off the train in Bolzano. Or should I say Bozen?
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Nov 26, 2024 | 
winealign.com | John Szabo
By John Szabo, MSThe biennial Vievinum wine fair in Vienna is the largest gathering of Austrian wine producers from across the country. Wine writers, buyers and sommeliers from home and abroad descend on the city for a weekend of masterclasses, meetings and of course tastings, held in the magnificent Hofburg Palace in the heart of the city.
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Nov 26, 2024 | 
winealign.com | John Szabo |Sara d’Amato |Michael Godel
By John Szabo, MS, with notes from David Lawrason, Sara d’Amato and Michael GodelThis feature was commissioned by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. The WineAlign Crü sat down recently for our annual review of the Austrian wines currently available in the Ontario market, including LCBO Vintages and Destination Collection wines, as well as consignment (private import) wines. It was an excellent tasting. The notion of value repeatedly crept into my reviews. And I’m sorry for that. I’ll explain why.
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Nov 4, 2024 | 
winealign.com | John Szabo
By John Szabo, MSCampania is a region of singular beauty in the southern Italian Peninsula. It includes the Phlegraean Islands, Ischia, Procida, Vivara and Nisida, and the jewel, Capri, under its administrative umbrella. With nearly 6 million inhabitants, it is Italy’s 3rd most populous, and, as anyone who has travelled in its capital city of Naples would know, the most densely populated region in the country.
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Oct 25, 2024 | 
winealign.com | John Szabo
By John Szabo, MSLast week representatives from 18 of Italy’s leading estates stopped in Toronto to pour their latest offerings. The Istituto Grandi Marchi, a private association of high profile, family-owned wineries representing Italy from the Dolomites to Sicily, was created in 2004 with the aim of promoting premium Italian wine on a global scale. A seated masterclass was followed by a walk-around tasting.
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Aug 8, 2024 | 
decanter.com | John Szabo
In partnership with Wines of HungaryHungary may no longer have active volcanoes, but it does have a spectacular volcanic history, which continues to shape its wines to this day. The Pannonian Basin, nestled in the Carpathian Mountains, was an area of intense volcanic activity from shortly after the time of the dinosaurs to just a few million years ago – and you don’t need to travel far in Hungary to find volcanic terroir.
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Jul 8, 2024 | 
winealign.com | John Szabo
By John Szabo, MSThis past May, Volcanic Wines International (VWI) and Wine & Spirits Magazine collaborated on the world’s first Volcanic Wine Awards, set to be an annual competition to recognize the top wines from volcanic wine regions around the world.
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Mar 19, 2024 | 
winealign.com | John Szabo |Megha Jandhyala
The Anxiety of Food and Wine Pairing; Opus One Special ReleaseBy John Szabo MS, with notes from Michael Godel and Megha JandhyalaThe Tyranny of Food and WineHow much do you fuss about wine and food matching? I’m guessing not very much. You probably think it’s something you should think about, that you should be consulting with, say, an expert wine friend before opening a special bottle, lest it be spoiled by the wrong food.
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Mar 5, 2024 | 
winealign.com | John Szabo |David Lawrason |Michael Godel |Megha Jandhyala
Exclusive Interview with Peripatetic Winemaker Paul Hobbs; Celebrate the Best of Ontario at Cuvée in Niagara FallsBy John Szabo MS, with notes from Sara d’Amato, David Lawrason, Michael Godel and Megha JandhyalaIn this report: March 2 Vintages release highlights, including a Croatian delight with rare quintuple alignment, top Tuscan wines from women winemakers (the theme this week is Italian women in wine), and triple-aligned assyrtiko from Central Greece and white Bordeaux.
