Tasting Notes: Pellegrino Cavallina Grillo/Pinot Grigio 2020 and Centopassi “Giato” Nero d’Avola – Perricone – 2020

These are wines for contemplating – after tasting these two wines from Sicily they helped me focus on my New Year’s goals…..

Pellegrino Cavallina Grillo/Pinot Grigio 2020
This medium body wine has a surprisingly, pleasingly smooth texture, is a blend of Pinot Grigio and Grillo, is well-balanced, there are notes of green apples, pears, melons, and hints of light floral, a little vegetal on the palate with a soft finish.

90 points

Centopassi “Giato” Nero d’Avola – Perricone – 2020

This delicious “unoaked” Sicilian red is made from the native grapes of Nero d’Avola and Perricone, it’s fresh and lively on the palate with red berry fruits wrapped up in luscious acidity.

91 points

#WinesOfSicily #SiciliaDOC #wine #instawine #sicilianwine #winelover #winecountry #winetasting #winepairing #redwine #whitewine #italianwine #wineitaly #cavallina #ilfrappato @cantinepellegrino #siciliawine @siciliadoc_canada #newyearsgoals

2021 MW Exam Questions and Wines Revealed

The Institute of Masters of Wine has just published the questions from the 2021 MW exam, including the list of wines for the practical (tasting) part of the exam.

The complete list of wines can be found here: https://www.mastersofwine.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMW-MW-Exam-2021.pdf  The list also shows the questions from the theory component of the MW exam.

From August 31 to September 3 106 students sat the theory and practical exams in Adelaide, Helsinki, London, Malaga, Napa, Ontario and Singapore. The exam, usually held in June each year, was postponed to September due to the pandemic.

The practical and theory exams form the second stage of the MW study programme. Over four days students had three 12-wine blind practical papers and five theory papers on the subjects of viticulture; vinification and pre-bottling procedures; handling of wines; the business of wine; and contemporary issues.

Those who successfully pass the stage two theory and practical exams will progress to stage three, the research paper, the final stage of the MW study programme.

The first step is the stage one assessment, a one-day exam comprising a 12-wine blind tasting exam in the morning and a theory exam in the afternoon. One hundred and twenty-eight students sat the stage one assessment, which this year was held online on 4 August. Students can only progress to stage two of the MW study programme by successfully passing this assessment.

#TheInstituteofMastersofWine #MW #Mastersofwine #wine #wineeducation #wineresearch #wineexam #mwvintage2020 #winetasting #instawine #winetrade #winenews #somm #vin #vino #sommelier #wein #winelovers

Wine News: Light-to-moderate wine drinking can lower heart attack risk

A recent study published in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Medicine has found that light-to-moderate wine drinking can be beneficial to your health, including those with heart disease.

According to the study, entitled ‘Association of alcohol consumption with morbidity and mortality in patients with cardiovascular disease’, patients with heart disease who drank six grams of alcohol per day (on average) were associated with a 50 % risk reduction of heart attack, stroke, and even death.

Even those who averaged eight grams of alcohol consumption per day would see a 27% reduction in death risk compared with those who did not drink, the study found.

Vinepair states that in the United States, an average pour contains 14 grams of alcohol.

Comprising assessment of over 48,000 patients with heart disease, the research found that, while even increased alcohol consumption up to 62 grams per day was not associated with a heightened risk of heart attack, “non-drinking patients should not be encouraged to take up light drinking because of well-known adverse effects on other health outcomes, such as cancers.”

“Our findings suggest that people with CVD (cardiovascular disease) may not need to stop drinking in order to prevent additional heart attacks, strokes or angina, but that they may wish to consider lowering their weekly alcohol intake,” study co-author Chengyi Ding said, per Reuters.

She did note once again however that “Alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of developing other illnesses.”

Study – https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-021-02040-2

 

#winenews #wine #winelovers #ww #winewednesday #winescience #instawine #winestagram #winetasting #winetime #redwine #whitewine #rosewine #wineinmoderation

The Results are in from the 2021 Concours Mondial de Bruxelles

The results of the 28th Concours Mondial have now been released. Although the pandemic continues and organizing large-scale events remains challenging, the competition has chosen to reinvent itself in the interests of the wine industry, whilst at the same time maintaining its impeccable standards. Over nine days, over 300 international judges took turns to taste and score the wines.

This year’s Concours Mondial de Bruxelles was held in Luxembourg June 17 to 27; there was 10,000 wines entered by 46 producer countries.

The organizers hosted the nine-day tastings with irreproachable professionalism, and fully complying with safety measures. Medals were awarded to wines from 40 different countries. France leads the way for the number of accolades (672), followed by Spain (507), Italy (389) and Portugal (335).

The full list of results is available here:  https://resultats.concoursmondial.com/en/results

In addition to the silver, gold and grand gold medals, the competition also awarded ‘Revelation’ trophies to wines that achieved the highest score in each category.

Revelation White Wine 2021

Welschriesling Reserva

BV vinarstvi a.s. , République tchèque

 

Revelation Red Wine 2021

Cassiopeia Merlot

Wunderlich Borászati Kft., Hongrie

 

Revelation Organic Wine 2021

Ghiaie della Furba

Tenuta di Capezzana, Italy Tuscany

 

Revelation Sweet Wine 2021

Cai Long Lin Icewine Jinding

Liao ning SanHe Wine Co. Ltd, China

 

Revelation Sparkling Wine 2021

Champagne Collard-Picard Archives

Champagne Collard-Picard, France Champagne

#Concours #Mondial #CMB2021 #wine #winetasting #winejudging #winenews #instawine #redwine #whitewine #sparklingwine #wineevent #winewinewine #rosewine #winelover

Great Italian Wines Masterclass – Understanding Indigenous Grape Varieties – Fiano and Primitivo

I attended another amazing Masterclass last night. The seminar was led again by the knowledgeable Sandra Colosimo, a member of the Associazione Italiana Sommeliers.

Sandra explored, in-depth, the Fiano and Primitivo varieties. The seminar not only gave me a deeper appreciation of two of the most important varietals of southern Italy, it also gave me a sense of the history and geography of Campania and Puglia (which I love).

Here are details on the two wines tasted:

  1. 2018 Fiano di Avellino DOCG

Varietal: 100% Fiano (organic)
Vinification/Aging: The wine remains on the fine lees for 12 months in stainless steel; further aging 12 months in the bottle
Alcohol: 13.5%

Tasting Notes:
Straw-yellow in colour, expresses scents of pear, peach, hazelnuts and aromatic herbal notes on the nose; a fine bouquet opens up to a palate of some smokey and spicy flavours with refreshing minerality; good body and excellent balance.  What a wonderful surprise!

  1. 2017 Carvinea Primitivo (Organic) IGTAging/Vinification: 20-day maceration with skins, aged in French oak 9 months,
    with 6 additional months in the bottle.
    Alcohol: 14.5%

Tasting Notes:
Deep ruby in colour; on the nose are pronounced aromas of mulberry, black plum, black cherry, with slight notes of smoke and vanilla; It’s packed with black cherry, mulberry, spices, vanilla, tobacco and dark chocolate flavours, leading to a long finish; It is a well-balanced wine; tannins are present, but are elegant and soft. Beautiful wine

The two wines were beautifully paired with Terroni Mezzo e Mezzo antipasto plate with specialty meats and cheeses: Prosciutto Crudo di Parma DOP, Soppressata Piccante Grana Padano DOP, Fior di Latte Olive verdi di Cerignola Focaccia Barese.

Wonderful Virtual Experience!  #lovepuglia

#italianwine #toronto #Italianwinelover #wineeducation #wine #instawine #winelover #winelovers #sommlife #sommelier  #terroni
#vino #winestagram #wineoclock #winetasting #wineagency  #trueitaliantaste #masterclass #friday #italianfood #italianstyle #italianwinery #italianwinetasting #redwine #whitewine #extraordinaryitaliantaste #Salento #Puglia #iffoodcouldtalk

@italchambers @trueitaliantaste @cavinonawine