Time to share your wine finds

It’s time for our ‘Winter reader’ month — your chance to say what you think, and to pass on your discoveries.

This year’s topic is ‘best local wine at the LCBO’. How many are there? Lots, or only a few?

Send me your picks. They should be VQA and not ‘cellared in Canada’ stuff, which is not really local.

Please email me at info@billysbestbottles.com. You could win a copy of my book — ‘Billy’s Best Bottles Wines for 2008.’

I’d like to kick things off with a white recommendation that I think is damn good — Colio 06 Chardonnay.

An everyday drink with lovely Spring day freshness. Lighthearted and very gulpable at any time of the day. And you can’t beat the price. Colio is one of the best locals at crafting everyday priced wines.

You may have to look around for this wine as not all stores have the ’06 vintage (don’t buy the ’05 non-VQA).

weekly wine tip

Go beyond nice. While easy drinking wines provide comfort, it’s the challenging ones that keep us stimulated. Tension is an important emotion in wine, as it is in music.

Red Italian wines have always been deliberately out of balance — bitter and tense, and need a partner to create balance.

When you bring food to the scene, there is a beautiful harmony. You create something more exciting than if you took the nice and safe route.

uncorked

• Colio Estates ’06 VQA Chardonnay, Ontario

• LCBO No.: 432062

• Price: $10.25

Billy Munnelly

info@billysbestbottles.com

Billy Munnelly has been writing about wine for 25 years and is the author of Canada’s largest selling wine book, Billy’s Best Bottles. Sign up for his free monthly e-letter at www.billysbestbottles.com