Celler Frischach ‘Vernatxa’, Garnacha Blanca, Terra Alta, Spain

Hello, good day & you’re welcome! A staycation of the mouth, we welcome colder weather with a mineral-caked, lusty-textured white for all, but specifically lovers of sea urchin, cockles & whelks! Brothers Francesc and Joan Ferré are part of a two century long line of grape farmers, making energetic natural wines in the Terra Alta appellation of Catalonia. Grapes are harvested in two separate picks: the first to immortalize natural acidity, the second to develop more plush and full characteristics. A week of fermentation on the skins locks in an ample texture that can stand up to long nights & even longer dinners. Pale yellow, low-hanging sour white fruits, whole banana tree, chopped fennel, dried quince, citron, aniseed & pearly minerality. Enjoy while revamping your family’s famous fruit cake recipe.

Domaine de la Sarazinière, 'Mâcon-Bussières Blanc’, Chardonnay, Burgundy, France

Today we venture to one of the most undisputedly classic regions for a luscious Burgundian time, fanciful like dancing sugar plums, twirling ice skaters and snowflakes landing on your eyelashes. Helmed by winemakers Philippe and Guillaume, the 10 hectare Sarazinière farm stretches across the famed villages of Bussières, Serrières and Fuissé with a focus on organic agriculture, plot-specific expressions & little intervention in the cellar. Coming from their oldest, un-grafted chardonnay vines, planted in 1926 by the domaine’s first steward, Claude Seigneuret on calcareous clay. A mountingly complex, sharp, stalagmite minerality, yellow-fleshed apple, almond biscotti leesy-ness, lemon rind wrapped apricot, iodine & supple with a lighthearted woodiness bringing us home. Enjoy post afternoon tobogganing, in a dim basement filled with alll your cousins, dartboard thuds in the background, chalk in hand, mere moments from sinking that final ball.

Günther Steinmetz, Pinot Noir, Mosel, Germany

On this the day of the Third Bottle, we take a stunning sleigh ride on over to the Mosel for a real winter wonderland kinda stroll. Winemaker Stefan has been in charge of the Steinmetz estate since 1999 (FUN FACT! He was only 18 years old when he began!), and today farms 12 hectares on an abundance of steep slopes. Devoted to organic viticulture, Stefan is interested in combining tradition and experimentation, while working with minimal intervention in the cellar to create honest expressions that truly TICKLE our tastebuds. Hand-selected, the pinot noir comes from 20 year-old un-grafted vines, and shows a sensationally classic expression of the Mosel in both land and grape. Teeny tiny strawberries, charcoal, cherry coulis, stemmy mint meets tender sage, leather pouch & cedar chopping block. Enjoy with acorn squash soup and reading Anna Karenina, the perfect snowcapped novel.

Therianthropy, 'Passe-tout-grains Nouveau’, Pinot Noir & Gamay, Niagara, Ontario

Ohhh Ontario winters: snow squalls, grey street slush & unmovable streetcars. What could be more romantic? Answer: most things, but especially this beyond charming Ontario stunner grown **just this year, a certified bottling of summer joy! Winemaker David Eiberg works in the emerging growing region of Creemore Hills, continuously bringing high quality and delicious local fair we cannot wait to open. A blend of 50/50 aromatic pinot noir and gushing gamay from the certified organic Laundry Vineyard, in Vinemount Ridge. The pair are co-fermented with 60% whole-clusters to pull juiced-up tannins that lock the berried nature of this wine into place. Picking up roses on your way home, fruit roll-up, shot of raspberry liqueur, silky honeydew chunks, Saint Valentine’s arrow of acidity & red liquorice. Enjoy while having your Kristi Yamaguchi moment on a frozen pond in one of our unpronounceable Ontario hamlets: Balls Falls, Punkeydoodles Corners or Mono anyone?

Olivier Rivière ‘Rayos Uva’, Tempranillo, Garnacha & Graciano, Rioja, Spain

Who needs an angel on top of a tree when you have this divine Rioja to adorn your table, seal your cuffing season selection or enjoy during a break from snow-blowing. A young frenchman in Spain, we bring you winemaker Olivier’s fresh Spanish take on a classic Bourgogne Rouge. The biodynamic fruit is grown in the aromatic-encouraging sandy, gravelly and alluvial soils of Rioja Baja, and composed of regional champions. The unendingly savoury tempranillo, deeply berried garnacha and sweetly spiced graciano give us rose bed, pulpy raspberries, slightly sour cherries, gritty salt, cedars in supple soil, delicate spice blend & pepper grinder crack. Bring to potlucks, buffets & banquets, this beauty can play the holiday feasting field!

Vino Gross, ‘Haloze Blanc’, Furmint, Sauvignon Blanc & Welschriesling, Gorca, Slovenia

Time to shut our eyes on the sleeper-train as we crest over the undulating Haloze Hills of Slovenia. One spectacularly under-the-radar wine region deserves another, don’t you think!? Partners in life and wine Maria and Michael restored their “sleeping beauty” property of steep terraces back in 2011 and have since been producing classy as all heck cuvées, showing their Mediterranean and Alpine influences in spades. The organic blend includes regional faves like the green, spiced furmint (40%), tart, mineral welschriesling (20%), and aromatic and zesty sauvignon blanc (40%) varying in age from 12-65 years, all grown on the region’s famous calcareous clay-marl soils known as opok. Tropically citric, elderflower tonic, pear jellybean, salted butter, gunpowder & sand dunes of minerality. Like a tropical vacation for the Ontario-bound snow bunnies dreaming of where the coconut trees are greener. Enjoy while watching the Women’s Network’s endless stream of low budget holiday films that itch your heart strings juuuuuust right.

Opera 02 Lambrusco, Grasparossa & Salamino, Emilia Romagna, Italy

It’s Lambrusco season? Day? O’clock? Why? Because Lambrusco is good from sun up to sun down, beginning of the year to the very end and every day in-between, but especially TODAY! Opera has rapidly become a benchmark producer in Lambrusco, Italy’s famed sparking red region and family of grapes from Emilia-Romagna. Inspired by the ethos of grower Champagne, their wines are 100% estate fruit with second fermentation happening naturally (and slowly!) creating small, fine and persistent bubbles that lift aromatics and our spirits! Deep violet with all the deep dark blueberry, black cherry and cola good times. Enjoy while building your own snow-jaguars, snow-pineapples, snow-cacti or snow-whales, the packing-snow possibilities are truly endless, and so is your creativity!

Ziniel ‘Sankt Laurent’, St. Laurent, Burgenland, Austria

Like spring peeking at us through curtains of snowy squalls, today we bathe in the marbled, steaming baths of Saint Laurent, not Yves, this statuesque Austrian red even more classically elegant. Spread over 18 hectares, Winemaker Andreas’s focus rests on vineyards guided by minimal intervention, leaving the ample flora and fauna to flourish alongside their crop. St. Laurent is highly aromatic in a way we are utterly obsessed. Here it is grown mainly on loamy-sand soil, meaning the vines have to travel down deep to get water, resulting in lower yields, UPPED concentration & intensified aromatics that sing. Deep breathe in the centre of a blackberry, underripe plum, mom’s pot-roast spices, standing on a warm mossy hill at the edge of a bog earthly warmth, condensed, fine grain tannins, sun through branches, herbs between lawn grass & white rock minerality. A clue for tomorrow you ask? Enjoy while recreating the famous Feast of the Seven Fishes, buona notte and happy hibernating snuggle buds.

Torre Alle Tolfe, ‘Chianti Colli Senesi’, Sangiovese, Tuscany, Italy

Today we fly down for an overdue THAW, and nothing says (polar) bear hug like the warm strength of sangiovese’s grasping paws. A few kilometres from Siena, this rambling Tuscan estate is a certified organic farm including 13 hectares of vines, 15 hectares of olive trees, 20 hectares of grain fields & a surrounding deep wood of protection (how nice!). A month of maceration brings a gorgeously gritty, coffee roastery tannin, crimson and cloves, sharp cherry concentrate, wild purple plums, coriander, cardamom oil & drying tobacco. Enjoy before your holiday pasta making course date night, ravioli, spaghettini & lasagna aficionado-ship awaits you, OH MY!

Kalathas ‘O Zontanos’, Aspro Potamisi, Tinos, Greece

The perfect antidote for a fatigued holiday palette you say? Why the solution is simple, a luscious, concentrated white that was kissed by the Aegean sea, OF COURSE. French-born winemaker Jerôme Binda works his 50-200+ year-old vines (!) on the Aegean island of Tinos (for all you Lindsay Lohan forever fans, he’s right beside Mykonos). The golden and glowing local grape aspro potamisi is from the last pick of the season, called ‘bruléed’ or sun roasted (YUHMMY). Grapes are hand-harvested from centenary, traditional "crawling" vines (picture a giant bird nest made from living vines!) digging into deep granite to make this golden-flecked cuvée. After their light bath in the Greek sun, ‘O Zontanos’ then sees two years of ageing in old oak to become truly remarkable. Quince caramel, cognac, black tea, green figs, scotch broom, granitic streaks & salt flats. Enjoy while re-reading The Iliad, a purring pooch by your side, a fire reflecting and refracting through your half-full, jewel-toned glass.

Vincent Caillé, ‘X Bulles', Melon de Bourgogne & Cot, Loire Valley, France

Come join us by the bubbling pop of turkey stock as we reminisce about the first time we ever drank ‘X Bulles’, now like a glamorous old friend we’d love introduce you to; we think you’ll REALLY like each other. Vincent Caillé is an 8th generation winemaker in Muscadet at the very western edge of the Loire Valley where he thrives, spreading his passion for biodynamics with young growers. Soaring raspberry acidity, pear blossom, rosewater, frozen peach wrapped gauzy bubbles, reigning salinity, jaunty minerality & a touch of balanced sweetness (don’t be scared, it’s dripping in FABULOUSNESS). This wine pairs well with chatting some hot goss during your next aprez ski, pompom topped chapeau and wind-burnt cheeks an alluring must.

Sette, ‘Rosato’, Barbera, Nizza, Italy

And here we gather, on this the last day of our frosted journey, the candles have faded into hard drips, the chilly frenzy has come and gone, and every last one of the birds is most definitely in Florida by now. Shall we always remember these glowing days together, these model, masterful bottles that punctuate our sun-kissed forays and moon-milky nights? How lucky we are to be surrounded but the très classique-ness of it all. We introduce you to Sette’s ‘Rosato’, an herbaceous and savoury, young vine delight that drinks like the perfect light red. From Barbera heaven, aka Asti, Piedmont, winemakers Gino and Gian Luca work to show what natural winemaking can produce in a conventionally dominated landscape. Two days on skins bring this blushing hue and seven months of aging gives time to take a breath. Smoked duck leg meets overgrown rosemary forest, fried sage swept away by red currents & campfire sweater a few days after you’ve returned home. Plop this rosato in the nearest snowbank and enjoy while the auroras overhead do an interpretive dance to the magnetic frequencies that shimmy and shake our wonderfully wobbly worlds.

May the new year bring your dizzying dreams to fruition with plentiful prosperity & uninhibited indulgence in the timelessness of beauty, you regal romantic.

Xoxoxoxo, GW.