New to Hillside Liquor Store is an Ontario wine, the Chateau des Charmes aligoté. This lovely white wine hails from the Niagara-on-the-Lake grape-growing region of Ontario.
Chateau des Charmes traces its ancestry back to the Alsace region of France, where its founder, Paul Bosc was born. Paul Bosc came to Canada from France in the 1960s, and his vineyard was planted in 1978 in the Niagara region, which has between 180-190 frost-free growing days per year, and perfect soil and climate conditions for grapes.
Chateau des Charmes was one of the first wineries in Canada to plant strictly vinifera grapes that had previously only been grown in Europe. The winery produces a range of red and white table wines as well as icewines, late harvest wines and sparkling wines produced in the methode traditionelle.
Aligoté (Al-lee-go-tay) is a white grape most commonly found in the Burgundy region of France, where it is known as Bourgogne aligoté. It is used to make a still table wine, but is also part of the sparkling wine common to the area known as Cremant de Bourgogne.
Aligoté is also planted in Eastern Europe- Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania and Moldova- and in Washington State, California, Ontario and even in Chile.
Chateau des Charmes Aligoté is an absolutely delicious version of the traditional Burgundian Aligoté.
"Paul Bosc produces tasty versions of Aligoté at Château des Charmes year after year. A consistently delicious white…pure pear, lime and lemon peel aromas lead into zesty flavours showing pineapple, citrus and ginger. As it warms up, the tropical pineapple becomes more distinct. A crisp lemon grass and ginger finish whets the taste buds for food. 89 pts.”
– Gord Stimmell, Toronto Star, January, 2009
– Gord Stimmell, Toronto Star, January, 2009
A delicate but flavourful white wine, this would pair well with seafood such as scallops, halibut, mussels or oysters, or with chicken or salads, or just by itself.
Quantities are limited- this retails at Hillside Liquor Store for $18.90 + bottle deposit!
For more information about Chateau de Charmes, click here:
