THE SIPSTER'S POCKET GUIDE TO 50 MUST-TRY ONTARIO WINES volume 1 (Touchwood Editions, 2023, 146 pages, ISBN 978-1-77151-421-7, $20 CAD softbound) is by Luke Whittall, wine instructor at Okanagan College and author of a variety of Sipster's pocket guides, and other books dealing with BC wines. Currently, he also has sipsterswinepodcast.ca to check out. The portable pocket guides to Ontario and BC wines (there are three in the BC series for 150 wines) are very approachable in style, zeroing in on experiences, good company, and "where a wine might take your thoughts" or attitudes. He lists fifty of these on the inside French cover, one per wine, ranging from "abrupt" through "friendly" through "vacation" -- even "singalong". It's a good idea to get away from regular tasting notes, as he does. Each wine comes with a photo, and I happened across one of my faves: the 2017 Rose Traditional Methode from Chateau des Charmes. Price ranges are listed for all, and this wine gets "four wine glasses" to indicate $30 - $40. His gloss says the body is light and the sweetness is dry. He suggests pairing with spinach salad, chicken skewers and picnics. There's an excellent index, with subdivisions of the broad categories "activity pairing", "light body to medium to full body", "grapes", "prices", "food pairing", "wine pairing", "wineries", et al. A good book for the bored wine drinker who wants a new outlook on some of the best wines in Ontario. For BC wines, try THE SIPSTER'S POCKET GUIDE TO 50 MUST-TRY BC WINES volumes 1-3 (Touchwood Editions, 146 pages apiece, $20 CAD each, softbound. Quality/Price Rating: 89, by Dean Tudor of Gothic Epicures Writing.
Dean Tudor, Prof Emeritus T'karonto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson) School of Journalism
Treasurer of Wine Writers' Circle of Canada http://www.deantudor.comhttp://gothicepicures.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/gothicepicures
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