This week’s exciting Capital Wine news is that we’ve launched our Shopify website for the Byward Wine Market and we’re going to begin doing custom mixed cases for pickup or delivery within Ottawa!

The Byward Wine Market inside LOLLO at 60 George St.

We’d love to have you into the shop for a personalized wine shopping experience, but if you’re too busy to make it down to the market or you’re continuing self isolation, we’ve got your back and will begin delivering your own custom mixed cases around Ottawa! Because loading all the 160+ wines that we currently carry in the shop onto the website along with tasting notes is going to be a bit of a job, we’re hoping you’ll be patient with us as we upload them in the coming week or two. But we’re starting with a few thoughtfully selected mixed cases to get things rolling. These are all in limited quantities, so first come first served!

We’re calling them our DRINK GOOD WINE packs. And if you’re interested in one, just follow these links to the Byward Wine Market website and you can purchase online and choose pick up or delivery. Legally, each order of wine needs to be made with a food item, so we’re including our recommended snack pairings listed in the links!

DRINK GOOD WINE Market Pack

To begin (the back to school week) we have our Market Pack - This will be our ever-changing mix of best selling wines at the moment. When this mix is done we will change it up again. Our inaugural Market Pack is all about contrasting styles: we have a Champagne Method sparkling Cava Reserva from Giro Ribot in Penedes, Spain as well as a Method Ancestral sparkling rosé called X-Bulles from Vincent Caille in the Loire Valley. There’s a Torrontes Riesling blend from Bodega Amalaya high up in northern Argentina’s Calchaqui Valley in the Salta region. A crisp, fresh floral wine from one of the highest altitude regions in the world.

That plays nicely against the Tawse Chardonnay, a rich and minerally wine from Ontario that mimics Burgundy in texture elegance. Lastly, there’s a Gamay Noir from Thomas Bachelder in Ontario along with the ‘Old Vine Red’ Zinfandel blend from Marietta Cellars in California. The Gamay has all the hallmarks of a light, fresh, and complex Cru Beaujolais and the Old Vine Red is a big California wine, but one that hearkens back to old school winemaking. It’s not overripe and sweet, it’s dry, a bit earthy, foresty and brambly…what Zinfandel used to taste like! This pack goes for $150 + HST.

DRINK GOOD WINE from BURGUNDY

We're as guilty as anyone of being distracted by the endless amount of cool new wines, made in avant-garde ways, from unexpected places, and can often forget about the classics that are classic for a reason. Burgundy is the undisputed motherland of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and drinking good Burgundy is just such a luxury that always brings a smile to our faces. So we’re sharing that luxury and smiles with you in this mix case of some favourite bottles from all around the Cote d’Or.

This pack includes the Bourgogne Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Maison Champy. The Chardonnay comes mostly from Puligny, Meursault, and Rully, while the Pinot is a classic blend of vineyard parcels all over Burgundy. Champy is the oldest winery in Burgundy, having started in 1720—they’re celebrating their 300th anniversary this year! And they are both perfectly classic expressions of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the house who has been at it the longest…so they know a little something about how those grapes work. There’s also organic chardonnays from Dominique Cornin in Saint-Veran and Joseph Burrier in the Mâconnais. These two bottles are each a minerality workshop in their own right. They remind us with every sip why Burgundy is, and always will be ground zero for Chardonnay. And to top off the 6pack we’ve included a great Pinots from superstar Frederic Magnien has his Cote de Nuits Villages vineyard ‘Les Perrieres’, as well as a 1er Cru Rully from Domaine Jaeger-Defaix. A really nice mix with some representation from Cote du Nuits, Cote de Beaune, Cote Challonaise, and the Mâconnais. $300 + HST including a nice bag of house made LOLLO popcorn.

DRINK GOOD ORANGE WINE

Orange wines are all the rage these days, but because they’re made in smaller quantities usually by smaller producers and as a result are harder to find than most styles of wine. So while we don’t have tons of orange wines at the shop, we do have 2 really good ones. If you’re looking to explore what ’skin contact’ wines are all about, or already love them and looking for more, this will fit the bill perfectly.

This convenient little 2 pack includes Le Soula’s ‘Maceration de Soula’ from the Fenouillèdes mountains which are the foothills of the Pyrenees in Roussillon in the South of France. A natural wine made biodynamically with almost no sulphites added, this is the Cadillac of orange wines. It’s 76% Vermintino and 24% Macabeau from old vines grown at high altitude, and it has the added complexity of being non-vintage blending barrels from 2019 (36%) 2018 (24%) 2017 (12%) 2015 (12%) and 2014 (16%). There’s lots of geeky info and technical specs on their website, click here for that!

And beside the Le Soula is the beautiful ‘Skin Fermented’ Pinot Gris from Tawse. We use the terms ‘skin fermented’ and ‘orange wine’ interchangeably, as one describes what it is, the other describes the process. Orange wine is just white wine made the way red wine is, with the crushed skins in contact with the juice during fermentation. This extracts some colour, tannin, and flavour from the skins. That’s how red wine becomes red (from the skins) and when made the same way with white grapes it turns more of an orange colour. Ironically and entirely unrelated to any kind of production involving oranges, many skin contact wines have some orange kind of tastings notes like tangerine, orange blossom, orange peel, or negroni. And the Tawse Pinot Gris is a great side-by-side comparison with the Le Soula. Le Soula has an aged, rustic character to it that is complex and layered, whereas the Tawse has the same lightly tannic raw notes, but with a bit more of a polish around the edges. A very clean and brilliant example of the category. Compare them directly in this great 2pack for $100 with option for delivery from the shop!

If you’re interested in other recommendations, please browse the FEATURES section and check out past week’s write ups, many of those wines are still available too! Since these wines are already in the shop in Ottawa, there is no ordering deadline, but it is first come first served, while supplies last. And any online orders for pick up or deliver can be fulfilled within 24 hours.