Anthony Gismondi: B.C. wine for the week of Dec. 29, a bottle to cellar and calendar items

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The 21st Annual Dine Out Vancouver Festival runs from Jan. 20 to Feb. 5, with more than 350 Lower Mainland restaurants offering specially selected multi-course meals.

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Usually, a slow time of the year for restaurants, Dine Out has become a popular pastime for Vancouverites to get out and support local community restaurants. With its return, Dine Out 2023 will offer set menus in three price ranges: $20-$34, $35-$50, or $54-$64 and numerous special events, including enticing downtown Vancouver hotel offers.

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The Vancouver World Chef Exchange will take place at a selection of Vancouver’s newly awarded Michelin Star restaurants, featuring global culinary luminaries presenting a one-of-a-kind dinner.

For a more casual Dine Out Vancouver experience, Street Food City will take place outside the Vancouver Art Gallery from Jan. 21 to the 29, showcasing the city’s favourite food trucks.

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Make Dine Out a weekend getaway and get a $75 gift card per night when you book one or two nights at a participating downtown Vancouver hotel.

Key dates to note:

• Now: Special Event tickets go on sale now;

• Jan. 11: Restaurants revealed and reservations open;

• Jan. 20: Dine Out Vancouver Festival begins;

• Jan. 21: Street Food City.

For event details and participating restaurants and hotel offers, visit dineoutvancouver.com.

B.C. wine of the week

Le Vieux Pin Equinoxe Merlot 2019, Golden Mile Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 

$89.99 I 93/100

UPC: 808755017317

The last time I tasted this wine — the 2016 vintage — I remarked that we need more, and we still do. Equinoxe Merlot, a specific block of vines more than 25 years old on the mid slopes at the south end of the Golden Mile Bench, is a powerful expression of this much-maligned grape. There is 19 per cent new oak for support, but it doesn’t need much help. Winemaker Severine Pinte’s has a quieter, drier French style that suits the site and grape. Plums and blackberries coat the palate with streaky cedar and minerals with a dash of cocoa. This wine will only get better through 2030. Lambi is today’s ticket while we wait for it to reach total harmony.

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Wine for the Cellar 

Argiano Brunello di Montalcino 2016, Montalcino, Siena, Tuscany, Italy 

$59.99 I 95/100

UPC: 8022931502165

Recently retasted, and I can confirm we will be talking about the 2015 and the 2016 Brunello vintages for decades, and the wines will only get better while we do. Their 2016 opens with fragrant violet overtones with cedar, leather, anise, and wild fruit. The riot of flavours continues on the palate right through the finish. Fresh and, more importantly, alive and vibrant, this is a winner with a long future, so put on a seatbelt and get ready for the ride; on sale and one to stock up on.

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