Anthony Gismondi: B.C. wine for the week of April 14, a bottle to cellar and calendar items

Vancouver Sun wine expert Anthony Gismondi’s news from the wine and food world, recommended B.C. wine of the week, and a wine to add to your cellar.

Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.

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Public tickets are available for the California Wine Experience on April 25 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver.

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You can take an exploratory trip to California Wine Country during this educational, immersive walk-around tasting event that showcases more than 400 wines from California.

Upon arrival, your party will be assigned to a group with your own Golden State Tour Guide that will take you to your starting wine region of California. It is recommended you take 30 minutes to explore the 15-20 wineries from the area before moving on to the next region.

The full Wine Experience tour will take 2 ½ hours. For tickets, go to vancouver2022.calwine.ca/tickets.

B.C. wine of the week

Painted Rock Cabernet Franc 2019, Skaha Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 

$44.99 I 92/100

UPC: 626990206309

Painted Rock’s 2019 is another blockbuster. The black raspberry folds effortlessly into the ultrasmooth textures, flecked with tobacco, desert scrub, and spicy oak on the palate. It’s youthful but seemingly gaining in refinement as the vineyard aging, and the winemaking settles in. Again, there is no rush to drink this wine, and like in 2017, it has exceptional potential. The fruit is hand-picked off a single 3.01-acre block, then berry sorted. The winemaking is Bordelais: a four-day cold soak is followed by 21 days on the skins in the tank with twice daily pump-overs. The batches were barrel-aged for 18 months in 40 per cent new French oak and blended before bottling. Unfiltered.

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Wine for the cellar 

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

$59.99 I 94/100

UPC: 662255010137

Altesino, first produced in 1972, spends a minimum of two years in oak and four months in bottle before release. It is a proven ager that easily ages for 20 years most vintages. The colour is never dark. 2016 is ruby red at most, with a touch of Bordeaux brick at the edge. The nose is explosive with intense, complex scents of violets and balsamic with trampled forest underbrush and spicy cranberry and cassis. It’s regal Brunello rich with silky tannins and a sense of balance that suggests it will live for decades. A relative bargain in B.C. — back up the truck.