Anthony Gismondi: B.C. wine for the week of Oct. 20, a bottle to cellar and calendar items

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The Explore B.C. Beer Series has a new limited-edition craft beer — Peach Farmhouse Ale. It is a collaboration by six breweries representing all of the province’s tourism regions.

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The breweries chose a style to showcase British Columbia’s craft beer scene and the agricultural communities of B.C. from the Okanagan Valley’s famed peaches, B.C.-grown barley malt from Country Malt, and hops from the family-owned Brendenhof Hop Farms in the Fraser Valley.

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A pinch of Vancouver Island Sea Salt adds brightness to the fruity finish.

Produced by Ravens Brewing Company, the beer will now be available at select liquor stores, restaurants and craft breweries across the province. So get it while you can.

Calling port geeks. School of Port, the educational platform from Port producer, Symington Family Estates, is launching a new video course: The Masters, the most advanced and comprehensive online video course on Port.

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Following The Essentials, a 16-episode course that covers the various stages of Port production, The Masters takes the viewer to the next level, tackling the subject with more vigour and technical detail in the shape of five in-depth episodes, exploring the production, aging, and bottling of the different styles of Port, with guest speakers providing first-hand experience and unique insights into their craft.

The Masters is free from schoolofport.com, requiring only students to register before starting. In addition, you can choose whether to take an exam at the end of the course to receive a digital School of Port certificate.

B.C. wine of the week

Blue Mountain Blossom Slope Chardonnay Single Vineyard Block 17 2019, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 

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$28 I 91/100

UPC: 626452341197

Blossom is a three-clone mix of 76, 95 and 96 from 29-year-old estate vines inside the demarcated Okanagan Falls G.I. The fruit is washed and harvested whole-cluster to protect the purity. It was native fermented and aged 18 months in three-year-old 228L French oak barriques. Blossom Slope Chardonnay faces the west exposing it to the longest days in the wine world and the late-day sun that comes with those hours. You feel it in the honeyed undertones that wrap up the finish of this wine. However, it remains fresh and lively up front with plenty of minerality, citrus and stony notes. I love the alcohol at 13.5 per cent, leaving the wine to express the site.

Wine for the cellar 

Frescobaldi Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2015, Tuscany, Italy

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$55.95 I 95/100

UPC: 8002366089264

CastelGiocondo’s location in Montalcino offers up multiple soils of galestro, clay, and Pliocene sands, on hillsides from 180 to 360 metres, contributing to this Brunello’s complex nuances. Their 2015 was an excellent vintage, if on the warm side, but it yielded some terrific bottles with proper care. Castelgiocondo is organically grown; the fruit is handpicked and fermented in stainless steel and aged for five years in oak. Then, it spends another 12 months in the bottle before release. As a result, 2015 is undoubtedly one of the finest editions of this wine, from its spicy red and black fruit to its almost luxurious creamy textures and long persistent finish — one for the cellar that will hold through 2030. Excellent value.