
Castanet has a new wine writer, Shelley Boettcher.
An award-winning food and wine writer and editor, Shelley holds her master’s degree in journalism and her advanced WSET certification, as well as her level 2 International Sommelier Guild certification. A wine columnist for the Calgary Herald, she spent a decade as CBC Radio’s national syndicated wine columnist and she has written three books about wine, including two that were Canadian bestsellers.
You can follow Shelley on Instagram @shelleyboettcher or Twitter at @shelley_wine.
Boettcher takes over from long-time wine reviewer Allison Markin, who will continue to write her popular Okanagan Taste column on Castanet, but it will now be more focused on food and events.
If you have a B.C. wine you’d like to suggest, email Shelley at [email protected] with the name of the wine and a short note about why you enjoyed it.
Wine: Stag’s Hollow Winery 2019 Dolcetto
Winery: Stag’s Hollow Winery
Why drink it? A silver medal winner at the 2022 National Wine Awards, this delicious dark purple-hued wine is made from Dolcetto, an Italian grape that’s pronounced “dol-chetto” and is rarely found in Canada. What I particularly love about it is that it’s incredibly food friendly, a well-balanced red that has notes of plumbs, blueberry and violets. Drink it young, and often.
It’s worth noting, too, that the previous vintage, the 2018, was named one of Decanter magazine’s top red wines of 2022, one of only a handful of Canadian wineries to be recognized at these prestigious awards.
Pair with: Any dish that has tomato sauce or Italian sausage in it. Try it with burgers, pizza, lasagna or roasted Mediterranean-style veggies such as eggplant and red peppers.
Price: $25
Music pairing: Coming up Easy by Paolo Nutini