Only a little Beaujolais, but a bunch of prizes and péchés

Once upon a time, the third Thursday of November was a day of great celebration for wine lovers — the annual release day of Beaujolais Nouveau, a fresh, fruity and fun red made from the Gamay grape in the Beaujolais region of France.

But in recent years, the Beaujolais Nouveau offerings in Manitoba have largely dried up or priced themselves out of what most would expect to pay for a wine that essentially tastes like boozy cherry Kool-Aid (in a good way — honest).

The big day this year was Nov. 20, with Manitoba Liquor Marts once again opting not to bring in any Beaujolais Nouveau, while of the private wine stores, Kenaston Wine Market, Calabria Market and the Pourium, all brought in a small amount of the stuff.

The Georges Duboeuf 2025 Beaujolais Nouveau is available at the trio of stores for between $38 and $40 per bottle, a sizable jump in price over previous years. For that price you could (and probably should) skip the nouveau and get a very good bottle of Beaujolais from one of the 10 crus (villages, sort of like sub-appellations).

For those adamant on trying a nouveau, the Pourium also has the Georges Duboeuf 2025 Gamay Nouveau at a slightly more reasonable $34.99.

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Manitoba beer and cider producers brought home a haul of hardware at the 2025 Canada Beer Cup.

Pilot Mound’s Wooden Gate Cider won big, landing a gold medal for the Slow Burn smoked cider in the barrel-aged or specialty cider category and a bronze in the heritage cider category for the Orchard Queen. Winnipeg’s Dastardly Villain Brewing Co. brought home a silver for the Diabolically Decadent Brown Ale in the American brown ale category, Winkler’s Heritage Farms Brewing Co. nabbed a bronze for the Hired Hand Brown Ale in the brown British ale category, while Brazen Brewing Co. also won bronze for the Tepache Gold Pineapple Mexican Style Ale in the specialty fruit beer category.

All the above products appear to still be available locally. For a list of all the winners click here.

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Speaking of awards, The Winehouse was awarded the City of Winnipeg Community Service Award for 25-plus years of business.

Mayor Scott Gillingham presented owner Karen Cornejo with the award at a ceremony at the store on Nov. 17.

The private wine store, which was opened in 1999 as Pembina Fine Wines by Tico and Karen Cornejo, moved to its current location at 1600 Kenaston Blvd. in 2009, when the store’s name changed to the Winehouse. Tico Cornejo died in 2020.

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Low Life Barrel House is giving thirsty Winnipeggers a chance to sample a lineup of wines, beers and ciders (via Next Friend Cider) made at 398 Daly St. N. before purchasing.

The Try+Buy event takes place Wednesday from 4 to 10 p.m. at the producer’s tap room; it’s free to attend and there’s no RSVP required. Those in attendance will also get 20 per cent off all retail in the taproom — the sale runs through to Nov. 30 in the taproom only.

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The Common at The Forks is one of just 43 bars and pubs worldwide chosen to take part in the annual Péché Day, where participating watering holes tap and serve variants of Brasserie Dieu du Ciel’s legendary Péché Mortel, a 9.5 per cent alcohol, coffee-infused stout.

On offer at the Common is a trio of variants, including the nitro imperial espresso stout, the 2023 Colombian coffee Péché Mortel and the 2024 bourbon barrel-aged Péché Mortel, with potentially more variants to be poured if they arrive in Winnipeg in time.

Péché Day takes place today at the Common starting at 11 a.m. and while supplies last. For more info, click here.

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Stocking-stuffer alert for the whisky lover in your life: tickets for the 2026 Winnipeg Whisky Festival, which takes place March 6-7 at the RBC Convention Centre (375 York Ave.), are now on sale — with early-bird prices, no less.

Individual tickets start at $229.99 plus GST (yes, that’s the early-bird price), with VIP tickets (which include an extra hour of sampling) currently on sale for $299.99 plus GST. Tickets include a souvenir glass, more than 250 available samples, a buffet and a $10 taxi voucher. Early-bird prices are in effect until Jan. 31. To purchase and for more information click here.

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If you’ve got some Little Brown Jug 1919 Belgian pale ale or Generic! Lager in your beer fridge and something hasn’t seemed quite right flavour-wise, fear not — the brewery, located at 336 William Ave., is aware of the issue, which has since been resolved.

“We’ve been working diligently to remove the potentially affected cans from shelves and support customers whose purchases were affected,” the brewery posted on social media. “The affected product may taste off but is still safe to drink.”

If you think you have some product that may have been affected, take a photo of the bottom of the cans (which sport production info useful to the brewery) and send it by email with a note to the brewery.

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Wines of the week

San Antonio 2023 Sangiovese (Rubicone, Italy — around $19/1L bottle, private wine stores)

This larger-format Italian red offers aromas of cherry, raspberry, strawberry and iron, with an almost lacquer-type note in there as well.

It’s medium-bodied and dry, with up-front red fruit flavours coming with plum, black tea, light-plus tannins and acidity and, at 12 per cent alcohol, a modest, well-balanced finish.

Good for bigger groups and for those looking for a solid bang for the proverbial buck. Available at The Winehouse, The Pourium and Calabria Market. 3/5

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Bec Hardy 2024 Garden Series Cabernet Sauvignon (McLaren Vale, Australia — $26.99, Liquor Marts and beyond)

Sourced from two McLaren Vale vineyards, this Cabernet Sauvignon offers aromas of ripe cassis, violet, blackberry, plum and mocha, with secondary eucalyptus notes that are attractive. It’s a dry, full-bodied and chewy red, with dense dark berry flavours coming alongside menthol, eucalyptus, white pepper and black tea flavours, a hint of spice that arrives with modest tannins (from 10 months in oak barrels, 10 per cent of which are new) and a long, warm finish (it’s 14.5 per cent alcohol). A charming example of new world Cab Sauv that’s not overblown or excessively jammy/hot. 4/5

Canadian wine of the week

Sandhill 2022 Syrah (British Columbia — $24.99, Liquor Marts and beyond)

This B.C. Syrah was a platinum medal winner at WineAlign’s 2025 National Wine Awards of Canada, an award given to just 31 of the 1,700-plus wines entered. Deep garnet-purple in colour, the wine offers deep cherry, earth, cocoa, plum and violet aromas as well as white pepper and a subtle, smoky meaty note. It’s dry, full-bodied and ripe, delivering loads of black cherry, plum and raspberry flavours along with cracked pepper, vanilla, iron and black tea notes, with modest tannins and a long, satisfying finish at 13.5 per cent alcohol. Drinking great now, or could be tucked away for a couple of years. 4.5/5

 

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@bensigurdson