John Szabo’s Buyers Guide to Vintages May 9th Release
Wine’s Blue Zones
By John Szabo MS, with notes from David Lawrason, Sara d’Amato, and Mega Jandhyala
The thematic of the May 9 Vintages release is “Good Vibes and Sustainable Vines,” a selection that could also be covered under the concept of “Blue Zones” for wine. It’s an approach close to the hearts of all serious wine producers and wine professionals today. In this sphere, the wine world has made gigantic strides over the past couple of decades. Although, because wine is a luxury product, winegrowing is far ahead overall on the road to true sustainability than any other form of agriculture. It almost has to be. My concept of Blue Zones in the wine world is where grapes and place have found a comfortable home and human intervention is minimized, which is the path to sustainability. Read on for the explanation. The WineAlign Crü has selected a short list of places and producers on the release who are leaning into the idea of responsibly produced wines, including bottles from the south of France and Italy, South Africa, Australia, and several producers in Canada working hard towards sustainable production. Virtually all picks have at least two voices in support.
Blue Zones
A quick refresher: the term Blue Zone was coined in the early 2000s by demographer Michel Poulain and physician Gianni Pes, who mapped unusually high concentrations of centenarians in Sardinia by drawing concentric blue circles on a map. Why blue? I’ve really no idea, other that that’s the colour they chose. Journalist Dan Buettner later ran with the concept in a 2005 National Geographic feature, identifying five regions where people apparently refused to die at a normal rate: Sardinia, Okinawa, Ikaria in Greece, the Nicoya peninsula in Costa Rica, and a community of Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda, California (none of whom are reading this I’m sure). The world lapped it up. Books were written. TED talks were given. Netflix made a documentary. Wellness influencers lost their collective minds.
Then the statisticians showed up and ruined the party.
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It turns out that several of the most celebrated Blue Zones share another, less flattering distinction: spectacularly unreliable birth-record keeping. In Sardinia, Okinawa, and Ikaria especially, verifying whether a reported centenarian was genuinely 105 or simply a 95-year-old with a misplaced birth certificate proved rather difficult. Researcher Saul Newman’s 2019 analysis found that Blue Zone status correlated rather neatly with poor administrative record-keeping — and, in some cases, with pension fraud, which is, admittedly, one way to fund a long retirement. None of this entirely demolished the Blue Zone thesis. Diet, community, a sense of purpose, moderate physical activity and, yes, a daily glass of local wine likely do contribute to healthy aging. But the hard numerical claims deserved a raised eyebrow, and they got one.
The concept, however, remains too useful to abandon — especially when you apply it to wine.
In the wine world, in my view, Blue Zones are the places on earth where grapevines have found a particularly comfortable home — where they don’t merely survive but genuinely thrive, producing wines of real character and distinction without heroic intervention. Not necessarily the flashiest regions, or the most expensive, though being well-funded certainly helps (and certainly not the ones with the most aggressive PR budgets). Something more fundamental: places where viticulture actually makes sense, where the vine arrived, looked around, and decided to stay.
The Mediterranean basin is ground zero for this kind of thinking, which should surprise no one. The same conditions that launched civilization — long, dry summers, mild wet winters, well-drained soils ranging from limestone to volcanic, reliably generous sunlight — also happen to define the viticultural sweet spot for Vitis vinifera. Southern Italy, Greece, the south of France, Spain, the eastern Mediterranean rim: these are the vine’s ancestral stomping grounds. (Ok, let’s also include Georgia and Armenia on the list, the actual birthplace of Vitis vinifera.) The concept radiates outward from there to regions shaped by similar logic: South Africa’s Western Cape, Chile’s coastal valleys, the cooler corners of California, pockets of southern Australia. Wherever the Mediterranean template reasserts itself — through latitude, maritime influence, or geology — the vine tends to follow, and to flourish.
What separates a genuine wine Blue Zone from a vineyard planted on ambition and optimism alone is the most reliable judge in agriculture: time. In Campania, the grapes fiano and greco have been quietly owning their volcanic hillsides for the better part of three millennia, ditto for assyrtiko on Santorini. Sangiovese in Central Italy is like tomatoes and basil. In the Douro, touriga nacional and a host of other indigenous varieties have been wrestling with near-vertical schist terraces since before anyone thought to write it down. On the volcanic slopes above Châteaugay in the Auvergne, gamay was making wine when the surrounding region was still arguing about which Gaul to back. Grüner veltliner has been inseparable from the Danube Valley in Austria for centuries, as has riesling in the painfully steep slate slopes of the Mosel. And this to just to name a few classics. These are not experiments or lifestyle choices. They are settled arrangements — combinations of grape and place refined over so many generations that the fit has become almost indistinguishable from inevitability. The vine and the land have reached a mutual agreement, and both parties are happier for it.
And there are many more, including more recent happy discoveries: chardonnay, riesling and cabernet in many parts of Canada; cabernet in norther California or, better yet, zinfandel; shiraz and grenache in South Australia; chenin blanc in South Africa. I could go on, but you get the point.
The financial implications of all this are as compelling as the philosophical ones. When the right grape grows in the right place, winemaking often gets considerably cheaper and considerably less neurotic. No heroic irrigation schemes, no aggressive soil correction, no cellar gymnastics to compensate for what the vineyard couldn’t deliver. No square pegs being hammered into round holes at considerable expense and with questionable results. Lower inputs, more consistent ripeness, natural disease resistance, and vines that don’t require constant crisis management: these are the practical rewards of respecting the logic of place. And sharp value often follows suit.
Which is precisely why wine Blue Zones tend to be where the smartest, most restless drinkers eventually end up — hunting for wines that taste like somewhere specific rather than something expensive, also produced with respect for the planet and future generations. A smart buying strategy is to seek out where the vine got comfortable, poured itself a glass, and never left.
And with that, on to the Buyer’s Guide with all of the picks.
Buyer’s Guide Vintages May 9: Sparkling, White & Rosé
Saint Roch Vieilles Vignes Corbarol Côtes Du Roussillon Grenache Blanc/Roussanne 2025, Roussillon, France
$14.95, Glencairn Wine Merchants
John Szabo – Clean, fleshy, fruity, orchard-verging-on-tropical fruit flavoured — this is delicious wine for the money. Balanced, sapid, succulent, ready to go. Another ultra-sharp value from the Lafage family — I’m getting repetitive.
Sara d’Amato – A sun-soaked white from Côtes du Roussillon where grenache blanc takes center stage. A Lafage project grown on old vines rooted in black schist soils, it features lower-toned energy and mineral swagger, salty, clay-toned, and yet bursting with upbeat notes of passion fruit, green pear, and tropical citrus. There’s a vibrant tension here between richness and freshness that keeps you coming back for another sip — the sort of bottle that disappears faster than planned.
Bei Momenti Lambrusco Di Sorbara, Emilia Romagna, Italy
$17.95, Connexion Oenophilia
Sara d’Amato – A vivacious Lambrusco rosé made in the Charmat method from Lambrusco di Sorbara, a grape variety known for its rare viticultural quirk: it does not self-pollinate and is distinctly female. A fitting tribute to the mothers we raise a glass to this week. Dry, energetic, and notably poised, it delivers aromas of wild rose petal, vibrant red fruit, atop crackling acidity, softened by a subtle creaminess that brings unexpected depth. Sophisticated yet joyful.
John Szabo – A simple but original regional specialty from Emilia-Romagna, from arguably the most ancient wild native Italian variety, the Sorbara biotype of lambrusco. I love the simple, vibrant wild berry fruit, the dry palate, the crunchy pleasure at under $17. Nothing but good times, bei momenti indeed. Chill and go.
Pierre Sparr Sol Calcaire Riesling 2022, Alsace, France
$19.95, Profile Wine Group (Du Chasse)
David Lawrason – Alsatian wines are getting increasingly rare in Ontario, and many are basic. I expected likewise here but found it interesting thanks to its limestone-soil underpinning. It is quite lush and from a hot vintage, but alcohol is kept to 12.5% and the limestone-based soils maintain equilibrium, indeed finesse amid is largesse. There is also a particular spice I get in fine riesling.
Quails’ Gate Dry Riesling 2025, British Columbia, Canada
$21.95, Family Wine Merchants
John Szabo – From the Stewart family’s Heirloom series at Quails’ Gate, the 2025 Dry Riesling is a real beauty of cool fruit on the nose lifted by lemon-lime crackle and a kind of deep meadow florality. The palate is fresh, lithe and finely honed, with citrus and orchard fruit notes plus that distinctive Okanagan stony minerality. Balanced acids carrying through to a long, refreshing finish. Versatile and food-friendly; drink or hold up to a decade.
Sara d’Amato – Wildflower, green pear, tea leaf, and nettles engage on the nose of this peppery little pecorino. This organic find has racy undertones. Clean winemaking — tidy but still expressive. Crisp and refreshingly well-priced, the kind of wine that feels like spring has arrived. Time to shake off the cobwebs.
Torre Zambra Poggio Salaia Pecorino 2025, Abruzzo, Italy
$24.95, Marchands des Ameriques
David Lawrason – This is a pecorino with pecs — a substantial, dry, warm-yet-racy style, with the warmth and girth of Abruzzo. The nose shows ripe pear/pineapple, fresh mint, lemon and some flint. Hefty and bold, with excellent length. Should be great with seafood risotto.
Bachelder L’ardoise Niagara Chardonnay 2024, Ontario, Canada
$26.95, Lifford Wine & Spirits (Select Wine Merchants)
John Szabo – L’Ardoise (“the slate”) is Thomas Bachelder’s entry-level Niagara chardonnay, a multi-vineyard cuvée drawn from across the peninsula and intended, in his words, to “define the dolomitic origins of our crazy-quilt patchwork of post-glacier melt/flow terroirs.” It’s a clean, pure expression, all stone and orchard fruit with judiciously integrated wood notes and that distinctively saliva-inducing acid spine. A fine introduction to one of Niagara’s most thoughtful chardonnay producers.
Megha Jandhyala – The L’ardoise is an apt introduction to Bachelder’s terroir-driven repertoire of chardonnays, with its orchard and stone fruit-laden flavour profile and fleshy yet taut, finely textured palate.
M De Minuty Rosé 2025, Provence, France
$28.95, Charton Hobbs
John Szabo – Minuty makes classy wines, and status quo is maintained in 2025 with this “M,” the entry point, a grenache-led blend (with cinsault and syrah) drawn from across the Côtes de Provence appellation’s continental and maritime terroirs. Ripe, fleshy, balanced, sapid, with a mix of red berry fruit and peach-apricot flavours, with lovely and crunchy acids. Sophisticated rosé to be sure; drink or hold short term.
Megha Jandhyala – This is quintessential Provençal rosé — pristine and elegant with pretty, pastel tones of summer berries, pink grapefruit, and cherry blossoms.
Sara d’Amato – If nothing else, Minuty is remarkably consistent and, once again, they’ve nailed the brief. This is Provence rosé in its most archetypal form: pale, poised, floral, bone-dry, and balanced right on the edge of austerity. There’s a reason it appeals to such a wide audience; the formula simply works. Benchmark Provence, whether you like it or not.
Wending Home Estate Vineyard Chardonnay 2021, Ontario, Canada
$34.95, Wending Home Estate Vineyards
Megha Jandhyala – Gently, flinty, toasty and citrusy, Wending Home’s gracefully maturing estate chardonnay is in its ideal drinking window now. Its lush yet balanced structure is especially appealing.
Buyer’s Guide Vintages May 9: Red
Château Hyot Castillon Côtes De Bordeaux 2022, Bordeaux, France
$17.95, Majestic Wine Cellars
David Lawrason – A demure, great-value Bordeaux, predominantly merlot from the right bank, upstream region of Castillon. Expect ripe raspberry jam, fresh fig, tobacco/dried herbs and sweet oak spice. It is medium bodied, fairly soft and juicy with fine tannin.
Pesquié édition 1912m Ventoux 2023, Rhône, France
$16.95, The Vine Agency
David Lawrason – This is a soft, organically grown southern Rhône from the higher Ventoux region. It has a ripe plump nose of plum jam, violet, lavender and licorice. And despite its roundness and sweetness (not sugary) there a sense of delicacy. Almost velvet or at least velour texture.
Megha Jandhyala – The Edition 1912m is a colourful expression of Southern Rhône, made up of vivid flavours of tender red fruit, wildflowers, and black pepper. This is a wine of overt charm, approachable, broadly appealing, and ready to enjoy now.
Neil Ellis Cabernet Sauvignon 2020, Stellenbosch, South Africa
$19.95, Nicholas Pearce Wines Inc.
Megha Jandhyala – This vegan cabernet sauvignon offers surprising concentration and complexity considering the price point. Lush fruit and savoury herbs are seamlessly integrated with spice here, while the palate is supported by velvety tannins and balanced acidity.
Yalumba Samuel’s Collection Barossa Shiraz 2023, South Australia
$21.95, Woodman Wines & Spirits
David Lawrason This is a whopper, but profound and delicious, with a classic, classy and complex Barossa nose of licorice, menthol/chocolate mint, pepper, fine wood spice and dried fig. It is full bodied, dense and very smooth, almost sweet but it holds some poise. A gem and huge value for fans of the genre.
Sara d’Amato – Spicy and distinctly pepper-driven with brambly cassis fruit and a measured use of oak. There’s a savoury thread too that tempers the plush fruit. It captures Barossa’s generous character, but with a level of restraint and polish that speaks to thoughtful winemaking.
Waterkloof Circle Of Life Red 2023, Stellenbosch, South Africa
$21.95, Family Wine Merchants
Sara d’Amato – There’s that unmistakable lift of peppery rotundone here — the kind that quietly undoes you in the best possible way. A blend of mourvèdre, syrah, and grenache that’s all about the energy and pose. Finely tuned yet with a generous, effortless charm.
John Szabo – Crafted in a clean but decidedly savoury style, with abundant resinous wild herbs and scorched earth, cold cream and black pepper, black — and even some blue — fruit. I like the swarthiness, the gritty texture, the balanced acids and the absence of any obvious oak. It’s the sort of wine to bring out for the BBQ alfresco when something bold but not overly precious is called for.
Capraia Riserva Chianti Classico 2020, Tuscany, Italy
$42.95, The Agency Wines and Spirits
John Szabo – Rocca di Castagnoli’s Capraia Riserva from ~20-year-old vines on the Pietrafitta hillsides at 530 metres (Castellina) is in fine drinking nick at the moment at the twilight of fruit and earth, leaning into the savoury and sapid side of sangiovese. I have to say this is terrifically polished, sophisticated and complex wine for the money, another superb value Chianti Classico that would stand comfortably on a table with wines at twice the price. Drink or hold another decade without concern for the fully mature experience.
David Lawrason – This ripe and maturing riserva is heading into that aromatic sweet spot when tertiary leather and almond aromas add complexity to the ripe raspberry/blackberry fruit and barrel spices. It is medium-full bodied, elegant yet lively with juicy acidity and well-tuned 13.5% alcohol. Tannins are still fairly firm. Best now through 2031ish.
Stratus Cabernet Franc 2022, Ontario, Canada
$45.20, Stratus Vineyards
John Szabo – Estate fruit from this LEED-certified estate in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the first in Canada, is a very ripe and stylish, fleshy and plush, generously proportioned wine from a small, concentrated vintage that yielded just half the usual crop, made with kid gloves and a deft touch. I like the way it bridges old and new world styles, that is, fruit with underlying savour, structure without angularity. Lots to admire here; best from 2027 to 2040 or so, for the fully mature expression.
David Lawrason – The ripeness of the vintage is obvious in this almost lush cabernet franc. The nose is flush with ripe raspberry/blackberry, violet, light tobacco, barrel spice and vanillin. It is medium-full bodied with modest, soft acidity and 14.3% alcohol warmth. But the fruit is so present that heat is cooled. Tannins are dusty-crusty but not green.
That’s all for this report, see you ’round the next Blue Zone bottle.
John Szabo, MS
Use these quick links for access to all of our May 9th Top Picks in the New Release. Non-premium members can select from all release dates 60 days prior.
John’s Top Picks – May 9th
Lawrason’s Take – May 9th
Megha’s Picks – May 9th
Sara’s Selections – May 9th
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