Vikas Sharma

Some weeks ago, I was at Everything Wine on the North Shore and was perusing the vintages section, of course. I may have mentioned the wine guy over there, Chris (an English gentlemen), who always makes great recommendations.

Now, I’ve gotta be honest when I say that I was questioning his recommendation, solely based on the wine label design; it contained a picture of a cool, good-looking, jazz musician (who, I only realized after I wrote this review, was Thelonious Monk).

I had a bottle Nebbiolo back in December and it had an illustration of a beagle, which I thought was very cool looking, but I’m always weary when there’s a photo of an actual person on the bottle. I mean, you might as well put in a straw basket bottle, like they did in the old days.

I was also surprised to hear that this wine didn’t contain Sangiovese, but rather Cabernet Sauvignon.

But, Chris told me a bit about Louie Tolaini and his story … a bit about the winemaker.

Louie Tolaini, who was born in Lucca (near Pisa, in Tuscany) arrived in Canada in the mid-50’s. He found his way to Virden, Manitoba and built a trucking empire called TransX, which, was eventually purchased by CN in 2019.

However, the cool thing about Louie is that he went back home to Tocana in the late 90’s to start Tolaini Estate in Siena. He also started a wine importing company (Banville Wine Merchants) in the mid-aughts so that he could get his wines, as well as other Italian wines, over here.

Sadly, Louie (PierLuigi) Tolaini died two years ago, but thankfully, his wines are still honouring his legacy.

On with the show:

Wine: Tolaini Legit

Region/Appellation: Toscana (Chianti Classico)

Grape(s): Cabernet Sauvignon

Vintage: 2016

Style: Red

Price: $65

The Visual: Oily viscosity in the glass – medium + intensity in colour, which was ruby with a ruby rim.

The Aroma: Medium-plus intensity in aroma, with a flattering impression. The nose contained notes of Fresh berries (Raspberry and Strawberry), Pepper, Spice, and had a bit of an Earthy component to it.

The Flavour: Medium-plus in in intensity, and medium-to-full-bodied. With fleshy/grippy to structured tannins, and flavours of Dark Berries, Olives, and Prune.

Alcohol: Medium-plus at 14%.

Balance: The flavours were powerfully balanced with a medium-plus finish.

Other notes: Dry – and very impressed by the structure. Nice, smooth, and full-bodied. With the wine being five years old, it’s ready to drink – and you can certainly cellar it for another five to 10, easily, with its structure.

Food pairing: We had this wine with a mushroom ragout and poached eggs with sourdough croutons. I’d say that the earthiness of the wine went very well with this dish. Other pairings might be a savoury pie/torte or a mushroom risotto.

Final Comments: 

Overall, I thought this wine was very good; I truly enjoyed it.

I love Siena … and I’ve been there a couple of times and enjoyed the cool, little, walled city. The food and wine are fantastic in Siena (as it is in most of Toscana), and I believe that this wine reflects the hard work of it’s founder.

I’m going to get another bottle and taste it in 2026, when it’s 10 years-old.

Cheers – Salud – Salute – Živeli – Prost – Na Zdrowie – Skål – Santé