WORLD WINE WATCH TOP WINES AT VINTAGES: under/over $20 for APRIL 15, 2023 release.

THIS IS THE SECOND OF THREE BLUE MOON RELEASES FOR APRIL 2023...

WORLD WINE WATCH TOP WINES AT VINTAGES:  under/over $20 for APRIL 15,  2023 release.

By DEAN TUDOR, Gothic Epicures Writing deantudor@deantudor.com. My "Wines, Beers and Spirits of the Net", a guide to thousands of news items and RSS feeds, plus references to wines, beers and spirits, has been at http://www.deantudor.com since 1994.

These notes for good wines available through  LCBO Vintages (on a bi-weekly basis)  can always be found at http://www.gothicepicures.blogspot.ca  or at  http://www.deantudor.com No winery can buy their way into – or out of – this publication.

Scores are a combination of MVC (Modal Varietal Character, e.g. a Southern Rhone would taste like a Southern Rhone) and QPR (Quality/Price Ratio value in the marketplace above or below its price).

Currently, the wine media have no access to the tasting samples usually provided to us in the LCBO lab on a fortnightly basis. This will go on for some time. HOWEVER,  the wine media will still have access to the advance spreadsheet of the wines to be released. So I know what is to be released and when. SOME (but not many) of these 100 or so biweekly released wines I have recently tasted since January 2020 or so, and I can comfortably recommend them based on this prior sampling.
 
** Some New Wines I Tasted Over the Past Season  ---

The Event: Icons of the Okanagan Valley Walk Around Tasting late November 2022
The Venue: Modus Ristorante
The Target Audience: private customers, wine media
The Availability/Catalogue: all these VQA wines were available for sale by the bottle that night. This was followed by a chance to buy the wines at the LCBO via the Internet. Private Collectors is a sub-group of high end wines within the Mark Anthony Wine and Spirits portfolio. The wineries are owned by Anthony von Mandl. My personal contact was Kirsty from Mark Anthony; she had extended my invitation.
The Quote/Background: Checkmate had New World Chardonnay and Merlot, with old world elegance. Martin's Lane had stylish small lot Pinot Noir and Riesling. Shane Munn, the winemaker at Martin's Lane, was available for talk and discussion. The best part of the evening was tasting only a few wines (just seven) and talking about them with friends and sales help, especially contrasting the two merlots and the two chardonnays.

The Wines:

**** BEST -- Four Stars (91+ in Quality/Price Rating terms):
-Checkmate Winery Queen Taken Chardonnay 2018 VQA $111.95
-Checkmate Winery Fools Mate Chardonnay 2018 VQA $95.95
-Checkmate Winery Silent Bishop Merlot 2018 VQA $95.95
-Checkmate Winery End Game Merlot 2018 VQA $95.95

***1/2 BETTER -- Three and a Half Stars (88 – 90 in Quality/Price Rating terms):
-Martin's Lane Winery Naramata Riesling 2018 VQA $54
-Martin's Lane Winery Simes Pinot Noir 2017 VQA $96
-Martin's Lane Winery Naramata Pinot Noir 2017 VQA $96

The Food: canapes
The Contact Person:  privatecollectors@markanthony.com
The Event's Marketing Effectiveness and Execution (numerical grade): 88.

** Some Recommended Wines from the LCBO's Limited Time Offers selections...these  are good value...on sale  through Sunday April 23 --
White+24133 ANDREW PELLER RIESLING THIRTY BENCH, save $3 LTO price $19.95
White+326728 OYSTER BAY CHARDONNAY MARLBOROUGH, save $3 LTO price $16.95
White+258699 J. LOHR RIVERSTONE CHARDONNAY, save $2 LTO price $17.95 [load up]
Red+394783 DONA PAULA ESTATE MALBEC, save $3 LTO price $13.10
Red+50203 BERONIA RESERVA  RIOJA, save $3 LTO price $18.95
SPLURGE Red+352583 BERINGER KNIGHT'S VALLEY CABERNET SAUVIGNON, save $5 LTO price  $41.95
FIZZ Rose+365205 CONO SUR SPARKLING ROSÉ, save $3 LTO price $15.45 [buy a case]

MAJOR THEME:   CALIFORNIA CABERNETS
Wines Under $20
=========
Fortified+274456 SPAIN: LUSTAU MANZANILLA PAPIRUSA SOLERA FAMILIAR VERY DRY $16.95 MVC/QPR:  89
W+89011 ONTARIO: FEATHERSTONE SAUVIGNON BLANC 2022 VQA $17.95 MVC/QPR:  89
W+224626 ALSACE: JOSEPH CATTIN GEWURZTRAMINER 2021 $18.95 MVC/QPR:  89
W+928580 CHILE: SANTA CAROLINA GRAN RESERVA CHARDONNAY 2020 $18.95 MVC/QPR:  91
W+540823 CHILE: SECRETO DE VIU MANENT GRAN RESERVA SAUVIGNON BLANC 2022 $15.95 MVC/QPR:  89
W+31668 ARGENTINA: DOMAINE BOUSQUET CHARDONNAY 2021  $17.95 MVC/QPR:  89
R+28078 ARGENTINA: ZUCCARDI Q CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2019 $19.95 MVC/QPR:  89

Wines Over $20
=========
Fortified+515817 SPAIN: EMILIO LUSTAU ALMACENISTA FINO DEL PUERTO OBREGÓN SHERRY $26.95 MVC/QPR:  89
W+566026 ONTARIO: CAVE SPRING CSV RIESLING 2019 VQA $31.95 MVC/QPR:  90
W+181289 BURGUNDY: DOMAINE LE VERGER CHABLIS 2020 $31.95 MVC/QPR:  89
W+29601 BURGUNDY: VIGNOBLE ROTISSON TRADITION CHARDONNAY 2021 $21.95 MVC/QPR:  89
W+65573 LOIRE: JEAN-MAX ROGER CUVÉE LES CAILLOTTES SANCERRE 2020 $35.95 MVC/QPR:  89
W+189126 LOIRE: JEAN-MAX ROGER CUVÉE GENÈSE SANCERRE 2021 $37.95 MVC/QPR:  89
R+327387 AUSTRALIA: ROBERT OATLEY SIGNATURE SERIES SHIRAZ 2019 $20.95 MVC/QPR:  89
R+681981 BURGUNDY: CHARTRON ET TREBUCHET SANTENAY 2018 $41.95 MVC/QPR:  89
R+661306 VENETO: MASI SEREGO ALIGHIERI MONTE PIAZZO VALPOLICELLA CLASSICO  $32.95 MVC/QPR:  89
R+904565 CALIFORNIA: BOGLE VINEYARDS CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2020  $22.95 MVC/QPR:  89
R+597237  SONOMA: BENZIGER CABERNET SAUVIGNON [biodynamic] 2019  $27.95 MVC/QPR:  90
R+70581 WASHINGTON STATE: CHATEAU STE. MICHELLE CANOE RIDGE MERLOT 2018 $43.95 MVC/QPR:  89
Rose+172643 ONTARIO: TAWSE SKETCHES OF NIAGARA ROSÉ 2021 VQA $18.95 MVC/QPR:  91