WORLD WINE WATCH TOP WINES AT VINTAGES: under/over $20 for OCTOBER 16, 2021
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 or 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 Fortnight ---
Chateau des Charmes Pinot Noir Estate Bottled Old Vines 2017 VQA NOTL, +256834, $24.95 (at winery and online): I think that this is the first de Charmes' "Old Vines" Pinot in some time (maybe 2012?). Quite a powerful wine (the 2007 was a Cuvee winner), lots of forest floor (mushrooms, earth) to complement the dynamic red berry fruit. Grapes come from their St David's Bench block, the oldest vineyard they have. It could still use some time(I tasted at home over a few days). High acidity but low tannins. 1.7 g/L residual sugar. 13% ABV. Quality/Price rating is 92 points by Dean Tudor of Gothic Epicures.
Jackson-Triggs White Meritage Grand Reserve 2020 VQA Niagara Peninsula, +360297, $25.95 Vintages, online, Wine Rack, winery: this is the classic Bordeaux blend of sauvignon blanc (80%) and semillon (20%). It is almost never made in Ontario, but it has been made occasionally at Jackson-Triggs, when the circumstances were right. Previous vintages I have enjoyed included the 2017 and the 2012. But in 2012, the blend was 70% sauvignon blanc (with 10% of the savvy being barrel fermented in French oak) and 30% semillon, and the price was a dollar less. This time (2020) all of the semillon went into older French oak after extended skin contact. Herbs and honey dominate the flavour profiles, with stone fruit and grapefruit accents augmenting some tropicality. It will also reveal longer depth after more bottle aging of a year or so. Best with seafood – indeed, I had it with a Hooked stuffed sea bream and fishcuterie plate of a half dozen denizens. Long finish. Residual sugar is a low 3g/L. 13% ABV. Quality/Price rating is 93 points by Dean Tudor of Gothic Epicures.
** A Recent Wine Book I Reviewed ---
WINE FROM ANOTHER GALAXY (Quadrille, 2020, 354 pages, $65 hardbound) is by Dan Keeling and Mark Andrew, MW, co-founders of Noble Rot magazine and restaurants in Bloomsbury and Soho. They also own a wine importer, Keeling Andrew & Co. It's an unusual wine book, based on their writings in Noble Rot magazine. Part one is the "Shrine to the Vine" with primer-like detail on how wine is made, noble grapes, how wine ages, wine cellars, desert island wine lists. How to serve wine, how to order wine in a restaurant, even a hilarious alternative wine aroma wheel. Part two is the road trip travel through Europe – the people and places behind their fave wines: France, Hibernia, Italy, Germany, Greece, ending with English sparklers. And it ends with a listing of their top wines, about 99% of which are from France (who knew?). An interesting book for the millennial wine lover. Quality/Price rating is 91 points by Dean Tudor of Gothic Epicures.
** Some recommended wines from the LCBO's Limited Time Offers selections...these are good value (see below)...on sale through Sunday November 7...
[red] +59311 7 Deadly Zins Old Vine Zinfandel was $24.95, now $21.95, save $4 to Nov 7.
[red splurge] CHÂTEAU PIPEAU SAINT-ÉMILION GRAND CRU VINTAGES +302018 WAS: $43.95 | NOW: $ 39.95 | SAVE: $ 4.00 to Nov 7.
[white] FLAT ROCK RIESLING Niagara VQA VINTAGES +43281 WAS: $ 17.95 | NOW: $ 15.95 | SAVE: $ 2.00 to Nov 7.
[Christmas port] TAYLOR FLADGATE 20-YEAR-OLD TAWNY PORT Portugal VINTAGES +149047 | WAS: $ 69.95 | NOW: $ 62.95 | SAVE: $ 7.00 to Nov 7
Wines Under $20
=========
W+22275 MIGUEL TORRES VIÑA SOL ORIGINAL DO Catalunya 2019 $11.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
Fizz+48801 LOUIS BOUILLOT PERLE D'IVOIRE BRUT BLANC DE BLANCS CRÉMANT DE BOURGOGNE Traditional method, AC, Burgundy, France $19.95 MVC/QPR: 93.
Rose+11234 GÉRARD BERTRAND CÔTE DES ROSES ROSÉ AP Languedoc, France 2020 $10.95 half-bottle MVC/QPR: 90.
W+68015 FLAT ROCK UNPLUGGED UNOAKED CHARDONNAY Sustainable, VQA Niagara Peninsula 2020 $17.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
R+371112 MORANDÉ GRAN RESERVA CARMENÈRE Single vineyard, Valle del Maipo 2019 $16.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
R+272575 GÉRARD BERTRAND GRAND TERROIR TAUTAVEL AP Côtes du Roussillon-Villages 2018 $19.95 MVC/QPR: 90.
R+574780 DEMUERTE DO Yecla 2018 $19.95 MVC/QPR: 91.
Wines Over $20
=========
Fizz+924654 GARDET CUVÉE TRADITION SAINT FLAVY BRUT CHAMPAGNE Chigny-les-Roses, AC, France $46.95 MVC/QPR: 90.
Fizz+15687 GRUET SAUVAGE BLANC DE BLANCS SPARKLING Zero dosage, traditional method, USA $28.95 MVC/QPR: 89,
W+264945 PASCAL JOLIVET SANCERRE AC 2020 $39.95 MVC/QPR: 91.
R+187369 REMO FARINA AMARONE DELLA VALPOLICELLA CLASSICO In wooden gift box, DOC, Veneto, Italy 2018 $92.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
R+384578 REMO FARINA AMARONE DELLA VALPOLICELLA & VALPOLICELLA RIPASSO Two bottles in wooden gift box, Veneto, Italy 2018 $74.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
R+390872 WOLF BLASS GREY LABEL SHIRAZ McLaren Vale, South Australia 2018 $34.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
R+616433 HENRY OF PELHAM SPECK FAMILY RESERVE CABERNET/MERLOT VQA Short Hills Bench, Niagara Escarpment 2019 $39.95 MVC/QPR: 90.
R+570267 FAUSTINO I GRAN RESERVA DOCa Rioja 2009 $39.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
R+707323 RUSTENBERG JOHN X MERRIMAN WO Stellenbosch 2019 $24.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
R+21861 MARCHESI DI BAROLO TRADIZIONE BAROLO DUO Two bottles in wooden gift box, DOCG, Veneto, Italy 2016 $109.95 MVC/QPR: 90
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 or 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 Fortnight ---
Chateau des Charmes Pinot Noir Estate Bottled Old Vines 2017 VQA NOTL, +256834, $24.95 (at winery and online): I think that this is the first de Charmes' "Old Vines" Pinot in some time (maybe 2012?). Quite a powerful wine (the 2007 was a Cuvee winner), lots of forest floor (mushrooms, earth) to complement the dynamic red berry fruit. Grapes come from their St David's Bench block, the oldest vineyard they have. It could still use some time(I tasted at home over a few days). High acidity but low tannins. 1.7 g/L residual sugar. 13% ABV. Quality/Price rating is 92 points by Dean Tudor of Gothic Epicures.
Jackson-Triggs White Meritage Grand Reserve 2020 VQA Niagara Peninsula, +360297, $25.95 Vintages, online, Wine Rack, winery: this is the classic Bordeaux blend of sauvignon blanc (80%) and semillon (20%). It is almost never made in Ontario, but it has been made occasionally at Jackson-Triggs, when the circumstances were right. Previous vintages I have enjoyed included the 2017 and the 2012. But in 2012, the blend was 70% sauvignon blanc (with 10% of the savvy being barrel fermented in French oak) and 30% semillon, and the price was a dollar less. This time (2020) all of the semillon went into older French oak after extended skin contact. Herbs and honey dominate the flavour profiles, with stone fruit and grapefruit accents augmenting some tropicality. It will also reveal longer depth after more bottle aging of a year or so. Best with seafood – indeed, I had it with a Hooked stuffed sea bream and fishcuterie plate of a half dozen denizens. Long finish. Residual sugar is a low 3g/L. 13% ABV. Quality/Price rating is 93 points by Dean Tudor of Gothic Epicures.
** A Recent Wine Book I Reviewed ---
WINE FROM ANOTHER GALAXY (Quadrille, 2020, 354 pages, $65 hardbound) is by Dan Keeling and Mark Andrew, MW, co-founders of Noble Rot magazine and restaurants in Bloomsbury and Soho. They also own a wine importer, Keeling Andrew & Co. It's an unusual wine book, based on their writings in Noble Rot magazine. Part one is the "Shrine to the Vine" with primer-like detail on how wine is made, noble grapes, how wine ages, wine cellars, desert island wine lists. How to serve wine, how to order wine in a restaurant, even a hilarious alternative wine aroma wheel. Part two is the road trip travel through Europe – the people and places behind their fave wines: France, Hibernia, Italy, Germany, Greece, ending with English sparklers. And it ends with a listing of their top wines, about 99% of which are from France (who knew?). An interesting book for the millennial wine lover. Quality/Price rating is 91 points by Dean Tudor of Gothic Epicures.
** Some recommended wines from the LCBO's Limited Time Offers selections...these are good value (see below)...on sale through Sunday November 7...
[red] +59311 7 Deadly Zins Old Vine Zinfandel was $24.95, now $21.95, save $4 to Nov 7.
[red splurge] CHÂTEAU PIPEAU SAINT-ÉMILION GRAND CRU VINTAGES +302018 WAS: $43.95 | NOW: $ 39.95 | SAVE: $ 4.00 to Nov 7.
[white] FLAT ROCK RIESLING Niagara VQA VINTAGES +43281 WAS: $ 17.95 | NOW: $ 15.95 | SAVE: $ 2.00 to Nov 7.
[Christmas port] TAYLOR FLADGATE 20-YEAR-OLD TAWNY PORT Portugal VINTAGES +149047 | WAS: $ 69.95 | NOW: $ 62.95 | SAVE: $ 7.00 to Nov 7
Wines Under $20
=========
W+22275 MIGUEL TORRES VIÑA SOL ORIGINAL DO Catalunya 2019 $11.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
Fizz+48801 LOUIS BOUILLOT PERLE D'IVOIRE BRUT BLANC DE BLANCS CRÉMANT DE BOURGOGNE Traditional method, AC, Burgundy, France $19.95 MVC/QPR: 93.
Rose+11234 GÉRARD BERTRAND CÔTE DES ROSES ROSÉ AP Languedoc, France 2020 $10.95 half-bottle MVC/QPR: 90.
W+68015 FLAT ROCK UNPLUGGED UNOAKED CHARDONNAY Sustainable, VQA Niagara Peninsula 2020 $17.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
R+371112 MORANDÉ GRAN RESERVA CARMENÈRE Single vineyard, Valle del Maipo 2019 $16.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
R+272575 GÉRARD BERTRAND GRAND TERROIR TAUTAVEL AP Côtes du Roussillon-Villages 2018 $19.95 MVC/QPR: 90.
R+574780 DEMUERTE DO Yecla 2018 $19.95 MVC/QPR: 91.
Wines Over $20
=========
Fizz+924654 GARDET CUVÉE TRADITION SAINT FLAVY BRUT CHAMPAGNE Chigny-les-Roses, AC, France $46.95 MVC/QPR: 90.
Fizz+15687 GRUET SAUVAGE BLANC DE BLANCS SPARKLING Zero dosage, traditional method, USA $28.95 MVC/QPR: 89,
W+264945 PASCAL JOLIVET SANCERRE AC 2020 $39.95 MVC/QPR: 91.
R+187369 REMO FARINA AMARONE DELLA VALPOLICELLA CLASSICO In wooden gift box, DOC, Veneto, Italy 2018 $92.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
R+384578 REMO FARINA AMARONE DELLA VALPOLICELLA & VALPOLICELLA RIPASSO Two bottles in wooden gift box, Veneto, Italy 2018 $74.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
R+390872 WOLF BLASS GREY LABEL SHIRAZ McLaren Vale, South Australia 2018 $34.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
R+616433 HENRY OF PELHAM SPECK FAMILY RESERVE CABERNET/MERLOT VQA Short Hills Bench, Niagara Escarpment 2019 $39.95 MVC/QPR: 90.
R+570267 FAUSTINO I GRAN RESERVA DOCa Rioja 2009 $39.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
R+707323 RUSTENBERG JOHN X MERRIMAN WO Stellenbosch 2019 $24.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
R+21861 MARCHESI DI BAROLO TRADIZIONE BAROLO DUO Two bottles in wooden gift box, DOCG, Veneto, Italy 2016 $109.95 MVC/QPR: 90
Dean Tudor, Prof Emeritus Ryerson School of Journalism
Treasurer of Wine Writers' Circle of Canada http://www.deantudor.com
http://gothicepicures.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/gothicepicures
Treasurer of Wine Writers' Circle of Canada http://www.deantudor.com
http://gothicepicures.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/gothicepicures
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