WORLD WINE WATCH TOP WINES AT VINTAGES: under/over $20 for FEBRUARY 18, 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.
After that post-holiday glow begins to disappear, you might want to consider some low- or no-alcohol beverages, as concocted by Maureen Petrosky...
ZERO PROOF DRINKS & MORE; 100 recipes for mocktails & low-alcohol cocktails (Robert Rose, 2021, 224 pages, ISBN 978-0-7788-0675-2, $29.95 soft covers) is by Maureen Petrosky, an entertainment and lifestyle writer currently living in Pennsylvania. These are mindful concoctions devoted to socially-distanced happy hours at home. While Spring is the official season of the mocktail, it reminds us of better times. Lo-al (low-ABV) drinks are the obvious choices for the hotter climate of summer and the harshness of winter. As she says, "Today's zero-proof cocktails are complex and nuanced, worlds away from their sugar-saturated predeccors such as the Shirley Temple. She's got the basic preps for syrups, shrubs, aperitifs, and spritzers. No real extra set-ups are needed since most kitchens/bars have the basics anyway to handle alcohol. Mocktails are best as a day drink followed by lo-al happy hours. She's also got thirty pages of punches and pitcher drinks for that high volume party -- fourteen great recipes including spicy margaritas by the pitcher, sparkling peach punch, strawberry cucumber tonic, and jalapeno and honeydew sangria. Anything that reduces our alcohol consumption is a good necessity, such as the Michelada from Mexico. Most drinks can be tweaked upwards or downwards in quantities of add-ons. And every mocktail can have as much alcohol (if you need it) as you can pour into it – simply by topping up with a bland white wine. Key bottles of lo-al include Campari, Aperol, elderflower, Pimm's No.1, Amaretto, vermouth, and sherry. This is an infinitely expandable book once you have assimilated the basics. She's got easy ways to mix up flavours. Trendy titles include Bloody M, Rosemary Pear Bellini, Grilled Pineapple Mint Mojito, Lemongrass Cilantro Highball, and Grapefruit Radler. Certainly much better than a premixed non-al pretender bottle such as a gin clone, a bourbon clone, a tequila clone, which retail for $40 or more. Just use stuff like juniper berries and rum flavouring at home. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and avoirdupois measurements. Apart from the punches and pitchers, drinks are for one person. Quality/price rating by Dean Tudor of Gothic Epicures Writing: 91
** Some Recommended Wines from the LCBO's Limited Time Offers selections...these are good value...on sale through Sunday February 26...
[red] +168716 Les Vignes De Bila-Haut (Chapoutier) $16.95, save $3.00, now $13.95
[red] +322586 Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon $20.95, save $3.00, now $17.95
[white] +286278 Flat Rock Cellars Chardonnay $19.95, save $2.00, now $17.95
[splurge] +314575 Sterling Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $49.95, save, $5.00 now $44.95
[sweetie] +388306 Vidal Icewine VQA (Inniskillin) 375ml. $49.95, save $5.00, now $44.95
MAJOR THEME: FRANCE
Wines Under $20
=========
Fizz+20579 COLLALBRIGO EXTRA DRY CONEGLIANO-VALDOBBIADENE PROSECCO SUPERIORE Veneto DOCG $17.95 MVC/QPR: 89
W+19379 TRIUS DISTINCTION SAUVIGNON BLANC 2020 VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake $19.95 MVC/QPR: 89
W+251470 TRIUS DISTINCTION BARREL FERMENTED CHARDONNAY 2020 VQA
Niagara Peninsula $19.95 MVC/QPR: 89
W+328559 CATHEDRAL CELLAR CHARDONNAY 2021 Western Cape WO $17.95 MVC/QPR: 91
W+392092 HENRI EHRHART RÉSERVE PARTICULIÈRE PINOT GRIS 2020 Alsace AC $18.95 MVC/QPR: 89
W+28608 JOÃO PORTUGAL RAMOS LOUREIRO VINHO VERDE 2021 Vinho Verde DOC $13.95 MVC/QPR: 89
R+548867 CASA SANTOS LIMA COLOSSAL RESERVA 2018 Lisboa Vinho Regional Lisboa $16.95 MVC/QPR: 90
Wines Over $20
=========
W+701219 DOMAINE DES MALANDES VAU DE VEY CHABLIS 1ER CRU 2020 Burgundy AC $51.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
R+230896 PENINSULA RIDGE RESERVE SYRAH 2016 VQA Niagara Peninsula $39.95
MVC/QPR: 89
R+174334 GAJA CA'MARCANDA PROMIS 2020 IGP Toscana $64.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
Sherry+748798 LUSTAU PALO CORTADO PENINSULA SOLERA FAMILIAR DRY SHERRY Jerez DO, Spain $38.40 MVC/QPR: 89
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.
After that post-holiday glow begins to disappear, you might want to consider some low- or no-alcohol beverages, as concocted by Maureen Petrosky...
ZERO PROOF DRINKS & MORE; 100 recipes for mocktails & low-alcohol cocktails (Robert Rose, 2021, 224 pages, ISBN 978-0-7788-0675-2, $29.95 soft covers) is by Maureen Petrosky, an entertainment and lifestyle writer currently living in Pennsylvania. These are mindful concoctions devoted to socially-distanced happy hours at home. While Spring is the official season of the mocktail, it reminds us of better times. Lo-al (low-ABV) drinks are the obvious choices for the hotter climate of summer and the harshness of winter. As she says, "Today's zero-proof cocktails are complex and nuanced, worlds away from their sugar-saturated predeccors such as the Shirley Temple. She's got the basic preps for syrups, shrubs, aperitifs, and spritzers. No real extra set-ups are needed since most kitchens/bars have the basics anyway to handle alcohol. Mocktails are best as a day drink followed by lo-al happy hours. She's also got thirty pages of punches and pitcher drinks for that high volume party -- fourteen great recipes including spicy margaritas by the pitcher, sparkling peach punch, strawberry cucumber tonic, and jalapeno and honeydew sangria. Anything that reduces our alcohol consumption is a good necessity, such as the Michelada from Mexico. Most drinks can be tweaked upwards or downwards in quantities of add-ons. And every mocktail can have as much alcohol (if you need it) as you can pour into it – simply by topping up with a bland white wine. Key bottles of lo-al include Campari, Aperol, elderflower, Pimm's No.1, Amaretto, vermouth, and sherry. This is an infinitely expandable book once you have assimilated the basics. She's got easy ways to mix up flavours. Trendy titles include Bloody M, Rosemary Pear Bellini, Grilled Pineapple Mint Mojito, Lemongrass Cilantro Highball, and Grapefruit Radler. Certainly much better than a premixed non-al pretender bottle such as a gin clone, a bourbon clone, a tequila clone, which retail for $40 or more. Just use stuff like juniper berries and rum flavouring at home. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and avoirdupois measurements. Apart from the punches and pitchers, drinks are for one person. Quality/price rating by Dean Tudor of Gothic Epicures Writing: 91
** Some Recommended Wines from the LCBO's Limited Time Offers selections...these are good value...on sale through Sunday February 26...
[red] +168716 Les Vignes De Bila-Haut (Chapoutier) $16.95, save $3.00, now $13.95
[red] +322586 Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon $20.95, save $3.00, now $17.95
[white] +286278 Flat Rock Cellars Chardonnay $19.95, save $2.00, now $17.95
[splurge] +314575 Sterling Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $49.95, save, $5.00 now $44.95
[sweetie] +388306 Vidal Icewine VQA (Inniskillin) 375ml. $49.95, save $5.00, now $44.95
MAJOR THEME: FRANCE
Wines Under $20
=========
Fizz+20579 COLLALBRIGO EXTRA DRY CONEGLIANO-VALDOBBIADENE PROSECCO SUPERIORE Veneto DOCG $17.95 MVC/QPR: 89
W+19379 TRIUS DISTINCTION SAUVIGNON BLANC 2020 VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake $19.95 MVC/QPR: 89
W+251470 TRIUS DISTINCTION BARREL FERMENTED CHARDONNAY 2020 VQA
Niagara Peninsula $19.95 MVC/QPR: 89
W+328559 CATHEDRAL CELLAR CHARDONNAY 2021 Western Cape WO $17.95 MVC/QPR: 91
W+392092 HENRI EHRHART RÉSERVE PARTICULIÈRE PINOT GRIS 2020 Alsace AC $18.95 MVC/QPR: 89
W+28608 JOÃO PORTUGAL RAMOS LOUREIRO VINHO VERDE 2021 Vinho Verde DOC $13.95 MVC/QPR: 89
R+548867 CASA SANTOS LIMA COLOSSAL RESERVA 2018 Lisboa Vinho Regional Lisboa $16.95 MVC/QPR: 90
Wines Over $20
=========
W+701219 DOMAINE DES MALANDES VAU DE VEY CHABLIS 1ER CRU 2020 Burgundy AC $51.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
R+230896 PENINSULA RIDGE RESERVE SYRAH 2016 VQA Niagara Peninsula $39.95
MVC/QPR: 89
R+174334 GAJA CA'MARCANDA PROMIS 2020 IGP Toscana $64.95 MVC/QPR: 89.
Sherry+748798 LUSTAU PALO CORTADO PENINSULA SOLERA FAMILIAR DRY SHERRY Jerez DO, Spain $38.40 MVC/QPR: 89
Dean Tudor, Prof Emeritus T'karonto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson) School of Journalism
Treasurer of Wine Writers' Circle of Canada http://www.deantudor.comhttp://gothicepicures.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/gothicepicures
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