Archive for the Vintages/LCBO Release Notes Category

Wines to chill down seem to be the best summer sippers given the official heat wave we are presently undertaking and there are several wines under the fifteen dollar mark that fit the bill nicely. The two themes of this release are customer favourites, aka “get excess stock out of the warehouse” and the Cru wines of Beaujolais. Although none of the Beaujolais wines particularly impressed me, I never have been a big fan of Gamay, they are well priced and could provide an interesting and educational tasting. For those that follow highly touted numerically approved Parker wines, all these Beaujolais wines scored exceedingly well.
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It will soon be time to celebrate Canada Day and the good old LCBO has come to our aid by putting a few solid domestic wines from coast to coast onto the shelves this Saturday. The rest of the release feature is “party wines”, an array of global wines the board considers suitable to bring to a wide range of social events and celebrations. Congratulations to England and the USA for making it into the final sixteen of the World Cup. I of course am elated as my Italian friends are crying in their Chianti. It has been am interesting tournament for sure. Read the rest of this entry »

In celebration of FIFA’s world cup held in South Africa this year, Vintages feature focus showcases several wines of the home team’s country. Unfortunately none of these wines will match the excitement generated by this amazing event. There are some good wines, but none truly shine. England plays the USA on the same day, June 12th that these wines appear on the shelves. Personally, I am not sure yet which wine I will buy to celebrate England’s win, but there are several beauties to chose from including a delicious Zinfandel from Renwood that might fit the bill. Read the rest of this entry »

May 29th brings yet another cluster of Argentina wines to the shelves of the LCBO albeit several of which are very tasty and will work well with barbecued foods in this unusually timed, but most welcome, heat wave. In addition to the Argentinean release also in perfect time for this summertime heat, the second feature of the release showcases some exceeding good whites from the Loire Valley. One in particular is really dynamite and it sells for under twenty bucks. Read the rest of this entry »

The wines of Burgundy are the principal feature of this release and in readiness for the approach of warmer summer months; there are several Rose wines from various regions around the globe available too. I also tasted a couple of wines from Bordeaux that are really tasty and will reward the patient collector. Do read on. Read the rest of this entry »

It has been a while since I was able to make the trek back to London to taste and I was of course elated to hear upon my return that the feature of the release is Zinfandel and Primitivo. Sadly most of the Zinfandels were lame and lackluster. Perusing through the Catalonia catalog before the tasting was disappointing especially after the high caliber of Zin poured at the California wine show held recently in Toronto. High profile producers such as Ridge, Peachy Canyon, Pezzi King, Pedroncelli and Ravenswood were all pouring their best. Nonetheless there are some tasty wines and spirits to procure so do please read on. Read the rest of this entry »

Sorry to say that there was not a lot of wine to sample for this release. At least my pocket book will not go through a similar devastation that it took two weeks ago. The theme for this release is wine from the Southern Rhone and Kosher wines. Sadly the latter group had just a couple for sampling. Many of the Rhone wines were missing, but what I did taste for the most part was exemplary. I probably will buy those that I did not get to try as they are well priced and well touted by the pro’s, at least according to the write ups in the catalogue. Read the rest of this entry »

Moments after joining Facebook’s “I hate wine ratings” group, my Vintages catalogue arrived in my mailbox and guess what, the theme of the release is “North of Ninety,” showcasing a plethora of wines that critics believe warrant ninety points or higher. Good news is there are many exceptional wines to be found and if you are a numbers buyer, then this is the release for you. I also tasted several Northern Rhone Valley wines from the 2007 vintage that rock. Well priced, well balanced and really tasty. Do feel free to read on……… Read the rest of this entry »

It is good there is no charge to the reader to view my notes for this release as they are rather skimpy to say the least. This weekend showcases wines from Argentina. Sadly though, the LCBO shipped very few wines period for the tasting. I guess even the largest purchaser of alcohol in the world has to tighten the belt after the holidays. Siduri, a well renowned producer of Pinot Noir from California has two AVA wines making their debut in the catalogue. Asking prices are unfortunately, high according to friends south of the border who buy them regularly, but any Siduri I have tasted in the past has been stellar.  Perhaps I may splurge. Anyhow, as always, I found a couple worth picking out so please read on. Read the rest of this entry »

Happy New Year and welcome to 2010. The premier release of the year is the annual “Great Wine Great Value”.  This basically translates as ‘you spent too much money in the last couple of months, so the board is going to be kinder and gentler on the pocket book.’  There certainly are several wines that offer a great drinking experience and are priced below fifteen bucks. All you need to do is read on to find them. Read the rest of this entry »