How do you buy the best wines at the LCBO? Can you find wines less than $20 that are tasty? Less than $15? How can you pair those wines with great dishes & recipes? Here are my tips to help you get the most from your shopping at the LCBO. It helps to understand the categories of wines at the LCBO: 1. General list: regularly stocked items, often in the store year-round and often moderately priced. This category includes the larger brands that have the production to fill most stores, most of the time. I recommend wines from this […]
Wine Picks
New Wine Reviews
Number of Wines Recommended: 73 Review date: December 5, 2009 The highlights in this Vintages release include: – 17 wines under $20 – Best value white: Orange zest and apricot lively Pinot Gris from Alsace for seafood and pork $13.95 – Favourite white: Chardonnay from the wine that put New Zealand on the map for for roast chicken 93/100 – Best value red (tied): Berry-ripe red from Chile for steak and hamburgers $14.95 – Best value red (tied): Spanish red for mushroom and rice dishes $15.95 – Favorite red: Cult Cabernet from Napa Valley that will age for decades 95/100 […]
Frolicking with Sheep and Hawks in Niagara
One of the highlights of my recent visit to Niagara was meeting husband-and-wife Louis Engel and David Johnson at Featherstone Winery. They, in turn, introduced me to one of their hawks, Zeke. He was an adorable little fellow that we took out into the vineyard with us. I noticed that as we walked down the rows of vines, the birds went silent. That’s because Zeke is a hunter, trained to go after the number one enemy of ripened grapes: starlings. Other birds, such as robins and orioles, also attack the fruit, but starlings cost the industry hundreds of thousands of […]
What’s Wrong with Panel Wine Scores? Lots
There’s always debate about how useful wine scores are, with the usual pro arguments (easy to understand) and cons (wine is subjective and can’t be trapped in a number). Fair enough. I resisted scoring wines for the first three years that I wrote about wine until I realized that consumers want them. Plain and simple. There’s a lot of clutter, information, crowd-sourcing, tweets, Facebook posts, blog entries and other info coming at us these days. Most people don’t want to spend hours analyzing multiple wine reviews to buy a bottle. That’s why scores work: they’re as clear and simple as […]
New Wine Reviews
Number of Wines Recommended: 51 Review date: November 21, 2009 The highlights in this Vintages release include: – 14 wines under $20 – Best value white: Orange blossom zest in this lovely Muscat from southern France for seafood and salads $13.95 – Favourite white: Niagara’s benchmark Chardonnay, no question 95/100 – Best value red: Blackberry-rich Argentine Malbec for pizza and lasanga $12.95 – Favorite red: Iconic Australian Shiraz that’s worth three times the price 96/100 – Favourite Sparkling Wine: The bubbly that all the rappers rapsidize about, pure luxury 93/100 – Favourite Dessert Wine: Niagara’s classic and iconic icewine producer, […]
New Wine Reviews
Number of Wines Recommended: 48 Review date: November 7, 2009 The highlights in this Vintages release include: – 17 wines under $20 – Best value white: Chilean Chardonnay with toasted almonds and buttery richness for roast chicken $15.95 – Favorite white: German Riesling with mouth-watering aromas of ripe peach for glazed ham and soft cheeses 93/100 – Best value red: Argentine Malbec with fleshy dark berries for hamburgers, lamb and pizza $12.95 – Favorite red: An Italian Super Tuscan bursting with notes of violets, aged leather, black cherry for prime rib and filet mignon 93/100 – Favorite Sparkling Wine: James […]
Working the Grape Sorting Table at Canada’s Benchmark Pinot Noir
They put me to work on the grape sorting table at Le Clos Jordanne a few weeks ago. This Niagara winery makes some of the finest, if not the finest, pinot noirs in Canada. Elegant, silky, seductive, these wines draw you head first into the glass. Winemaker Thomas Bachelder is absolutely fanatical about grape selection: that’s the monumental foundation on which he contructs his wines. Here are the grapes coming in… juicy, fleshy and sweet like the fall… Thomas and I drove out to all of the vineyards to taste the grapes and then compared these to barrel […]
New Wine Reviews
Number of Wines Recommended: 48 Review date: October 24, 2009 The highlights in this Vintages release include: – 16 wines under $20 – Best value white: Lime-fresh German Riesling for tuna $13.95 – Favorite white: Mouth-watering Niagara Riesling for salads and salmon 92/100 – Best value red: Robust Italian red for pizza and lasanga $12.95 – Favorite red: A Spanish red with blackberry and violet notes for veal 93/100 You can see a complete free sample set of reviews here. Here is the text-only shopping list for the October 24 reviews with wine names, tasting notes, scores, food matches […]
New Wine Reviews
Number of Wines Recommended: 56 Review date: October 10, 2009 The highlights in this Vintages release include: – 22 wines under $20 – Best value white: New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc with pure grassy goodness for vegetarian dishes and quiche $14.95 – Favorite white: Voluptuous California Chardonnay for roast chicken 93/100 – Best value red: Supple, full-bodied Chilean Carmenère for hamburgers and steak $14.95 – Favorite red: Blackberry-rich Australian Shiraz for fajitas 93/100 – Favorite red: Dense, round, supple and full-bodied Spanish Cabernet for brisket and prime rib 93/100 Free sample wine reviews with tasting notes, scores & recipes: Here is […]
New Wine Reviews
Number of Wines Recommended: 48 Review Date: September 26, 2009 The highlights in this Vintages release include: – 21 wines under $20 – Best value white: A zesty Italian white $11.95 – Favorite white: Gorgeously rich Meursault (Chardonnay) 94/100 – Best value red: Tasty, organic Argentine Cabernet $12.95 – Favorite red: A cult Super-Tuscan 97/100 Here is the text-only shopping list for these reviews with wine names, tasting notes, scores, food matches & recipes: September 26 You can see a complete free sample set of reviews here.
