Hop on your sled and dash to your local LCBO for great finds in this Saturday’s Vintages release! Bubbles, fizz, liquid foam, call it what you want but nothing starts a festive gathering like sparkling white wine. Whether it’s the tall, sexy flutes or those bubbles that tickle the nose, sparkling wine is a drinkable turn-on, the ultimate celebratory libation.
The world has come a long way with bubbles. Spain’s Cava, Alsace’s Cremant, Italy’s Prosecco, Sonoma’s Brut, not to mention our many Canadian fizzy gems.
While this release is filled with champagne I figured you’d want more than 2 bottles in the basket and kept in mind that, “ A woman cannot survive on champagne alone, she also needs shoes.”
So, it is Christmas and I went just a little over our budget to introduce two surprising finds. A dessert wine and a red wine blend from Romania. Even an LCBO product consultant agreed with me that the Romanian red blend at $14.00 was better than a Napa blend we compared at $44.00. So no better time to explore when your budget has constraints, especially at that price point. Not to mention conversation newbies.
Whatever tickles your nose this December, find something delicious at LCBO Vintages this Saturday to toast the season with friends, family and loved ones. As the song goes, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year”.
Make it count and do it with style,
Julie
If I had $100, I would buy these wines at LCBO Vintages…
Saturday December 12, 2015
Oyster Bay Sparkling Cuvée
Charmat Method, New Zealand
$21.95 (Vintages # 280172) 12% alcohol
If the philosophy of Oyster Bay Winery is to produce fine, distinctly regional wines that are elegant and assertive with glorious fruit flavours, this sparkling wine hits the nose on the palate. Pale poached salmon in colour, lovely soft tropical fruit flavours capture the senses. A blend of 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir make it a very easy sipper. Gentle ripe berries prevail throughout, a little strawberry and citrus on the finish. Would make a fabulous brunch wine or afternoon delight. Versatile, friendly and a real crowd-pleaser.
Louis Bouillon Perle D’Ivoire Brut Blanc de Blancs Crémant De Bourgogne
Méthode Traditionnelle, AC Burgundy, France
$19.95 (Vintages # 48801) 12% alcohol
Pours like Champagne, pale golden, zillions of soft creamy bubbles surface and I was saying to myself “please bring me some grilled shrimps to accompany”. Aromas of buttered toast and almonds, made from 100% Chardonnay grapes; it is medium-bodied, lean, citrusy with some yellow apple, bursting with flavours of lemon curd and bone dry on the palate from start to finish. Plush and undeniably decadent!
Cave De Beblenheim Brut Rosé Crémant D’Alsace
Méthode Traditionnelle, AC Burgundy, France
$18.95 (Vintages #168948) 12.5% alcohol
Forgive me for featuring 2 sparkling wines from France, but they were both so good, I couldn’t decide so thought I’d let you be the judge. Pours like a bright pink grapefruit, 100% Pinot Noir grapes, fresh crisp cranberry and raspberry bubbles dance in the full-bodied mouthfeel. Talk about happy! Uplifting acidity on the finish that leaves the palate feeling refreshed. Appealing and easy, it’s juicy and incredibly good.
Frogpond Farm Gamay Noir 2013
VQA Niagara on the Lake
$16.00 (Vintages 245613) 12.2% alcohol
There is so much going on in this organic beauty from the first whiff to the end of the sip. Not a bit of wonder this red wine won Gold Medal at the 2014 Royal Agriculture Winter Fair Wine Competition. If you love cherries, this is your drink. Bright, sweet and pungent, savoury and a little spicy on the finish. I did not realize Gamay could have so much punch. It’s medium-bodied and so pure in texture, clean and bright. Probably the best Gamay I have tasted. The herbal tones at the end just add interest; I went back for one more taste, just to make sure I got it right.
Cotnari Vin Alb Dulce Tãmâioasã Româneascã 2012
DOC Cotnari, Romania
$13.95 (Vintages #651653) 11.5% alcohol
The grape Tamaioasa Romaneasca is also know as Muscat Blanc à Petit Grains which is purported to be one of the oldest grape wines in the world. This wine was listed in the Vintages releases under Dessert Wine.
Upon tasting, I found it to be a light-bodied, off dry, floral with soft tree fruit flavours, a little honey at the end that could translate into other venues besides dessert. The grapes exhibit a natural sweetness but so subtle that you could easily serve this with salads or seafood or even with a light cream based soup to start dinner. A noticeable seam of acidity runs through it. There’s not much on the finish, but it’s an easy sipper. Romanian cuisine is very similar to Turkey and Greece. As a dessert wine it would be awesome with Baclava consisting of honey and nuts, native to the region and wow, what a partnership.
Monser Feteascã Neagrã 2012
IG Dealurile Hu_ilor
Senator Prodimpex
$14.00 (Vintages #315069) 12.5% alcohol
Feteasca Meagra translates to Black maiden and this old pre-phylloxeric variety is also known as the Moldovan grape cultivated in the Romanian regions of Moldovia and Muntenia. The grape produces wines tasting of Italian and French character. Deep ruby red, aromas of dark berries and currants that follow through on the palate. Medium-bodied, stand-up tannins and a real pleasant drinking wine. (I hate to say Bordeaux style, but it is what it is) It would be great with stew, spaghetti or pizza or on 26th December with leftovers.
6 interesting wines for just over $100.00.
Have a sparkling new year!
GRAND TOTAL – $ 104.80
Tags: Accredited Sommelier Julie Stock, Brut from Sonoma, buying wines at the LCBO, Cava from Spain, Cave De Beblenheim Brut Rosé Crémant D’Alsace, Chateau des Charmes, Cotnari Vin Alb Dulce Tãmâioasã Româneascã 2012, Cremant from Alsace, Feteasca Meagra, Frogpond Farm Gamay Noir 2013, great Ontario wines, If I had $100 I would buy at Vintages, LCBO Vintages release Saturday Dec 12, Louis Bouillon Perle D’Ivoire Brut Blanc de Blancs Crémant De Bourgogne, Oyster Bay Sparkling Cuvée, Prosecco from Italy, red wine, Romanian wines, Savvy Company, savvycompany.ca, Sparkling Wine, Tamaioasa Romaneasca, white wine, wine shopping list, wine tips from a Sommelier, wines from France, wines from New Zealand, wines from Ontario, wines from Romania, www.savvycompany.ca
