Australia + Taste Treats: Jan. 21 Wine Picks

The second Vintages release of 2012 will be in LCBO stores across Ontario on January 21. Primary feature of this release is on Australia. However, I found the secondary feature titled "Taste Treats" to be much more interesting.

Taste Treats is about discovering 6 great grapes - Chenin Blanc, Grüner Veltliner, Mencía, Monastrell (a.k.a. Mourvèdre), Montepulciano and Petit Verdot. Each of these grapes has its own style and should be discovered on their own (i.e. not blended) so you can taste what each has to offer. Five of these grapes made my wine picks (the Pétalos from Spain is made using Mencía).

The rest of this release has a few good value wines, including the 13th Street Merlot. I give much credit to Nero d'Avola because this was the grape that first got me into wine - it's worth discovering.

Enjoy my picks for this week. Let me know your thoughts if you taste any of these. Cheers!


Red Wine:

• 13TH STREET MERLOT 2010 - VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada (#270504) (XD) - $17.95
• CANICATTI AQUILAE NERO D'AVOLA 2008 - IGT Sicilia, Italy (#218503) (D) - $15.95
• CONCHA Y TORO SERIE RIBERAS GRAN RESERVA CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2009 - Marchigue, Ribera del Tinguiririca, Chile (#256693) (XD) - $14.95
• IGNACIO MARIN OLD VINE GARNACHA 2008 - DO Cariñena, Spain (#214205) (D) - $15.95
• TALAMONTI TRE SAGGI MONTEPULCIANO D'ABRUZZO 2008 - DOC, Tuscany, Italy (#204016) (D) - $15.95
• DESCENDIENTES DE J. PALACIOS PÉTALOS 2009 - DO Bierzo, Spain (#675207) (XD) - $22.95
• SANTA CAROLINA BARRICA SELECTION PETIT VERDOT 2009 - Rapel Valley, Chile (#007484) (XD) - $14.95

White Wine:

• JEAN GEILER LIEU-DIT VOGELGARTEN PINOT GRIS 2009 - AC Alsace, France (#259739) (MD) - $17.95
• SPICE ROUTE CHENIN BLANC 2009 - WO Swartland, South Africa (#174623) (XD) - $17.95
• HENRY OF PELHAM RESERVE OFF-DRY RIESLING 2009 - VQA Short Hills Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada (#557165) (MD) - $15.95
• WEINGUT ZAHEL RIEDENCUVÉE GRÜNER VELTLINER 2010 - Wiener Lagen, Austria (#181594) (XD) - $15.95

Full list of wines from the Jan. 21 release is here.