June 9 LCBO Wine Picks: Chile + South of France + Father's Day

The next VINTAGES Wine Release will be in LCBO outlets across Ontario on Saturday, June 9. The major feature in this release is on food-friendly Chilean wines - and there are some good values to be had.

We've got two wines from Concha y Toro's "Maycas del Limarí" label. Their Reserva Especial Syrah and Chardonnay are both very good. Chile is known for it's Carmenère and is one of my favourite varietals; if you've never tried this grape, the Mayu Reserva is a good place to start.

The 1st of two secondary features in this release focuses on wines from the South of France. In general, I have found that this region in France offers the best value wines in the country. Among these wines, the Syrah/Carignan/Grenache blend from Mont Tauch made my picks. The 2nd minor feature in this release is all about Father's Day. From this section, the Barolo from Marziano Abbona is a heavy-hitter and would make an excellent cellaring candidate.

A couple of wines that struck me, but aren't listed below, are worth a look if you want to try something a bit different. Firstly, the Domaine Boyar Royal Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 (#259747, $13.95) is a nice introduction to wines from Bulgaria. The second wine is an unusual Italian red that tastes like a Gewürztraminer - the Ramosceto Lacrima di Morro d'Alba 2010 from Marche (#277889, $14.95).

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

Red Wine:

• CHATEAU STE. MICHELLE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2008 - Columbia Valley, Washington, USA (#269357) (XD) - $19.95
• MAYCAS DEL LIMARÍ RESERVA ESPECIAL SYRAH 2008 - Limarí Valley, Chile (#269423) (XD) - $19.95
• MAYU RESERVA CARMENÈRE 2009 - Elqui Valley, Chile (#090035) (XD) - $17.95
• LAKEVIEW RESERVE SYRAH 2007 - VQA St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada (#264150) (D) - $19.95
• MONT TAUCH LE TAUCH FITOU 2009 - AC, Languedoc, France (#272484) (D) - $19.95
• HEGARTY CHAMANS NO. 2 GRENACHE/MOURVÈDRE/CINSAULT 2009 - AC Minervois, Provence, France (#277061) (D) - $21.95
• MARZIANO ABBONA PRESSENDA BAROLO 2007 - DOCG, Piedmont, Italy (#276584) (D) - $43.95

White Wine:

• MAYCAS DEL LIMARÍ RESERVA ESPECIAL CHARDONNAY 2010 - Limarí Valley, Chile (#162040) (XD) - $19.95
• HUNTER’S JANE HUNTER SAUVIGNON BLANC 2011 - Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (#280271) (XD) - $19.95
• COOPERS CREEK SAUVIGNON BLANC 2010 - Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (#957407) (XD) - $18.95
• DR. PAULY-BERGWEILER WEHLENER SONNENUHR RIESLING SPÄTLESE 2009 - Pradikätswein, Mosel, Germany (#197186) (M) - $21.95
• COYOTE'S RUN BLACK PAW VINEYARD CHARDONNAY 2010 - VQA Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada (#049775) (XD) - $21.95

Rosé Wine:

• CARTE NOIRE ROSÉ 2011 - AC Côtes de Provence, France (#319384) (XD) - $14.95
• KAIKEN MALBEC ROSÉ 2011 - Mendoza, Argentina (#169375) (D) - $14.95

Dessert Wine:

• PANNON TOKAJ 3 PUTTONYOS TOKAJI ASZÚ 2005 - Hungary (#074328) (MS) (500 mL) - $21.95

The rest of the wines from this VINTAGES release can be found here.