July 5 LCBO Wine Picks: New Zealand + Spain

The main focus of the next LCBO Vintages release is on summery wines from New Zealand, while stylish Spanish wines are the secondary focus. All of these and other delightful wines will be in LCBO outlets across Ontario on Saturday, July 5th.

The timing and major focus of this release is perfect as the weather finally feels like summer. It's also evident as my number of white wine recommendations are greater than red wines, with many refreshing wines to choose from.

From New Zealand, refreshing whites are the order of the day. There are two 2012 Sauvignon Blancs, including a low-alcohol (only 9.5%) version from Forrest Estate, as well as a medium-dry (sweetish) Gewürztraminer from Lawson's Dry Hills. My other wine pick from this portion of the release is the Bel Echo Pinot Noir - which is also the Benchmark/Wine of the Month.

Unfortunately, the Spanish wines in this release were rather un-stylish as only the Albariño stood out.

With eight 2010 Bordeaux wines in this release, 2010 Bordeaux could have easily been the second focus. However, just one of these wines made my list of wine picks - the version from Château Gachon is a mostly Merlot-led blend. Not from Bordeaux, but 2010 vintage wines, nonetheless, are the Château de Gourgazaud Reserve that is a Syrah-based blend, and the Hidden Bench Terroir Caché Meritage that consists of 53% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 12% Malbec and should be aged a couple of years before enjoying. Also, the Red Rooster Meritage is a blend of 40% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec and 2% Petit Verdot.

In white wines, if you think the Lawson's Dry Hills Gewürz won't be sweet enough for you, then you'll want to go up a few sugar cubes to the version from Kuhlmann-Platz. In Riesling, the version from Jim Barry is off-dry (slightly sweet), while the version from Alsace's Dopff & Irion is medium in sweetness. The wine from Château des Charmes Chardonnay Musqué is made using a clone of the Chardonnay grape (specifically Clone 809) and is unoaked.

And last but not least, the rosé wine from Château de Lancyre is a blend of 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache, and 10% Cinsault.

Enjoy my wine picks from this release. Cheers!


Red Wine:

• CHÂTEAU DE GOURGAZAUD RÉSERVE 2010 - AC Minervois La Livinière, Midi, France (#986083) (XD) - $16.95
• CHÂTEAU GACHON CUVÉE LES PETITS RANGAS 2010 - AC Montagne Saint-Émilion, Bordeaux, France (#280040) (XD) - $18.95
• CHÂTEAU LOS BOLDOS VIEILLES VIGNES SYRAH 2011 - Single Vineyard, Cachapoal Andes, Chile (#371187) (XD) - $18.95
• BEL ECHO PINOT NOIR 2012 - 'Terroir: Greywacke', Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (#159137) (XD) - $22.95
• RED ROOSTER RESERVE MERITAGE 2011 - VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada (#366187) (XD) - $24.95
• HIDDEN BENCH TERROIR CACHÉ MERITAGE 2010 - VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada (#505610) (D) - $38.20
• BAROSSA VALLEY ESTATE EBENEZER SHIRAZ 2007 - Barossa Valley, South Australia (#971705) (D) - $39.95

White Wine:

• CHÂTEAU DES CHARMES ESTATE BOTTLED CHARDONNAY MUSQUÉ 2012 - Estate bottled, VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada (#640516) (XD) - $16.95
• CEMBRA VIGNA DELLE FORCHE MÜLLER THURGAU 2012 - DOC Trentino, Italy (#372508) (XD) - $17.95
• BURGÁNS ALBARIÑO 2012 - DO Rías Baixas, Spain (#945063) (D) - $18.95
• KUHLMANN-PLATZ MUEHLFORST GEWÜRZTRAMINER 2012 - AC Alsace, France (#168864) (MS) - $18.95
• FORREST ESTATE THE DOCTORS’ SAUVIGNON BLANC 2012 - Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (#317842) (XD) - $19.95  reviewed here
• LAWSON’S DRY HILLS GEWÜRZTRAMINER 2011 - Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (#060129) (D) - $19.95  reviewed here
• ALPHA ESTATE SAUVIGNON BLANC 2012 - PGI Florina, Greece (#368464) (XD) - $19.95
• DOPFF & IRION DOMAINES DU CHÂTEAU DE RIQUEWIHR LES MURAILLES RIESLING 2009 - AC Alsace, France (#933069) (M) - $19.95
• JIM BARRY THE LODGE HILL DRY RIESLING 2013 - Clare Valley, South Australia (#262469) (XD) - $24.95  reviewed here
• CLOS HENRI SAUVIGNON BLANC 2012 - Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (#675629) (XD) - $28.95
• HAMILTON RUSSELL CHARDONNAY 2012 - WO Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, South Africa (#931006) (D) - $34.95

Rosé Wine:

• CHÂTEAU DE LANCYRE PIC SAINT-LOUP ROSÉ 2013 - AC Coteaux du Languedoc, Midi, France (#374900) (XD) - $17.95

Icewine:

• SUE-ANN STAFF VIDAL ICEWINE 2012 - VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada (#368720) (S) (200 mL) - $24.95

Sparkling Wine:

• CHÂTEAU MONCONTOUR CUVÉE PRÉDILECTION BRUT VOUVRAY 2011 - AC, Loire, France (#168963) (D) - $18.95

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