June 7 LCBO Wine Picks: Authentic Oz + Italian Whites + Father's Day

The next Vintages wine release will be in LCBO outlets across Ontario on Saturday, June 7th. This edition focuses on "authentic" Australian wines, with the emphasis solely on Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay. The secondary feature is on regional white wines from Italy.

Overall, the selection of 14 Aussie wines featured are very good. At the top of the list is the Wynns Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, while in the same price range and a close second is the Grant Burge The Holy Trinity GSM (38% Grenache, 36% Shiraz and 26% Mourvèdre). Both of these wines hail from an excellent 2010 vintage. Further down the price range and into more affordable territory is the impressive Tournon Shiraz that is back in Vintages after showing up in January; the fourth and final red I can recommend is the Cab Sauv from Kilikanoon. Both Aussie Chardonnays featured in this release made my wine picks - neither are heavily oaked, but do have some oak influence.

From the secondary feature on Italian white wines, two of the nine wines made my list of wine picks. Tiefenbrunner's PG (Pinot Grigio) is one of the best around. Dry white wine lovers that want to try something new should check out Terredora's Greco di Tufo - it's made using the Greco grape.

The annual Father's Day selection is also included in this release and features a number of premium wines and spirits. If you're inclined, there is the Macallan Sherry Oak 25 Years Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky going for almost $1000.

From the rest of the release, Palo Alto's red from Chile is a blend of 50% Shiraz, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Carménère, 10% Merlot, and 2% Petit Syrah. The Carignanissime de Centeilles is 100% Carignan, comes from vines that are between 60-100 years old, and is matured in tanks only (no oak used). The Ramos Pinto is mostly Touriga Nacional (45%) and Touriga Franca (35%), while 6 other grapes make up the final 20% of the blend. And finally, the 2010 Niagara growing season was excellent for traditional Bordeaux grapes and helped produce a wonderful blend from Creekside (47.3% Cab Sauv, 37.2% Merlot, 10.8% Shiraz, 4.7% Malbec). In white wines, the Menetou-Salon is made using Sauvignon Blanc.

Enjoy my wine recommendations from this LCBO Vintages release. Cheers!


Red Wine:

• PALO ALTO WINEMAKER’S SELECTION 2010 - Maule Valley, Chile (#376236) (XD) - $18.95
• CARIGNANISSIME DE CENTEILLES 2010 - AC Minervois, Midi, France (#041913) (XD) - $18.95
• KILIKANOON KILLERMAN’S RUN CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2012 - Clare Valley, South Australia (#675223) (XD) - $19.95
• ADRIANO RAMOS PINTO DUAS QUINTAS 2011 - DOC Douro, Portugal (#359893) (XD) - $19.95
• CREEKSIDE LAURA’S RED 2010 - VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada (#117960) (XD) - $19.95
• DOMAINE TOURNON MATHILDA SHIRAZ 2011 - Victoria, Australia (#327395) (XD) - $19.95
• WYNNS COONAWARRA ESTATE BLACK LABEL CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2010 - Coonawarra, South Australia (#084996) (XD) - $27.95  reviewed here
• LICENCIADO RESERVA TEMPRANILLO 2006 - DOCa Rioja, Spain (#370023) (XD) - $29.95
• GRANT BURGE THE HOLY TRINITY GRENACHE/SHIRAZ/MOURVÈDRE 2010 - Barossa, South Australia (#236257) (XD) - $29.95  reviewed here

White Wine:

• TIEFENBRUNNER PINOT GRIGIO 2013 - DOC Südtirol-Alto Adige, Italy (#954024) (XD) - $18.95
• MALIVOIRE PINOT GRIS 2012 - VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada (#591305) (D) - $19.95
• CHAVET & FILS LA DAME DE JACQUES COEUR MENETOU-SALON BLANC 2012 - AC, Loire, France (#525048) (XD) - $19.95
• NUGAN KING VALLEY FRASCA’S LANE VINEYARD CHARDONNAY 2012 - Frasca's Lane Vineyard, King Valley, Victoria, Australia (#288191) (XD) - $19.95
• TERREDORA DI PAOLO LOGGIA DELLA SERRA GRECO DI TUFO 2012 - DOCG, Campania, Italy (#983197) (XD) - $20.95
• WINZER KREMS EDITION CHREMISA GRÜNER VELTLINER 2012 - Niederösterreich, Austria (#368803) (XD) - $24.95
• TYRRELL’S HVD SINGLE VINEYARD CHARDONNAY 2012 - HVD (Hunter Valley Distillery) Vineyard, Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia (#368282) (XD) - $29.95
• SMITH-MADRONE CHARDONNAY 2011 - Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley, California, USA (#363556) (XD) - $39.95

Dessert Wine:

• DOMINIUM CUVÉE LATE HARVEST TOKAJI 2006 - DOP, Hungary (#371617) (MS) (500 mL) - $28.95

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