August 27, 2022 LCBO VINTAGES Release Wine Picks: Flagship & Online Exclusives

This release was meant to be the last experiment of the summer where the entire release is available exclusively online via lcbo.com. However, the August 27, 2022 LCBO VINTAGES Release will not only be available on lcbo.com, but also brings with it the return of Flagship Exclusives. Thus, the final release of summer will be available both in-store at Flagship Exclusive locations and online at lcbo.com. There are 53 wines in this release and all of the wines should be available for purchase by Saturday, and quite possibly a day or two earlier.

As per the usual, there is no theme to this release, so we begin with my top red wine recommendations. We start with a pair of lovely New World Pinot Noir wines - one from Chile and the other from New Zealand. There is also a fine Gamay from the volcanic soils of Côte du Py in Beaujolais, while the Barolo is, of course, made with Nebbiolo. My last red wine pick is from Chile and it is crafted using the País varietal - a grape of Spanish origin that was exported abroad and was Chile's most widely planted variety up until the turn of the 21st century.

The País varietal has various synonyms in Argentina and is most often referred to as Criolla Chica. In this release, I am delighted to finally see Criolla come to VINTAGES and it arrives in the form of a Pét-Nat sparkling wine that was grown in Mendoza.

Among my top white wine picks, the only blend is the Rioja Blanco that consists of 90% Viura and 10% Malvasia, all of it aged for 6 years in barrel. Single varietal wines include a pair of excellent Chardonnay wines - one from Niagara and the other from Friuli, as well as a Grüner Veltliner from Wachau in Austria. Lastly, the Riesling Trocken from Rheingau has just a pinch of sweetness.

Enjoy my top wine picks from this release! Cheers!

Red Wine:

• CASAS DEL BOSQUE GRAN RESERVA PINOT NOIR 2019 - Valle de Casablanca, Chile (#525022) (XD) - $22.95  91 pts  wine review
• LABERINTO ARCILLAS PAÍS 2020 - DO Valle del Maule, Chile (#24759) (XD) - $24.95
• PIERRE DUPOND MORGON CÔTE DU PY 2018 - AP, Beaujolais, France (#18419) (XD) - $26.95
• CLOS HENRI PINOT NOIR 2017 - Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (#56556) (XD) - $34.95
• ABRIGO GIOVANNI RAVERA BAROLO 2016 - DOCG, Piedmont, Italy (#25743) (XD) - $58.95

White Wine:

• TEGERNSEERHOF SMARAGD BERGDISTEL GRÜNER VELTLINER 2017 - Wachau, Austria (#377606) (XD) - $36.95
• BACHELDER WISMER-WINGFIELD OUEST VINEYARD CHARDONNAY 2019 - VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Escarpment, Ontario, Canada (#520403) (XD) - $47.95
• LIS NERIS JUROSA CHARDONNAY 2018 - DOC Friuli Isonzo, Friuli, Italy (#382960) (XD) - $48.95
• LOPEZ DE HEREDIA VIÑA TONDONIA RESERVA BLANCO 2010 - DOCa Rioja, Spain (#45500) (XD) - $67.95
• LEITZ BERG SCHLOSSBERG GROSSES GEWÄCHS RIESLING TROCKEN 2019 - Qualitätswein, Rheingau, Germany (#27115) (D) - $78.95

Sparkling Wine:

• ALPAMANTA BREVA PÉT-NAT SPARKLING CRIOLLA 2021 - Vegan, ancestral method, Mendoza, Argentina (#24889) (XD) - $32.95  91+ pts  wine review