Feb. 18 Wine Picks: Customer Favourites + Tasting Terroir + Kosher Wines

The next Vintages release is nearly upon us and will be in LCBO outlets across Ontario on February 18. The main feature of this release is "22 Customer Favourites" and is quite self-explanatory. I honestly didn't find anything too exciting in this part of the magazine and, so, moved to the sub-feature titled "Tasting Terroir".

The Bachelder series of Chardonnays from 3 different terroirs - Niagara, Oregon, Bourgogne offer a very interesting opportunity to taste the same varietal from 3 different parts of the world crafted by same winemaker, from the same vintage. Each one costs $34.95 - buy all 3 and taste the difference!

White wines in this release impressed me more than the reds. The two that stood out for me were the Mike Weir Riesling and the Tawse Chardonnay, both locally made. Among the red wines is another locally made wine - the Creekside Laura's Red, made using the classic Bordeaux-style blend of Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot.

I enjoy trying single vineyard wines because terroir plays such an influential role at the vineyard. As such, the Single Vineyard Chardonnay and Malbec from Xumek (Argentina) are both very interesting wines to try.

In this issue, there's also a premium selection of Kosher-certified certified wines for Purim and Passover. Enjoy my picks for this week!


Red Wine:

• XUMEK SINGLE VINEYARD MALBEC 2009 - Zonda Valley, San Juan, Argentina (#265215) (XD) - $15.95
• CREEKSIDE LAURA’S RED 2007 - VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada (#117960) (XD) - $19.95
• DOMAINES DAMIENS TRADITION MADIRAN 2009 - AC, Southwest, France (#268482) (D) - $16.95
• SARONSBERG ART SPACE SHIRAZ/MOURVÈDRE 2009 - WO Coastal Region, South Africa (#263590) (XD) - $14.95

White Wine:

• MIKE WEIR RIESLING 2008 - VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada (#229286) (MD) - $14.95
• XUMEK SINGLE VINEYARD CHARDONNAY 2010 - Zonda Valley, San Juan, Argentina (#265231) (XD) - $15.95
• TAWSE SKETCHES OF NIAGARA CHARDONNAY 2009 - VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada (#089037) (XD) - $19.95
• VALMIÑOR ALBARIÑO 2010 - O’Rosal, DO Rias Baixas, Spain (#266924) (XD) - $15.95

Sparkling Wine:

• DOMAINE FRANÇOIS SCHWACH BLANC DE BLANCS BRUT CRÉMANT D’ALSACE 2007 - AC, Alsace, France (#268060) (XD) - $18.95

Full list of wines from the February 18th Vintages release can be found here.