Mar. 3 Wine Picks: Made in France + Carmenère

The next LCBO Vintages release is on March 3 and there are lots of great buys. I am big fan of French wines, and the major feature in this release focuses on 13 benchmark-setting grapes from wines Made in France.

Of the French wines that made my list, the Moulin-à-Vent is made using the Gamay grape, which you see quite commonly planted here in Ontario, but is actually not planted widely anywhere else. The Crozes-Hermitage is a fabulous Rhône-style Syrah (a.k.a Shiraz), while the Vacqueyras is a blend of mostly Grenache and some Syrah.

The secondary wine feature of this release is on a grape varietal that is a favourite of mine - Carmenère. Chile does this grape better than anyone else and two wines emerged from this release that are worth tasting: Concha y Toro Terrunyo Block 27 Carmenère 2008 (#562892, $29.95) and the Misiones de Rengo Gran Reserva Cuvée Carmenère 2010 (#264937, $19.95).

Also featured in this release, and just in time for St. Patrick's Day, are a selection of fine Irish Whiskies which you can peruse at your leisure from the magazine here. Enjoy my picks for this week!


Red Wine:

• DELAS FRÈRES LES LAUNES CROZES-HERMITAGE 2009 - AC, Rhône, France (#701359) (XD) - $20.95
• DOMAINE DES AILES MOULIN-À-VENT 2010 - AC, Beaujolais, France (#183442) (XD) - $16.95
• PERRIN & FILS LES CHRISTINS VACQUEYRAS 2009 - AC, Rhône, France (#973453) (XD) - $23.95
• CHÂTEAU LA BRIE PRESTIGE 2009 - AC Bergerac, Southwest, France (#061994) (XD) - $13.95
• THE WATCHER SHIRAZ 2008 - Barossa Valley, South Australia (#219196) (XD) - $19.95
• THE GRINDER PINOTAGE 2010 - WO Swartland, South Africa (#269076) (XD) - $14.95

White Wine:

• JOSEPH CATTIN HATSCHBOURG PINOT GRIS 2009 - AC Alsace Grand Cru, France (#260240) (M) - $19.95
• CHÂTEAU PERRON BLANC 2009 - AC Graves, Bordeaux, France (#226126) (XD) - $17.95
• GRAY MONK RIESLING 2009 - VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada (#273466) (D) - $18.95
• STONEY RIDGE WARREN CLASSIC CHARDONNAY 2009 - VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada (#224113) (XD) - $16.95