Patrick Lesec Galets Blonds Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2012 (Rhône) - Wine Review

This amazing red wine was opened Sunday night and will be on LCBO VINTAGES shelves this coming Saturday, September 5th. It ranks as one of the best wines I've tasted this year and is highly recommended. Save this for a special occasion. Patrick Lesec works with some of the most important villages in Southern Rhône and bottles wines under his own label, Patrick Lesec Selections....

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LCBO VINTAGES Release September 5: Uncork Something Great!

The newest batch of wines from the September 5, 2015 LCBO VINTAGES Release will be on shelves this coming Saturday. Once again, it is a mono-thematic release with this one titled "Uncork something great!" and attempts to tell the VINTAGES story. Of the 20 wines featured as part of the VINTAGES story, 6 wines made my list of wine picks. First up is a 2005 vintage Dom Perignon...

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Domaine la Haute Févrie Sur Lie Muscadet Sèvre & Maine 2014 (Loire) - Wine Review

Tonight's wine is a sneak preview of a white wine that will be in VINTAGES on September 5th. Domaine la Haute Févrie is situated in the western part of France, within Loire, and 18 km southeast of Nantes, and located in the heart of the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine appellation. Family-owned and operated while producing 4 generations of winemakers that carefully tended to the vines...

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Aug. 22 LCBO VINTAGES Release: Top-Scoring Wines

The latest batch of wines from the August 22 LCBO VINTAGES Release will be in stores across Ontario this coming Saturday. It appears to a thinner-than-normal release with only one theme titled "Top-Scoring Wines". In all, there are 19 wines featured in the "Top-Scoring Wines" thematic, and nearly half made my list of wine picks. All three Ontario wines that were featured...

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Perticaia Montefalco Sagrantino 2009 (Umbria) - Wine Review

Photo credit: Azienda Agricola Perticaia Tonight's wine hails from Casale of Montefalco, within central Umbria in central Italy. A trip to this region in the early 90's by Perticaia's owner Guido Guardigli convinced him of the extraordinary potential of the region and its princely vine Sagrantino. In the year 2000, Perticaia - whose name means "plow" in Umbrian dialect...

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Niagara New Vintage Wine Festival 2015: Day TWO Review

On Sunday, June 21st, Day 2 of our tour (read all about Day 1 here) began in the morning in Niagara-on-the-Lake at Reif Estate Winery. We started in the tasting room with a platter of 4 cheeses, each paired with a different wine. The first pairing I really enjoyed was their 2012 Reif Chardonnay Reserve ($21.95, 88+ pts) with Gunn's Hill Farms Five Brothers cow's milk cheese...

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Ice House Slushies Vidal (Ontario) - Wine Review

Tonight's dessert wine was purchased in January, 2014 along with the Ice House Slushies Cabernet Sauvignon when we visited the winery during the Niagara Icewine Festival. ICE HOUSE SLUSHIES VIDAL - Ontario, Canada (#) (S) (375 mL) - $45 Tasting Note: Honey, apricot and candied ginger aromas from the cork. In the glass, it is highly aromatic with notes of candied apricot,...

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Te Awa Chardonnay 2010 (New Zealand) - Wine Review

Tonight's white wine was purchased from the March 2 VINTAGES Release back in 2013. Knowing that I could let this sit for a while and mature, I decided to finally open this wine after 2 years, just before it reaches the end of it's predicted drinking window and starts to degrade. Let's see how it is... TE AWA CHARDONNAY 2010 - Hawkes Bay, North Island, New Zealand (#301135)...

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LCBO VINTAGES Release August 8: Oregon + Washington + B.C. + Loire

The LCBO VINTAGES Release on August 8, 2015 will be on shelves this Saturday and highlights 23 wines from The Great Northwest, while the mini-feature displays 7 Summery wines from Loire Valley. The Great Northwest thematic highlights wines from Oregon and Washington in the U.S.A., and wines from Canada's British Columbia. Unfortunately, only one wine - a Cabernet Sauvignon...

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