May 14 VINTAGES Wine Release: Customer Favourites + New Zealand + Sake

New wines from the May 14, 2016 LCBO VINTAGES Release will be on shelves this coming Saturday and features Customer Favourites as it's main theme. The mini-themes of this release features wine from New Zealand and an assortment of Sake.

Twenty-three wines are listed as part of the "Customer Favourites" theme and 6 made my list of wine picks. First up is a lovely rosé wine from Mas des Bressades that usually consists of Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault. The Crémant de Bourgogne dry sparkling wine is a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gamay, Aligoté. Another favourite is the Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. In red wines, customer favourites include a Carménère from Chile and a premium Malbec from Argentina. Also delightful year-after-year is the Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape that in the 2013 vintage consists of 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise and 5% Cinsault.

Of the 8 wines featured in the New Zealand theme, three are included among my wine picks and all are very fine Sauvignon Blancs. The grape does very well there and the ones I have chosen are of the single vineyard variety from the producers te Pā, Auntsfield, and Villa Maria.

In red wines from the rest of the release, the Rosso do Montalcino is 100% Sangiovese Grosso, while the Sicilian wine is made with the indigenous Nerello Mascalese. The 2010 Château de Panigon (50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot) appeared in VINTAGES in 2014 and has developed and matured quite well over the last couple of years. The Domaine Courbis is a northern Rhône wine made using Syrah. Lastly, the Amarone is a blend of 70% Corvina Corvinone, 20% Rondinella, and 10% Oseleta & Croatina.

Among my white wine picks, the lovely Mas des Bressades Blanc is a blend of traditional Rhône varietals Roussanne, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc and Viognier. while the Pouilly-Fuissé from Burgundy is made with Chardonnay.

Last but not least is the highly regarded Fielding Rosé wine that is a blend primarily consisting of Gamay and Cabernet Franc.

Enjoy my wine recommendations from this release. Cheers!

Red Wine:

• RENDOLA ROSSO DI MONTALCINO 2009 - DOC, Tuscany, Italy (#438564) (XD) - $15.95  reviewed here
• ANTICHI VINAI IL MASCALESE NERELLO 2013 - IGT Terre Siciliane, Sicily, Italy (#442376) (XD) - $16.95
• BOUTARI GRANDE RESERVE XINOMAVRO 2010 - PDO Naoussa, Greece (#140111) (D) - $18.95  reviewed here
• TERRANOBLE GRAN RESERVA CARMÉNÈRE 2012 - Maule Valley, Chile (#957050) (XD) - $19.95
• CHÂTEAU DE PANIGON 2010 - Cru Bourgeois, AC Médoc, Bordeaux, France (#348250) (D) - $19.95
• FABRE MONTMAYOU GRAN RESERVA MALBEC 2012 - Mendoza, Argentina (#279802) (D) - $24.95
• DOMAINE COURBIS SAINT-JOSEPH 2013 - AC, Rhône, France (#007914) (XD) - $36.95
• LATIUM MORINI CAMPO LEÒN AMARONE DELLA VALPOLICELLA 2010 - DOC, Veneto, Italy (#334300) (D) - $47.95
• VAL DI SUGA BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO 2010 - DOCG, Tuscany, Italy (#713719) (XD) - $48.95  reviewed here
• CHÂTEAU DE BEAUCASTEL CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE 2013 - AC, Rhône, France (#711317) (XD) - $89.95

White Wine:

• CONCHA Y TORO SERIE RIBERAS GRAN RESERVA CHARDONNAY 2013 - Colchagua Valley, Chile (#287995) (XD) - $16.95
• MAS DES BRESSADES CUVÉE TRADITION BLANC 2015 - AP Costières de Nîmes, Rhône, France (#701094) (XD) - $17.95
• THÖRLE-WEIN ESTATE DRY RIESLING 2014 - Rheinhessen, Germany (#445817) (D) - $19.95  reviewed here
• TE PĀ SAUVIGNON BLANC 2015 - Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (#450668) (XD) - $19.95  reviewed here
• NORMAN HARDIE RIESLING 2015 - VQA Ontario, Canada (#131169) (D) - $21.00  reviewed here
• AUNTSFIELD SINGLE VINEYARD SAUVIGNON BLANC 2015 - Southern Valleys, Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (#663286) (XD) - $22.95
• DOG POINT SAUVIGNON BLANC 2015 - Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (#677450) (XD) - $24.95
• VILLA MARIA SOUTHERN CLAYS SINGLE VINEYARD SAUVIGNON BLANC 2014 - Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (#447474) (XD) - $29.95
• ERNEST MEURGEY-PERRON POUILLY-FUISSÉ 2012 - AC, Burgundy, France (#448852) (XD) - $31.95

Rosé Wine:

• MAS DES BRESSADES CUVÉE TRADITION ROSÉ 2015 - AP Costières de Nîmes, Rhône, France (#950576) (XD) - $15.95
• FIELDING ROSÉ 2015 - VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada (#053421) (XD) - $15.95

Sparkling Wine:

• BAILLY LAPIERRE RÉSERVE BRUT CRÉMANT DE BOURGOGNE - Méthode Traditionnelle, AC, Burgundy, France (#991562) (XD) - $19.95