Canadian Wine Guy

Another one from my wine meetup group at Earl’s. Pale in color with a nose of minerality. On the mid pallet the wine is a lovely dry crisp wine with some nice citrus notes coming through along with minerality to match the nose. The wine is medium in length on the finish with some lovely mouth grip. It lingers pleasantly. Another lovely food friendly wine. Earl’s picked well. I would give this a solid 89. It’s sadly not available in the LCBO. My search shows its $12 at the winery in the US.

From winery’s web site:
Tasting Note: Fragrant mango, white peach and Asian pear notes swirl in the glass. A refined Pinot Gris with vanilla bean, green apple and minerality. The crisp citrus finish is clean and shows balanced acidity. Varietal blend: 100% Pinot Gris
Oak: 100% Stainless Steel Fining: Bentonite, PVPP Aging: 5 months

Another one from my meetup group at Earls. Dark in color with a nose of red berries and cherries. On the mid pallet the wine matches the nose with some red berries coming through. On the medium length finish the wine displays some lovely super dry pucker power with red berries living on in the mouth along with some oak noticeable. I would give it an 89-90. Quite nice.

From the LCBO web site:
FREEMARK ABBEY CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2010 VINTAGES 904532 | 750 mL bottle Price $ 39.95
Made in: California, USA By: Freemark Abbey Winery
14.4% Alcohol/Vol. Style: Full-bodied & Firm Sugar Content: 7 g/L Sweetness Descriptor: XD – Extra Dry

Pale in color with a very mild nose. On the mid pallet the wine is very mild at first and then starts to build displaying some lovely lime and citrus notes. The finish on the wine is on the medium length. This isn’t a bad Sauv Blanc but nothing amazing either. I would give it an 88-89. Not in the LCBO but available at the winery in the US for $12.

from the Winery’s web site:
Tasting Note: Bright aromatics of lime, jasmine bloosom and cantaloupe. A refreshing palate of grapefruit, passion fruit and limeade. Hints of citrus linger on the finish with balanced acidity. Varietal blend: 100% Sauvignon Blanc Alcohol: 13.1% Vineyards: Willard, Oasis,and Sagemoor Oak: 100% Stainless Steel Fining: Bentonite Aging: 2 months

Dark in color with a lovely nose of red berries and jammie notes, more towards strawberries. On the mid pallet the wine is fairly subdued with some light red berries coming through overwhelmed almost immediately by form acidity, big tannins and pepper. This wine definitely lives in the long finish. Leaving behind some nice dryness, some lovely complexity and noticeable oak. For me this wine is way too young. Either age it or let it breath. As it did breath even in the half an hour I had the glass it was starting to open up to allow some of the fruit to shine though. For now I would consider it an edgy wine. I’d give it an 89 or so due to the lovely complexity and dryness. Make sure you have this with something hearty or you won’t be tasting the food. Sadly not in the LCBO. $17 in the US at the winery.

From the winery’s web site:
Winemaking: The third cool growing season in a row for our vineyards included a lower yield and delayed ripening. We harvested the grapes over the last week of September, before the rain. The resulting fruit retained well developed
flavor, outstanding balance and deep quality of fruit. During fermentation in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks, the cellar crew performed daily pumpovers—extracting color and flavor from the skins. The wine was aged in American oak barrels for 12 months. A touch of Petite Sirah (10%) adds layers of color, structure, and tannin to our Zinfandel. Tasting Notes: Our Mother Clone is a classic Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel. Aromas of raspberry and allspice lead to Bing cherry and strawberry flavors framed by subtle black pepper spice. Well integrated flavors with well balanced
acidity and warm toasty oak are a hallmark of our style. 14.8% Alcohol

Pale in color with a lovely nose of vanilla and some minerality. On the mid pallet the wine displays some lovely vanilla notes to match the nose along wine some nice crisp minerality. This is a lovely well made smooth chard. The minerality makes it even more of a food friendly wine. We paired it with seafood fettuccine alfredo and it went well. I would give it an 89+. Sadly hardly any left anywhere in Ontario.

From the LCBO web site:
WILLIAM HILL CHARDONNAY 2011 VINTAGES 988840 | 750 mL bottle Price $ 27.95
Made in: California, USA By: William Hill Estate Winery

13.6% Alcohol/Vol. Style: Full-bodied & Rich Sugar Content: 8 g/L Sweetness Descriptor: XD – Extra Dry

Pale color with a mild nose with some traditional chard notes coming through. On the mid pallet the wine displays some mild pear notes along with some butterscotch coming through. On the medium length finish the wine displays some acidity and the chard fruit lingers nicely. This is a nice chard. I would give it an 88-89 or so, but given the price this one IMHO is not worth the money.

From the LCBO web site:
MER SOLEIL RESERVE CHARDONNAY 2011 VINTAGES 958975 | 750 mL bottle Price $ 34.95
Made in: California, USA By: Charlie Wagner
Release Date: Mar 15, 2014
14.5% Alcohol/Vol. Style: Full-bodied & Rich Sugar Content: 12 g/L Sweetness Descriptor: D – Dry

Tasting Note
Rich style of Chard from the Santa Lucia Highlands sporting coconut cream pie, banana and ripe pear. Nice use of oak here, while impressively bright acidity brings balance. A tasty choice for lobster tail or turkey pot pie. (VINTAGES panel, Nov. 2013)

Another one from my meetup group at Earls. Dark in color with cherries (from the cab) and plums (from the Merlot) coming through. On the mid pallet the cab is dominant with cherries coming through. There’s also a hint of strawberries coming through from the Zinf. On the medium length finish the wine displays some noticeable mint notes along with some acidity and some nice dryness. I would give it an 88-89. Not in the LCBO but $19.95 at the BC liquor store 🙂

From the BC liquor Store’s web site: The 2011 vintage uses varietals (Zinfandel, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot) aged separately before contributing to the blend, aging in oak barrels. Bright and red plums find a nice dark chocolate finish with some cinnamon, black pepper and anise. The wine is dry in style, medium bodied, and has ripe tannins. Enjoy this fruit forward wine alone or with grilled steak.

I tasted this one as part of my wine meetup group at Earls in Mississauga. Very pale in color with a mild nose. On the mid pallet the wine displays some lovely mild peach notes. Subtle at first but it builds very nicely in the mouth. The wine has some almost “thickness” to it from a texture point of view. On the medium length finish the wine has some nice tartnes as well as acidity that linger nicely in the mouth. This is a very food friendly wine and an absoloute bargain for the price. I would give it an 88-89. Yumm.

From the LCBO web site:
MIRASSOU PINOT GRIGIO LCBO 274480 | 750 mL bottle Price $ 13.95
Made in: California, USA By: Mirassou Vineyards
13.0% Alcohol/Vol. Style: Light & Crisp

From the Winery’s web site (not for the year I tasted):
Our 2011 Mirassou California Pinot Grigio reveals intense aromas and flavors of white peach, baked apples, and juicy pear with notes of citrus. The sweetness of the bright fruit flavors balances nicely with the crisp acidity. This versatile wine pairs beautifully with spicy dishes as well as grilled poultry or seafood.
The grapes for our 2011 Pinot Grigio were selected from vineyards along the Russian River Valley with a portion from the Lodi Delta. Both regions have characteristically cool evenings and mornings, which allowed the grapes to retain their great natural acidity. The 2011 growing season began late because of an unusually cool and wet spring, contributing to this wine’s excellent, crisp acidity.

Ever wondered what the LCBO do at the end of a vintages listing with the one or two bottles that have been hanging around? Well they sell them through their web site in what they call “Bin Ends”. You buy them online and then they ship them to your local LCBO for you to pickup. Very handy. And you can get some bargains. This one was worth $60 and I picked it up for $45. I had previously tasted it at The Society for American Wines annual cab event. California cabs are by far one of my favorite wines! I cracked this one as part of New Years Eve celebration and paired it with a rack of lamb. It went exquisitely!

Dark in color with rich nose of cherries that invites you in! The mid palle matches the nose with deep rich cherries and jammy notes. It’s got some lovely dryness on the medium length finish along with some supple tannins. This is a lovely wine. I would give it a solid 91. Yummy. I still have one more of these! Yay!

From the LCBO web site (from when I bought it. Keeping detailed records of what’s in your cellar is paramount to proper cellar management!):
CHAPPELLET SIGNATURE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2005 VINTAGES 704254 | 750 mL n/a Price: $ 45.00 reg $60 N/A, , 14.5% Alcohol/Vol. Release Date: Jan 28, 2009 Tasting Note Young, deep, direct and promising, this cassis-scented bottling offers aromas that are still in the nascent phase of development. Not surprisingly, the wine is tight and tannic on the palate, but it is also well-focused and awaits some patient cellaring to open up and reveal its full, layered personality. Three or four years of patient cellaring would seem to be a minimum with a decade not being that much out of order. Score – 90. (Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wines, Aug. 2008) BOUGHT 2/14/2009 BIN ENDS SALE

Here’s the LCBO listing (for a different year)
CHAPPELLET SIGNATURE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2009 VINTAGES 704254 | 750 mL bottle Price $ 68.95
Made in: California, USA By: Chappellet Vineyard
Release Date: Feb 2, 2013 14.9% Alcohol/Vol. Sugar Content: 4 g/L Sweetness Descriptor: XD – Extra Dry

Tasting Note
Another terrific Signature Cabernet from Chappellet. This has primary blackberry and cherry-jam flavors, with an additional note of toasty oak. The tannins and acids are excellent, lending structure to the richness. The result is a wonderfully-complex Napa Cabernet that should develop over the next six years. Score – 93. (Steve Heimoff, Wine Enthusiast, July 2012)

Pale to golden in color with a mild nose with some vanilla coming through. On the mid pallet this is a lovely varietal California style chard with vanilla and some citrus coming through. The wine has a slightly creamy mouth feel to to. On the medium length finish the vanilla lives on nicely. This is a smooth well made chard. We paired it with sea scallops and it went well. This is by no means a big chard, more of a subtle one. I would give it an 88-89, but at $28.95 this is no bargain. For half the price I think I would go with the Sterling Vintner’s chard.

From the LCBO web site:
LA CREMA CHARDONNAY 2012 VINTAGES 962886 | 750 mL bottle Price $ 28.95
Made in: California, USA By: Jackson Wine Estates International
Release Date: Dec 7, 2013
13.9% Alcohol/Vol. Style: Full-bodied & Rich
Sugar Content: 3 g/L Sweetness Descriptor: XD – Extra Dry

Description
The Sonoma Coast region has become recognized as one of the premiere appellations for Chardonnay. Cooling ocean breezes and morning fogs provide the conditions necessary for the development of ripe grapes while maintaining bright acidity. This classically styled Californian Chardonnay consistently delivers notes of toast, citrus and ripe fruits with a crisp acidity. A perfect match for roasted chicken or pork with a creamy lemon sauce.