Post City Magazines | November 2006, Wine by Tony Aspler

Five fall favourites

Top shopping list picks

by Tony Aspler

One of the ironies of the liquor board system is that you won’t find the best Ontario wines on LCBO shelves. You have to go to the wineries or shop online for home delivery at www.winerytohome.com to get your hands on the really good stuff — the wines that people talk about at dinner parties.

There are a couple of reasons for this. First, small lots of wine don’t find their way into Vintages stores; and second, the wineries make more money by selling the wine out of their own stores.

From time to time you do get some of the top-flight VQA wines coming through Vintages, and there are some gems on the general list, but in the final analysis, you’re better off driving to Niagara, Lake Erie North Shore, Pelee Island or Prince Edward County and rooting around the winery’s own store.

Don’t go looking for the Charles Baker Riesling 2005, Closson Chase Pinot Noir 2004, Norman Hardie Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, Le Clos Jordanne Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs or other Ontario icon wines at LCBO outlets. You can only get them in fancy restaurants or at the winery door.

Having tantalized you with those hard-to-get wines, what is available through the LCBO, at Vintages or on the general list?

Rich and spicy Chardonnay Cave Spring Cellars’ top-of-the-line wines are bottled under the CSV designation. The Chardonnay and the Riesling are consistently good. Currently available at Vintages is the Cave Spring CSV Chardonnay 2002 ($30, Vintages # 529941): Straw colour; minerally, rich, spicy nose, reminiscent of Chassagne-Montrachet; spicy caramel flavour; full-bodied, beautifully balanced toasty flavour with a clovey finish, great length.

Crisp and clean from Vineland Two of the best buys on general release at the LCBO are the two Rieslings made by Vineland Estates. Brian Schmidt’s Vineland Estates Riesling Dry 2005 has a minerally grapefruit and lime flavour; very crisp and clean with great length. A real bargain at $12.95 (LCBO # 167551). Vineland Estates Semi-Dry Riesling 2005 at the same price (LCBO # 232033) has the same flavour profile but with the added touch of honeyed sweetness. Think the difference between a QbA German Riesling and a Spätlese.

French flavour merlot Château des Charmes held back some of its 2002 vintage and have recently released small parcels of wine. Currently at Vintages is Château des Charmes St. Davids Bench Merlot 2002 ($24.95, Vintages # 453431). This wine could be mistaken for a St. Emilion in a blind tasting (rich blueberry and cedar flavours with good balancing acidity). The winery has a French take on its whole portfolio, which is not surprising as Paul Bosc studied winemaking in France and made wine in Algeria before emigrating to Canada.

Reserve some room for this one There are still some bottles of Jackson-Triggs Proprietors Grand Reserve Merlot 2002 available at Vintages ($23.95, Vintages 563197). The wine is dense ruby in colour with a nose of cedar, vanilla and blueberries. It’s full-bodied, firmly structured with ripe fruit flavours. The tannins give it structure but are mellow and soft.

I can’t believe it’s not white Graves Peninsula Ridge Fumé Blanc 2004 is an oak-aged Sauvignon Blanc currently available at Vintages ($24.95, Vintages # 8102). This is the nearest wine I have tasted to a white Graves in Ontario. Winemaker Jean-Pierre Colas makes first-rate Chardonnay, too.

Post City Magazines’ resident oenophile, Tony Aspler, has authored 11 books on wine and food, including The Wine Lover’s Mystery Series. He is also the creator of the annual Ontario Wine Awards and a co-founder of the Grapes for Humanity charity. He can also be heard each week on 680News.