LCBO Sale Picks of the Week: Dec. 22
| The Holiday Season is upon us and while we all take a little break, we still want you to drink only good wine. And to never overpay. Our kwäf Taste Buds have selected some great wines available from the LCBO that will carry you through our office closing hours until we’re back again in the New Year, ready to dazzle with our 2016 kwäf lineup. Find these wines on sale at the LCBO, and enjoy! |
Robert Mondavi 2013 Napa Valley Chardonnay (Napa, California)
Sale $21.95, Regular $25.95
Discount (until Jan. 3): $4.00
LCBO # 310409 | 750 mL bottle
Tastes like: Pear, grapefruit, yellow apple, orange sorbet and ginger. That’s one exotic Chard.
Pairs with: Onion tart, manchego, roast birds, sunchoke soup, herbed trout, salmon with thyme. Also, smoked trout; or Pacific smoked salmon, very good cream cheese and Fairmont bagels.
Good for: Brunch, lunch, early dinner and all-night sipping.
Alcohol: 14.5%
Drink: Now to 2018.
Why we're drinking this
A stunning Chardonnay like this reminds us how brilliant Napa Chard can be when it’s really, really good. Robert Mondavi — the kingpin of Napa — reminds us how it should be done. This isn’t the big bruiser style we’re unfortunately used to in Cali Chard. This is elegant, restrained and impeccably structured. Serve it cold, but revisit often as it warms in the glass. Come back an hour later and it’s even better.
Tasting note
Can a wine be both restrained and in-your-face at the same time? This wine is a whopping 14.5% alcohol, and yet it feels light on its feet. It’s packed with fruit and exotic nut and spice flavours, but it’s unexpectedly ethereal. This is stylish winemaking. Some of it was fermented in steel, the bulk in French oak. Some enjoyed malolactic fermentation, a technique that adds complexity and texture. Every barrel was aged on its lees, the spent yeast that also adds complexity and depth. Then it was blended. What’s in the bottle is aromatic and delicious pear, citrus, melon and apple, with spicy orange pith, vanilla bean, ginger and a hint of toasted oak. It has bracing acidity (food friendly) and a pure, supple texture. This is 90 points and beyond. For $22, it’s a steal.
Find it at your LCBO
Check availability on the LCBO website!
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Flat Rock Cellars 2013 Pinot Noir (Twenty Valley, Niagara)
Sale $17.95, Regular $19.95
Discount (until Jan. 3): $2.00
Vintages # 1545 | 750 mL bottle
Tastes like: Perfumed and delicate red cherries, cranberry and gentle earthiness.
Pairs with: Duck prosciutto or magret, delicately smoked meats and holiday canapés, wild Pacific salmon.
Good for: At this price? Good for every day.
Alcohol: 13%
Drink: Now.
Why we're drinking this
Flat Rock’s signature Pinot Noir style — delicate, perfumed, complex, light — is a consistent and delightful expression of this notoriously fickle grape. As well, Flat Rock delivers incredible value in all of their wines, given the amount of care and attention they put to vineyard and cellar. Low yields, hand picking and sorting, and gravity flow — all of these methods contribute to an expensive way to make great wine. But would you have it any other way?
Tasting note
Subtly perfumed red cherry, strawberry and sweet blackberry — and more of the same on the palate, with the gentlest hint of earth and funk. A light wine in weight and overall character, but it impresses with complexity and depth. This is the quintessential “pretty wine.” It has lovely acidity, soft tannins, and a nice drying finish. Give it a top-quality large bowled glass and a little chill. Then warm up slowly by the fire, enjoying sip after sip.
Find it at your LCBO
Check availability on the LCBO website!
Sign Up for LCBO Sale Pick of the Week.
A FREE Service from kwäf!
This week's selections by kwäf Taste Bud Dick Snyder