I call it the Godello. Caesar @barquebbq with smoked chicken, brisket and pulled pork.

Next Saturday the VINTAGES widget scrolls out the February 6th release with yet another consistently same as two weeks before element of interaction. The familiarity breeds calm and contentedness with the comforting thought of “you know what to expect and you know what you’re going to get.”

What you will be gifted are six right proper Canadian releases, two from British Columbia and four from here in Ontario. Here they be.

Cave Spring Estate Bottled Chardonnay Musqué 2014, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (246579, $16.95, WineAlign)

A good vintage for the unwooded, floral Musqué with a bit more lit wax than previous incantations. Lots of lemon here and good texture. Always trust Cave Spring to make hay from the singular and singled out Musqué. Good, spicy finish. Drink 2016-2018.  Tasted January 2016  @CaveSpring  @TheVine_RobGroh

Sue Ann Staff Loved By Lu Riesling 2014, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (322636, $16.95, WineAlign)

Classic, genre verbalizing and focused Niagara Peninsula Riesling that, despite and with purposefully fun kitsch in nomenclature, will love you. Know this. You will love it too. Just the slightest spritz and moscato-like florality is nothing but fun and light, in tenuity of being and in temperament. It stands to say if this lover does not make you sing “hit me with your (Riesling) stick, hit me, hit me,” I’m not sure what would. Drink 2016-2019.  Tasted January 2016  @SueAnnStaff

Megalomaniac Narcissist Riesling 2014, Edras Vineyard, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (67587, $17.95, WineAlign)

Past attempts out of Edra’s Vineyard have not struck a found balance between arid, tropical and bitter behaviour. In 2014 something changed. First, waves of delicacy and pierce. Second, aridity and copious, blessed, halcyon bitters. Third, a grant of grape tannin and gifts recalling the fruit of trees, their seeds and pits in full on ripe drupe. Would like to say “where did this come from,” what happened in 2014, but we know. Edra (Thompson’s) Vineyard and the finishing skills of new winemaker Sébastien Jacquey in his first blending work at Megalomaniac. The 2014 shows that this vineyard block at the back of the property is a haven, a bastion, a plot of regard to make such a complex Riesling specimen. Future releases may see it dropped from the label. Drink 2016-2019.  Tasted January 2016  @MegalomaniacJHC

Tinhorn Creek Gewürztraminer 2014, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (904185, $18.95, WineAlign)

Repeat ripe Okanagan Gewürztraminer from the Tinhorn Creek gang but in 2014 with a dirigible spotlight of consciousness elevated to heights where the air grows thin. Blessed by its own unparalleled funk 49 reflexology, with a twang like a bend on a good old fashioned 59 Esquire. Turns weighty and beautifully pungent when reflected upon by taste. The solo plays in semibreve, as does the long, slow, fading peace out. Gewürztraminer “out all night, sleep all day…what you try’n to hand me?” Drink 2016-2021.  Tasted January 2016  @TinhornCreek  @SandraOldfield

Fielding Red Conception 2012, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (189183, $18.95, WineAlign)

Quite seamless for the amalgamation. A bid red machine if you will, not the shortstop alone but the whole squad. The varietal grand schematic is well integrated in ’12 and will be appreciated by those with wishes for equality between fruit, acidity and tannin. It’s that simple, isn’t it? Drink 2016-2018.   Tasted January 2016  @FieldingWinery  @RichieWine

Burrowing Owl Merlot 2012, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (585737, $39.95, WineAlign)

Though I can’t say for certain that this ’12 Merlot smells and exudes the Sonoran, northern, sage-brushed desert more than just about any B.C. wine to date, I’ll say it anyway and again, even if I have said it before. A dry heat and a whip-crack of pepper that just kills it for Merlot brings game and creates an air of excitement. There is fruit, copious fruit, glorious fruit. Some kind of dense sweetness permeates the palate and the finish goes all herbal on the backside. Full on west coast affair. A top B.C. Merlot. Drink 2017-2022.  Tasted January 2016  @BurrowingOwlBC  @LeSommelierWine

Good to Go!