Photograph by volff, Fotolia.com
It’s an American thing. Black Friday shopping deals will attract major crowds south of the border but in Canada, not so much. Studies show that only one in 10 Canadians will get off the couch and leave their basements for this day of discount shopping. The reverse will apply to Boxing Day.
Related – More from the VINTAGES November 24th, 2012 Release
Ontarians are just as likely to hit their local LCBO in search of wine gems for the coming holiday season. The current VINTAGES release is front loaded with lavish, iconic, red and “black” wines. The spotlight is on the big boys, especially Cabernet Sauvignon nearing and often breaching the centurial dollar mark. Behold eight more wine gems for your gift list.
The grapes: Corvina e Corvinone, Rondinella and Barbera
The history: From north-east of Verona, on the hill that separates Montorio from Valle d’Illasi
The lowdown: More substantial, almost unwieldy than most other Valpolicella in the price range
The food match: Coffee Brined Chicken
Musella Vigne Nuove Valpolicella Superiore 2009 (205757, $15.95) races forward pell-mell, spewing tar, ash and black tea exhaust. The fruit component is dark, black plum seeping in its own reductive juices. Chewy, persistent and gathering speed. Top quality normale Valpo. 89
The grape: Cabernet Sauvignon
The history: Amounts to 88% Cab primarily sourced from vineyards located in the Alexander, Dry Creek, and Sonoma Valleys
The lowdown: Pseudo-supermarket brand gets it right in ’09. $20 Cab south of the 49th
The food match: Smoked Chorizo Sausage, brisket quinoa fritters
Kenwood Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 (990440, $22.95) is a solid deal, nothing overly serious, just the sum of all it should be from California and parts thereof. Currants, berries, mint, Cassis, roast beef and oak-driven milk chocolate fill this bottle. Packs enough stuffing for smoking. 88
The grape: Shiraz
The history: Oz outfit from the Great Dividing Range in the Grampians region of Victoria
The lowdown: Winemaker Dan Buckle fashions “cool climate” Shiraz from eastern granite slopes of Mount Langi Ghiran
The food match: Roast Duck, potato, orange, fennel, watercress salad
Mount Langi Cliff Edge Shiraz 2006 (287235, $28.95) rips off a ringing riff that teeters but never quite goes over the edge. Perhaps it still has not found what it’s looking for but it’s got Victoria’s ’06 funk. Spicy wood gets right into your nose then coffee, sodium, charcoal game and black currant all add notes. A very good price for a complex wine. 91
The grape: Cabernet Sauvignon
The history: A legendary bottling returns to top form after a decade long falling out
The lowdown: Hyperbole like “epic,” “classic” and “best ever” surround this Napa Valley Cab
The food match: English Cut Braised Short Ribs, red wine reduction, red pearl onions
Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 (193763, $99.95) is a flat out brilliant composition by the voice of one who once “traded love for glory.” This Cab reverts back to its singer-songwriter, Napa Valley pioneering form. The ’08 is a crooning balladeer intent to hold out its best in a graceful lucubration of layered, dark fruit, restrained restlessness and a vision of long life. Put the Dunn away and look to be rewarded 15+ years on with as good a California Cabernet as you will ever taste. 96
The grapes: Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah and Counoise
The history: The house that Jacques Perrin built is the most famous in Châteauneuf-du-Pape
The lowdown: Can’t say I’ve ever been this blown away by such a young Beaucastel
The food match: Braised Veal Brisket, smashed parisienne potato, brussels sprouts, truffle oil
Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2010 (711317, $89.95) enters no confected, over-extracted or OTT danger zones. The most floral Beaucastel, a doffing of Stoechas Avignon and the omnipresent Rhône garrigue. Persimmon and lavender share time imparting the wine with fumes from les galets roulés of the argilo-calcaireous vineyard beds. Basic hedonism here from such an extraordinary, complex and balanced blend. 95
The grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc
The history: Arguably the most iconic Cab-based Super Tuscan from “the place of many stones”
The lowdown: Down $7 in price from vintages going back to ’05, this ’09 has scored as high as 98 (James Suckling)
The food match: Grilled Bisteca Fiorentine (Tuscan-style Porterhouse Steak)
Sassicaia 2009 (480533, $179.95) the raven brunette is anything but sappy or syrupy yet is impossibly viscous. Hints at ripe berries growing in the crags of maritime gravel and the most expected hits of sanguine, animal musk. A huge wine in the making, the adolescent hunter Sassicaia off-roads up a steep incline to go tell it on the mountain of tannin. Disappears into parts unknown and will only reappear as a mature adult. Look to 2025 and it may say “the perspective to say the very least, changes only with the journey.” 96
The grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot
The history: Tenuta dell’Ornellaia was founded in Bolgheri (1981) and only Massetto, “wink-wink, say no more,” is a more famous Super Tuscan
The food match: Grilled Bisteca Panzanese (Bolgheria-style Porterhouse Steak)
Ornellaia 2009 (722470, $189.95) is more approachable than the unparalleled 1998. A silky smooth and velvety texture puts super-ripe fruit at the forefront. While that ’98 rocked my world, this vintage offers immediate gratification, less dominating hard lines and edges. The balance is impeccable but the acidity is tempered, like the finest chocolate. The window is open now, though it may soon close, to drink beautifully for the next five years. 94
The grape: Cabernet Sauvignon
The history: In a class of two (along with Shafer’s Hillside Select) of Napa Cabernet neither garagiste nor Barnett, Harlan Estate or Screaming Eagle
The lowdown: Certainly not an act in search of a circus, the ’08 Insignia demands a star’s salary
The food match: Bison Rib-Eye, king mushroom, juniper and thyme demi-glace
Joseph Phelps Insignia 2008 (710400, $224.95) teases with immediate gratification then turns inward upon itself to hide from a volcano bursting of hot lava. The stoic resistance keeps the Insignia safe from the fiendish, dark mark mountain of UFO tannin. “A real rock and roll molest.” Checking out the wine’s black hue in the raised glass is a sight to behold. The pitch conceals a deep well of pure raspberry distillation, roasted meat, yew and rosemary. The wine’s lines are like architectural strokes of genius, currently too hot to handle. 94
Good to go!
Godello 