2013 Reif Fortune Cabernet Rosé – Vintages 372466 – $12.95 – I’m a big fan of the Tarot bottles from Reif. They are well priced and generally very easy drinking, crowd pleasing, food friendly wines. This wine is off-dry but also has some savory notes of bell pepper to balance out the sweetness. Fruit flavours you will find in the bottle are candied cherry and watermelon. This will make a match to burgers and sausages from the grill. While this one does have some good acidity there is quite a bit of sugar on the finish and you will be best to pair this with food. This would also make a great base for sangria.
2012 Vineland Estates Elevation St. Urban Vineyard Riesling – Vintages 38117 – $19.95 – Soft and Balanced… in my books the St Urban Riesling continues to be a benchmark for Riesling in Ontario. Alcohol sits around 9% with 26 g/l sugar. If those numbers mean nothing to you what you need to know is the following – You can drink a lot of this wine … and even though you can taste a bit of sweetness it is a damn near perfect balance of sweetness and acidity. This wine will pair well with salty dishes… I picture this going well with meat lovers pizza, or fried perogies and saurkraut. To be frank, the food pairing options are nearly endless with this wine due to it’s palate cleansing acidity. Serve chilled at fridge temperature but once you open it leave it out of the fridge and enjoy the wine open up as it warms up.
