I had a chance to taste the big bluff wines that you can now find in the regular list of your local LCBO. There are a few other offerings that you can find in the vintages section as well. What I do know is that between the new offerings from...
Since these wines were tasted Norman Hardie has been accused of sexual misconduct. The article can be found here – https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canadian-winemaker-norman-hardie-accused-of-sexual-misconduct/ 2011 Norman Hardie Niagara Unfiltered Pinot Noir – Vintages 208702 – $39.00 – ****1/2 – This is easily my favorite Niagara Pinot Noir that I have had the chance...
2012 Tragically Hip Fully Completely Grand Reserve Red (Stoney Ridge) – Vintages 411595 – $24.95 – **** – The label is immediately recognizable as this wine was co-created with the Tragically Hip. A Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc right off the nose you get a little...
2013 Adobe Reserva Merlot – LCBO 322024 – $13.05 – ***1/2 – Medium bodied and easy drinking. Fruit forward with lots of Cherry, Strawberry and Plum. This is a crowd pleasing wine that is unpretentious. While this wine likely won’t age gracefully some wines aren’t meant to line the walls...
2011 Big Bluff Red – LCBO 404046 – $12.95 – ***1/2 – Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Petit Verdot and Merlot make for an interesting blend. The back of the bottle says the mission is “to Showcase the character and quality of Essex Region wines.” Priced very well you have a...
I was lucky enough to get my hands on both of these bottles. I had to re-taste the Sémillon because when I tasted it on an Italian/Ontario panel this wine basically overpowered everything (read the full post here: https://andrewinereview.ca/?p=625). I wanted a chance to see how the wine holds up...
I recently had the chance to taste through some upcoming releases from Southbrook with winemaker Ann Sperling. You can consider this blog post to be your shopping list for the summer. The great news is that Southbrook frequently makes appearances at local farmers markets in Toronto (to keep tabs you...
There has been a bit of a buzz about the wine list at Barque smokehouse lately. You may know of Barque for it’s great food but there is a lot going on in the ways of beverages at the Roncesvalles restaurant. They are now pouring wine on tap. This means...
I traveled to France in November to check out the Beaujolais Nouveau release. After spending a few days hunting for Cabernet Franc in St Émillion I knew that I had to go to Beaujolais. Beaujolais, like Ontario, is currently take the long way up recovering from a bruised reputation stemming...
2013 Lailey Unfiltered Cabernet Franc – ****+ – (Price TBD) – This is an elegant follow up to big 2012 vintage. This wine is made from a block of thirty year old vines and is only made in years that winemaker Derek Barnett feels worthy. There are layers of Raspberry,...
Vidal is not just for Icewine. Most people know Vidal for the rich honeyed icewines that are made from the juice of this grape. When it is vinified into table wine you end up with wines that are bright and crisp. It holds onto a lot of the floral qualities...
What exactly is dry farming? When I got my invitation to the Montes tasting hosted in Toronto on March 2, 2015 Three vintages of the Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon were presented. This was interesting because starting with the 2012 vintage we are seeing the results of “dry farming”. The long...
