2014 Chateau Des Charmes Cuvée D’Andrée – Westcott Violette Brut

Westcott Violette Brut – $24.95 – Winery Only – ***1/2+ – Bright, fresh, and young.  This easy drinking sparkling has loads of citrus and lemon with crisp acidity on the finish.  This is a welcome addition to the growing landscape of great Ontario sparkling wines.  This is very well priced,...

Viewpointe Wines

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...

County in the City – Norman Hardie Pinot

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...

Wines with a Musicians Flair

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...

Emiliana Adobe Reserva Merlot/Sauvignon Blanc

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...

Winery Profile – Viewpointe Big Bluff Wines

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...

Wine Profile – 2012 Stratus Gamay – 2011 Stratus Sémillon

  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...

Southbrook Portfolio Tasting – March 2015

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...

Wine List – Barque

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...