2010 Stoney Ridge Excellence Chardonnay – VINTAGES 254243 – $24.95 – If you are reading this and live in midtown Toronto you will want to write down the Vintages number (254243) and get the LCBO before I DO because there is a good change I will buy every bottle they have in stock! Last year the 2009 Excellence Chardonnay was (in my opinion) the best in the province… this vintage is even better. The aroma on this wine is just like toast popping up. A perfect balance between buttery toasty barrel flavours and powerful fruit flavours. Even at $24.95 it is still fantastic value, and you will have a hard time finding a Chardonnay of this quality at this price. I could probably suggest a few food pairings with this but suffice to say this is one wine that was meant to be enjoyed on it’s own.
2010 Malivoire Guilty Men Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot – VINTAGES 186247 – $19.95 – Guilty Men is what made me fall in love with Malivoire in the first place. If you’re not familiar with the back story the owner of the winery (Martin Malivoire) said that he would never make a blended red wine … giving their first vintage the name “Guilty Men”. Needless to say consistently this is a great easy drinking blended red that has several incarnations so don’t be confused by the Guilty Men that is in the regular list. Very juicy red fruit flavours make this an dangerously easy drinking wine. This is very food friendly that should be able to break a few rules if you were to pair this with a coq-au-vin or another heavier chicken dish.
