Dr. Loosen Spatlese Riesling Urziger Wurzgarten 2011

Dr. Loosen Spatlese Riesling Urziger Wurzgarten 2011 (WS93, $35.95, SKU 515700) I have been waiting for the arrival of this wine and I finally found it two weeks ago on the shelves. This was a German Riesling made with the grapes that are picked at least seven days after the normal harvest. The sweetness code on the shelves is 3 (0 is very dry, 10 is very sweet). It had a good nose and lots of fruits. There was taste of tropical fruits. Because of its medium body, it complemented Chinese dishes of halibut cheeks and tiger prawns well. There is another version the Wehlener Sonnenuhr that has a sweetness code of 7 but I found that one too sweet for Chinese food. There is stock at 39th and Cambie, Alberni, Park Royal and Richmond Brighouse.

Chateau Rahoul Graves 2010

Chateau Rahoul Graves 2010 (WS90, $26, SKU 184986) This was one of the lowest priced Bordeaux 2010 that I picked up at the end of September 2013 at the Bordeaux release. I opened it for an early tasting. As this came from the Graves region, it had a lot of mineral taste on the palate. Wine Spectator indicated drinking between 2014 to 2021. The wine can certainly use a few more years of cellaring. So if you are one of the lucky ones who got your hands on some bottles, hold on to them and be patient. Unfortunately, there is no more stock in the LDB system.

Sterling Chardonnay Vintner's Collection 2012

Sterling Chardonnay Vintner's Collection 2012 ($15.99, SKU 643874) I wanted to find an easy drinking chardonnay for everyday drinking and tasted this economical offering. I took it to a Chinese restaurant and opened it with a routine Chinese dinner. I like chardonnay because it has a fuller body and usually more fruity than the other white grapes. Sterling is a big vineyard in Napa Valley with a wonderful winery on top of the hill. There was a floral nose and a bit of oak. The fruit was easy to appreciate. At this price, I did not expect too much but this wine exceeded my expectations. For a everyday drinking chardonnay, I think this is a good value. There is plenty of stock in all of the LDB stores.

El Petit Bonhomme Ruede Verdejo 2012

El Petit Bonhomme Ruede Verdejo 2012 ($13.99, SKU 79046) This was a Spanish white wine that was introduced to me by the winemaker at the LDB store. There was more body and taste than the Obsession Symphony and should go well with fish dishes. This is a good value summer food wine.

Ironstone Obsession Symphony 2011

Ironstone Obsession Symphony 2011 ($16.99, SKU 355784) This white wine was brought to my barbeque party but didn't get tasted until recently. It was a grape that was a cross between grenache blanc and muscat that was grown in California. The wine was quite refreshing with medium buttery body. I tasted green apple and apple. It tasted well with baked Chinook salmon. It can also be a sipping wine to start a dinner party.

Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2010

Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (WS94, $59.99, SKU 836759) This will probably turn out to be one of the best value wines this year. BUY IT NOW. I was looking for the 2009 vintage of this wine which was No. 8 of the Top 100 Wine Spectator Wine of the Year in 2012. This showed up two days ago at the Cambie and 39th LDB store. The rating is the same as the 2009 vintage. I tasted the regular version of this wine (2010 Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, WS88, $44.99, SKU 352583) and thought it was a good cabernet sauvignon. One of my tasting panel members mentioned that he tasted an older vintage of the regular version with some serious wine drinkers and they all thought it was a reserve wine. So with such good history, I would say the 2010 Reserve version is worthy of cellaring for five to ten years. This is a Sonoma Valley cabernet and Beringer is a consistent winery. At this price, one cannot go wrong.

Gray Monk Pinot Gris 2012

Gray Monk Pinot Gris 2012 ($17.99, SKU 118638) This was brought to a dinner by a tasting panel member. It surprised all of us with its fruity taste and went well with a Mediterranean dinner. Pinot Gris wines were usually quite dry but this was different. The amazing thing was there was some wine left over and I put it in the refrigerator. I forgot about it until a week later and finished it with dinner. It was still very fruity. It amazed me that such an economical wine had such staying power. At this price, it would be a great summer barbeque wine.

Famille Perrin Vacqueyras Les Christins 2010

Famille Perrin Vacqueyras Les Christins 2010 (WS91, $26.99 SKU 585315) I found this displayed prominently across from the cashiers at 39th & Cambie. I bought it because this was a southern Rhone red wine and the region usually offered good value wines. I opened it with a variety dinner (lobster tail, beef steak, vegetable with dips and tomato sauce chicken). It took an hour to open up in the glass, but it was a wonderful offering. The nose was pleasant and the palate was smooth. There were taste of berries and a hint of pepper. It went well with most food. According to Wine Spectator, it can be enjoyed now or cellared until 2018. There is ample stock in the system.

Birichino Malvasia Bianca Monterey 2010

 

Birichino Malvasia Bianca Monterey 2010 ($18, SKU 880302) Now back to basics: trying to find good value wines in the LDB stores. I went by the 39th & Cambie store three days ago and found an U.S. white wine marked down from $25.95 to $18. The grape was Malvasia Bianca, which I vaguely remembered from my trip to the Napa Valley last year. I opened it with some salad and seafood. It was amazingly aromatic with a strong pleasant floral fragrance. There was medium body and moderate fruitiness on the palate. It was apparently an old grape that originated from Greece and now grown in California. The same wine from Sterling Winery retailed for US$30 and was not as aromatic as the Birichino. Now this was a one time buy at the liquor store and there were only 7 bottles left on the shelves with the U.S. wines as of Sunday afternoon. The SKU does not show up in the liquor store website, so you will have to ask one of the consultants.

Batasiolo Barolo Vigneto Corda della Briccolina 2006

Batasiolo Barolo Vigneto Corda della Briccolina 2006 (WS95 pts., $75.00, SKU 329425) Forgive me for writing about another expensive wine, but this was another spectacular  value. I had my eyes on this Italian wine for a few months as it was a great deal: $75 for a 95 point wine. But it was not on the shelves at the LDB store. So I asked one of the wine consultants and she found out that there were two bottles on hold for three months. Since the person did not pick it up, I was able to purchase them. Wine Spectator indicated it will mature between 2014 to 2030, another of those wines that should be put in the cellar and forgotten. I knew that Barolo wines needed lots of time in the cellar, typically ten to twenty years. However I could not resist my urge to taste a high rating wine before it was ready to see how wine tasters could see into the future. So I bought an extra bottle and opened it with the help of one of my tasting panel members. He opened it at 11:30 a.m. and left it in the bottle and decanted it at 2:30 p.m. He remarked that it initially tasted like soya sauce but evolved nicely over the next six hours. By the time dinner was served at 6:30 p.m. the wine was coming into its prime. Barolo were generally a rougher wine that needed some tasty food. We served it with a Moroccan style lamb shank and some beef ribs with a heavy sauce. The wine was a full body heavy hitter. There was a surprising amount of fruit even though it was so young. The tannin was strong, so it should do well in the cellar for the next fifteen to twenty years.

LDB website indicated there are 80 bottles in the system. There are no more at 39th and Cambie and two bottles at Alberni and Bute. Ironwood has 4 and Park Royal has 17 bottles. Again this did not fit my usual criteria for my blog but the value was irresistible. The U.S. release price was $90 and it was only $75 here. Try to get your wife to buy it for your birthday or your children to buy it for Father's Day. Then put it at the back of your cellar and mark it for one of your milestone birthday or anniversary.

Domaine Faiveley Nuits-St.-Georges 1er Cru Les Porets-St.-Georges 2010

Domaine Faiveley Nuits-St.-Georges 1er Cru Les Porets-St.-Georges 2010 (WS 95 pt., $96.99, SKU 531624) This was mentioned by one of the newspaper wine columns and it caught my attention. This was a Burgundy wine with a high rating and under $100. Wine Spectator indeed rated it at 95 points and suggested drinking it between 2015 to 2028. I bought a few bottles for my cellar and decided to wait a few years. Then I did further reading and found that 2010 was not a typical year for the Burgundy wines. The climate was cool and wet in the early season and a smaller quantity grapes made it to harvest. The wine-makers had a more difficult time compare to great vintages like 2005 and 2009. That was what made the 2010 version of this wine interesting. First the price: same as the 2009 vintage while the U.S. release price was $155. Then the rating: it was considered "Collectibles" by Wine Spectator. I could not resist such an interesting offering and opened one bottle. I used my Burgundy glasses and did not decant the wine. The nose was wonderful to start and it kept growing on me. Even though this was before its maturity, there was still a good balance of fruit and tannin. The finish was long and my tasting panel all loved it.

 

This was not part of my usual economical, easy to drink wines that I wrote for this blog. But given the unique value, I felt I had to let everyone know about it. This would be a great gift for your sons to give to you for Father's Day. It should be cellared for at least another five years, preferably ten to fifteen years. LDB website indicated there are 24 bottles in the system and 17 in Vancouver. Do not go to Alberni and Bute as those 4 bottles are all 2009 vintage (WS92 pts., same SKU, same price). I saw one bottle at 39th and Cambie that is 2010 but I could not tell which vintage the rest of the 12 bottles are. So be careful when you go buy one.

Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay 2010

Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay 2010 ($26.59, SKU 372474) This was introduced to me by a tasting panel member. He noticed that it was on sale at the 39th & Cambie LDB store $11.40 off the usual price. So I checked it out and confirmed that this was indeed a "Grand Reserve" wine and the original price was $37.99. The grapes were sourced from Santa Barbara county (54%) and Monterey county (46%). I tasted it with dinner and immediately noticed the quality of the wine. The nose was pleasant. It was medium to full body with lots of fruits. There was medium aftertaste. Given that it was on sale, this certainly was a great bargain. I tried to check the stock online but could not even find the SKU or the wine. I saw nine bottles on the shelf. So go get it if you like a reasonably priced US chardonnay.

Chalone Chardonnay 2009

Chalone Chardonnay Estate Grown 2009 (WS88, $24.98, SKU 858373) This was the first time I saw this wine available in B. C. I was introduced to this by a tasting panel member two years ago. He brought a bottle back from the States and noted that this was a famous producer of Chardonnay there but the wine was not available locally. When I saw this appeared in the LDB store, and the price was the same as the U.S. release price, I immediately bought one and opened it over the Easter holidays. I tasted it with some take-out Chinese and Western food. It was refreshing and fruity but not too sweet. This was not a lame wine as the alcohol content was 14.5%. It should go well with seafood. There is ample stock in most of the stores.

St. Cosme Cotes-du-Rhone 2011

St. Cosme Cotes-du-Rhone 2011 (WS90, $19.99, SKU 241224) I ran into the current release of this fine wine last week at the LDB store and decided to try it again. The 2007 vintage was a big hit and subsequent vintages showed consistent quality. Cotes-du-Rhone is like the entry level for wines produced from the Rhone region in France. The unique thing about this wine is that it was fermented in stainless steel barrels, no oak. This wine was also produced with a single variety of grape, namely Syrah. So you would be tasting the fruit without the oaky addition. This one was ready to drink and had a fruity nose. There was not much tannins, so it was not meant for cellaring. Wine Spectator suggested it was ready for consumption from 2012. It went well with Chinese food and was generally a very versatile wine. There is ample stock in the LDB stores except it was sold out at 39th & Cambie.

Baron Nathaniel Pauillac 2009

Baron Nathaniel Pauillac 2009 ($28.99 SKU 167163) I saw this new offering at the 39th & Cambie LDB store last week and wanted to see what it was all about. I noticed that it was labelled as "Pauillac", which meant that the grapes had to be grown in the Pauillac region (Lafite, Latour, Mouton Rothschild, Lynch Bages etc.). Most entry level wines were label as "Bordeaux Superieur", which meant the wine was made from any grape grown in the Bordeaux region. Since 2009 was a good vintage and the grapes were from a single appelation, I figured that it was worth a try at this price. There was no Wine Spectator rating on it. When opened, it had the usual Pauillac nose and initial taste: earthy and mineral. I could not make out the pencil shaving nose but there was definitely something familiar. It went well with some beef and chicken dishes. Understanding that this was a  very inexpensive Bordeaux wine, I did not expect too much. After about an hour, the wine started to lose the complexity. At this price, it would be a great everyday drinking food wine. There are 73 bottles in the 39th & Cambie store only in the Lower Mainland.

Secco-Bertani Valpolicella Valpatena Ripasso 2009

Secco-Bertani Valpolicella Valpatena Ripasso 2009 (WS87, $21.99, SKU 342873) I saw this wine displayed in the aisles of the 39^th LDB store and the word “Bertani” caught my eyes. I remembered it as the maker of a very fine Amarone wine. The Ripasso is made with partially dried grape skin from the Amarone method. The bottle also looked like a serious wine. After decanting  for an hour, the wine showed strong tannins with a medium body. There were taste of multiple herbs. This is definitely a food wine, so enjoy it with some Italian food or pizza. I also tasted it 24 hours later and more of the fruit came through.