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Lawrason On Wine

November Archive

A Case of Affordable Burgundies

Posted on November 6, 2007

Wine of the Week
Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils 2005 Beaune du Château 1er Cru, Burgundy, France ($41.95, 91 points, 901199)
Tasted twice in the past week, and my estimation grows. Fragrant, inviting nose rises from the glass with lovely smoky, creamy and spicy barrel notes that nicely frame ripe cranberry-cherry fruit. Mid-weight, firm and a bit aggressive for now, with slightly green tannin and a bitter cranberry finish. Excellent length and flavour focus. Best 2011 to 2015. In Vintages Nov. 10.

New Vintages Releases

Posted on November 13, 2007

Wine of the Week
Plantatree 2006 Chardonnay, California ($14.95, 87 points, 64824)
A newsmaker on a couple of levels, not least of which is finally having decent wine in an alternative, eco-friendly package. It is being touted as the world’s first carbon-positive wine by creator Steven Campbell of Toronto-based Lifford Agencies. Two dollars and fifty cents from every bottle sold will go to planting trees near Sudbury, replacing the carbon emitted in the production and shipping of the wine. It is grown in California and bottled in lighter, recyclable plastic (PET) in Niagara. There are three wines in the series, with the barely oaked 2006 chardonnay being the best in my view—very fresh, balanced and clean—so lively, in fact, I thought it was a ripe sauvignon blanc when I was handed a glass at the launch reception at Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar last week. The 2005 merlot ($14.95, 65151) is very good as well—nicely supple, smooth and clean with typical jammy berry and woodsy flavours. The 2005 cabernet sauvignon ($14.95, 65102) is less appealing with some green, rhubarb flavours but no different than many other inexpensive cabernets grown at higher yields in warm climates. LCBO: wide distribution.

Ontario’s Search for a Signature

Posted on November 20, 2007

My colleague at The Globe and Mail, Beppi Crosariol, wrote last Saturday that chardonnay and riesling are Ontario’s signature grape varieties—white or red. I agree, to a point, especially about chardonnay, which can be awesome when low-cropped from old vines grown on the limestone-based soils of Niagara and Prince Edward County. Tawse 2004 Beamsville Bench Chardonnay (coming to Vintages Dec. 8) was the nation’s only gold-medal chardonnay at the 2007 Canadian Wine Awards. Riesling can be great as well, but so far I have had fewer great ones than I have chardonnays.

Le Clos Jordanne's 2005s

Posted on November 23, 2007

In a last-minute change of plan by Vintages, a limited selection of the first Le Clos Jordanne 2005s from Niagara will be available in some stores starting on Saturday, Nov. 24. You can read the full story about the groundbreaking Le Clos Jordanne winery in October’s issue of Toronto Life.

Holiday Shopping at Vintages

Posted on November 27, 2007

As much as I personally like to drag my heels on the issue of Christmas shopping, it was clearly evident from the throngs in the LCBO’s Bloor and Royal York store last Saturday afternoon that the season has been flung upon us. (I hear Royal York sold out of their 132-bottle allotment of Le Clos Jordanne—see Nov. 23 blog—by noon.) The upcoming January edition of Toronto Life has some great tips (and I hope inspiration) about buying fine wine at Christmas and offers suggestions from Vintages’ impressive Dec. 8 release. For those driven to finish their shopping this weekend, here are 10 worthy gifts already on the shelf, with largest stock allocations shown as of Nov. 26. To find stock at the store nearest you plug the LCBO product number shown into the Product Search function at www.lcbo.com.

David Lawrason

David Lawrason

David Lawrason has worked full time as one of Canada's leading, independent wine writers and educators for over 20 years. He was the founder of Wine Access magazine and Globe and Mail wine columnist for 13 years before becoming resident wine guy at Toronto Life, where he pens a monthly column and writes an exhaustive review of LCBO general listings for the annual Food and Wine Guide. As a wine educator he has taught sommelier programs at George Brown, Humber and Niagara Colleges, and has run popular public courses in Toronto since 1988. He has visited every major wine major producing country in the world, while focusing recently on the booming Canadian wine scene, as founder of the Canadian Wine Awards program, and Canadian wine columnist for Wine Access.

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