Best Wines: five beautiful bottles for less than 15 bucks
| February 26, 2013
Castillo de Monséran 2011 Garnacha
$10 | Cariñena | 87 points
A simple, unoaked and exuberantly fruity old-vine garnacha with hot raspberry and blackberry pie. It’s very rich and smooth, with sweetness, soft tannin and controlled alcohol (only 12.5 per cent). It offers oodles of fruit, without tipping into excess. LCBO 73395
Cono Sur 2011 Organic Chardonnay
$12 | San Antonio Valley | 90 points
It’s made every critic’s best-buy list in 2012. This chardonnay is stylish, elegant and rich with pineapple-papaya, gently applied oak spice and butterscotch notes. The finesse and minerality on the finish are rare for $13. LCBO 230565
Farnese 2010 Casale Vecchio Montepulciano D’Abruzzo
$10 | Abruzzi | 87 points
Impressive value here. Expect a lifted, complex nose of lavender, blackberry, raisin pie, cocoa and pastrami with an evergreen undertone. It’s full-bodied, warm and sweet, with a baked fruit and cocoa finish. LCBO 612788
La Vieille Ferme 2011 Luberon
$12 | Rhône Valley | 88 points
A very smart blend of rich, soft white grenache and livelier, higher-acid varieties like vermentino and ugni blanc. It’s deliciously fresh, with green apple, plum, grapefruit, fennel and spice. Very good focus and length. LCBO 298505
Trapiche 2010 Malbec Reserve
$12 | Mendoza | 89 points
A value-packed wine with generous, classic malbec aromas of ripe plum and mulberry, with lavender, licorice and chocolate. It’s full, smooth and open-knit, with very good focus and length. LCBO 614651
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