This Saturday's release of wines at Vintages includes a number of not-so-expensive, good-value wines that will give you a change from mainstream LCBO offerings. Ontario VQA wines are featured.
You'll see that many of the Ontario wines are now labelled by the sub-appellations that entered Ontario wine law last year. Wine made from grapes grown in the Niagara Peninsula region can still be labelled VQA Niagara Peninsula, but if the grapes were grown in specific sub-regions, they can be labelled for those, too.
That means you'll see references to VQA Short Hills Bench, VQA Beamsville Bench, VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake, and so on, as well as the more usual VQA Niagara Peninsula. It might be a bit confusing for a while, but this sub-division of appellations goes on all the time in other parts of the world and it's something consumers have to live with.
If you're looking for Ontario wines in this release, there are a couple of very good Chardonnays. One is Strewn "Terroir" Chardonnay 2004 ($19.95, 012773), which is really richly flavoured and has a very attractive texture. Another is Cave Spring Chardonnay Reserve 2004 ($19.95, 356552), a smooth-textured wine with concentrated flavours. Both will pair well with meats such as chicken, turkey and pork.
Henry of Pelham offers a delicious off-dry Riesling (2005, $14.95, 557165) that delivers quite intense peach and tropical flavours and just the right sweetness and acidity to match Thai and other spicy foods. For something much further along the sweetness scale, try Château des Charmes Late Harvest Riesling 2004, a luscious dessert wine that offers honeyed peach and apricot flavours that's well-balanced and goes well with sweet, fruit-based desserts.
Looking farther afield than Ontario, Saturday's release includes some good buys. Alamos Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 from Argentina ($13.95, 467944) has concentrated dark fruit, a tangy texture and quite firm tannins. It will pair well with grilled red meats and hamburgers in the dying days of summer. So will its sibling, Alamos Malbec 2005 ($13.95, 467951). Malbec is Argentina's signature grape, and this bottle is chock-full of flavours: intense black fruit and spicy chocolate notes.
In the French section there's a very good Côtes du Rhône: Delas "Saint-Esprit" Côtes du Rhône 2004 ($17.95, 708750). I've always liked Delas wines and had a chance to visit the winery again a few months ago. This bottle shows very good fruit with nice complexity, and it will pair well with grilled red meats or hearty meat-based pasta dishes.
If you're looking for another Riesling (you can never have too much Riesling!), try Lingenfelder "Bird Label" Riesling 2004 ($13.95, 568634). It's off-dry and you can compare it to the Henry of Pelham, which I mentioned earlier, to get a sense of the different styles. Lingenfelder's is zesty with rich fruit (tropical, melon, citrus) flavours. It's great as a pre-dinner sipper as well as a partner to spicy dishes.
Like most Vintages releases, the Saturday offering includes more than 100 wines: fortified, dessert, sparkling, and table wines from countries as diverse as Israel, New Zealand and Hungary. Prices range widely, and these releases provide you with added choice in your wine buying.