August 29th, A late list! Forgive me, I'm just back from beautiful B.C.!

Ahh two weeks in God's country gives one a whole new perception of the LCBO when it comes to wine pricing, especially when you see some of the prices in the sale that started on Saturday!
We enjoyed some superb BC wines, Kettle Valley Pinot Gris, Quail's Gate Rose and JT's Sun Rock Vineyard Shiraz jump to mind but I wasn't about to duplicate last year's 'wine in the suitcase' fiasco so not much made the return trip to the east.

So back to the business at hand, some good ones in this past weekend's release:
Three from South America
ALAMOS MALBEC 2008 Mendoza - Great value, I’m not sure it’s an 89 but …. Score - 89. (Bruce Stephen, North Shore Outlook (B.C.), $13.95
SANTA JULIA SYRAH ROSÉ 2008 Mendoza- a great buy for a late summer rose $11.95
APALTAGUA ENVERO GRAN RESERVA 2007 Colchagua Valley, Apalta Vineyard Selection This wine earned Gold Medals this year at both the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles and Monde Selection International Wine Contest. Made with Carmenère and a dollop of Cabernet Sauvignon, $15.95
Three from OZ
BALLAST STONE MERLOT 2006 – One of Gord Stimmel’s weekend picks - $16.95

BRANSON COACH HOUSE GREENOCK BLOCK SHIRAZ 2005 Barossa Valley, South AustraliaCould be an Ebeneezer at 15 bucks less – might be worth it to buy a box (of 6) if you can find it!. Score - 93. (Harvey Steiman, www.winespectator.com) $24.95

ROLF BINDER HEINRICH SHIRAZ/MATARO/GRENACHE 2006 – It’ll be interesting to compare this to the ChateauNeuf du PApes - $29.95

One lonely Italian

CECCHI VINO NOBILE DI MONTEPULCIANO 2004 another One of Gord Stimmel’s weekend picks - $24.95

Two from Spain

ÈTIM SELECCIÓN 2006 – a 90 pointer at $15 bucks. Gotta be worth a buy!The 2006 Etim Seleccion is a blend of 60% Garnacha, 30% Carinena, [Carignan] and 10% Syrah aged for 6 months in seasoned French and American oak. If you want to experience Priorat without paying the price, this is the way to go. Score - 91. (Jay Miller, erobertparker.com,) $15
LAN GRAN RESERVA . Score - 90. (Thomas Matthews, www.winespectator.com,) $24.95

And three from the Rhone

LES GALETS ROUGES CHÂTEAU MOURGUES DU GRÈS 2007 $14.95
CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE HAUTE PIERRE 2007 DELAS – ageworthy $ 35.95 - 91 from WS and 92 from Parker.
VACQUEYRAS DOMAINE SAINT-PIERRE 2005 (91-93). (R. Parker erobertparker.com) $24.95

For now, I'll go for the Branson Coach House and go looking through the weekend sale list too.