February 18th release - In a word, weak. In two words - price gouging!

Oh we’re going to have some fun discussing this latest weak LCBO vintages release. In spite of the catalogue's title, there is very little to enthuse me. It’s titled Popular Front. Now most Popular Fronts that come to mind are associated with either communist or terrorist organizations. Should we draw a subtle conclusion about the leanings of our beloved LCBO’s marketing team or should we just wonder if this is how they perceive their customers? It’s an unusual choice for the title of a Vintages release containing what are supposed to be ‘our favourites’. By the way, the other three focal points in this release are Terroir (some say that’s French for April Fool), Kosher wines (avoid ‘em), and Ontario Gold Winners (ho hum).



Let’s delve deeper into the main focus of the release, shall we? The Popular Front is divided into ‘Old Friends’, ‘For the Wine Pantry’, ‘Party Favourites’ and last but not least ‘Icon wines’. One would expect me to be picking many more this week but there just aren’t that many that excite me. Also, in these times of strong Canuck buck, fiscal restraint, tough negotiations, the U.S. buying American first, and the LCBO’s supposed volume buying power, why are so many of these prices going up?


OLD FRIENDS


ALLEGRINI PALAZO DELLA TORRE 2008 - $24.95, WS Top 100. This one has never been one of my old friends but one or two are worth a shot.


D'ARENBERG THE FOOTBOLT SHIRAZ 2009 574cases $22.95 – Big, juicy, OZ’s take on the traditional Cote Rotie blend of Shiraz and Viognier. Not that long ago this was under $20 at the Board. Strong dollar, weak wine market, rising prices. Which one of these three doesn’t belong? I thought old friends didn’t screw old friends over a few bucks. As a result, I’ll pass.


FOR THE WINE PANTRY




BERONIA RESERVA 2006 749 cases $19.95 A tie for my top pick is the always good Beronia but it was a real favourite at $17.95, not $19.95. Is the LCBO really so dumb as to tell us it’s a favourite and then jack up the price? Well, in a word, yes.


PIRRAMIMMA SHIRAZ 2009 959 cases $26.95 – My second in the tie for favourite of the release, there are lot’s of cases of this one.  I really enjoy this producer's wines - Cabernet, Shiraz or Petit Verdot.


CHATEAU ST. ROCH CHIMERES 2009 – From the Cotes de Rousillon, but I have to ask a question here, if this was so wildly popular, why did the LCBO have to mark it down in the last couple of releases to get rid of it?


PARTY FAVOURITES


Party Favourites of the LCBO, not necessarily us


BODEGAS LAN CRIANZA 2007 1000 cases $15.95 – Another hugely successful wine but last time out the Board blew through about 5,000 cases of this one priced at $15 even. While not crazily expensive, this reflects a price increase of about 6 and a quarter percent in a year. How’s your portfolio been doing?


MCMANIS CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2010 1999 cases $19.95 – An under $10, great big Cali wine that earned infamy when Parker scored it 90 a number of years ago. Expect a great summer BarBQ fruit bomb but also expect to bend over (pricewise) and get royally ripped by the governmental wood rasp again. South of the border, this is available for under $9 per bottle with a case discount of 20% on top of that. Here a case will cost you $239.40 Cdn, there it costs $86.40US. Is that an eye opener?


ICON WINES


Few if any of these are icons so I think the marketers must mean icon as in, (said with a haughty British accent)”ICON very easily say NO THANK YOU to all of these wines!”


On to the rest of the release:


AUSTRALIA


YALUMBA PATCHWORK SHIRAZ 2008 384 cases $21.95 - I’m a Yalumba fan so I’ll go with this one but that entire page of James Halliday reviews and scores is hilariously inflated.


BRITISH COLUMBIA


TOWNSHIP 7 SYRAH 2007 111 cases $24.95 – Love those Okanagan wines. One to match to an Ontario Shiraz but it should be from ’07 or ’10 to make it a fair fight.


CHILE


SANTA RITA MEDALLA REAL GRAN RESERVA CABERNET 350 cases $19.95 – New world meets Bordeaux. Big, tannic, black fruit, good for short term ageing too, probably my 3rd pick overall.


ARAUCANO SYRAH 2009 (François Lurton) 451 cases $14.95 – Massive doses of black and blue fruit with hints of smoked bacon and perhaps some chocolate. Quite a combo.


PORTUGAL


Two entries under $15.95 and both are new to me and to Vintages. The AZUL Portugal 2008 is $13.95 and the Lua Nova Em Vinhas Velhas 2009 comes in at $15.95. The review of the latter reads like it’ll be the better wine – I might try one.