These wines are phenomenal — and on sale
SIPPED
You know that pulse-quickening moment when you go to grab your favourite bottle of wine and it’s on sale? Everyone loves a bargain, right?
Thing is, these pop-ups are transient affairs so you can’t plan for them. But I did some sleuthing on your behalf to find out which wines are on sale this week then chose the best deals of the lot. The following five bottles are handsdown riveting — and on sale. Let the fun begin. $2.50 OFF 2016 Concilio Pinot Grigio, Trentino DOC, Italy (LCBO 637595 $11.45 until July 16, regular $13.95 in stores and online)
Love the subtle charms of this suave Italian. It hints toward lemon zest, sea salt and frankly, not a whole lot more. But here, it’s a good thing — because those elements are captured in a pristine, well-balanced, elegantly structured wine that won’t upstage a meal or a moment with overt fruitiness, layered complexity or lumbering oak notes. In short, this Pinot Grigio is just hell-bent on clean, easy refreshment to pour with anything at all. Nice, right? And so seasonally appropriate. Score: 90+ $1 OFF 2015 Bollini Pinot Grigio, Trentino DOC, Italy (Vintages Essential 951319 $16.95 until July 16, reg. $17.95 in stores and online)
Sometimes you want all the crisp restraint of a Pinot Grigio, but some subtle complexity too — you know, to serve in good company. When that happens, this is your bottle. It starts with a compelling note of chalk on the nose before caressing the palate with saturated but understated fruit laced with chalk, salt, white grapefruit, and the gentlest puff of smoke somewhere before finishing with a long note of bitter orange. Gorgeous wine for the money — and a buck off this week. Pour it with goat cheese salad and good bread in the sunshine. Score: 92+ $3 OFF 2016 Astrolabe Province Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand (Vintages Essential 10421 $19.95 until July 16, reg. $22.95 in stores and online)
If you like the full-throttle, grab-you-by-the-jugular style of Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough does so well, this bottle certainly won’t disappoint. Its revved up gooseberry and lime purée aromas and flavours, taut structure and lemon-squirt acidity refreshes like thing possessed while a gentle floral-lemon grass character plays in the background. Then, lemons preserved in salt add a certain gravitas to the finish. Definitely a bottle wine to chill down and tip back when the mercury starts to rise this summer. Serve it with cold pesto pasta topped with crumbled feta and diced chicken. Score: 89 $2 OFF 2015 Josh Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, California (LCBO 461053 $16.20 till July 16, reg. $18.20 in stores and online)
More than 180,000 bottles of classic Californian Cabernet have sold since it was first launched last year in Ontario. Clearly it’s a popular drop. Expect a core of cassis, dried fig, fresh plum and warm wood underpinned by iron, iodine, slate. This stone and metal minerality makes it more exciting than many other Cabernets at this price. I preferred the more lushlyfruited 2013 and 2014 vintages of this wine to the 2015 on shelves now, but this bottle still offer good value money. Decant and serve with simply prepared meats. Score: 90 $3 OFF 2014 The Seven Deadly Zins, California (Vintages Essential 59311 $22.95 until July 16, reg. $25.95 in stores and online)
Slightly better than the 2013 vintage, this bottle now on shelves shows all the mouth-coating red and black jammy fruit loved so much by Zinfandel zealots while 12 months in American oak imbues the wine with a toasty vanilla and nuts. To me it tastes a bit like the best ever barbecue sauce but not quite as sweet, so pair it with authentic barbecue. Score: 91