As I’ve mentioned, each month, B.C. Liquor Stores bring in new products and puts some products on sale. It has been a few months since I have shared some of my wine recommendations, so I thought I would highlight some interesting wines I have found at B.C. Liquor Stores this month.
Domaine Les Guignottes 2020 Montagny 1er Cru Les RessesMonopole – Burgundy wines are some of the most expensive and difficult wines to understand. I am so glad to see B.C. Liquor Stores bringing in new product, like this wine, from more value based regions in Burgundy. This is a white wine made from 100% Chardonnay grapes coming from the value region of Cote Chalonnaise. The specific area in Cote Chalonnaise where these grapes come from is Montagny. 1er Cru denotes that this is a very good site for growing Chardonnay grapes. The specific vineyard these grapes come from is Les Resses. Monopole denotes that this winery owns a monopoly of all the grapes grown in the vineyard of Les Resses. This is important in Burgundy because the common belief is that the more specific and the better the vineyard site, the better the wine. It is priced at $39.99 and while this is still quite a bit of money, it is considered a value wine in terms of Burgundy standards, since many wines grown in 1er Cru vineyards cost much more, and some Burgundy white wines can cost several hundred dollars.
Ortas 2019 Rasteau La Domeilliere – Old World wines can sometimes be confusing as the grape varietals are not shown on the label. This wine is produced by Ortas and comes from the Southern Rhone region of Rasteau. Southern Rhone wines produce great value as they are generally full bodied, bold wines with lots of fruit flavors. As a Southern Rhone wine, it will be a Grenache based blend. This wine is composed of 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 10% Mouvedre grapes. It’s a great pop and open wine that can be enjoyed with most meat dishes. It’s on sale this month from $20.99 to $18.99.
Bodegas Faustino I 2010 Gran Reserva Rioja: I love this wine because the bottle is beautiful and they generally release their wines quite late, so you can get older vintages without storing them for many years. They have just released their 2010 vintage, which is already 12 years old. This is a Spanish wine from the Rioja region. For Old World wines, the region will tell you the grape varietals used in the wine. So since it is from the Rioja region, the grape varietal used to make this wine is mostly Tempranillo blended with a little bit of Graziano and Mazuelograpes. Gran Reserva means that the wine has been aged at least 5 years before its release, of which 2 years must be in oak barrels. With an aged Rioja, you will experience mellow tannis, dark cherries and some savoury flavors of herbs and tobacco leaves. This is a brand new product in liquor stores, priced at $45.99.
Umani Ronchi 2020 CaSal di Serra Verdicchio Dei Castelli di Jesi – Italian wines can be just as confusing as French wines. But I love Italians white wines because there are so many different indigenous grape varietals that can be used to make white wines. The wine is made from the Verdicchio grape varietal, which will have high acidity and citrus flavors, so it should be consumed young. The wine comes from a wine region in Central Italy called Verdicchio Dei Castelli di Jesi. It’s a great alternative to Sauvignon Blanc and it’s on sale this month at B.C. Liquor Stores, discounted from $21.99 to $19.99.
I tried to highlight some less common wines and grape varietals in this article. You can always go back to your favourites, but it’s also fun to try something new once in a while. Until next time, happy drinking!
