Tallying the Pluses

In a recent wine column the columnist listed wineries he considers as ‘old standbys’. They were selected from his own years of experience as well as that of a panel of sommeliers. Entering an LCBO outlet can be daunting if one doesn’t have any idea of where to begin. You can’t believe the labels. It’s reckless to believe that ’the higher the price, the better the wine’. And everyone at the outlet can have his own preferences and tastes let alone motivators.

Using a ‘video store’ analogy the columnist referred to his ‘Woody Allen list’, ie. pick any movie directed by Woody Allen and you’re assured to take home an interesting movie. This caught my attention since this is one Producer I consider on a par with Nicholas Cage as an actor. But then everyone has their favourites…. or NOT! …. and it’s always a good idea to keep a record of what wineries work for you. Of the critics picks, the purple ones do it for me (below $20).

This blog entry doesn’t intend to criticize anyone’s view of selecting reliable movies nor of wineries. Any help in narrowing the selection of a bottle of wine on a visit to the LCBO is admirable. My intent is to see how the wineries mentioned in the column fared during the four years I've recorded tastings.

I started the Ww ratings in September 2007 consequently some of the wines in the archives will have only verbal assessments. Listed below for each wine previously tasted is the name, vintage, price at the time, SKU, and either a Ww rating or an abbreviated qualitative comment (NR for plonk, OK for average, Good, Excellent).

Over the last few years I've purposely tried series of wines from wineries that I thought had above average products. I concluded that there are just a few wineries I would definitely say matched my tastes consistently and several I would avoid. Some wineries having a lower risk of plonk could have styles, blends or varietals I would definitely use caution in buying. All wineries have one thing to contend with - the weather. They each have good and bad years and, depending on how they managed their vineyards, some can produce consistently good if not great wines each and every year. I definitely would have included a few Argentina and Chile wineries on my list.

I hope this is useful in some way. Cheers, Ww

Errazuriz

• Errazuriz Wild Ferment Pinot Noir 2007, Ww80 -- #510396 $19.95 (Feb 1, 2009)
• Errazuriz Wild Ferment Pinot Noir 2005, NR -- #510396 $17.95 (May 13, 2007)
• Errazuriz Estate Chardonnay 2007, Ww94 -- #318741 $11.80 (Nov 14, 2008)
• Errazuriz ‘Max Reserva’ Shiraz 2006, Ww95 -- #614750 $17.75 (Nov 3, 2008)
• Errazuriz ‘Max Reserva’ Shiraz 2004, Good -- #614750 $18.15 (Mar 19, 2007)
• Errazuriz Estate Carmenère 2007, Ww88 -- #016238 $13.80 (Nov 7, 2008)
• Errazuriz ‘Max Reserva’ Merlot 2006, Ww87 -- #016170 $14.35 (Apr 27, 2008)
• Errazuriz ‘Max Reserva’ Merlot 2004, Excellent -- #016170 $18.15 (Mar 15, 2007)
• Errazuriz ‘Max Reserva’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, Excellent -- #335174 $18.20 (Mar 21, 2007)
• Errazuriz ‘Max Reserva’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, Excellent -- #335174 $17.90 (Aug 4, 2005)

Yalumba

• Yalumba ‘The Y Series’ Shiraz Viognier 2007, Ww84 -- #624494 $15.95 (Nov 24, 2008)
• Yalumba ‘The Y Series’ Shiraz Viognier 2004, Excellent -- #624494 $13.95 (Jan 30, 2006)
• Yalumba ‘The Y Series’ Viognier 2006, Good -- #624502 $15.95 (Jul 08, 2007)
• Yalumba ‘The Y Series’ Viognier 2004, Excellent -- #624502 $13.95 (Jul 28, 2005)
• Yalumba ‘Bush Vine' Grenache 2004, Good -- #531228 $19.95 (Oct 28, 2006)
• Yalumba ‘The Y Series’ Unwooded Chardonnay 2004, OK -- #625103 $11.95 (Jan 31, 2006)

Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi

• Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi Nipozzano Chianti Reserva 2004, Good -- #107276 $21.75 (May 23, 2008)
• Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi Nipozzano Chianti Reserva 2003, NR -- #107276 $18.10 (Dec 04, 2006)

Perrin

• Perrin Réserve Côtes du Rhône Rouge 2007, Ww91 -- #363457 $14.95 (Nov 26, 2008)
• Perrin Réserve Côtes du Rhône Rouge 2006, Ww85 -- #363457 $14.95 (May 30, 2008)
• Perrin Nature Côtes du Rhône 2004, NR -- #948059 $16.95 (Jan 23, 2007)

Penfolds

• Penfolds ‘Koonunga Hill` Shiraz/Cabernet 2006, Ww88 -- #285544 $16.45 (Mar 12, 2009)
• Penfolds `Koonunga Hill` Shiraz/Cabernet 2004, OK -- #285544 $16.15 (Jul 12, 2007)
• Penfolds 'Koonunga Hill' Shiraz 2004, OK -- #642751 $15.95 (Jul 14, 2007)
• Penfolds ‘Magill Estate’ Shiraz 2001, OK -- #944736 $72.00 (Jul 14, 2006)
• Penfolds ‘Thomas Hyland’ Shiraz 2003, NR -- #611210 $19.95 (Jul 10, 2006)
• Penfolds ‘Thomas Hyland’ Shiraz 2003, NR -- #611210 $19.95 (Jan 5, 2006)
• Penfolds Bin 2 Shiraz Mourvèdre 2003, NR -- #468629 $19.95 (Apr 3, 2005)

Trinchero Family Estates (Sutter)

• Trinchero Family Pinot Noir 2005, Excellent -- #025155 $20.95 (Mar 16, 2007)
• Trinchero Family Pinot Noir 2004, OK -- #727248 $17.95 (Jul 24, 2006)
• Trinchero ‘Family Selection’ Merlot 2003, NR -- #550566 $14.95 (Jul 23, 2006)
• Trinchero ‘Family Selection’ Merlot 2003, NR -- #550566 $16.95 (Jun 15, 2005)
• Trinchero ‘Family Selection’ Merlot 2002, NR -- #550566 $13.50 (Feb 7, 2005)
• Trinchero ‘Family Selection’ Merlot 2001, OK -- #550566 $18.95 (Feb 7, 2005)

Villa Maria

• Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2007, Ww89 -- #426601 $16.30 (May 6, 2008)
• Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2007, Ww91 -- #426601 $16.95 (Nov 25, 2007)
• Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2004, Good -- #426601 $15.10 (Sep 20, 2005)

Mission Hill

• Mission Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2006 VQA Okanagan Valley, Ww92 -- #553321 $22.95 (Jan 27, 2009)
• Mission Hill Chardonnay Reserve 2006 VQA Okanagan Valley, Ww89 -- #545004 $19.95 (Nov 15, 2008)
• Mission Hill Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2006 VQA Okanagan Valley, Ww87 -- #057430 $21.95 (Mar 11, 2008)
• Mission Hill Five Vineyards Pinot Blanc 2006 VQA, Good -- #300301 $17.15 (May 06, 2007)
• Mission Hill Family Estate Chardonnay 2003 VQA, Good -- #545004 $18.95 (Feb 25, 2006)

Chateau des Charmes

• Château des Charmes Gewürztraminer 2006 VQA St. Davids Bench , Ww82 -- #453472 $19.95 (Jun 12, 2008)
• Château des Charmes 'Equuleus' Paul Bosc Vineyard 2002 VQA, Excellent -- Winery $35.00 (Mar 1, 2007)
• Château des Charmes Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2006 VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ww80 -- #453423 $15.95 (Jun 3, 2008)
• Château des Charmes Estate Bottled Chardonnay VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ww82 -- #081653 $13.85 (Feb 19, 2008)
• Château des Charmes White Label Chardonnay 2004 VQA, Ww74 -- #038828 375mL $6.20 (Feb 1, 2008)
• Château des Charmes Estate Bottled Aligoté 2006 VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ww80 -- #284950 $13.35 (Feb 2, 2008)
• Château des Charmes Estate Bottled Aligoté 2003 VQA Niagara Peninsula, OK -- #284950 $11.95 (Jul 12, 2005)
• Château des Charmes Estate Bottled Cabernet/Merlot 2004 VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ww84 -- #222372 $19.95 (Jan 21, 2008)
• Château des Charmes St. Davids Bench Viognier 2003 VQA Niagara Peninsula, OK -- #432948 $18.95 (Aug 20, 2005)