What're you drinking right now?

[Torontoblue]

Southern Tier Pumking. WOW, the aroma is pure ginger, spices and biscuit. Hardly any pumpkin at all. Pours a lovely bright amber with an offwhite head that disappears quick. The aroma reminds me very much of McVitie's Ginger Snaps (Bobsy will know). The taste is biscuity malt, very sweet, but no pumpkin, or none that I can taste. Slight bitter finish, easy drinking 9% Imperial Pumpkin Ale. But where is the pumpkin? It tastes like no other pumkin ale I've had before. Maybe jethro796 can tell me!!!

[Bobsy]

The aroma reminds me very much of McVitie's Ginger Snaps (Bobsy will know).

I'm actually more of a dark chocolate digestive kind of guy, but I know what you mean. I'm currently drinking Dunham Massey Chocolate Cherry Mild - a bottle my dad brought me from a local brewery in England. I'd class it as more of a fruit beer than a mild, which isn't really what I felt like.

I'll be following up with a cabernet we brought back from Napa this past new year's. Hopefully it goes with Thanksgiving duck.

[Torontoblue]

Dunham Massey Chocolate Cherry Mild

Thought they built tractors not beers??!!??

[DrJay]

And I can't believe I still haven't had anything from Grand River. I really have to track some of their beer down when I'm in Toronto this November.

They're bottling now, so I have a few on hand (they're about a mile from my parents house). Just let me know if you'd like anything.

Thanks Derek, I might have to take you up on that. I'll let you know closer to my trip, which is currently scheduled for the last weekend in November.

[Belgian]

if you want a wine somewhat like a Bandol, Castaño HECULA just reviewed in NOW magazine is supposed to be a pretty good Spanish alternative.

Vintages 718999 $13.95

Tried HECULA - adequate, but kind of plonky with rough edges and very simple.

I have liked maybe three out of fifteen wines from Spain (two of those I had in Germany, figures.) Maybe our province has no idea how to source good-value and high-quality reds?

[Torontoblue]

if you want a wine somewhat like a Bandol, Castaño HECULA just reviewed in NOW magazine is supposed to be a pretty good Spanish alternative.

Vintages 718999 $13.95

Tried HECULA - adequate, but kind of plonky with rough edges and very simple.

I have liked maybe three out of fifteen wines from Spain (two of those I had in Germany, figures.) Maybe our province has no idea how to source good-value and high-quality reds?

Depending on your budget there is a great wine in the LCBO at the moment from Miguel Torres, a 1994 Mas La Plana Gran Coronas available for $59.00 a bottle, or a great cheaper version is the $18.95 Gran Coronas. Maybe you just haven't tried the right winery from Spain yet?

[jethro796]

I had the ST Pumking with thanksgiving dinner yesterday. It is unlike any pumpkin beer that I have had before. The aroma and spices are understated and it is a wonderful amber colour. You're right torontoblue, there is an absence of pumpkin. I'll have another bottle to be sure, but as it stands now, I prefer the Great Lakes.

[JesseM]

Consolling myself over the disappointment of my Stuarts Organic bottle (sour, hazy, tasted like 'wet-dog', not that I would know how that tastes, but you know that gross way dogs smell when they're wet? Sometimes plates freshly washed smell like it too, well it tastes like that smell) with a 3 day old bottle of Hannenberg Pils (gotta love local).

I've got a paper to write tonight, and of course there's the election results to watch, so I figure getting completely hammered would be a good decision (not really ).

[Belgian]

Depending on your budget there is a great wine in the LCBO at the moment from Miguel Torres, a 1994 Mas La Plana Gran Coronas available for $59.00 a bottle, or a great cheaper version is the $18.95 Gran Coronas. Maybe you just haven't tried the right winery from Spain yet?

That is a great international company. I bet the 1994 La Plana is a great deal for the quality level (just a few percent of the cost of an equally-serious Bordeaux.) Thank you I'll look for those!

I realize we don't have it as simple as chancing on a terrific five-dollar Spanish red in some German food market. Yes, they too have some jokey products, but there are some stunning little gems. A Rioja or Yecla that's damn good, for next to nothing.

Must be a scale/distribution problem for some wines fitting into the LCBO plan of business. At least one can travel!!!

[Torontoblue]

Depending on your budget there is a great wine in the LCBO at the moment from Miguel Torres, a 1994 Mas La Plana Gran Coronas available for $59.00 a bottle, or a great cheaper version is the $18.95 Gran Coronas. Maybe you just haven't tried the right winery from Spain yet?

That is a great international company. I bet the 1994 La Plana is a great deal for the quality level (just a few percent of the cost of an equally-serious Bordeaux.) Thank you I'll look for those!

I realize we don't have it as simple as chancing on a terrific five-dollar Spanish red in some German food market. Yes, they too have some jokey products, but there are some stunning little gems. A Rioja or Yecla that's damn good, for next to nothing.

Must be a scale/distribution problem for some wines fitting into the LCBO plan of business. At least one can travel!!!

If the Board didn't have such a huge mark up then we would have great $5-8$ bottles of Spanish, Italian, Chilean, Argentinian red. The bottles that cost just a little over $10 could easily be sold for less if it wasn't for the huge profit margins involved.

[Belgian]

Agreed... and the LC seems to care very little about actual wine in their rush to turn it onto easy money. They actually harm wine's cultural values, a thing they should be protecting! I dont think our near-sighted Bureau should be in charge of actually selecting wines for the consumer - they tend to do a lazy, ineffective job.

http://www.vintageassessments.com/np-jul22-2006.html

By contrast, LCBO buyers determine when and if wines can be submitted and tasted. This passive approach is doomed to failure. Worse yet, this monopoly buyer arbitrarily penalizes suppliers (by discounting invoices 25%) when wines don't sell at least 75% during the first 90 days! And even if a wine succeeds, there is rarely any continuity. As a result, many producers no longer offer their best wines to the LCBO. As long as the LCBO rakes in more money, they don't care. All this means that consumers have to buy carefully. Knowing what to avoid can be as important as knowing what to buy, here are my reviews.

[Tapsucker]

I had a Durham West Coast IPA the other night. I've always liked it, but this one was even better. I don't know if it was fresher or a recipe tweak.

I swear it had the same fresh bread aroma as fine champaign, maybe not as nutty.

[SteelbackGuy]

Depending on your budget there is a great wine in the LCBO at the moment from Miguel Torres, a 1994 Mas La Plana Gran Coronas available for $59.00 a bottle, or a great cheaper version is the $18.95 Gran Coronas. Maybe you just haven't tried the right winery from Spain yet?

That is a great international company. I bet the 1994 La Plana is a great deal for the quality level (just a few percent of the cost of an equally-serious Bordeaux.) Thank you I'll look for those!

I realize we don't have it as simple as chancing on a terrific five-dollar Spanish red in some German food market. Yes, they too have some jokey products, but there are some stunning little gems. A Rioja or Yecla that's damn good, for next to nothing.

Must be a scale/distribution problem for some wines fitting into the LCBO plan of business. At least one can travel!!!

If the Board didn't have such a huge mark up then we would have great $5-8$ bottles of Spanish, Italian, Chilean, Argentinian red. The bottles that cost just a little over $10 could easily be sold for less if it wasn't for the huge profit margins involved.

Not trying to sound like an ass , but we do have several wines from Italy, Chile, Argentina, Spain that are all under $10.00, lots around $8.00.

Heck, that new Argentina Fuzion wine is creating quite a buzz. 70% shiraz, 30% malbec (maybe the other way around) and is getting praise from wine writers country wide. And it is $7.45.

[Derek]

Mikkeller Draft Bear. Heck of a beer. But a Double Pils?

[Torontoblue]

That is a great international company. I bet the 1994 La Plana is a great deal for the quality level (just a few percent of the cost of an equally-serious Bordeaux.) Thank you I'll look for those!

I realize we don't have it as simple as chancing on a terrific five-dollar Spanish red in some German food market. Yes, they too have some jokey products, but there are some stunning little gems. A Rioja or Yecla that's damn good, for next to nothing.

Must be a scale/distribution problem for some wines fitting into the LCBO plan of business. At least one can travel!!!

If the Board didn't have such a huge mark up then we would have great $5-8$ bottles of Spanish, Italian, Chilean, Argentinian red. The bottles that cost just a little over $10 could easily be sold for less if it wasn't for the huge profit margins involved.

Not trying to sound like an ass , but we do have several wines from Italy, Chile, Argentina, Spain that are all under $10.00, lots around $8.00.

Heck, that new Argentina Fuzion wine is creating quite a buzz. 70% shiraz, 30% malbec (maybe the other way around) and is getting praise from wine writers country wide. And it is $7.45.

Len, I see the mark up everyday on wines, and once an agent has to put their own mark up on a wine, you're looking at at least a 90% mark up on the original quoted price per case!!!