Uncorked-Wine and Spirits Appreciation

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 8:48 pm

The 2005 Chateau Castegens is another nice little Bordeaux that out-performs its price here.

matt7215 · Post by **matt7215** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:40 pm

someone in the know please reccomend me a scotch or bourbon @ less then $50 a bottle.

i havnt purched one in about 3 years so im willing to try anything.

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:55 pm

Beringer 2006 Caberet Sauvignon

Chokecherry, Vanilla, Tobacco, Wood Smoke and Citric Acid

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 8:32 pm

icemachine wrote:Beringer 2006 Caberet Sauvignon

Chokecherry, Vanilla, Tobacco, Wood Smoke and Citric Acid

Is this the general LCBO list $9.95? If so, good choice.

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 8:35 pm

matt7215 wrote:someone in the know please reccomend me a scotch or bourbon @ less then $50 a bottle.

i havnt purched one in about 3 years so im willing to try anything.

Matt, sorry for the delay, I didn't see this message.

WHat do you think you would prefer, a scotch or a bourbon?

There are so many variations of scotch, that I'll just make a blanket recommendation of The Macallan 10 year old because it isn't peaty or really smoky, and has a lot of qualities that appeal to beginner scotch drinkers. I forget the price now.

For bourbon, try out some Woodford Reserve or Knob Creek. They are quite potent, but I think you'll enjoy them.

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:03 am

SteelbackGuy wrote:
icemachine wrote:Beringer 2006 Caberet Sauvignon

Chokecherry, Vanilla, Tobacco, Wood Smoke and Citric Acid
Is this the general LCBO list $9.95? If so, good choice.

It was the Founder's Estate (19.95) - thoroughly enjoyable, the wife cut me off after a couple glasses claiming it was her birthday gift

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 11:37 am

2005 Madiran Laplace, I know this bottle was double-discounted for clearance - about 8 dollars off a 20 dollar bottle or something ridiculous.

Shoulda grabbed an armload, this Tannat is one hell of a quality Red esp at table-wine prices!! The only reason I restrained myself in April was the initial high price put me off this wine on the very first try, but this 2005 settles into a very silky & drinkable Madiran for a young vintage (increasingly Madiran, like Bordelais producers will micro-oxygenate their tannic wines to soften them in a few years instead of perhaps decades.)

Q: Have you guys noticed that there seem to be a few loaded-up stores that end up having some great sales? The Ajax-Whitby store and this one out at Royal York have bargains.

That could be another thread - storewatch for great deals, I mean partcular stores that ALWAYS have lots of stock, not crazy demand, and therefore good sales. We have to exploit the system somehow!

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 11:43 am

Belgian wrote:2005 Madiran Laplace, I know this bottle was double-discounted for clearance - about 8 dollars off a 20 dollar bottle or something ridiculous.

Shoulda grabbed an armload, this Tannat is one hell of a quality Red esp at table-wine prices!! The only reason I restrained myself in April was the initial high price put me off the first try, but this settles into a very silky & drinkable Madiran for a young vintage (increasingly Madiran producers will micro-oxygenate their tannic wines to soften them in a few years instead of decades.)

Q: Have you guys noticed that there seem to be a few loaded-up stores that end up having some great sales? The Ajax-Whitby store and this one out at Royal York.

That could be another thread - storewatch for great deals, I mean partcular stores that ALWAYS have lots of stock, not crazy demand, and therefore good sales. We have to exploit the system somehow!

Thanks for this post Belgian.
Yes there is one store in London that has some good sales and thankfully it is the one I work at. We have a small-ish vintages corner which I run, so I order all the wines that I like. Sometimes they don't sell well, and after a month or so, they are marked down for sale. This is when I jump on them.

I've been off wine lately as Ive got a lot of beer to drink, but recently I had the new Fuzion ALta Malbec, which is LCBO exclusive for one year, and is general list at $9.95. It is really nice for the price point, and the main difference between this one and the regular Fuzion, besides the fact that the regular has some Shiraz in it, is that this new one is actually tasty and worth spending a few dollars on.

mintjellie · Post by **mintjellie** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 6:14 pm

I'm not a big wine drinker. The last time I picked up wine during the summer I grabbed a bottle of Palatine Hills Gewurztraminer. Off-dry with a big lychee flavour.

I also picked up a bottle of Torres Vina Esmeralda (Gewurtraminer, Muscat of Alexandria, Muscat d'Alsace). I remember it being off-dry and fruity, with a flowery nose.

I enjoyed both of them a great deal.

Sorry if my descriptions are a little vague, this was months ago, and I'm not much of a wine person to begin with.

detritus · Post by **detritus** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 7:06 pm

SteelbackGuy wrote:Yes there is one store in London that has some good sales and thankfully it is the one I work at. We have a small-ish vintages corner which I run, so I order all the wines that I like. Sometimes they don't sell well, and after a month or so, they are marked down for sale. This is when I jump on them.

Seriously? I know we're supposed to be nice to Len these days, 'cause he fills us in on all the LCBO secrets (and I appreciate it, I really do), but - seriously?

You order extra of stuff you like (presumably either products that won't sell at your store, or in quantities that won't), wait for it to go on sale and then buy it up at a discount? How much are the good people of Ontario paying you for this? (It's a good thing the higher-ups at the LCBO wouldn't be caught dead reading these forums, 'cause I can't imagine that kind of ordering is company-policy.)

(I know, I'm interpolating a bit from what you've said, but that's the impression I'm getting...)

-Josh

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 7:13 pm

detritus wrote:
SteelbackGuy wrote:Yes there is one store in London that has some good sales and thankfully it is the one I work at. We have a small-ish vintages corner which I run, so I order all the wines that I like. Sometimes they don't sell well, and after a month or so, they are marked down for sale. This is when I jump on them.
Seriously? I know we're supposed to be nice to Len these days, 'cause he fills us in on all the LCBO secrets (and I appreciate it, I really do), but - seriously?

You order extra of stuff you like (presumably either products that won't sell at your store, or in quantities that won't), wait for it to go on sale and then buy it up at a discount? How much are the good people of Ontario paying you for this? (It's a good thing the higher-ups at the LCBO wouldn't be caught dead reading these forums, 'cause I can't imagine that kind of ordering is company-policy.)

(I know, I'm interpolating a bit from what you've said, but that's the impression I'm getting...)

-Josh

You've read too deeply into what i said, and assumed too much.
Most product consultants order stuff they like. They have bi weekly tastings, and order things that impressed them.
I order stuff I like based on what I've tried or read about. sometimes ( and that is the operative word here) the stuff doesn't sell, and as a result, my manager will mark it down. this happens in every store. And since I don't make it to other stores often, as I work 6 days a week, I buy the odd mark down from my own store. I dont order stuff with the expectation it wouldnt sell...no manager would tolerate that sort of behaviour or over excess stocking.

detritus · Post by **detritus** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 7:42 pm

SteelbackGuy wrote:
detritus wrote:
SteelbackGuy wrote:Yes there is one store in London that has some good sales and thankfully it is the one I work at. We have a small-ish vintages corner which I run, so I order all the wines that I like. Sometimes they don't sell well, and after a month or so, they are marked down for sale. This is when I jump on them.
Seriously? I know we're supposed to be nice to Len these days, 'cause he fills us in on all the LCBO secrets (and I appreciate it, I really do), but - seriously?

You order extra of stuff you like (presumably either products that won't sell at your store, or in quantities that won't), wait for it to go on sale and then buy it up at a discount? How much are the good people of Ontario paying you for this? (It's a good thing the higher-ups at the LCBO wouldn't be caught dead reading these forums, 'cause I can't imagine that kind of ordering is company-policy.)

(I know, I'm interpolating a bit from what you've said, but that's the impression I'm getting...)

-Josh
You've read too deeply into what i said, and assumed too much.

Yeah, probably. My bad.

-Josh

Ukie · Post by **Ukie** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:09 am

SteelbackGuy wrote:
I've been off wine lately as Ive got a lot of beer to drink, but recently I had the new Fuzion ALta Malbec, which is LCBO exclusive for one year, and is general list at $9.95. It is really nice for the price point, and the main difference between this one and the regular Fuzion, besides the fact that the regular has some Shiraz in it, is that this new one is actually tasty and worth spending a few dollars on.

I gambled on this one because I also liked the regular Fuzion but haven't tried it yet.

Speaking of gambling, anyone know about this line at some of the Wine Rack stores, Travigne by Cartier Wines? It comes in a 2007 Chardonnay and a 2007 Cabernet Merlot both VQA and on sale by the case for $90 for 12, $7.50 a bottle regular $9.95 or close to it.

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:18 am

Ukie wrote:
SteelbackGuy wrote:
I've been off wine lately as Ive got a lot of beer to drink, but recently I had the new Fuzion ALta Malbec, which is LCBO exclusive for one year, and is general list at $9.95. It is really nice for the price point, and the main difference between this one and the regular Fuzion, besides the fact that the regular has some Shiraz in it, is that this new one is actually tasty and worth spending a few dollars on.

I gambled on this one because I also liked the regular Fuzion but haven't tried it yet.

Speaking of gambling, anyone know about this line at some of the Wine Rack stores, Travigne by Cartier Wines? It comes in a 2007 Chardonnay and a 2007 Cabernet Merlot both VQA and on sale by the case for $90 for 12, $7.50 a bottle regular $9.95 or close to it.

I'm not familiar with those. I know WIne Rack and Vineyards outlets both have wines that are exclusive to them, and not available at the LCBO. This must be an example of that.

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:11 am

Part of the Vincor family of brands, the Cartier name goes back over a century, its hard to find bad VQA 2007 wines. If its not VQA then no guarantees of what you get.