The Bar Towel

Loads in Richmond Hill, trying to decide if I should loosen the purse strings for this

Belgian wrote:^ That's uncool. Some stores setting it all aside, some a one bottle limit? If there's no consistency, and you don't know what day or time, that's bad service. I bet the store staff looked after 'their own' if the manager wasn't watching.

Anyway yes it was in high demand and people lining up at least a quarter to nine o'clock. I was more curious about the score than the wine type, and hope the early-birders who got their fair allocation enjoy this wine for what it is.

I did get a 2012 Ascheri Barbera D'Alba I've been wanting to try. Super priced wine type for what it is, another Piedmont like the Nebbiolo-based wines.

I was @ King/Spadina at around 10am, and saw the wine, recognised from the first post about it but thought nothing of it.. read some more and went back at 2pm and there was still about 10 bottles left, so grabbed four. Queens Quay had probably triple the amount and sold out in like 20 minutes apparently. Nuts.

rfrf wrote:Queens Quay had probably triple the amount and sold out in like 20 minutes apparently. Nuts.

I was thinking what restaurants could put this on a menu for, probably mark up a case at least one thousand dollars. Pecans.

* update * based on the numbers, I'd guess most remaining are 'ghost inventory' they are not able to account for, or 'set aside' bottles for buddies.
Love to hear some tasting notes, if you guys are drinking it.

Cascina Chicco Granera Alta Barbera d'Alba 2012, Piedmont, Italy
I don't know what they put in the bottles to send over here, but the WS product description doesn't even seem to match. This seems like a 'made for Ontario' batch, with a weirdly soft immature profile, like a Tuscan table plonk. Says "black currant, blackberry and pepper aromas and flavors..." I don't think so, it seems one-noteish and a touch raw like some people's homemade reds. Anyone else tried it, thoughts?

I'm opening the 2012 Ascheri Barbera d'Alba soon, and hope for a little more structure and flavor than in this more expensive Barbera D'Alba. The vintner Cascina Chicco is well known for great things.

* Edit * after two freaking days in the fridge this has opened up and loses the raw-ness, tasting less like home-made wine - actually showing some of the promised flavors!
So sometimes, if in doubt, decant! Or put it away for a day or two (corked) and check it. There's no reason to throw a wine away or keep drinking it when it's not ready, and if you still don't like it later, you can return it or cook nice food with it according to your what you think is right.

It seems like Four Roses Single Barrel has popped up again in a few stores...

http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo/product/four-r ... HPTAIvF_To

Would this be a new thing, or left over from before?

All,
I'll be returning 5 bottles of Faustino I at the Heartland store (Mississauga) tomorrow evening.

If you want them and are near the airport email me: madaroza at yahoo dot com.

Regards.

- from Wine Spectator discussion

Good price alert thread!!

TENUTA SANT'ANTONIO MONTI GARBI RIPASSO 2011 (VALPOLICELLA SUPERIORE Corvina Blend)

- Holy Pope on a crack pipe, this is some good stuff. The palate is almost jarring the first few sips with some green herbal dryness against the nicely sharp berry acidity. A kind of cedar-y, stony element reminds me of a few humble but very good Bordeaux / Bergerac wines I have really enjoyed in the past.

This is a wiry little palate-challenger that is still medium bodied and has pleasing harmony. Glad I finally tried a Ripasso style wine [they use the highly concentrated partially dried Amarone grapes a second time by passing over (not the exodus from Egypt, the other one) the new wine on the leftover Amarone must, absorbing some full flavors still lurking in the fermented grapes and adding complexity and depth. Buy two if you like adventuresome wine that's affordable. I just might grab half a case.

Maison Blanche 2009 Medoc Bordeaux, got this about two years ago. Good basic Bordeaux Cab with cedar cassis and blackberry, leafy herbals, deep tart red berry and black/red cherry and some green pepper. Wrapped in warming alcohol with a nice frame of tannins and acidity, hearty food wine, would buy this again if possible.

Hacienda Lopez de Harro Rioja Reserva 2005. A 92pt wine from Wine Advocate, and a bargain at $13.59.

A lovely Tempranillo blend, with enough wood/pencil shavings on the nose, and bright, ripe, slightly tart/acidic fruits on the palate, to keep it interesting. Wonderfully dry, lingering finish.

A contender to cellar for a few more years to come.

Domaine De Bila-Haut OCCULTUM LAPIDEM 2012 Syrah-Grenache-Carignan Blend. Midi France
- the smoky-tarry and herbal/mulberry notes are interesting, a lot of berry depth and structure to this Northern Rhone-style red blend from the Midi. Big long flavors of black fruit set off with just enough fine tannins and acidity to keep it punchy. I can see why the good reviews. Can keep a case going for several years, 24.95 a bottle, well that's only 300... ah maybe half a case? I can't regret this one in the cellar.

Moillard Tradition Pinot Noir Bourgogne 2012 "old world Pnot Noir" red.
- dominant cranberry sourness over faint cherry / red berry and hint of stone. Not much else going on, nose is tight. Has to be better for 24.95, even better Pinot Noir. Hoping this opens up a little, because it seems well-crafted just not a lucky year. Would be GREAT for beef stew. Or a refund.

Occultum Lapidem is a great drop, and a good price too. It's a minimum of $29.99 here, so the LCBO gets good pricing again

I picked up 3 bottles of that the other day to toss in the cellar. I got suckered by the good rating, so it's nice to hear good things about it from other sources.

Craig wrote:I picked up 3 bottles of Occultum Lapidem the other day to toss in the cellar. I got suckered by the good rating, so it's nice to hear good things about it from other sources.

Sure sometimes a good smattering of 91, 92, even a 94 rating on ^ such an affordable wine is a concensus worth listening to. (It's the very isolated 90-plus ratings the LCBO is quoting that may let you down.)

And over time you can't regret tossing in some 'cellar stock' of totally solid bottles that you can open whenever you want in the next five to ten years. In fact the last few bottles of a good squirreled-away vintage can taste the most rewarding, maybe because you know they are the last.

Torontoblue wrote:Occultum Lapidem is a great drop, and a good price too. It's a minimum of $29.99 here, so the LCBO gets good pricing again

grabbed a few of this on a whim - very impressed.

Roggiano Morellino Di Scansano 2012 - basic sour cherry and berry profile - a perfectly good little wine for 8 or 10 bucks, but feel free to pay double that at the LCBO. There's just better wines at this price and cheaper wines that are just as good. The Ripasso I had recently kicks this in the pants. Goes well with chik breast and broccoli stir fry. NEXT