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Welcome to this not-for-profit paywall-free resource database & website created by Michael Vaughan PhD
An award-winning weekly columnist for Canada's top newspapers including the National Post, Globe& Mail and Financial Times
Dedicated to providing readers with professional unpaid-for non-advertorial reviews
Friday March 15, 2024

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AN IRISH HIGHLIGHT

Dunville's 1808 Irish Whisky

Now at the LCBO #24685 - $53.20
Smooth, Spicy, Honeyed, Caramel *** (92 points )

It is really worth the search to find this new award-winning Irish whiskey to celebrate Saint Patricks Day. Bright pale yellow colour, it has a beautiful intense bouquet - gently spicy, floral, honeyed, toasty, ripe, plummy, pear and lemon with just a whisper of smoke. Dry, medium bodied, smooth, gently spicy, bright, ripe, Damson plum, pear and honeydew flavours with a lingering, gently citrusy, harmonious, rounded, caramel-tinged finish. This extremely tasty crowd-pleasing blend of pot still, malt and grain whiskeys has 40% alcohol and currently in 31 LCBO outlets.
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Vintages 2024 Buyers Guide

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March Break Deal
A Bargain Aussi Crowd Pleaser

Handpicked Shiraz 2018
New BEST BUY in Vintages #33593 - Only $18.95
Juicy, Cedary, Ripe, Black Cherry **+ (89 points)
Deep intense purple-red colour. Juicy, attractive, intense, very ripe, plummy-black-cherry purée nose with lots of cedary notes. Dry medium bodied, nicely structured, harmonious, spicy, ripe, plummy-blackberry-cherry flavours with a lingering, bright, fairly cedary finish. It has 14.5% alcohol and 3 g/L residual sugar with a screwcap closure. This well priced, versatile, crowd pleaser is ready-to-drink and would go very well with bbq ribs, hamburgers, stew or tomato-based pastas.
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NEW RARE ARGENTINE RED

H.J. Fabre GGG Gran Grande Gualtallary Malbec 2020
OUR BEST BUY MARCH 30 VINTAGES RED - #35429 - $26.95
Rich, Ripe, Cassis, Black Cherry *** (93-points)

NEW in Vintages, this rich, ripe, well structured 2020 vineyard-specific inaugural bottling Gran Grande Gualtallary Malbec is worthy of a detour. Very deep intense purple colour, the nose has an abundance of ripe, warm, Damson plums with gentle toasty notes and a touch of minerally cassis. Dry, medium-full bodied and mouthfilling, the rich, ripe, plums and bright cassis fruit shows great harmony and is followed by a lingering, elegant, gently cedary, lifted finish. Fermentation was in large 50 hectoliters oak fudres. Then it was aged for 12 months in French oak and has 14.5% alcohol and 2 g/L residual sugar. ONLY 350 CASES PRODUCED - 120 cases at Vintages.
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French Value Highlight Returns

Chateau Saint-Roch Chimeres 2020
Vintages March 2 BEST BUY 119354 - $19.95
Bright, Ripe, Plum-Cherry-Raspberry **+ (89.5 points)

Winegrowers for 7 generations, this 2020 taste sensation from Jean-Marc Lafage offers wonderful value and is back for a Vintages encore. Very deep intense purple-ruby in colour, it has an attractive, gently spicy, fairly complex, ripe, raspberry-plum-cherry purée nose with some cedary notes. Dry, medium bodied, spicy, intense, ripe, plummy-black-cherry-raspberry flavours with a mineral-tinged, lingering, bright finish. This blend of 40% Grenache, 30% Syrah and 30% Cinsault with 15% alcohol simply dances on tongue and is perfection with roasts and cassoulet.

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March 16 Vintages Catalogue

March 16 Buyers Summary
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March 2 Vintages Catalogue

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