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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
Tuesday March 19, 2024

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Great But Hard to Find

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. 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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DISCOVERING PICPOUL

Le Jade Picpoul de Pinet 2022
A BEST BUY VINTAGES WHITE - #350124 - $16.95
Bright, Fresh, Dry, Minerally *+* (89-points)

This 11th Vintages release since 2005 has a bright medium straw colour. Bright, fresh, lemon-apple-yellow-plum aromas with some chalky, mineral notes. Dry, medium bodied, very fresh, ripe, faintly citrusy, yellow plum-apple-grapefruit flavours with a lingering, harmonious, slightly chalky, unoaked finish. A great oyster/seafood white, this outstanding, ready-to-drink, wide-appeal 100% Picpoul has 13% alcohol and 2 g/L residual sugar with lot number L23234 on the back label. Screwcap closure. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea, the AOC Picpoul de Pinet extends over an area of 1,400 ha solely devoted to the white Piquepoul grape and isone of the largest white wine regions in France.
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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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