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The Birth of Vintages
It started 30 years ago!
© Michael Vaughan 2004
National Post Weekly Wine & Spirits Columnist
Saturday, July 10, 2004

I was cleaning out some old magazines when I came across a pile of pieces I wrote for Toronto Life Magazine. One of the titles was “The day the LCBO found 1200 bottles of superb wine hidden under a pile of straw in Argentina.” Ah yes, it was exactly 30 years ago that General George Kitching, the then LCBO equivalent to today’s CEO Andy Brandt, personally took his two best tasters to visit more than five dozen European shippers to ultimately select 150 rarities on the spot for Ontario consumers. The ever-proactive Kitching traveled elsewhere, including South America and South Africa, in search of the best. The results were, certainly for the time, quite incredible. They were housed and put on sale in a non-descript second floor “Rare Wines & Spirits Shop” at the LCBO Queen’s Quay headquarters on 43 Freeland Street. And so was the birth of today’s Vintages.

Of course, times have changed. Bollinger 1961 Champagne Brut R.D., for instance, is no longer a mere $16.45 (to see the original March 1975 article click here). While prices have certainly gone up, it is a fact that consumers now have a much wider selection - Vintages when combined with the Classics, now offers thousands of wines in the course of a single year.

Unfortunately, also gone are the times when the LCBO’s top tasters hit the wine trail in search of obscure rarities, which so obviously excited General Kitching. Instead, agents and producers alike stand in line hoping to receive the blessing of Vintages listings - all too reminiscent of groveling orphans begging for “more gruel please, sir.” Those who can afford it are now part of the “Essentials” program (84 items), for which they pay a LCBO fee for their “continuous” listings be they great or just mediocre.

Today, most if not all of the current proactive wine discovery work is being done by a handful of agents. They scour the world for those special buys, which are usually destined for their private (i.e. restaurant) clients. This is the consequence of draconian LCBO rules that prevent private agents from selling less than a case to any entity. It is ironic that meanwhile, Vintages is happy to take your individual private single bottle orders for some 23 vintages (1961-2000) of Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou (until Tuesday, July 20). Earlier this week, Vintages massaged $100 off the original $499 price tag of the previously offered 1982 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou (originally cspc #595017 now #924795). It is a shame that importing agents cannot do the same thing - sell by the bottle. In fact it seems that this LCBO restriction is a serious breach of Canada’s compliance to our international trade agreements.

As any astute buyer knows, one has to act quickly to take advantage of great buys. How many times have I heard complaints that the LCBO has waited six months, a year or even longer before moving on wines being held at their request with no deposit? This combined with the occasional dramatically reduced size of order has made Vintages “the buyer of last choice” among many quality producers. Also, by not being on the spot, Vintages often fails to get the best deals for its customers - meaning us! There is no question that by forcing us to buy a one case minimum from agents (as well as out-of-province Canadian wine producers), the LCBO has stifled choice and reduced their revenues, as non-LCBO store sales are much more cost effective.

Moving on to the expansion of Vintages products to 43 LCBO stores scattered across cottage country mentioned in last week's column, I have now discovered that only 31 wines are involved - all continuous Vintages “Essentials” entailing a 2% Vintages rebate (to see the list click here). This means that if you want something from the monthly Catalogue, you will have to place your order by the monthly deadline.

Finally, from today’s release don’t miss my best buy red from Puglia (or Apulia), which is the heel of the Italian boot along the Adriatic coast. There are 600 cases of Cantine Due Palme 2001 Salice Salentino Rosso (921999) at $13.95 meaning that you shouldn’t have too much trouble tracking some down. This deep dark purple coloured elixir is dry, round and medium bodied with juicy, plummy, ripe cherry flavours. Made from Negroamaro and Black Malvasia there are some nice cedary hints from some six months of aging in French oak. A crowd pleaser that is great for the bbq and easy on the pocket.

2001-2002-2003-2004 Tasting Note Database
Our tasting note database from December 31, 2000 to June 2004, covers every Vintages release product for the past 42 months. There are more than 7,000 notes in the database data. Just enter the name of the product, supplier name or CSPC number. Or you can search by type of wine, country of origin, even wine agent! Nothing could be easier. Also you can get information on the agent by clicking on the agent’s name, as well as current LCBO store inventory by clicking on "Check LCBO Availability", which will automatically tell you the number of bottles at LCBO as of last night.

To use our winefind.ca Tasting Notes Database: click here

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Copyright Food & Beverage Testing Institute of Canada 2004
Prior written permission is required for any form of reproduction
 (electronic or other wise) and or quotation.
Contact Michael Vaughan at
mbv@total.net