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"Classic" Remnants
Uncovering Impossible-to-Find Best Buys
© Michael Vaughan 2004
National Post Weekly Wine & Spirits Columnist
Saturday, November 13, 2004

LIVE WINE LINK
www.winefind.ca
(CLICK ON THE NAME - All listings are automatically linked to the LCBO database)
If there is a product that interests you, just click on the name below and you will instantaneously connected with the LCBO database. The product will appear in blue and all you have to do is click on the name again and then the next screen will provide details along with the store search. Just click on store search. The number of bottles in each store is updated nightly. You should call the store first to see if stock still remains (each store phone number is listed).

I am looking at remnants from the current Classics Catalogue. Of some 288 items originally presented, as of this week just more than half remain. There they sit in the dark - forgotten, unloved and/or ignored deep in the LCBO warehouse far from human eye or touch. For many, the luxurious Autumn 2004 Classics Catalogue has already become a thing of the past. It is a sad situation demonstrating how Vintages fails to connect with potential customers.

If the LCBO wants to sell its “Classic” wines, they can’t leave them sitting in the closet. Unlike the LCBO, the SAQ has it right. They put their best, reserve products into two super-deluxe Signature stores (Quebec and Montreal) where consumers can not only see, but also taste these wonderful wares. The staggering total of 950 wines plus 350 spirits puts the LCBO’s small and all-too-often mediocre selection to shame. What is more amazing is that unlike the LCBO, the SAQ will ship any Signature item directly to your home anywhere in Quebec at no charge within three days of your order. Now that’s service. In Ontario it takes weeks, up to a month or more, and is only delivered to your local store.

Being hard to get is only one part of the Classics equation. Trying to find out what Classics are still available is an almost impossible, very time-consuming task. Basically, one is forced to scroll through a multitude of pages on the LCBO website in search of the “sold out” signs. As of today, National Post readers can go to my website for an easy-to-use table listing all remaining 151 Classics (click here to see). However, unlike my other postings, you are not a click away from discovering where they are available. This is because they are still in the warehouse, as opposed to LCBO stores, meaning that quantities don’t show up on website inquiries. As a result you have to call the Vintages sales line at 416-365-5767, which is cumbersome, labour-intensive and needlessly costly for Ontario taxpayers!

Assessing the Classics is now, more than ever, dependent on proactive importers. Recently, Harry Drung of HHD Imports organized a mini tasting of Villa Vignamaggio, an estate in the heart of Tuscany’s Chianti Classico region, which is celebrating its 600^th anniversary. Estate manager Carla Bani explained that this was the birthplace of one Lisa Gherardini who was immortalized by Leonardo da Vinci as Mona Lisa.

We tasted a couple of wines and I was struck by the deliciousness of his Classics listing of Vignamaggio 2000 Obsession (702589) at $49. This very fine ripe, rich, cherry-berry driven red married perfectly with the lunch we had at Spinello restaurant. This new wave IGT Toscana blend of Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon was aged for 20 months in French oak and was first produced in 1997. Of some 15,000 bottles produced, the Vintages snagged 750 of them (5% of the total). Congratulations!

Which brings me to the question of selection. If one really has to have a Classics Catalogue, then Obsession is an excellent choice representing a fresh, innovate style. Certainly the LCBO has done the right thing by keeping some ex-classics out. The disappointing Antinori 2000 Tignanello (986786) at a whopping $89.95 is a case in point of another IGT Tuscan red from the same vintage. A total of 4,200 bottles of 2000 vintage will be coming out in next Saturday’s Vintages release and is best saved for collectors with more money than taste.

Obviously, price doesn’t always determine whether a wine is a “classic” as some less expensive items demonstrate. Take Grant Burge 2000 The Holy Trinity  (726802) at only $ 35, which is an extremely tasty example of a well-made Barossa Valley blend of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvèdre (hence “holy” trinity). The rich, rounded, gently cedary, dried red cherry and juicy, smoke-tinged, ripe plum flavours hit the spot and are showing well now.

Certainly the Classics highlight from the venerable Rheingau house of Schloss Schönborn deserves to grace every serious, wine lover’s cellar. Schloss Schönborn 650 Anniversary 2002 Pfaffenberger Riesling Spätlese (641886) at $39 has a light yellow colour and a stunning nose with sweet, honeyed, ripe melon and baked yellow grapefruit. The wonderful, brilliant, sweet but balanced, honeyed, baked ripe grapefruit flavours finish up wit lingering, zesty, key lime pie notes (click here to go to my winefind review).

Of course, not everything in the Classics is deserving. With some excellent Ontario wines to choose from, I am disappointed with at least two of the seven presented: an odd, sweetish, spicy, Stoney Ridge 2002 Chardonnay (apparently rejected as being out of character at this year’s Cuvée competition) and a lackluster, rather reedy, Inniskillin 2001 Merlot. Worse yet was the surprisingly deficient Oregon Evesham Wood 2002 Pinot Noir (993881) at $22.00, which was as an “exclusive” for attendees at the Toronto September 29^th Classics tasting. It and its overpriced companion, 2001 Cuvee J (930727) would be best avoided.

Finnish Liqueurs Now Available

From my September 25^th National Post column, New Spirits with a New Look: From Great Fruit Eau-de-Vie to “Lion’s Milk” two interesting sweet Finnish liqueurs recommendations have finally emerged after being held up over ludicrous label issues. Either will make for tasty after dinner sippers. Lapponia Lakka Cloudberry (356998) $18.95 (500 ml) has a light golden amber colour and a distinctive, sweet, spicy, slightly figgy, caramelized baked applesauce nose. It is sweet, creamy and honeyed with spicy, anise tinged, warm ripe red apple purée flavours. Its companion, Lapponia Puolukka Lingonberry (353748) $18.95 (500 ml) has a light red colour and an attractive, sweet, honeyed, ripe red cherry nose. On the palate it is fairly intense and mouth filling with sweet, dried red cherry flavours. If I had to pick, the latter would be my first choice. If you want to find out where you can buy these items, just click on the name. To read the entire article click here

Nouveau Madness

Finally, with the Nouveau season upon us, I am bewildered that neither the LCBO, nor importers, have bothered getting these hot-off-the-press wines previewed. Only Vincor sent out a preview sample of their Ancient Coast 2004 Gamay Nouveau at $9.95, which is exclusive to its Wine Rack stores. In fact, for the first time in over a decade, no Ontario Nouveau wines are at the LCBO. As for the Ancient Coast 2004 Gamay Nouveau at $9.95, it has a rather light purple red colour. The nose is mostly dried plum with faintly leesy, red apple notes. On the palate, it is dry, crisp and light bodied with refreshing, cranberry-plum-red apple flavours. This light quaffer is best served slightly chilled - perfect for reading Much Ado About Nothing.