October Cellar Feature
| Product Name | LCBO# | Region | Score | mL | $/btl. | Qty. Avail. | Qty |
| Australia |
By Farr Farrside Pinot Noir 2021
By Farr Farrside Pinot Noir 2021Geelong, Victoria 0392829 (XD) 14% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $107.00 TASTING NOTE : Farrside vineyard is a northeast-facing slope consisting of limestone topped with black volcanic soil. This sees about 60% new oak for 18 months. Superbly complex and lifted aromatically. Green pea, bramble, savoury spice, game meat and rhubarb, freshened by macerated strawberry. A broody palate nevertheless with lovely lift and glide and a cooling mineral feel. Cherry, earth, and forest floor are wrapped up in tangy acid and fine, persistent tannins to an earthy close. At once elegant and brooding. A brilliant wine. Drinking window: 2026-2031. Score - 95. (Tom Kline, decanter.com, April 27, 2024)
|
0392829
| Victoria | 95 (DEC) | 750 | $107.00 | 40 |
|
Rockford Basket Press Shiraz 2017
Rockford Basket Press Shiraz 2017Barossa Valley, South Australia 0736488 (XD) 14% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $123.00 TASTING NOTE : Tasting this graceful Barossa Valley shiraz is like stepping into a time machine back to the region in the 1950s or early 1960s. I love the wide array of ripe yet delicate red fruit aromas and the layered fine tannins that give this enormous textural complexity. Tons of subtle spicy notes at the extremely long velvety finish. Develops so well in the glass I'd expect this to age very well. Drink or hold [into mid-to-late 2030s]. Score - 97. (jamessuckling.com, Nov. 27, 2022)
|
0736488
| South Australia | 97 (JS) | 750 | $123.00 | 181 |
|
Seville Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2020
Seville Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2020Yarra Valley, Victoria 0037987 (XD) 13% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $115.00 TASTING NOTE : This 2020 Reserve Chardonnay is blessed with saturating, palate-staining fruit. With yellow peach, preserved lemon rind, brine, red apples and crushed nuts, with even a touch of lanolin and Malt-o-Milk, this is complex and ever-evolving in the mouth. Full-bodied yet taut, this is delicious and satisfying. It's a really great wine! Drink date: 2022-2037. Score - 95+-. (Erin Larkin, robertparker.com, Nov. 30, 2022)
|
0037987
| Victoria | 95+- (RP) | 750 | $115.00 | 48 |
|
St. Hugo Eden Valley Chardonnay 2023
St. Hugo Eden Valley Chardonnay 2023Eden Valley 0037981 (XD) 13% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $39.00 TASTING NOTE : Lifted, grassy and herbal, with a nose of grapefruit and yellow apple, palate of lemon zest, lime pith, green pear and pineapple. Score - 91. (Decanter World Wine Awards, 2024)
|
0037981
| South Australia | 91 (DWWA) | 750 | $39.00 | 216 |
|
Two Hands Holy Grail Seppeltsfield Single Vineyard Shiraz 2021
Two Hands Holy Grail Seppeltsfield Single Vineyard Shiraz 2021Barossa Valley, South Australia 0022534 (XD) 14% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $125.00 TASTING NOTE : This 2021 Shiraz Holy Grail single vineyard from Seppeltsfield is a seamless wine offering an aromatic feast of wood smoke, blackberry and roast spice with excellent purity and focus. Beautifully pitched with immaculate structure to standout, a firm seam of tannins supports layers of embryonic granite, earth and spice. The sheer composure and balance mark this as a classic with years ahead of it. Drinking window: 2029-2040. Score - 96. (Angus Hughson, vinous.com, June 22, 2023)
|
0022534
| South Australia | 96 (VIN) | 750 | $125.00 | 34 |
|
Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet/Shiraz/Malbec 2021
Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet/Shiraz/Malbec 2021Barossa Valley/McLaren Vale/Langhorne Creek, South Australia 0960468 (XD) 14% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $99.00 TASTING NOTE : If one may go straight to the bottom line, this is surely one of the very finest Black Labels which Wolf Blass has ever released. Or perhaps more specifically, it certainly will be in the years to come (pretty sensational already though) and no surprise given how good the 2021 vintage is. A blend of 52% Cabernet, 42% Shiraz and 6% Malbec, the fruit from each vineyard is crushed, destemmed and fermented individually, on skins, for seven to twelve days where mid-ferment cooling was employed to extend fermentation. The wine then sees 18 months' maturation in a mix of oak - 52% older and 6% new American and 22% older, 20% new French. It is, for me, the standout wine from the Luxury Collection for this release, however don't look for varietal or regional characteristics here - it is just a cracking wine to drink and enjoy. Deep maroon hue, it is still young, and perhaps a touch raw, but it is coming together very quickly. If you can leave it six to 12 months, you will see the benefits, for it has absolutely everything in place to be a little bit legendry. Chocolate, plums, aniseed, cloves, bay leaves and soy, this is intense yet focused, but at all times approachable and generous. There is the oak that is typical of BL, but it is integrating immaculately whilst the palate moves to notes of vanilla, chocolate, coffee beans and mocha. There really is incredible length here, this really is going to be so good! Ten or twenty years with ease. Drink by: 2023-2043. Score - 98. (Ken Gargett, winepilot.com, July 2023)
|
0960468
| South Australia | 98 | 750 | $99.00 | 59 |
|
Yalumba The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz 2018
Yalumba The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz 2018Barossa Valley, South Australia 0410191 (XD) 14% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $90.00 TASTING NOTE : The 2018 The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz (the 48th vintage) is named for Nick Waterman (managing director and CEO of Yalumba 2015 - 2022). The 2018 vintage in South Australia (and specifically here, Barossa) was an excellent one: ripe/warm, even and long and produced wines with density, energy and gravitas. This is exactly that: plush and powerful. The fruit forms a perfect dovetail: the enveloping, mouth-filling abundance of the Shiraz, neatly wedged into the folds of the structuring and shapely Cabernet. Very impressive. This is one of the more impressive Signatures in recent times. It will cellar with grace and ease. Drink date: 2023-2043. Score - 96. (Erin Larkin, robertparker.com, April 6, 2023)
|
0410191
| South Australia | 96 (RP) | 750 | $90.00 | 76 |
|
| Canada |
Bachelder Wismer Wingfield Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2021
Bachelder Wismer Wingfield Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2021VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Escarpment 0345819 (XD) 14% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $59.95 TASTING NOTE : The Wismer family have been growing grapes on the Vineland Bench for over 25 years. Their skill allows Thomas Bachelder to create this authentic expression of the Wingfield site's reddish clay/loam soils. This Chardonnay is floral, rich and structured, with pear, citrus, and seashell minerality. It will evolve through 2030 and has the pedigree and potential to develop even longer. An exciting wine.
|
0345819
| Ontario | | 750 | $59.95 | 100 |
|
Hidden Bench La Brunante 2018
Hidden Bench La Brunante 2018VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Escarpment, unfiltered and unfined 0039623 (XD) 13% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $85.20 TASTING NOTE : The 2018 version of this top blend is 62% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc and 14% Malbec with barrel aging in a combination of new and used French oak for 20 months and bottled unfiltered and unfined. I scored this beauty slightly higher even though it's extremely tight now and will benefit from the extra time in the bottle until the fall release. Upon vigorous swirling in the glass, it reveals its full potential in layers of cassis, black currants, blackberries and densely fruited black raspberries, cherries, and plums with subtle earthy/savoury notes and more overt spice notes. It's a bigger wine than the 2017 with a mouthful of dark berries, concentrated cherries and raspberries, lovely texture, ripe tannic structure, a touch of fresh turned soil, fine oak spice and rousing acidity keeping it all in check through the long, long, echoing finish. I hesitate to offer a cellar window beyond a decade, but this certainly has the stuffing to improve beyond that. Score - 95. (Rick VanSickle, winesinniagara.com, April 3, 2023)
|
0039623
| Ontario | 95 (WN) | 750 | $85.20 | 18 |
|
Hidden Bench Rosomel Vineyard Nuit Blanche 2022
Hidden Bench Rosomel Vineyard Nuit Blanche 2022VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Escarpment 0039622 (XD) 13% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $40.20 TASTING NOTE : The blend for the 2022 Nuit Blanche is 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Semillon that's aged in mostly older French oak barrels for 10 months. The nose is a bit tight on opening, but let it breathe and an elegant, nuanced Bordeaux-style white blend begins to emerge with a nose of Asian pear, nectarine, crunchy apple, kiwi, flinty minerality and integrated spices. It's rich, flinty and persistent on the palate with grapefruit, passionfruit, herbs, fennel seed, and apple skin that benefits from a zesty, lively finish. Give it time to fully open up either in the cellar or by decanting. Can cellar to 2028. Score - 93. (Rick VanSickle, winesinniagara.com, June 27, 2024)
|
0039622
| Ontario | 93 (WN) | 750 | $40.20 | 43 |
|
Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin 2013
Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin 2013BC VQA Okanagan Valley 0032802 (XD) 14% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $89.00 TASTING NOTE : Though this wine is young, and best realized over the next five years, it bears the structure worthy of its reputation in Canada. Le Grand Vin is now solely owned by Group Taillan, of Chateau Gruaud Larose in Saint-Julien, Bordeaux, and certainly this vintage is showing its Bordelaise influence. Merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petit verdot and malbec spend 18-20 months in French oak (60 percent new). Decant, or open a day in advance. Lightly smoked branch, cherries, gravels and dusty, grippy tannins are matched by a bright acidity and carried by a lengthy and floral violet finish. Savoury and strict, to be sure, but with a southern Okanagan glow that is unmistakable. This welcomes pairing with meats now, but would be best suited to time in the cellar. Score - 91. (Treve Ring, gismondionwine.com, March 31, 2017)
|
0032802
| British Columbia | 91 (GW) | 750 | $89.00 | 150 |
|
| France |
Boisrenard Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2020
Boisrenard Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2020AC 0037477 (XD) 14% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $122.00 TASTING NOTE : Full and generous on the palate, no lack of fruit or depth here. Powerful and plentiful fine tannins and a great, rising sense of energy and freshness. Impressive, with real finesse and precision - no excess weight, but great surging intensity and freshness. Contains at least 1% of all the 18 possible varieties of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Grapes are grown across a variety of soil types in the lieux-dits Beau Renard, Cabrières and Coteau de l'Ange, vinified mostly in tronconic wooden vats, then aged in oak barrels of various sizes and ages, including 5% new oak. Drinking window: 2023-2037. Score - 96. (Matt Walls, decanter.com, Dec. 15, 2021)
|
0037477
| Rhône | 96 (DEC) | 750 | $122.00 | 292 |
|
Capuano-Ferreri Morgeot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru 2021
Capuano-Ferreri Morgeot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru 2021AC 0037933 (XD) 13% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $184.00 TASTING NOTE : Impressive orchard fruit, toast and butter, with hazelnut accents. Seamless and elegant, with excellent breadth and a broad drinking window. This will drink into the mid-2030s and has the potential to go longer.
|
0037933
| Burgundy | | 750 | $184.00 | 54 |
|
Château de Beaucastel Hommage à Jacques Perrin Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2021
Château de Beaucastel Hommage à Jacques Perrin Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2021AC 0985622 (XD) 14% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $619.00 TASTING NOTE : Very darkly coloured indeed. An extraordinarily deep and Mourvèdre-heavy fug of a scent; deep, but so fresh and searching. It's not overly full-bodied or heavy. Great surging acidity. It's tannic and will take a long time to soften, but promises great freshness and a long life - don't open too young. Around 60% of the blend comes from old-vine Mourvèdre from the Courrieux vineyard. Grapes are destemmed, fermented in tronconic wooden vats using natural yeasts after a brief cold maceration with regular punching down. Drinking window: 2033-2050. Score - 99. (Matt Walls, decanter.com, Dec. 2, 2022)
|
0985622
| Rhône | 99 (DEC) | 750 | $619.00 | 14 |
|
Château de Nalys Grand Vin Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2020
Château de Nalys Grand Vin Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2020AC 0021142 (XD) 14% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $130.00 TASTING NOTE : The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Grand Vin unquestionably brings more richness and power, with rocking black cherry and blackberry fruits as well as ground pepper, licorice, and garrigue-like nuances. Full-bodied and concentrated, with ripe tannins, it's a quintessential 2020 that can be drunk any time over the coming 15+ years. This cuvée is 65% Grenache, 25% Syrah, and the rest Mourvèdre that was partially destemmed and brought up in a mix of vessels, with 15% being new barrels. Maturity: 2022-2038. Score - 96. (jebdunnuck.com, Nov. 11, 2022)
|
0021142
| Rhône | 96 (JD) | 750 | $130.00 | 263 |
|
Château du Tertre 2010
Château du Tertre 2010AC Margaux, 5e cru 0039788 (XD) 14% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $168.00 TASTING NOTE : Deep garnet in color, the 2010 du Tertre sashays out of the glass with pretty notions of black tea, fragrant soil, wilted roses and kirsch over a cassis and blackberry pie core. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has bright, vibrant, crunchy fruit with a firm, grainy texture and bags of freshness, finishing with great length and energy. Drink date: 2020-2045. Score - 93. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW, robertparker.com, March 5, 2020)
|
0039788
| Bordeaux | 93 (RP) | 750 | $168.00 | 120 |
|
Château Figeac 2010
Château Figeac 2010AC Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 0038818 (XD) 14% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $824.00 TASTING NOTE : The 2010 Figeac has a deep hue. The nose is quite introverted at first, with dark berry fruit, incense, touches of fig and mulberry. The palate is beautifully balanced with a fine bead of acidity, gorgeous pure fruit, mulberry and dark plum, gentle considering the vintage. This 2010 has softened in the last couple of years, gaining depth towards the finish. Very persistent - this is just beginning to show what it is capable of. Tasted at the vertical in Berlin. Drinking window: 2023-2050. Score - 98. (Neal Martin, vinous.com, Dec. 7, 2021)
|
0038818
| Bordeaux | 98 (VIN) | 750 | $824.00 | 42 |
|
Château Glaude Danivet 2020
Château Glaude Danivet 2020AC Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 0037818 (XD) 12% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $62.00 TASTING NOTE : Merlot 65%, Cabernet Franc 25%, Cabernet Sauvignon 10%. Despite its warmth, 2020 is a Bordeaux vintage where freshness was eminently possible - and freshness is a quality increasingly associated with ambitious wine-making in St Emilion, as the era of ultra-ripeness draws to a close. (This, remember, is the highest in altitude of all Bordeaux's major sub-regions.) Our judges were impressed with this wine's depth of colour allied to its vibrant, zesty yet sweetly ripe blackcurrant and plum scents. On the palate, it is deep, concentrated, lively and dramatic in style, with pithy acidity bringing as much structure to the wine as its relatively gentle and accessible tannins. It's still young, but a few years in the cellar will see the wine begin to round out as the blackcurrant and plum soften and ease. The oak integration is skilfully managed, too, in this excitingly pure St Emilion. Best in Show. Score - 97. (decanterchina.com, 2022)
|
0037818
| Bordeaux | 97 (DEC) | 750 | $62.00 | 905 |
|
Château Lafite Rothschild 2019
Château Lafite Rothschild 2019AC Pauillac, 1er cru 0038817 (XD) 14% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $1,733.00 TASTING NOTE : One of the greatest wines produced in Bordeaux this year is the 2019 Lafite Rothschild, an impeccably balanced classic of immense charm and grace. Wafting from the glass with arresting aromas of cassis, blackberries and cherries mingled with violets, cigar box and warm spices, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and seamless, its velvety attack segueing into a layered, concentrated mid-palate framed by exquisitely powdery tannins and ripe acids, and concluding with a long, perfumed finish. This rivals the 2010 and 2016 as the greatest Lafite of the decade, and of those three vintages, it's clearly the most sensual and demonstrative out of the gates. The blend contains fully 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and attained a modest 13.4% alcohol. Drink date: 2029-2065. Score - 100. (William Kelley, robertparker.com, April 7, 2022)
|
0038817
| Bordeaux | 100 (RP) | 750 | $1,733.00 | 48 |
|
Château Latour-Martillac 2005
Château Latour-Martillac 2005AC Pessac-Léognan, Cru Classé de Graves 0038377 (XD) 14% Alc./Vol. 750 mL $191.00 TASTING NOTE : Aromas of crushed berries, flowers and stones. It's very ripe and rich. Yet it remains fresh. It's full-bodied, with silky tannins and a crisp finish. It needs another year or two to soften but it's already gorgeous to drink. Decant an hour or two before. [Will cellar through late-2030s and perhaps longer.] Score - 93. (jamessuckling.com, Oct. 22, 2012)
|
0038377
| Bordeaux | 93 (JS) | 750 | $191.00 | 30 |
|