New wines land on shelves all the time at the LCBO — often without much buzz or any big displays. So it’s easy to miss the best buys. For news you can use, here’s your cheat sheet: a list of the standout bottles worth picking up now, including a knockout $10 Cabernet Sauvignon that could definitely sell for more.
2023 Franc Terroir Cabernet Sauvignon Vin de France
This wine could sell for twice the price. And it probably would if it were made in, say, California where production costs run higher. It tastes like the best Black Forest cake you’ve ever tasted, but dry. Think boozy cherries, dark chocolate and cream on the nose and palate with a touch of espresso emerging slowly on the finish. With a velvety texture and impeccable balance, this French red delivers impressive value and will likely have you going back for another bottle or two. It’s that good. (12% alc. 3 g/L sugar)
NV Boschendal Cap Classique Brut Rosé, Western Cape, South Africa
This elegant blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinotage shines pale pink and delights the senses with a poised, energetic, detailed expression. Tea biscuit, cool violet and lemon pastry threads the just-ripe strawberry centre, followed by a persistent finish. Made in the traditional method — just like Champagne—Cap Classique is South Africa’s answer to fine sparkling wine. The base wine is refermented in bottle to create complexity, elegance and delicate effervescence. This labour-intensive method can deliver serious value, which is the case here. (12.5% alc., 11 g/L sugar)
2024 Beronia Verdejo Rueda DO, Spain
(Vintages 461327, $15.95)
For the quintessential summer quencher to beat the heat, reach for this new white. Dry, bracing and vinous rather than fruity, each sip tastes polished to a high sheen and tightly wound — a bolt of refreshment that spirals in, nodding toward lemon-lime with a bitter almond finish. This Verdejo is sure to appeal to those who like gravitate toward Albarino, Gruner Veltliner and unwooded Chardonnay. Serve it well chilled and bring on the salty chips, cheese and crackers and olives. This new white gets the party started. (13% alc., 2 g/L sugar)
2023 Crazy Rows Bisquertt Carignan D.O. Valle del Maule, Chile
Intriguing wine that tastes good and honest, speaks softly and seems to have something important to say. Made from pure, dry-farmed, old-vine Carignan grown in crazy rows in the Maule Valley, one of Chile’s oldest wine regions, it’s a wild, vibrant and juicy rustic red that’s immediately enticing. Each whiff puts you in another place, another time, recalling hillside wild herbs and fresh cranberry muffins. Crunchy, wild-berry fruit is hemmed in with gentle tannins, while a rubbed herb and soft chalk undertow comes to the fore on the long finish. (13.5% alc., 4 g/L sugar)
2023 S. Sebastião Água Do Sol Vinho Regional Lisboa, Portugal
This Portuguese red blends Touriga Nacional, Syrah and Alicante-Bouschet to create an explosion of deep, dark flavour with all sorts of hidden depths. Each glassful brims with ripe berries, toast, red licorice and cedar — an immediately enticing scent. Then, the plush-textured wine floods in with lush intensity tempered by easy-drinking appeal. Crushed raspberries laced with freshly turned earth, wild blueberries, cracked black pepper and dried plum engage the senses, while a quiet black olive brininess underpins the fruit. Exciting wine that does not taste like a $10 bottle. (13% alc., 8 g/L sugar)
2022 Marquês de Borba Colheita, Alentejo DOC, Portugal
This is a good, old-fashioned Portuguese blend of native black grapes — Alicante Bouschet, Aragonez, Trincadeira and Touriga Nacional, seasoned with Petit Verdot and Merlot. The result a dark, delicious red packed with plummy, plush fruit. Flavours call to mind blackcurrant liqueur, poached cherries and leather as well as a dollop of raspberry jam and touch of Grandma’s fruit cake. Tasting a bit like a dry version of ruby Port, it’s sure to appeal to those who love full-bodied slow sippers and is perfect with cheese in the evening. (14% alc., 3g/L sugar)
