A popular pick for all price points at the LCBO

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/12/2021 (1733 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you’re not finished your holiday shopping, then this column is for you. It’s your last-minute gift guide for wines under $10, $20 and $30 — and a special something under $100. Every bottle noted is popular, but only among those in the know.

For less than $10, reach for the 2020 Julia Florista Red Wine from Lisboa, Portugal (LCBO $8.95). Each sip just sings. This harmonious blend of Portuguese grape varieties floods the senses with flavour —juicy cherries and blueberry pie rush in then notes of toasted tobacco, dry earth and nut emerge. No wonder this is one of the bestselling Portuguese wines at the LCBO. It’s delicious. Score: 93

If you’ve got about $15 to spend on a bottle, the 2019 Trius Late Autumn Off Dry Riesling, VQA Niagara Peninsula (LCBO $15.95, The Wine Shop $15.95) from Ontario does not disappoint. Each high-wattage glassful of this shiny, pale gold wine exudes rich, ripe tropical fruit and juicy lime aromas. The attack is juicy, crisp and sweet with an immediate and mouth-filling hit of luscious fruit. Tree-ripened pineapple and lime-squirt goodness taste arresting — a flash of sunlight in liquid form — before tapering toward a juicy peach and mango finish. Score: 92

Just shy of $20 is the 2019 Chloe Chardonnay from Monterey, California (LCBO $19.95). This wine comes with a black glossy bow tied around the bottle — as though it’s meant to be gifted. Well, the ribbon is printed on the label, but still.

The wine swirls with almost oily richness in the glass and exudes heady scents of flaky butter pastry, baked apple and caramel. Then, it streams in with shiny vinosity — rich and mouthcoating — yet still rippling with bright acidity that keeps it tasting elegant and lifted. The flavours echo the aromas and then fade toward subtle suggestions of orange zest, vanilla bean and cool slate. The 2019 Chloe is a sophisticated expression of Monterey Chardonnay. Score: 92

If you’re ready to spend about $25 for a truly exceptional bottle of liquid wonder, reach for the 2018 Villa Antinori Toscana IGT from Italy (LCBO $25.20). Like the famous super-Tuscan wine, Tignanello, this bottle is made by Marchesi Antinori — one of the oldest, continuously family-owned wineries in the world, now 26 generations in. And like Tig, this $25 wonder is also a super-Tuscan stylistically, which is to say a wine made in Tuscany with non-indigenous grape varieties.

The 2018 Villa Antinori is a blend of Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Petit Verdot. The fragrance is quiet, coy, alluring. Then, it slips in with slow, focused precision. Bold flavours call to mind fruitcake and cassis, hazelnuts and pencil shavings, espresso beans and cherries while dried orange and a hint of truffle hover somewhere. Complex, brooding and long, this wine punches above its price point. Score: 95

When you’re willing to drop serious coin to the tune of $100 for a fine wine, the 2018 Tenuta Sette Ponti Oreno IGT from Tuscany ($89.95) fits the bill. The 2018 Oreno is a full-bodied, robust blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. It’s deep purple and opaque in the glass, signs of its youth and concentration. And it will reward patience for decades if properly cellared. But it’s showing well now too — in that high impact way.

Macerated berries, cool slate, sun-warmed violet aromas lead to a plush eruption of cassis and muddled cherries. That fruit-forward entry fans out poached plum, sultanas, baking spices and marzipan laced with coffee, cocoa powder, crushed stone and more. And it persists for ages on the finish. Score: 94

All of these wines make perfect prezzies — for yourself included. Go ahead. We know you’ve been nice.

How to check a wine’s availability at the LCBO

Since wine sells out quickly this time of year, best to check a bottle’s availability before you head out the door. Here’s how:

1) Go to lcbo.com

2) Click the magnifying glass in the top right corner, then type the name of the wine in the search bar

3) When the wine appears, click on its name

4) Scroll down and tap “Inventory at Selected Store”

5) Tap on “Check All Stores”

6) Then, scroll to see all the stores with inventory

Carolyn Evans Hammond is a Toronto-based wine writer and a freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Wineries occasionally sponsor segments on her YouTube series yet they have no role in the selection of the wines she chooses to review or her opinions of those wines. Reach her via email: carolyn@carolynevanshammond.com