Château Lamartine Cahors Cuvée Particulère 2014

LCBO#: 441238
Price: $23.25
Made in: France
By: SCEA Chateau Lamartine
Year: 2014

A French red wine which is blended from 90% Malbec and 10% Tannat, enjoyed in Sudbury, Ontario. Dry spicy nose with lots of the Malbec giving red grapes notes, hints of molasses, and a tad of leather. Flavours start on the fruity side with some sweetness, then giving some dryness in the middle to have a touch of sourness. The finish is pretty short as tannins are quite light, but do get better and better. Mild dark fruits are well balanced in here. Very nice!

Rating: 3.8/5

Apothic Inferno

LCBO#: 485623
Price: $17.95
Made in: California, US
By: E. & J. Gallo Winery

The latest twist in the Apothic wines is being aged in whiskey barrels for 60 days. The aromas are quite sweet because of this. Full red grapes, some leather, syrups and a little burnt wood. The taste is pretty watery with grapes and cherries. The middle is quite mild, with some light maple notes in the finish. Some dryness, bitterness gets stronger in the mouthfeel helping a bit. Still, not as good as the Apothic Dark. Looks like this one was quite limited, as cannot find on LCBO site a few months after reviewing.

Rating: 3.3/5

Inniskillin Late Autumn Riesling

LCBO#: 219543
Price: $14.25
Made in: Ontario, Canada
By: Inniskillin Estate Wines
Year: 2015

Purchased a 2013 bottle a few years back and quite liked it. This 2015 one is fruity smelling with notes of apples, honey and some tropical light fruits. The taste is sweet, but not syrupy. These grapes flavours are refreshing and wet at first, going into some nice medium dry finish with very light alcohol. The raisins then linger on the tongue. This is one I don’t mind having every year heading for winter. A good comfort wine. P.S. The 2013 bottle I kept did not cellar well.

Rating: 4.1/5

Skinny Grape Pinot Grigio

LCBO#: 283804
Price: $11.95
Made in: Ontario, Canada
By: Andres Wines Ltd

This low-carb white wine has only 80 calories per 142ml with 5 grams of carbohydrates. The aroma is quite nice and very well-representing of a Pinot Grigio with peach notes, apples and citrus. Where these wines take a little fall is the taste. The flavours start off quite well with the fruitiness found in Pinot Grigio with the natural sugars, but the finish is short. No lingering dryness, sweetness or sourness. Food does not help this, so preferred this one solo, chilled. Pretty decent for those on a low-carb diet though.

Rating: 3.3/5

Carnivor Cabernet Sauvignon

LCBO#: 392647
Price: $17.95
Made in: California, USA
By: Carnivor Wines
Year: 2015

Big cherry aromas with hints of molasses, alcohol, leather, black and red licorice. The taste is smooth with flavours of red grapes, molasses. Not much wood felt in the mouth. Not much tannins. Kind of falls short in the finish. Easy to drink, but not one to grab a few bottles – even though the look of it is very nice. Classy. Edgy.

Rating: 3.2/5

Apothic Rose

Everything Wine#: 691535
Price: unknown
Made in: California, USA
By: E. & J. Gallo Winery
Year: 2012

This limited release was purchased on our trip to Maine. Pours a clean pink-red colour. Sour aromas over the berries. Easy drinking with balanced mild dryness, sourness, fruitiness and sweetness. No vanilla like their other two wines tried (red and wine). Nice, but not a real rosé. Was awesome to try a limited Apothic wine, but would not have again. Their best label yet. P.S. Looks like this is no longer available when searching for it in 2016.

Rating: 3.2/5

Naked Grape Fizz Sparkling Rosė

LCBO#: 234344
Price: $9.45
Made in: Ontario, Canada
By: Naked Grape Wines

This blended rosé gives out strawberry aromas with a little vinegar at first pour, but disappears and lets the mild yeast show. This results in nice hints of candy (like strawberries and cream ones). Again, a little vinegar sourness was tasted at first, but seems gone now. The fruit is not as strong in the flavours, but nicely balanced with some spicy yeast. Eventually, it gets sweeter with a caramel finish. Made to be a really easy drinking sparkling Rosé and not offend. Kind of a kids (teenager) starter to this style.

Rating: 2.8/5