Munn’s United Church Wine and Spaghetti Supper Raffle
1st Prize Wines:
- Wynns Coonawarra Estate Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Australia - Plantagenet Shiraz 2013, Australia - Stratus Cabernet Franc 2017, Ontario - Tenuta San Guido Le Difese 2018, Italy - Marchand Tawse Bourgogne Côte D'or Pinot Noir 2018, France - Bleasdale Frank Potts 2016, Australia - Henry of Pelham Baco Noir Old Vines 2019, Ontario - Cave Spring Blanc De Blancs Brut Sparkling, Ontario - Château D'aquéria Tavel Rosé 2019, France - Stratus White 2016, Ontario - Cave Spring CSV Riesling 2017, Ontario - L’Ecole No.41 Semillon 2017, USA - La Chablisienne Le Finage Chablis 2018, France - Invivo X By Sarah Jessica Parker Sauvignon Blanc 2020, New Zealand - Kew Marsanne/Viognier 2017, Ontario - Pierre Sparr Gewurztraminer 2018, France - Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2020, New Zealand
2nd Prize Wines:
Tenuta San Guido Le Difese 2018, Italy Marchand Tawse Bourgogne Côte D'or Pinot Noir 2018, France Bleasdale Frank Potts 2016, Australia Jim Barry Cover Drive Cabernet Sauvignon 2017, Australia Henry of Pelham Baco Noir Old Vines 2019, Ontario Cave Spring Blanc De Blancs Brut Sparkling, Ontario Château D'aquéria Tavel Rosé 2019, France Radford Dale Chardonnay 2018, South Africa Cave Spring CSV Riesling 2017, Ontario L’Ecole No.41 Semillon 2017, USA La Chablisienne Le Finage Chablis 2018, France Kew Marsanne/Viognier 2017, Ontario Pierre Sparr Gewurztraminer 2018, France
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3rd Prize Wines:
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Bleasdale Frank Potts 2016, Australia Tyrrell's Hunter Valley Shiraz 2017, Australia Jim Barry Cover Drive Cabernet Sauvignon 2017, Australia
Malivoire Ladybug Rosé 2019, Ontario La Chablisienne Le Finage Chablis 2018, France Kew Marsanne/Viognier 2017, Ontario Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2020, New Zealand
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The wines for this raffle have been selected thanks to ratings and reviews from Wine Align, a subscription service for evaluating wines and making informed buying decisions at the LCBO. https://www.winealign.com/ Wynns Coonawarra Estate Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Coonawarra, South Australia Jeni Port; James Halliday Wine Companion
First produced in 1954, and widely known as ‘Black Label’, Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon has established a reputation for displaying excellent varietal and regional characteristics. The wine is produced from only the top 20-25% of Cabernet fruit available from Wynns Coonawarra Estate.
One sip, you're in. Another seductive Black Label - its 63rd vintage - and it's a wow. Excellent vintage conditions have no doubt helped, but this Australian icon doesn't need a lot of assistance outside its trio of long-time 'curators': Sue Hodder, Allen Jenkins and Sarah Pidgeon. Masses of blackberry fruits, a touch of black olive savouriness, stewed rhubarb, violets. Casts a wide net across the
palate with sustained black fruits and spice, but also notes of coffee grounds, bay leaf and vanilla. Oak enhances, yet keeps itself in the background. Drink to: 2041; Alcohol: 13.7%; Rating: 96 Points & Special Value Star; Jeremy Oliver A pristine, stylish Coonawarra cabernet of medium to fullish weight. Scented with violets, cassis, mulberries, dark plums and fresh cedar/chocolate oak, it’s long, elegant and firmish, with a wonderful drive of sumptuous flavour tightly wound around a finely balanced, gravelly spine. Underpinned by a suggestion of mint, it’s just beginning to reveal some of the complexity it will certainly deliver over the very log term. Drink to: 2038-2048+; Rating: 95 Points (18.7); Value: $44.95 Wynns Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 | Wynns Coonawarra Estate
Plantagenet Shiraz 2013, Great Southern, Western Australia
92
John Szabo, MS Dense and concentrated, this is evidently serious wine off the top, maturing slowly, with billowing black fruit, black currant and black
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pepper in an engaging and satisfying ensemble, highlighting the coolish climate in the ocean-influenced region of Great Southern in Western Australia. Tannins are broad and velvety, contained and supported by lively natural acids, while length and depth are very good to excellent. Bold and satisfying, complex and drinking well now, though no rush either. Tasted September 2020.
Value: $39.95
Vineyards - Plantagenet Wines
Stratus Cabernet Franc 2017, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario
92
David Lawrason Stratus has a great handle on this variety, consistently one of the best in Niagara. This is a very fine pointed cabernet franc with classic well integrated aromas of raspberry, caraway, tobacco, anise and subtle vanillin. It is medium-full bodied, quite elegant although youthfully tannic with wood resin on the finish. The length is excellent. Give this about three years. Tasted October 2020
Value - $39.20
Stratus Cabernet Franc 2017 – Products – Stratus (stratuswines.com)
Tenuta San Guido Le Difese 2018, Igt Toscana (Tuscany), Italy
91 David Lawrason This is the "third' label of Tenuta San Guido, better known as the producer of Sassicaia, one of Italys' most expensive wines. This is also cabernet based, and in this hotter vintage it is showing almost plummy ripeness, with hints of licorice, cedar and vanillin, all very nicely integrated. It is medium weight, very well balanced with some charm and fruit, yet a web of fine tannin, alcohol and acid as well. The length is excellent. Best 2022 to 2028ish
John Szabo, MS
San Guido's 2018 Le Difese is a lovely, perfumed, very pretty and refined wine, well-balanced on the mid-weight scale, juicy-fruity, earthy and savoury, an appealing mix. Tannins are nicely refined, and acids are plump and ripe but juicy, and length is very good. This is your entry
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point to high-end Tuscan wines at a very attractive price. Lovely stuff. Tasted January 2021.
Value: $37.95
Tenuta San Guido - Le Difese
Marchand Tawse Bourgogne Côte D'or Pinot Noir 2018, Ac Burgundy, France
91 Michael Godel Once again the relatively new appellation Bourgogne Côte d’Or (established in 2017) is employed and my goodness this Marchand- Tawse pinot noir is a concentrated and swarthy example of that. Fruit is from both sides of the Bourgogne Mason-Dixon line, as per the appellation which allows for both Beaune and Nuits fruit for classification. The Nuits is Prémeaux plus Marsannay and then Côtes de Beaune. There is this Nuits-St.-Georges feeling that you just can’t shake. Rich to nearly decadent with that swarm of volatile compounds and delicious stemmy-ness (likely some whole bunch inclusion) that raises the bar, the game and the hunter’s gaminess of this wine. There are many who will love the wild, unfettered side of Bourgogne Côte d’Or. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted November 2020.
Sara d'Amato Offering impressive darkness and concentration, this rich and rather ripe pinot noir from the Côte d'Or has the intensity of Pommard but the aromatics of Volnay. A pleasurable dichotomy. Well-structured and deftly crafted with very good length.
Value - $33.95
Bourgogne Cote d'Or Pinot Noir | Marchand-Tawse (marchand- tawse.com) Bleasdale Frank Potts 2016, Langhorne Creek, South Australia
92 David Lawrason This is a five grape "Bordeaux" blend from the company that founded viticulture in the maritime Langhorne Creek area of South Australia. It is big, rich yet composed cabernet-based red (50%) with a generous nose of blackberry, cassis, black rose, tobacco and fine oak enhancement. It is very stylish and complete, without artifice. The balance is very good, with youthful tannin still in the mix. The length is
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excellent to outstanding. A glimpse into one of the planet's tiny, perfect cabernet regions.
Michael Godel Bleasdale’s Frank Potts is the Bordeaux foray in which all five varieties take on Langhorne Creek for one of that region’s most aromatic wines. Sort of like a 180 year-old, five-pronged ode to the man who set up shop back in 1850. Solid construct and controlled conjecture both satiny and understated at the same time. Judicious barrel usage hides behind the purple-cimmerian fruit of pulchritudinous perfume. Another Frank Potts to slowly evolve and become new again and again over a decade and a half run. Drink 2021-2029.
Value: $29.95
Bleasdale Vineyards - Bleasdale
Henry Of Pelham Baco Noir Old Vines 2019, Ontario
91
David Lawrason This is a really lovely wine - ripe, smooth, balanced, avoiding sweetness, and bringing out the best of baco's plummy/blackberry fruit. Oak is not too heavy, smoky and chocolaty, leaving more delicate fruit and floral notes to prevail. Nor is baco's wilder, meaty side very obvious, although present and accounted for along with some tobacco. It is medium-full bodied with fresh almost juicy acidity, moderate alcohol (13.5%) and fine-grained tannin. Well structured, balanced and textured, with very good to excellent length.
Value: $19.95
Our Wines | Henry of Pelham
Cave Spring Blanc De Blancs Brut Sparkling, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
91
David Lawrason
This wine is the flagship for Cave Spring's increasingly important sparkling wine focus, which now involve This wine is the flagship for Cave Spring's increasingly important sparkling wine focus, which now involves four labels. It won a Lieutenant-Governor's Award in 2012.
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This 100% chardonnay was aged for three years, building subtle almond complexity into the dried apple, lemon and shortbread aromas. It is light-bodied, lively, gentle, delicate and a touch sweet, yet built on a beam of mineral acidity. There's excellent length on the finish. This is a terrific blanc de blanc.
Value: $29.95
Wine Details | Cave Spring Cellars
Château D'aquéria Tavel 2019, Ac, Rhone, France
91
Michael Godel One of Tavels’s arch classic Rosés, built sturdier than most and of a hue that stands out as being only from this very particular appellation. This is sort that pairs well with Hemingway and protests, cerebral company and food that can stand up to the bold flavours it supplies. This by Château D’Acquéria and 2019 get together for Tavel excellence in the fully expressive ways of these formidable Rosé. Prominent, poignant and profound. Drink 2020-2024.
Value: $24.95
Our Wines - Aqueria
Stratus White 2016, Niagara On The Lake VQA, Ontario
92
David Lawrason Tasted in Feb 2020 where this rich, layered white was vying for Wine of the Year at the Canadian Culinary Championships in Ottawa (it placed close 4th). It is a full bodied blend of five varieties that were estate grown then aged in French oak barrels for just under two years. Very exotic, generously spicy aromas from the wood are joined by ripe apricot-like fruit and resinous juniper/pine-like greenness. It is full bodied, creamy and intense with a slightly sappy, bitter finish. The length excellent to outstanding. 92 Points
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John Szabo, MS A rich, fleshy, highly concentrated, orange blossom honey-scented white here from Stratus in 2016, a compelling and serious wine to be sure. Length and depth are superb. For fans of, say, top Bordeaux whites, this is your kit. Terrific depth and complexity.
Value: $38.20
Stratus White 2016 – Products – Stratus (stratuswines.com)
Cave Spring Csv Riesling 2017, Cave Spring Vineyard, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Escarpment, Ontario
94
Sara d'Amato One of the finest examples of Riesling I have tasted in Niagara from one of the region's oldest vineyards. Generous and ample and almost fully revealing. The primary fruit flavours are just beginning to fade and are being replaced by bottle aged goodness and harmony. Textured and layered with broad shoulders and exceptional length. An impressive feat!
John Szabo, MS A thing of sheer beauty, an essence of liquid minerals, with beautiful grapefruit pith and peel and attendant pleasant bitterness which freshens and enlivens the ensemble. I love the striking purity, the
uncompromising, low fruit, highly stony profile, so very distinctive, both ripe and delicate, deceptively powerful on such a seemingly light frame. There's a cool climate feel here, even if the end of the 2017 season was quite hot; cool nights retained acids. A finish of this length can only come from ultra careful farming in a superior quality site, such as this old vine plantation on the Beamsville Bench. Drink or hold a decade. Benchmark stuff.
Andrew’s Notes: This is by far my favourite Niagara riesling, and was a real find for this Raffle. The whole CSV range is outstanding. Important to note that some white wines, particularly Niagara Rieslings, age superbly becoming more complex and nuanced over time. Interestingly, all of the big whites in this Raffle, this CSV, the Stratus and L’Ecole (even Kew) all have some age already (2016 or 2017)
Value: $29.95
Wine Details | Cave Spring Cellars
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L'Ecole No. 41 Semillon 2017, Columbia Valley, Washington, USA
92
John Szabo, MS Admittedly I'm a huge fan of semillon, from the leanest, tightest versions in the Hunter valley (Australia) to the fatter versions in Bordeaux, and the myriad, albeit too rare, examples from the rest of the world. This is a superb wine from L'Ecole in Walla Walla, on the rich, full, more Bordeaux-esque end of the spectrum (with 15% sauvignon blanc), complete with gentle oak influence and creamy, malolactic transformation. But my, what terrific depth and complexity. At this price, I'd say it's a steal for fans of the genre. Great length too. Tasted September 2020.
Value: $29.95
2016 Semillon - L’Ecole No 41
La Chablisienne Le Finage Chablis 2018, Ac Burgundy, France
89
John Szabo, MS Pure, clean, stony, like the scent and taste of a mountain water stream, this is as good as it gets, indeed it doesn’t get any more Chablis than this at $23 anymore - an absolute essence and delight in the category. Just a remarkable wine I have to say - fans of Chablis will rejoice at this, one of the last wines of this quality at this price.
Value: $22.95
Microsoft Word - CHABLIS LE FINAGE 2016- UK.DOCX (chablisienne.com)
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Invivo X By Sarah Jessica Parker Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Marlborough, NZ
90 The second vintage for this collaboration between The South Island's Invivo and Soho’s Sarah Jessica Parker
David Lawrason This lovely sauvignon displays an intense nose of candied lime, caper, fresh ginger and green apple. Quite impressive aromatics. It is light to mid-weight, vibrant, balanced and avoiding tartness, or confection. It steers such a fine line between refreshment and actual sophistication. There is a touch of spritz as well. The focus and length are excellent.
Value: $22.95
INVIVO X, SJP - Invivo X, SJP
Kew Marsanne/Viognier 2017, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Escarpment, Ontario
90
Michael Godel From winemaker Philip Dowell and a change in grape percentages in 2017, now 68 per cent marsanne (down from 90) and (32) viognier. Fermented half and half in stainless steel and barrel, aged six months. Dry, generous in alcohol (14.5) and in spite of the rise in viognier still upright, plum acid stiff and structured. Crunchy white with admittedly more plump and fleshy fruit than before. Proper. Drink 2020-2023.
Janet Dorozynski Dip WSET, Ph.D. Made from varieties not often seen in Niagara, this is a unique and intensely flavoured and textured wine with notes of stone fruit and white
flowers. Dry with fruity and savoury notes on the mid-palate to finish. Very good length. Tasted November 2020.
Value: $19.95
Kew Vineyards - 2017 Marsanne Viognier
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Pierre Sparr Gewurztraminer 2018, Alsace, France
88
This single-vineyard Gewurztraminer comes from 35-year-old vines that were grown on granitic, limestone, and gneiss chalk & clay soils. Screw cap. Fragrant aromas of lychee, floral, and spice lift out of the glass. The medium+ bodied palate is structured and spicy with very good, mouthfilling fruit. It's medium sweet with nicely balanced flavours of lychee, rose floral, lemon citrus, and touches of honeyed apricot. Acids are lively and fresh, while the finish is long and dry. Enjoy nicely chilled.
Gewürztraminer brings out a spicy floral bouquet and rich lychee flavours, being rich if slightly off-dry initially but usually finishing dry. Goes particularly well with Asian food such as Thai.
Value: $17.95
Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Marlborough, New Zealand
91
Steve Thurlow This is a classic Marlborough sauvignon which delivers a lot for a wine at this price. I love the fragrant nose with its lemon, passion fruit and gooseberry aromas toned by complex warm notes of dried herbs, ginger and lavender. So very enticing. The palate is dry, firm and elegant with lively mouth-watering grapefruit acidity and mid-weight richness. It finishes as it starts, fresh and clean with excellent length.
Value: $17.95
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc⎮Villa Maria Wines
Jim Barry Cover Drive Cabernet Sauvignon 2017, Coonawarra, South Australia
90
John Szabo, MS Lovely fresh and lively, gently herbal and eucalyptus-tinged, this is textbook Coonawarra cabernet from Jim Barry. I like the ripe
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cassis/black currant fruit flavours, the mid-weight palate highlighting the cooler climate of this corner of South Australia, and the firm, juicy acids.. Length and depth are solid indeed. Drink or hold mid-term.
Michael Godel The landing strip of Terra Rossa soil and oceanic winds not far away are the impetus for making wholly singular cabernet sauvignon in Coonawarra. The catalysis is not lost on Jim Barry Wines and their processes have stood the test of time, not to mention consistently pumping out quality in every vintage. This 2017 stands along with Barry’s best, an acid-driven year with expertly judged sour edging to get with that red soil-fruit connectivity. Energy and balance intersect where timing acts not as one reaction, but repeatedly and to beneficial drinking effect. Drink 2021-2027.
Value: $19.95
2017 The Cover Drive Cabernet Sauvignon - Jim Barry Wines
Radford Dale Chardonnay 2018, Wo Stellenbosch, South Africa
93
David Lawrason This hits with a fairly intense, reductive nose of sulphur/onion bit loads of toast, spice and fruit as well. Expect lemon, pineapple and subtle wood vanillin. It is mid-weight, firm, crunchy and very well balanced. The length is excellent to outstanding, the finish is almost stony.
Michael Godel Never ever underestimate wines made from fruit grown anywhere in the vicinity of the Helderberg Mountain in Stellenbosch. Radford Dale is a custodian of such land and winemaker Jacques de Klerk feels every grape, vine and vessel holding this sacred Western Cape fruit with every fibre of his Afrikaans being. The reductive intensity and locked in freshness of this chardonnay brings white pepper and wet granite stone to the fore; then the palate goes all gelid lemon and nectarine granita. Finally there is a biscuit not buttered but mildly truffled you can’t resist. Chenin? Well yes, but chardonnay! Drink 2020-2025. Tasted October 2020.
Value: $31.95
Radford Dale | Terroir Selection
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Tyrrell's Hunter Valley Shiraz 2017, Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia
91
Made from grapes grown on some of the top blocks on the Tyrrell’s estate and surrounding area, which have an average vine age of 40 years and are mostly dry grown. The 2017 vintage was a stellar vintage.
John Szabo, MS Balanced, perfumed, savoury and fruity, black pepper-inflected, this is quality, well-made wine from arch-classic producer Tyrrell's. Length and depth, and especially complexity, far exceed the mean in this category - a wine of sophistication and elegance, and genuine character.
David Lawrason
Despite being one of Australia's most northerly (warmer) regions Hunter shiraz always play lighter and leaner than Barossa or McLaren Vale, and there is a stony and herbal terroir driven edge. This has fairly generous, intriguing aromas of blueberry-pomegranate fruit, juniper- sage herbality, pepper and echo of oak spice from ageing in 2700 litre old casks. It is medium-full bodied, fairly intense yet linear and not heavy, with fine tannin. The length is excellent, trailing some ferrous/iron-like minerality.
Value: $24.95
2018 Hunter Valley Shiraz - Tyrrell's
Malivoire Ladybug Rosé 2019, Niagara Peninsula
89
Michael Godel Ladybug is Malivoire’s most wide-ranging in a grouping that includes some of Ontario’s most focused, pinpointed and intentional Rosés. Just a terrific vintage to make Rosé with fruit so up to the task and when asked to be plucked from vines so early for acidity preservation and salty expressiveness. There is SO MUCH fruit here, in shades of strawberry, cherry and watermelon. Thirst-quenching to the drent(h) degree. Just ideal at $17. Drink 2020-2021.
Value: $16.95
2019 Ladybug Rosé – Malivoire Wine Company
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