Steve Elder

Louis Jadot Chorey Les Beaune 2013, Ac

Pale ruby colour, turning orange at the edges; showing its age a bit. Light but classic nose of fresh berries with hints of forest floor. Light to med bodied with good flavour persistence. Nice ripe tannins and lip smacking acidity. An enjoyable village Burgundy not straining to be anything more.

Quinta Das Carvalhas Touriga Nacional 2011, Doc Douro

Ken Forrester Old Vine Reserve Chenin Blanc 2018, Wo Stellenbosch

Muga Reserva 2015

Concha Y Toro Terrunyo Peumo Vineyard Block 27 Carmenère 2011, Entre Cordilleras, Peumo, Cachapoal Valley

With a few years in the cellar, this has turned in to compelling wine. Starting to amber a bit. Very full with ripe fruit, underpinned by wood and spice notes. Balanced and carries the high alcohol well. Certainly justifies the “entry premium” price.

San Fabiano Calcinaia Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Igt Toscana

Nov 2012: How is it that grape varieties change so when they cross the Alps into Italy? Certainly so with Pinot Nero and Pinot Grigio, and so with this "Cabernet Sauvignon." Tuscan to its soul. CS is suggested by its dark colour and cedary notes, but flavours are very Italian: ripe fruit, but rooted in earth, with puckering tannins begging for something rich. If there's oak, it's blended in not standing out. Long and satisfying, with the high alcohol nicely integrated. Yummy.

Frescobaldi Tenuta Di Castiglioni 2016, Igt Toscana

Good deep colour just starting to fade at the rim. Spicy, minerally nose with the fruit quite ripe but starting to shift into the dried spectrum. Med-full bodied, round, spicy, juicy with the tannins still quite firm. Just starting to enter it’s drinking window I’d say and will clearly hold for several more years.

Yalumba Viognier 2013, Eden Valley, South Australia

Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shiraz 2016, Coonawarra

Tenuta Sette Ponti Crognolo 2016, Igt Toscana

$30 at SAQ if you’re close to the borderlands!