It's only wine but I like it

Gérard Bertrand Saint Chinian Syrah/Mourvèdre 2016, Ap

Slimmer, less full-bodied that some wines of the south of France (as I find Saint Chinians to be), this has all the hallmarks of the region: dark fruit, black pepper, herbs. Nice balance here and a fine food wine. Tasted April 2020.

Château Du Ballandreau Cuvée Excellence 2015, Ac Bordeaux Supérieur

Agree with DL - a light-mid weight Bordeaux with good balance, fresh red fruit and restrained oak (if there is any at all). A no nonsense, authentic red Bordeaux without pretense. Quite delicious. Add to it that it is organic and just $16, this is an easy purchase. Tasted Oct 2019.

Louis Bernard Louis Cotes Du Rhone Villages 2016, Ap, Rhone

A soft and easy CDR Villages with typical pepper/spice influenced fruit. Soft tannin, good balance, all too easy to drink. Best over the next year or so to capture the fruit. Tasted Aug 2020.

Humante 2018, Navarra

From the Navarra region in Spain, this garnacha is no model of refinement. YEt, there is an honesty about this wine, with no resorting to residual sugar and heavy oak. Just simple spicy red fruit finishing with some citrus-like flavours. The wine grew on me. You could do a lot worse for under $10. Tasted Oct 2020.

Antinori Pèppoli Chianti Classico Docg 2017

Light-medium bodied, lean and a bit herbal. While Chianti Classico is not usually rich and ripe (nor should it be), this Peppoli is thin even for a CC, not particular complex and rather short finishing. A bit of a lackluster effort here from Antinori. If you want a Chianti in the $20 range, you can do better than this. Tasted Dec 2019.

Château De Tréviac Corbières 2017, Ap

A solid, herb-infused darkly fruited red from the Languedoc, a consistently good wine every year. Just missing a bit of length to score higher but still represents fine value. Perhaps better with another year under its belt. Tasted March 2020.

Domaine De Beyssac Initial 2016, Aop Cotes Du Marmandais

Notes for the 2012 vintage.

Stumbled across this on the lcbo's horrible website recently. An unoaked blend of merlot, cab franc, malbec and abourriou, this is an intense red. Bracing acidity, a fairly firm structure yet nicely ripened red fruit with complex flavours and some warming alcohol on the finish. A bit different for sure, but very find wine indeed. Decant if serving now, will hold. Still a few left lcbo code 624097. Tasted March 2021.

Paul Mas Single Vineyard Collection Reserve Grenache/Syrah/Carignan 2018, Ap Languedoc

Solid, if unexciting, red here from the Languedoc. There is some nice jammy red fruit with vague spicy/herbal notes and a soft structure. But overall this seems just a bit commercial. Fine enough for the price, just not interesting enough for me to want to buy additional bottles. Drink over the next year. Tasted Feb 2021.

M. Chapoutier Les Vignes De Bila Haut Côtes Du Roussillon Villages 2018, Ac

Having had (and enjoyed) this wine from Chapoutier many times before, I have to say that this vintage was a bit of a disappointment. Certainly has some characteristic notes of black pepper and herbs, however, I found this a bit thin, acidic and short-finishing in comparison to prior vintages. Certainly not a bad wine....maybe an off-bottle? Oh, hell, maybe I was just in a bad mood that evening. Tasted Nov 2020.

Malivoire Ladybug Rosé 2020, Niagara Peninsula

Again this vintage, a very pleasant food-friendly rose from Malivoire. Still just 5.5g residual sugar/L according to Malivoire's website, perhaps seeming a bit less dry this time due to the heat of the '20 vintage. This is not cloying in the least, however. I still would rather drink this that the angular/austere roses that seem to be considered the benchmarks for quality. Tasted April 2022.