Fun Wines When You Feel Like (Sort Of) Blowing Your Budget
Psssst … hey! You still here? Ya, us too. (Blink, Blink) Guess the world didn’t end after all, eh? Hmm. (Relieved & slightly delirious laughter). We’re alive! Ha! Suck it, Myans! Joke’s on you! Booyah!
It’s time’s like these – you know, the times that we narrowly escape near certain death – that we feel like living extra large. Shaking things up a bit, spending a bit of cash.
The downside to this is that while we kinda want to spend it, we don’t really have it (read our blog on cheaper and better to find how we normally roll), and let’s face it, we also come from sensible German and Scottish stock, so we’re probably just joshing you when we say we’re going to blow the bank. But being that we made it through the night without getting up close and personal with a meteor, we’re feeing a little reckless.
So what’s a couple girls to do when they want to live la vida loca and throw around a couple Benjamins Queen Elizabeths?
Well, we’re bumping up the budgetary threshold a smidge and breaking out what we think are some of the best wines we can find in the indulgent-yet-fiscally-repsonsible mid-range. There’s nothing like a good fence sitting when you’re prepared to get all Girls Gone Wine Wild.
These wines will not only fit the bill when you’re feeling festive, they’re also sturdy enough to hang out in your cellar until the next celebration comes along.
Here are our picks for some seriously indulgent wines that won’t leave your bank account with a serious hangover.
Coudoulet de Beaucastel, Côtes du Rhône, France 2010
$29.95 Vintages48884
Elegant and polished at a fraction of the price of big bro Château de Beaucastel Chateâuneuf du Pape (which comes in at $90 for those counting). So, for accepting the wine sourced from grapes (grenache, syrah, cinsault, mouvèdre) across the road, you still get a full bodied wine of poise and finesse and filled with red raspberry, savoury herbs and pepper spice and earthy minerality. It’s unfiltered, so decant for sediment and enjoy with roast prime rib or seared duck breast.
Château des Charmes “Equuleus” VQA St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula 2010
$40 available to order
A fantastic Bordeaux blend wine that’s only produced in the best years. Made of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 25% Cab Franc, this wine is rich and opulent with black cherry and currant, violet/rose floral notes, dark chocolate and licorice. This will easily evolve for another decade, or enjoy it tonight will grilled rib eye.
Collemattoni Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy 2006
$60 available to order
This wine has held a special place in our hearts since first visiting the bucolic winery back in 2009. With vineyards set amongst olive groves and bushes of savoury herbs, this is indeed a bottle we associate with kicking up our heels. Big and bold, this blends rustic earthiness, leather, and savoury meaty notes with bright cherry, milk chocolate, black olive and bay leaf. Enjoy this with hearty meat lasagna, rabbit stew or grilled game birds.
Mission Hill “Perpetua” Chardonnay, VQA Okanagan Valley 2010
$40 available to order
A consistently terrific wine vintage after vintage, Perpetua is part of Mission Hill’s top-tiered “Legacy” series, and one of our favourite go-to wines when we’re feeling a bit flush. Partially aged in new French oak and then aged sur lies for 8 months, this wine shows retrain and finesse despite the ample use of wood. Rich and soft on the palate with ripe golden delicious apple, butterscotch, lemon meringue and pleasant toasty notes, this ages beautifully, as we have wines going back to ’06 in our cellars (’08 is pictured). Brilliant with Beemster cheese, grilled seafood and chicken in cream sauces.
Five Rows Pinot Noir, VQA St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula 2009
$50 available to order
When Erin was still working in restaurants, this was one of her favourite wines to sell – especially to Americans who couldn’t believe Niagara wines could be this nuanced and elegant. The impressive ’09 is still available now with aromas of bright cherry, wet earth and floral notes, with flavours of cran-cherry, red raspberry, smoke and forest. Soft tannins with exceptional length and terrific balance. Fantastic mid-term aging potential, as we’re still happily sipping some ’07’s we picked up a while ago. Lovely for fireside sipping or paired with grilled duck and braised lentils, seared bison steaks, or tenderloin in mushroom sauce.
Heitz Cellars “Trailside Vineyard” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California 2005
$119.47 available to order
Powerful and intense this organic Cab has staying power – in fact, we set aside a bottle of this for a birthday we’d like to mark in 15 years or so (no, we’re not telling you which one). Aromas of cassis, cherry, fresh turned earth, leather and chocolate follow through on the palate. Full bodied and rich with impressive length, this is a celebration wine, to be sure.
Shafer Merlot, Napa Valley, California 2009
$62.95 Vintages 346262
Shafer’s always a safe bet when it comes to consistency and quality. We’ve managed to hang on to a few past vintages (the photo above is an ’01 Courtney has in her cellar). In our minds, Shafer merlot is a bit deeper and richer than perhaps you’re everyday merlot, with ripe dark fruit, baking spice, leather and licorice. Mid-full bodied and fairly weighty, this is a nice choice to pair with bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin or braised short ribs. Vintages still has a few ’09’s left in stock, but ’10’s are available for order here.
Osoyoos La Rose “Le Grand Vin,” VQA Okanagan Valley, 2008
$45.95 Vintages 626325
Arguably the first Canadian wine to reach a cult-like status, this merlot-dominated Bordeaux blend is rich and plush with flavours of black currant, cedar, black licorice, pepper spice, leather and floral incense. Nice tannic grip with a long finish and good balance, these wines have the stuff for mid-term aging, evolving well over 5- 10 years. It’s fun to pick up half a case and try on special occasions as the years go by.