Buyer’s Guide to Vintages November 30th Release
John Szabo’s Vintages Preview November 30: Premium Holiday Buys, Special Austrian Coverage & Saving Santa Maddalena
By John Szabo MS, with notes from Sara d’Amato, Megha Jandhyala, and Michael Godel
This week’s report on the Vintages November 30 release provides several gift-worthy recommendations, including premium Italian, Chilean, Australian and local options. But there are also plenty of less-expensive wines on the Crü’s list to grace your holiday table for all occasions. Three sparkling wines are among them, but — wait for it —this Friday we’ll have our full annual Fizz Guide with dozens of recommended bubbles currently available in the province — our biggest Fizz Guide yet. Look for it in your inbox. I also have lots of bonus buyer’s guides to share, including, if you missed it, two separate reports on Austria: Appraising Austria, featuring a list of top-value wines in Ontario right now, and a broader Buyer’s Guide of the country’s top wines, International Heroes & Rising Stars. Lastly, I make a plea for Saving Santa Maddalena, a tiny DOC on the border between Italy and Austria where, this past July, I tasted some remarkably delicious, delicate alpine reds. Santa Maddalena is made from a grape called schiava (aka vernatsch), the oldest native red grape in Alto Adige. And it needs immediate love, lest it be reduced to an historical footnote. Join the movement.
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Appraising Austria
The WineAlign Crü sat down recently for our annual review of Austrian wines currently available in Ontario, including LCBO Vintages and Destination Collection wines, as well as consignment (private import) wines. It was an excellent tasting. The notion of value repeatedly crept into our reviews. And we’re sorry for that. I explain why before the Crü lists the top picks from our tasting: Buyer’s Guide: Austria in Ontario.
Austrian “International Heroes & Rising Stars”
Each edition of the excellent biennial wine fair in Vienna, called VieVinum, opens with a formal seated media tasting of around 100 curated Austrian wines, focused on a specific theme. In 2024, the inspiration was International Heroes & Rising Stars.
The International Heroes were described as “wines that have achieved the highest awards at international competitions,” according to the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. And these top-rated wines were complemented by the new category of Rising Stars, which is, as the title implies, “a curated selection of wines from emerging wineries from all Austrian winegrowing regions, alternative wine styles and new discoveries.”
See my top picks out of about 100 reviews from this tasting in the Buyer’s Guide: Austria’s International Heroes & Rising Stars. Some of Austria’s very finest are among them — buy these wines wherever you can find them.
Saving Santa Maddelena
Pure, pine-scented alpine air and bright sunlight greets me on a warm July afternoon as I step off the train in Bolzano. I’m on a search for one of the oldest native red grape varieties in South Tyrol, and the delightfully lively, alpine red wines it produces on the steep hills to the northeast of Bolzano in a tiny appellation called Santa Maddalena.
The variety’s Tirolese name is vernatsch, derived from the Latin vernaculus meaning native. In Italian it goes by the decidedly less charming name schiava, meaning slave, a reference, as I’m told by local growers, to the fact the variety has always grown up another plant, usually a tree, as a support, or, more recently, tall wooden stakes in the typical pergola trellising system — a slave to it, as it were.
The style of wine that schiava is best suited to produce — pale, light, zesty-spicy reds — is gaining hugely in popularity, as wine drinkers the world over move to lower alcohol and more vibrant, chillable wines. So, why are growers in Alto Adige ripping out schiava at an alarming rate? Read the full article to learn why, as well as which wines are absolutely worth tracking down. Together we can save Santa Maddalena.
Buyer’s Guide Vintages November 30: Sparkling
Graham Beck Méthode Cap Classique Brut Pinot Noir/Chardonnay Rosé Sparkling, South Africa
$21.95, Vinexx
Sara d’Amato – John’s annual Fizz Guide is just around the corner but, in the meantime, here is a top value pick in the category — a traditional method rosé from a pioneering sparkling producer in South Africa. This blend of pinot noir and chardonnay pours a luminous colour and features a creamy froth and an abundance of toasty autolytic richness. A well-balanced dosage gives approachability without taking away from the wine’s zesty attitude.
Megha Jandhyala – Here is a very well-priced, classically styled, dry sparkling rosé, with delightful flavours that remind me of a glazed croissant, tart-firm red berries and cherries, and juicy tangerines. I plan to buy several bottles for holiday parties, serving it as an aperitif or pairing it with light seafood.
Medici Ermete & Figli Arte E Concerto Lambrusco 2023, Emilia Romagna, Italy
$22.95, Profile Wine Group (Vin Vino)
Megha Jandhyala – This juicy, fleshy, flavourful Lambrusco promises to be a delicious accompaniment to a cheese tray or red-sauce based pizza or pasta. Faintly flinty and saline, and layered with flavours of dark cherries, red berries and blood oranges, it also works as a visually striking, gently sparkling aperitif at holiday parties.
Argyle Brut Sparkling Wine 2018, Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA
$39.95, Profile Wine Group (Barrique)
Michael Godel – A layered and spirited sparkling affair, drier than many, satisfying in every respect. Much more interest here than many similarly priced bubbles from that side of the country. Love the vintage for Willamette Valley sparkling wine.
Buyer’s Guide Vintages November 30: White
Avelino Vegas Montespina Verdejo Sobre Lías 2023, Ribera Del Duero, Spain
$16.95, Rare Earth Wines
Sara d’Amato – An undeniable value from a well-established Rueda producer, now run by founder Avelino Vegas’s granddaughter and Bordeaux-trained winemaker, Cristina Vegas. Made from a nearly centenarian plot of verdejo, a variety with similarities to sauvignon blanc, in such that it offers lively acidity, sweet citrus fruit and a pleasant savoury character. Notably salty and lightly chalky with impressive concentration yet an invigorating and upbeat disposition.
E. Guigal Côtes Du Rhône Blanc 2023, Rhône, France
$22.95, Vinexx
Megha Jandhyala – White Côtes du Rhône is relatively rare since white wine makes up only a small percentage of total production in this appellation. This is a lovely example, well-suited to cooler months during which I find rounded, succulent white wines like this particularly comforting.
Sara d’Amato – Guigal is a relative specialist of whites in the Rhône, a style of wine that makes up only 8% of the production in the region but accounts for 25% of the wines of this significant producer. This white Côtes du Rhône differs from the norm in that it is not based on grenache blanc but is dominated instead by viognier from the north. Fulsome but cut by the impression of freshness that stems from crunchy minerality and delicate, natural acidity. Stainless steel vinification ensures that grapes’ aromatic character is as potent and expressive as can be.
Waterkloof Circle Of Life 2023, Stellenbosch, South Africa
$21.95, Family Wine Merchants
John Szabo – A blend of about two-thirds sauvignon blanc with a quarter chenin and the balance in semillon, this is a lovely, balanced, honest and authentic white wine, oak-free, fully organically farmed and beyond. Drink responsible wines, drink happily. Everyone wins. So much wine here for $24.
Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2023, Marlborough, New Zealand
$28.95, Connexion Oenophilia
Michael Godel – Always a sauvignon at the height of captured freshness with upfront soda biscuit ahead of tropical fruit. Crunchy to the maximum, lime zested and dry as the proverbial desert. Should age as well as any produced in the recent past.
Buyer’s Guide November 30: Red Wines
Clos De Luz Massal 1945 Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, Rapel Valley, Chile
$22.95, Touchstone Brands
John Szabo – Coming back to this wine almost a year later, made from old hillside vineyards in the Almahue Valley, originally planted in 1945, it continues to offer a great deal of pleasure at an excellent price. It remains plump and juicy-fruity, with appealing dense dark fruit character. Lots of joy and great balance. Drink or hold up to a half dozen years.
Megha Jandhyala – This old-vine cabernet sauvignon is delicious and full of character — harmonizing generous flavours of perfectly ripe fruit with savoury notes of gentle spice and herbs. Its plump yet firm and juicy palate is balanced and charming. At this price, I would buy several bottles of this wine to serve at a pinch over the holidays.
Catena Appellation La Consulta Malbec 2021, Mendoza, Argentina
$23.95, Noble Estates Wines & Spirits Inc.
Megha Jandhyala – This is a perfumed malbec from an especially high-elevation site, even for Argentina! Ready to drink, it is bright and fragrant with the scent of torn violet petals, lush red and dark fruit, and nicely integrated oak influence.
Estate Papaioannou Agiorgtiko 2019, Peloponnese, Greece
$28.95, Kolonaki Group Inc
Michael Godel – Thanassis Papaioannou passed away in 2019, the same vintage as this spot-on agiorgitiko that delivers what he always understood, the idea that wine must maintain its unique sense of place.
John Szabo – Old school wine from this old school, classic Nemea producer, offering gently desiccated red berry fruit flavours alongside (old) wood character, strawberry jam and red licorice. It’s a little less rustic (woody) than earlier vintages I have to say, and all the better for it. Worth a taste alongside some salty protein off the grill, roast lamb if you’re in a classic mood.
Château De Nages Jt 2021, Rhône, France
$28.95, Profile Wine Group (Du Chasse)
Sara d’Amato – A warm-weather red from a cool extremity of the southern Rhône. There is a literal “salt of the earth” nature to this 2021 assemblage, its palate marked by iron and salinity. Pure, exuberant and expressive with excellent length.
Château Larose Trintaudon 2016, Bordeaux, France
$34.95, Marchands des Ameriques
Megha Jandhyala – For those who enjoy wines that are beginning to show some complexity from age, here is an approachable priced red Bordeaux from the 2016 vintage. I like its multi-dimensional flavour profile, its firm but velvety texture and long, fragrant finish.
Volpaia Chianti Classico 2021, Tuscany, Italy
$37.95, Rogers & Company
Michael Godel – Of all the 2021s to taste and assess there is no shock that Volpaia’s is just about as young and immovable as any. Reticently expressive, necessarily patient, bigger than recent vintages, weightier and potentially far more profound. Time will tell.
Wynns Coonawarra Estate Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, South Australia
$44.95, Mark Anthony Group
Michael Godel – Black Label sets the gold standard for Coonawarra cabernet sauvignon and this 66th vintage brings the cool factor; graphite, mint and sweet blackberry. So enjoyable and age worthy to the end of the following decade.
John Szabo – The 66th vintage of the Black Label carries forward the tradition of balance and elegance, and complexity. It’s a sheer delight to drink, now or into the mid 2030s without concern, judging by past vintages. Still a top value.
Hidden Bench Terroir Caché 2020, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Escarpment,Ontario, Canada
$47.95, Mark Anthony Group
John Szabo – 2020 was an excellent vintage for the Bordeaux varieties in Niagara and, in the realm of premium cabernet blends, Hidden Bench’s Terroir Caché is a superb value. I love the plush, dark berry-cassis fruit surrounded by firm tannins and balanced acids, and especially the long finish and genuine depth and concentration. Best from 2026–35.
Sara d’Amato – Generous, unfiltered and natural but not feral, this Beamsville bench blend has substance but also levity. The assemblage of merlot, and cabernet franc is sourced from the organically grown estate vineyards. Gravity seems not to affect the palate despite its notable concentration and not insignificant degree of alcohol from a warm, dry vintage.
Tenuta San Guido Guidalberto 2022, Tuscany, Italy
$81.95, Sylvestre Wines & Spirits
Michael Godel – This middle-tier blend in sight of the Grand Vin Sassicaia and above Le Difese was first released in 2000. What could and rightfully should be considered an “easy” drinking vintage, moderate at 13.5 percent alcohol and acids about as sweet and succulent as they have ever been. A crunchy yet poised Guidalberto, almost shockingly available this early.
Sara d’Amato – A collector’s gem, this 2022 blend of 60% merlot and 40% sangiovese features crunchy salinity and a red-fruited palate with an engaging exuberance. A rather savoury incarnation of this hallowed wine that is beginning to show the graceful maturity of sangiovese in the form of weathered leather, slightly bitter red cherry, and dusty dried herbs. Its complexity is revealed with only a modicum of austerity.
Oreno 2021, Tuscany, Italy
$99.95, Noble Estates Wines & Spirits Inc.
John Szabo – I’ve tasted this several times, and I have to say it just continues to get better and better, creeping up in complexity, and score. Where will it end up? Open between about 2027–36 and find out.
Montes Purple Angel 2021, Colchagua Valley, Chile
$105.95, Profile Wine Group (Vin Vino)
Michael Godel – Purple Angels turns up the aromatic volume to a whole other level. Yes, this is a serious wine while also generous and fine. Will age for nearly two decades without issue or a care.
That’s all for this report, see you ’round the next bottle.
John Szabo, MS
Use these quick links for access to all of our November 30th Top Picks in the New Release. Non-premium members can select from all release dates 30 days prior.
John’s Top Picks – November 30th
Megha’s Picks – November 30th
Michael’s Mix – November 30th
Sara’s Selections – November 30th
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