Buyer’s Guide to Vintages July 5th Release

Ontario Whites Excel, I4C Chardonnay Ahead, Elbows Up for Direct Shipping and News from Burgundy

By David Lawrason with notes from Sara d’Amato and Michael Godel

The Vintages July 5 release is mediocre. Don’t panic, I will explain. Michael, Sara and I have still found some of the best wines and best values (John and Megha are on vacation) — we and present them below. But as you will see the most interesting wines are a clutch of Ontario chardonnays and rieslings.

At the upcoming International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration (i4C) July 17 to 20 in Niagara, you can check out how well Canada, more specifically Ontario, is doing with Chardonnay, which in my view is the very best expression of our region. As the Cave Spring CSV, Domaine le Clos Jordanne Claystone Terrace, Cloudsley and Rosehall Run JCR examples demonstrate on this release, we are making some excellent wines that are stylistically similar to white Burgundy, with which we share very similar latitude, climate and geology. Three producers from Burgundy will be pouring elbow to elbow at i4C with Ontario and BC wineries, plus wineries from England, Tasmania and Argentina. But, alas, there are fewer international wineries at this event every year. Check it all out at coolchardonnay.org .

Back to Vintages mediocrity. My issue is the dumbing down of Vintages releases thanks to the average $19.95 per bottle price. Of the 93 products on this release, 48 are $20 or under. Isn’t this supposed to be the LCBOs fine wine division? Twenty bucks may be the sweet spot that Vintages has identified to maximize sales, but it has been thus for years. So, while costs of production, marketing, shipping, etc., have climbed, Vintages is going down-scale in quality to hold the price point. Yes, there are some more expensive classics from well-established premium regions, but even here Vintages is going to the lowest possible price band in these regions — as a Chablis and Barolo demonstrate in this release. The result is expressed in a lot of WineAlign scores that are NOT 90.

Elbows Up for Direct Shipping Across Canada

The LCBO announced last week that Ontario VQA wines have increased 60% in sales since The Donald imposed his tariffs in March, and the LCBO pulled American wines and spirits from the shelves. That is huge, and great for Ontario vintners. While I also really feel badly for the blue-state American wineries and their agents in Canada who are directly suffering from this decision. Wine has historically been a political football, but in this case I am all for the statement being made by punting US wine. It was a hinge moment and issue that gave Canadian voters and politicians the courage to stand up.

On that note I am very much looking forward to The Elbows Up Coast to Coast Canadian Wine Fair coming up Saturday (July 12) at Fort York in downtown Toronto. It will feature 25 wineries from five provinces including three from BC, five from Quebec, three from Nova Scotia, one from New Brunswick and the rest from Ontario, including a who’s who from Niagara and the County. The Fair is divided into three 2.5-hour sessions with tickets only remaining for the 5 to 7:30 p.m. slot. Get your tickets here.

Fair-goers are also being asked to sign a petition to open Canada’s provincial borders to direct shipping of Canadian wine. You can sign on without being at the Fair at https://chng.it/dhhRyztnyp. There has been a lot of positive speech-making from federal and provincial leaders on the need for this to happen, to the point that many people assume it will only be a matter of days. And as much I would love to see that happen swiftly, it won’t. The Berlin Wall didn’t come down in a day either.

In June I attended and spoke at a Canadian Wine Law conference in Vancouver where interprovincial trade barriers were a key topic. I won’t get into the nitty gritty and the graphs, but there is a matrix of legal regulation and agreement in place that needs to be unraveled. They have been assembled by ten provincial bureaucracies over almost 100 years of government oversight of alcohol retailing.

When I heard that the provinces, one on one, need to do things like issue non-binding Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), and “agree on frameworks for discussion,” my heart sank, and my eyeballs circumnavigated their sockets. The lawyers, however, will be pleased. Meanwhile I advise wineries and consumers to civilly disobey and ship ahoy! We now operate in a climate of consent, and no one would dare come after you while the bureaucrats muck out the fine print.

News from Burgundy

This Thursday (July 12) at 8:30 a.m. there will be a special Vintages V-mail release of wines from the eminent house of Bouchard Pere et Fils in Beaune. Here is the link VINTAGES Shop Online | Order from Special Offers. I have not tasted all these wines, but I did sample a handful while in conversation with the company’s new international marketing director, Victor Goichon, at the offices of Woodman Wines & Spirits, its Ontario importer.

The interesting news is that Bouchard, once Burgundy’s largest wine company, is no longer a “negotiant” that purchases grapes and wines from other producers. It has been purchased by Artemis Domaines, a French wine company that is assembling marquis estate properties like Chateau Latour, Clos de Tart, Chateau Grillet in France plus Beaux Freres in Oregon and Eisele Vineyard in Napa. The other shift is that the downsized Bouchard, as of the 2023 vintage, will no longer make wines from Burgundy’s northern Cote de Nuits region, focusing on its roots in the Cotes de Beaune.

Two of the chardonnays on the V-Release are particularly exciting: the very fine, elegant Meursault Les Clous 2022 ($118) and the exceeding powerful, deep Beaune Clos Saint Landry 2022 ($140). I did not taste the 2022 Montrachet, but it is breathtaking to see its price — $1,950 per bottle — or $162 per 2oz pour. Laugh or cry?

On a more relevant note, Burgundy is in shock at the sudden passing of Nicolas Potel at age 56, the energetic, passionate founder of Domaine de Bellene, and a negotiant company Maison Roche de Bellene. The son of famous Burgundy winemaker Gerard Potel, Nicolas forged his own youthfully dynamic company in 2009, and its elegant, polished post-modern wines have been a fixture in Ontario ever since thanks to the work of agent Nicolas Pearce. Earlier this year WineAlign reviewed several of the Bellene 2023s, including the Maison Roche De Bellene Cuvée Réserve Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2023 that is on the July 5 release. I opened a bottle in tribute on the weekend.

Here are our other picks from this release arranged in ascending price order with style groupings

White & Sparkling:

Carod L’Artisanal Pet Nat, Drôme, France
$14.95, Hektars Agence Inc
Sara d’Amato – A characterful alternative to a Moscato d’Asti, this Pet-Nat made in the Drôme region–northern end of the southern Rhône Valley where lavender fields are just as prevalent as vineyards–boasts a pleasant hit of garrigue along with typical muscat aromas of rosebud and orange blossom. Cleanly made without any notable cloudiness, this natural style fizz is semi-sweet and low in alcohol–perfectly suited to brunch time frivolities and apéro hour,
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And that is a wrap for this edition. We will be back to cover the July 19 release, with the reviews and newsletter delayed a day or two as we attend iI4C in Niagara.

David Lawrason

Use these quick links for access to all of our July 5th Top Picks in the New Release. Non-premium members can select from all release dates 30 days prior.

Lawrason’s Take – July 5th
Sara’s Selections – July 5th
Michael’s Mix – July 5th

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