We have three distinct and special wines releasing this month at the LCBO, including a special vintage Champagne, a Hungarian Cabernet Franc, and a 10 Year Old Madeira.

Read below for more details about these special wines, along with the links to purchase them.

 

Champagne Gosset Celebris Extra Brut 2008

This Vintage is only the eighth edition of Gosset Celebris Vintage in the past 34 years. It is a limited edition of 15,000 bottles. A blend of 54% Chardonnay and 46% Pinot Noir, from Ambonnay, Avenay, Avize, Aÿ, Bouzy, Cramant, Cuis, Cumières, Trépail, Vertus, and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, this spent 12 years in the cellars prior to release, with 4.8 g/L dosage.

“The 2008 Extra-Brut Celebris offers up hints of apricot, brioche, baked apple tart, white pepper, chamomile and dried flowers. Extended time on the lees yields a Champagne with terrific flavor and textural complexity. This is an especially deep, vinous Champagne from Gosset. I would prefer to drink it at the dinner table, as it is a very serious wine. Drinking window: 2023-2038.” 96 points, Antonio Galloni, vinous.com

Read more about Champagne Gosset here.

Appellation : AOC Champagne
Region : Champagne
Country : France
Grape(s) : Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
Price : $245
LCBO : 344952

 

Szászi Birtok Cabernet Franc 2019

Szászi Birtok’s 20 hectares of vineyards are spread across slopes in Szigliget, Szent György Hill, Csobánc and Lesencetomaj, in Hungary’s Badacsonyi region. Farmed organically, the family focuses on indigenous varieties, including Olaszrizling, Kéknyelű, Rózsakő, Zeus, Zenit, Szürkebarát (Pinot Gris), Otonell Muskotály, Cserszegi Fűszeres, and Csókaszőlő.

This Cabernet Franc comes from Hungary’s Balaton-Felvikék region. Dark and woodsy, with blackcurrant, black cherry, black raspberry, and ample dried herbs filling the medium body, this is wrapped with furry tannins, and bright with a lifted Franc acidity. Pour alongside grilled pork / root vegetables

Read more about Szászi Birtok here.

Region : Badacsonyi
Country : Hungary
Grape(s) : Cabernet Franc
Price : $19.95
LCBO : 34070

 

Barbeito 10 Year Old Malvasia Reserva Velha

Of the hundreds of families who have produced and shipped Madeira over the past two centuries, only four remain: Blandy, Borges, D’Oliveira, and Barbeito. The first three families have been around since the nineteenth century, and their legacy secured by having stockpiled old vintages during and after the Phylloxera epidemic of the the 1870s.

Vinhos Barbeito, however, is one of the youngest families, founding their company in 1946, a particularly dark era for Madeira due to World War II. As many houses were shuttering, Mario Barbeito, former accountant for Borges, saw opportunity, and began buying substantial stocks of old vintages from important families. He was stockpiling these wines for his future generations, namely daughter Manuela, who took over the business in the 1970s, and her son Ricardo Diogo Freitas, responsible for the forward-thinking, quality-focused direction the winery took in the early 1990s. Ricardo’s aim was always authentic Madeira, offering only 100% canteiro wines (the traditional method of gently warming wines in stacked barrels, with no artificial heating in tanks), with additional aging periods, and no added caramel or deacidification. They also became the first Madeira producer to switch all production to bottled wines, in 1993. Read more about Barbeito here.

Region : Madeira Country : Portugal
Grape(s) : Malvasia Price : $64.95 LCBO : 31766

 

 

 

 

 

Most of our producers are small, independently owned and operated businesses, like ours. You can view our complete portfolio here. Thank you for letting us share these producers and wines with you.

Cheers,

Le Sommelier
416.603.7026
bernard@lesommelier.com

Le Sommelier is a Good Food Fighter.

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