Alpha Estate Xinomavro 2012 Hedgehog Vineyard, Amyndeon, Greece 🇬🇷

🍇 Xinomavro 100%

🧐 Alcohol 14%

🍁 My Score 92 Points

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Beautiful, expressive nose with aromas of wild berries, black plums, leather, leafy underbrush, spice box and peppery notes. On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied, dry, very flavourful, firm grainy tannins and refreshing acidity. The finish is long with spicy black fruit and savoury flavours lingering.

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I purchased this wine over one year ago and was told I should lay it down for a short while to allow the tannins to soften up a bit. I don’t have much experience with Xinomavro, but let me tell you that this wine was such a happy surprise. Beautiful aromatics, superb texture and very flavourful. It more than exceeded my expectations. Wine lovers who are looking for a different kind of experience should consider this beauty. Strongly recommended my wine friends. Cheers 🍷

La Stella Fortissimo 2016, VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 🇨🇦

🍇 Merlot 76%
🍇 Cabernet Sauvignon 9%
🍇 Sangiovese 8%
🍇 Cabernet Franc 7%

🧐 Alcohol 14.3%

🍁 My Score 90%

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A seductive bouquet with aromas of black cherries, plums, pencil shavings, leather, cured meat, baking and savoury spices. On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied, firm, earthy palate, silky tannins and fine acidity. The finish is medium length with flavours of wild berries, chocolate and herbal notes

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To be called Merlot, in accordance with B.C. VQA rules, a wine must be at least 85% Merlot grape. I have always enjoyed this blend, especially with the addition of Sangiovese which is pretty rare here in B.C.. The addition of Sangiovese adds another layer of complexity, flavours and above all a nice lift of acidity. Perfect pairing? How about beef or lamb on the BBQ 😋 Cheers my wine friends 🍷

Viña Ventisquero Vertice Apalta 2015, Colchagua Valley, Chile 🇨🇱

🍇 Carménère 51%
🍇 Syrah 49%

🧐 Alcohol 14.5%

🍁 My Score 91%

🧩 Chile meets Australia in this blend by Chilean winemaker Felipe Tosso and Australian winemaker John Duval

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Very attractive and inviting nose with aromas of blackberries, plums, chocolate, clove, vanilla and cedar notes. On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied, gorgeous velvet texture, silky tannins and fresh acidity. The finish is medium length, very smooth with flavours of spicy ripe berry fruit, dried figs and bittersweet chocolate.

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What a delicious experience! Simply a gorgeous effort by both winemakers who put this well balanced, flavourful blend together for our pleasure.  The oak is well integrated and nothing is over done, letting the quality of the fruit shine.  Definitely a wine with lots of appeal, where quality vs price ratio is well in your favour. Cheers my wine friends 🍷

El Enemigo Malbec 2014, Mendoza, Argentina 🇦🇷 ⁣ ⁣

El Enemigo Malbec 2014, Mendoza, Argentina 🇦🇷 ⁣
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🍇 Malbec 85%⁣
🍇 Cabernet Franc 15%⁣
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🧐 Alcohol 13.5%⁣
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🍁 My Score 90%⁣
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Pretty nose with aromas of blackberries, dark plums, wild berry jam, tobacco, vanilla oak spices and light earthy notes.  On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied, very smooth texture, silky tannins and balanced acidity. The finish is long with flavours of peppery blueberries covered with chocolate. ⁣
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Purchased almost one year ago.  The added time in bottle allowed all elements to be fully integrated providing an easy drinking wine, full of creamy oak flavours and loads of crushed berries, made in a crowd pleasing style. It was everything I was expecting and then some 😋.  Strongly recommended. Cheers my wine friends 🍷⁣
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Marqués de Murrieta Limited Edition Gran Reserva 2011, Rioja, Spain 🇪🇸

Marqués de Murrieta Limited Edition Gran Reserva 2011, Rioja, Spain 🇪🇸 

🍇 Tempranillo 91%

🍇 Mazuelo 4%

🍇 Graciano 3%

🍇 Garnacha 2%

🧐 Alcohol 14%

🍁 My Score 94%

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Exquisite nose with aromas of wild berries, plums, dried figs, exotic wood spices, leather and a hint of tobacco. On the mouthfeel, full bodied, very flavourful, multi layered texture, grainy tannins and balanced acidity. The finish is long with layered dark fruit, chocolate and wood spices all wrapped up in fine tannins. 

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It would be difficult to find a better value, than this aged Rioja. Definitely a stunning, classic Rioja from Marqués de Murrieta, with it’s sensuous aromatics, multi layered texture and long flavourful finish. An exceptional addition to your cellar, which should keep improving over the next decade. Enjoyable now after being decanted for a few hours. A remarkable wine 👌😋 Cheers my wine friends 🍷

Daydreamer Amelia 2016, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 🇨🇦

Daydreamer Amelia 2016, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 🇨🇦

🍇 Syrah 90%
🍇 Viognier 10%

🧐 Alcohol 13%

🍁 My Score 92 Points

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A very attractive nose with aromas of blackberries, blueberries, red plums, violets, cured meat, white pepper and light smoky notes. On the mouthfeel, medium bodied, elegant texture, seductive fruit, silky tannins and balanced acidity. The finish is medium-long with flavours of plummy-blackberry fruit, prosciutto and light peppery notes.

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Today we are celebrating British Columbia Day.  I am lucky to be living in a province with such beautiful topography from ocean coast line, beautiful islands, mountains and stunning, thriving wineries.  Daydreamer is a small family run, organic farm winery on the beautiful Naramata Bench in the Okanagan Valley.  This was my last of three bottles of this Syrah, a Platinum winner from last year’s WineAlign Canadian Wine Awards.  I love this style of Syrah, similar to Northern Rhône, a more elegant expression of Syrah, where the lower alcohol showcases it’s purity of fruit and gives this Syrah a fresher mouthfeel.  I now look forward to my two bottles of their 2017 vintage, which again won a platinum award, this past week. Congratulations and well done 👌 I am planning a journey through the Okanagan at the end of this month, which will include a stop at Daydreamer Vineyards. Cheers my wine friends 🍷

Francesco Cirelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Anfora 2017, Doc Abruzzo, Italy 🇮🇹

🍇 Montepulciano 100%

🧐 Alcohol 13%

🍁 My Score 89 Points

🧩 Organic fruit, native yeast with spontaneous fermentation, vinified and aged in terracotta jars for 9 months, unfined

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Vibrant nose with aromas of blackberries, blueberries, plums, violets and peppery notes. On the mouthfeel, medium bodied, juicy, bright flavours, chewy dusty tannins and refreshing acidity. The finish is long, slightly tart with wild berry and plum lingering.

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I didn’t quite known what to expect. Some times I feel that aging wine in anfora robs the wine of it’s fruity character. This is definitely not the case here, a bright and fruity Montelpulciano wine with lots of character. It work beautifully paired with pizza and I can see it working very well with BBQ foods. A great wine experience 😊 Cheers my wine friends 🍷

Mission Hill Terroir Collection No. 32 Vista’s Edge Cabernet Franc 2015, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 🇨🇦

🍇 Cabernet Franc 100%

🧐 Alcohol 14.9%

🍁 My Score 92 Points

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A very seductive nose with aromas of cherries, blackberries, dark chocolate, cedar and light vanilla notes. On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied, flavourful with a velvet texture, silky tannins and balanced acidity. Very good length on the finish with flavours of ripe berry fruit, gentle wood spices and savoury notes lingering.

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Grown in most wine producing countries, Cabernet Franc is mainly use as a blending grape for Meritage style blends. Currently, many wineries are bottling 100% CF, as in Canada where it’s finding many new fans. Here in 🇨🇦  it’s also use to make delicious Icewine. Made in different styles from a lighter more herbal wine from it’s motherland of la Loire Valley, France to a fuller, richer style from California, USA. This CF is much closer to what you would find in California. A wine with great aromatics, beautifully balanced and it’s flavourful mouthfeel makes this Cab Franc nearly impossible to put down. Cheers my wine friend 🍷