LCBO Food and Drink Holiday 2015

WINE  EXTRAVAGANT GESTURES

CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE CHAPOUTIER LES GRANDS MERISIERS AOC LCBO 421073, $34.95 Before there were big red fruit bombs, there was Châteauneuf-du-Pape—warm, welcoming, complex red from the Rhône with high alcohol and velvety tannins. Grenache anchors the blend of grapes (its moment of superstardom in an otherwise hum- drum career), together with Syrah and Mourvèdre, though 13 varieties are permitted. A merisier is a wild cherry tree and this wine from the venerable M. Chapoutier is packed with the scent and flavour of morello cherry, shot through with oaky spice. Pair it with rich game or wild boar dishes with a powerful sauce, duck confit or cassoulet, or bring out the fruit in the wine with a semi-soft goat cheese. HIDDEN BENCH TERROIR CACHÉ MERITAGE VQA VINTAGES 505610, $38.00 After the massive, rich 2010, the 2011—in stores November 14—is a triumph of ruthless pruning and meticulous winemaking in a cooler year. Dark, voluptuous and amazingly concentrated, it blends 52 percent Merlot with 25 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 15 percent Cabernet Franc and a splash of Malbec. Twenty months in new and older French oak weaves the tannins and cassis, damson and bramble fruit with cedar, clove and espresso aromas. If you’re going to open it now—to serve with charbroiled lamb or rare bison steak perhaps— decant it for a good hour. Or keep it in your cellar for years to come.

STAGS’ LEAP WINERY CABERNET SAUVIGNON VINTAGES ESSENTIALS 996405, $49.95

The year 2012 was a near-perfect vintage in Napa’s Stags’ Leap district and the winery achieved its perennial aim of balancing intensity and finesse in its renowned Cabernet Sauvignon. Small percentages of Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot are in attendance but this is King Cab’s court and the air is filled with blackcurrant, black cherry and suggestions of licorice, pepper and graphite. Concentrated but not at all jammy, this is a wine that deserves to be savoured on its own. If cooks insist on bringing something to the table, ask them to keep it simple—steak seasoned with nothing more aggressive than salt and pepper, or a pristine rack of lamb.

202  FOOD & DRI NK HOLIDAY 2015