LCBO Food & Drink Winter 2018

DRINK  WINE

in the

RED BY JAMES CHATTO  •  PHOTOGRAPHY BY DARREN KEMPER

IF YOU’RE CRAVING FULL-BODIED, FULL-FLAVOURED RED WINES—BUT ARE LESS KEEN ON THE HEFTY PRICE TAGS THEY OFTEN COMMAND—READ ON FOR OUR EXPERT’S PICKS OF BIG REDS AT SMALLER PRICES.

WHO DOESN’T LIKE a crisp white or a delicate, elegant light red wine? Actually, quite a number of people. For them, wine needs to be red, big- bodied and intense, preferably with plenty more flavours to offer than just fruit. The trouble is, wines like that are often quite expensive—unless you know where to look. Setting ourselves the challenge of finding 10 reds of genuine stature that are also priced at $15 and below, we turned up bargains from Portugal and Spain, Australia, South Africa and Chile. And we found they fell naturally into three groups based on the grapes used— Cabernets, blends involving Syrah (a.k.a. Shiraz) and blends of Portugal’s indigenous varieties. Big red lovers on a budget—these wines are for you!

FOOD & DRI NK WINTER 2018 71