Featherstone Rosé 2014
VQA Niagara Peninsula $14.95 (117861) 12.6% alcohol
This ‘Bonomo Vineyard’ blend of Merlot, Gamay, Cabernet Franc bathes the front palate with ripe, off-dry cherry cordial and ripe red plum. On the back palate and aftertaste, a zesty wash of ruby red grapefruit mingles with red currant and spice. It’s a delightful combo successfully juggling plenty of balls. One might call it a ballsy wine with the oomph to pair with a deli board or all manner of charcouterie. Tried mine with home-smoked salmon, sweet onion, capers and cream cheese on a baguette then with duck liver pâté, sweet onion with chutney on ciabatta, both worked well. (Vic Harradine)

   
Southbrook Vineyards ‘triomphe’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

VQA Niagara Peninsula $22.95 12.6% alcohol
This organic red blend—87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc—opens with aromas of forest-floor notes and dark berry fruit. It bathes the palate with a structured wash of balanced, persistent flavours—red and dark currant and ripe red cherry—showcasing finesse and elegance. It’s medium weight with good mouth feel and a mid-length finish and aftertaste. Pour with smoked, grilled duck breasts and mango chutney. (Vic Harradine) 

• Winecurrent subscribers purchasing Australian wine may be familiar with the winery below as wine reviews often include a link to AFFW – see link below. These Australian wineries are a select group of twelve multi-generational Australian wine families representing 17 wine-growing regions and 48 generations of winemakers. All have the ability to offer a tasting of over 20 vintages of a flagship wine, show ownership of an established +50-year-old vineyard and employ world-class environmental practices -Australia’s First Families of Wine. In my opinion, they offer dessert, red and white wine with ‘sense of place’, something not often found in mass-produced wine. Vic Harradine

The following two wines from McWilliams were part of the May 16th release and at time of writing available in select LCBO stores.

  
McWilliams Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2013
Tumbarumba, NSW, Australia $29.95 (409904) 12.5% alcohol
Tumbarumba is a relatively new wine area—vines first planted 1982—and the coolest in the state of New South Wales, nestled beside the Snowy Mountains with Chardonnay its Regional Hero. Involved aromas of nutty notes, fig newton, spice and exotic incense abound. It’s a grand mouthful of medium-plus bodied, creamy-smooth ambrosia with tropical fruit, racy lemon curd and crisp green apple to the fore. Fermented with mostly indigenous yeast, it rested on lees in primarily older barriques, only 20% new, with no malolactic conversion. It finishes crisp and clean, deftly balanced with fully integrated oak. (Vic Harradine)

  
McWilliams Canberra Syrah 2013
Canberra District, NSW, Australia $29.95 (409888) 13.5% alcohol
Making wine for over 150 years, this region near the city of Canberra in the Australian Capital Region—Canberra is the capital of Australia—has risen to prominence only in the last fifteen with Syrah/Shiraz its Regional Hero. Aromas of black plum, baking spice and roasted herbs provide segue for a spice-laden wash of red berry fruit garnished with sprigs of savoury herbs and delectable tang. It’s mid weight with satin-smooth mouth feel and lingering savoury finish. Pour with grilled rack of lamb with portobello mushrooms. (Vic Harradine)