Good morning wine lovers and happy #wineWednesday.  I hope your September is off to a great start.  I can see the leaves starting to change into their autumn wardrobe as I reach for a nice, comforting glass of red wine now over a crisp and refreshing white…

Which brings me to my first ever review of a wine that costs less than $10 Canadian.  It started when I received a voicemail from my Dad saying that he was looking for a great value-priced red wine for the Pentastic Hot Jazz Festival.  He was calling me from the Vancouver airport and asked if I would be so kind as to stop into Everything Wine and taste a Shiraz that was advertised, “If it good or better – I will order it”  Yes, I was dubious.  A wine for $6.99?  Hmmmm.

So, the next day I headed down to Everything Wine in North Vancouver and the gal at the front said they had it open and was being poured at their tasting bar.  Over I went feeling quite smug thinking, ‘I am one amazing daughter’ and no one was more surprised than I as to what I found.

J. Garcia Carrion’s ‘Belle Grove’ Shiraz 2013 usually retails for $11.99 so at $6.99, it is a significant savings.  It is a nice medium ruby red colour in the glass with aromas of vanilla, black currant, black cherry jam and a hint of black pepper.  OK – we are onto something here.  On the palate, the aroma notes were represented along with medium body and some nice tannin.  This Spanish Shiraz is juicy and very easy to drink.  I took another sip just to make sure – yep – I was happy to have made the trip!  Thanks, Dad.

Seriously, for $6.99 – you are NOT going to get an ‘excellent’ wine.  However, for $6.99 you ARE going to get a nice tasting, easy to drink wine that has a good flavour profile and a medium finish.  Believe me, I have tasted $40 plus bottles of wine that didn’t have what Belle Grove Shiraz has going on!  So, I am as blown away and surprised indeed. 

The sale ends today at 9PM.  I called the store and they have a good amount of stock left and you can order online if you can’t make it to a store.  It is the PERFECT wine to stock up on for casual dinner parties, BBQ’s, and Tuesday nights.  You can’t go wrong with this choice.  Personally, I bought a bottle first then, I bought a case.  They also sell them in 6 bottle cases. 

That is my review for this week.  I do hope you can get into the store by closing tonight.  They have 3 locations and, as I said, you can order online.  Even at $11.99 regular retail price – it is a good value!

Have a great week and enjoy!

XO
C