Wine of the Week for January 14, 2008

Drostdy-hof Chardonnay 2006 - $9.60
Style: W1
South Africa

Can an under $9 wine actually be good? Until Feb 3, the LCBO is offering a full dollar off this little gem. The nose shows tropical fruits, spiced apple, almond, and butter. A racy acidity supports green apple, baked lemon and toast flavours. Very good body and length, it's a bit young and nervous right now, but quite enjoyable. Just for fun, tuck a couple away to see what happens. A nice companion for ocean fish, pork or sea foods. (LCBO 343202)

There's been a lot of press coverage lately about the LCBO pushing the average price point on their store shelves. This doesn't mean that bargains will disappear, but it may make my job a bit trickier. What really concerns me, though, is that their stated mandate for VQA wines (i.e. actually Canadian wines) is a narrow price band - $10.95 - $13.95. That suggests that there will be more VQA wines for me to recommend to you, but based on past experience, I expect that this policy will translate to less choice, not more. We'll see...