Buyers Guide to Vintages June 20th Release

White Wines Beyond Chardonnay and How to Travel through Time with Wine

by Megha Jandhyala with notes by Michael Godel, John Szabo, Sara d’Amato, and David Lawrason

From archetypal crisp and stony Chablis to more opulent examples from California — and everything in between — chardonnay takes on many forms, enchanting us with its versatility and beauty. While acknowledging chardonnay’s undeniable charm, this fortnight the LCBO urges us to explore the world of white wines that lies beyond it.

What awaits us on this voyage? First, there are wines made from well-known grapes like sauvignon blanc. This example from South Africa is distinctive: a rich yet elegant expression of its oceanside terroir, shaped by granitic and sandstone soils. Michael describes it as “balanced between sea and land, marine airy, salty and wind affected.” Then, there are familiar grape varieties grown in unexpected places. Consider albariño, a variety most often associated with Spain’s Rías Baixas and Portugal’s Vinho Verde region. It “translates nicely” as David puts it, “across the pond to the Atlantic shores of Uruguay” in Bodegas Garzón’s Reserva Albariño. This is a riper and richer wine than its Galician counterparts but is nonetheless balanced and well-made.

The latest Vintages release also includes a southern Rhône white blend, a style that is relatively rare, as red wine makes up the bulk of production in this region. Made by stalwart producer Guigal, this wine is delightfully voluptuous on the palate; Sara refers to its “sultry, fleshy character.” I also love the refreshing citrus and tonic bitterness that lingers on the finish. Most unusual of all is this orange wine from Chile made with a relatively obscure local grape, torontel, which is a cross between listan prieto and muscat of Alexandria. John writes that it “expectedly explosive on the nose and the palate, bursting with flavour.”

All in all, this release is an opportunity to discover or revisit intriguing wines, which in turn serve as windows into faraway places that inspire either wonder or nostalgia, or both. Thinking about wine as a medium of discovery and memory reminded me of a panel discussion in which I recently participated, organized by the Cava Regulatory Board. We talked about how to differentiate Cava from Champagne, with which it is often compared. This conversation germinated a thought about wine’s evocative power that has continued to bud and blossom in my mind since then.

There are what I will refer to as technical characteristics of Cava that separate it from other sparkling wines. Examples of such features include the grape varieties used to make Cava (primarily native varieties, macabeu, xarel-lo and parellada) and the climate and soils of the regions in which these grapes are grown (interestingly, Cava can be made in four non-contiguous zones that are scattered across Spain from the southwest to the northeast of the country; you can find more information about these zones here.)

The more I thought about what distinguishes Cava from other wines, however, my focus began to shift. Arguably, most of us are drawn to a wine not because of its technical features, but rather because of its ability to evoke an aesthetic or emotional response in us. A great glass of Cava from Penedés takes me back to a picturesque drive I took through the region a few years ago, while a glass from the Ebro Valley sparks memories of the meandering Ebro River against a dramatic backdrop of snowcapped mountains.

Special wines transport us not only through space, but also through time. At first, they make us feel more fully and intensely present in the moment. Then, through the experience of a new place and culture, they can inspire dreams of future visits to this unfamiliar place. Often, they act as portals to the past by capturing in their flavours and textures not only a unique place but also a specific vintage. The coastal South African sauvignon blanc I described above is the product of a warmer than usual year. In its lushness, salinity and firm acidity one can almost taste and feel the cooling salty breezes that blew through the vines in 2024, offering respite from the warmth of the summer sun.

Wines can also ignite vivid nostalgic memories — the direct and robust connection between scent and memory has been well-established in scientific literature. Texture too can trigger powerful associations in my experience. Aged Nebbiolo, for example, always reminds me of my mother’s old silk saris.

This evocative potential of wine to warp time and space is one of its most remarkable and precious features. Technical aspects of a particular wine, including how it is grown and made, are what determine whether and how much of this power it will have. A wine made from grapes grown at high yields, for instance, will probably display muted flavours, making it less likely to manifest potent visions in our minds. That said, past experiences compel me to carve out a caveat here: technically unsound wines, including unbalanced or faulty ones can also provoke intense and even potentially unpleasant memories. This power is not always a good thing!

Below, you will find our recommendations from the latest Vintages release. Hopefully, some of these wines will help your mind take flight to new lands or immerse you in fond memories of familiar ones.

Buyer’s Guide Vintages June 20: White

Waldschütz Strass Grüner Veltliner 2024, Kamptal, Austria
$18.00, Wine Alliance
David Lawrason – Waldschütz has become a personal favourite from Austria in recent months. This lower-tier bottling is great value in a lively, fresh yet detailed and fairly rich grüner. The nose blooms peach, honey, fresh herbs, anise and hay/wildflower notes. Great summer dining wine.

Claymore Joshua Tree Riesling 2025, South Australia, Australia
$19.95, Family Wine Merchants
Sara d’Amato – This wine offers a rare (and well-priced) opportunity to taste the taut, electric style of Clare Valley Riesling, something we don’t see nearly enough of outside Australia. This dry find offers lime zest, stone fruit, delicate florals and clean, mineral salinity that will have you salivating. Effortlessly drinkable but substantial enough to keep it interesting.

Attems Cupra Ramato Pinot Grigio 2025, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
$19.95, Mark Anthony Wines & Spirits
Sara d’Amato – Ramato is a northern Italian skin-macerated pinot grigio — a grape with a pinkish skin resulting in a copper-hued style that lands somewhere in that “almost-rosé” space. Attems’ latest take is cheerful and lightly flinty, engaging and well-crafted. Best enjoyed well-chilled without overthinking.

Bodega Garzón Reserva Albariño 2025, Uruguay, World
$23.95, Mark Anthony Wines & Spirits
David Lawrason – The albariño grape of Galicia in Atlantic Spain translates nicely across the pond to the Atlantic shores of Uruguay, although Uruguay is six degrees warmer by latitude. So, this is not quite as lifted and pretty as some Spanish versions. But it is texturally solid and well balanced with yellow plum, beeswax/honey, fine tarragon and lemon blossom.

E. Guigal Côtes Du Rhône Blanc 2024, Rhône, France
$24.95, Vinexx
Sara d’Amato – A truly impressive find at this price. This throws a little bit of everything into the mix, led by 60% viognier with support by roussanne, marsanne, clairette, bourboulenc and a dash of grenache blanc. There’s a pleasing weight and viscosity here, contributing to a sultry, fleshy character. Look for a hit of verbena on the palate, that enhances a palate of ripe fruit, finishing with a distinctive minerality and a satisfying, rounded richness.
John Szabo – Yellow fruit and floral-violet aromas lead on this tasty wine from the reliable house of Guigal, delivering the expected, and more. Drink or hold 2 to 4 years.
Megha Jandhyala – This is quintessential white Rhône, marked by a characteristic note of refreshing bitterness on the finish that reminds me of citrus-infused tonic water. The allure of this wine is as much in its texture as its flavours, its delicate fleshiness supported and moved by lively acidity and an undercurrent of salinity.

Southern Right Sauvignon Blanc 2024, South Africa
$24.95, Connexion Oenophilia
Michael Godel – One to exult all that is special, important and exciting with respect to coastal, ocean-proximate wines. A sauvignon blanc of spatial awareness, balanced between sea and land, marine air, salty and wind-affected, conversely created because of ancient geology.
Megha Jandhyala – This is a distinctive expression of sauvignon blanc that seems to embody time and place, a season, and the terroir within it. Poised and graceful, but simultaneously richly concentrated, it has an enchanting, gently rounded texture.
John Szabo – A lovely vintage of Hamilton Russell’s Southern Right sauvignon, generous. It’s a ripe but shapely and full flavoured (neither green nor overtly tropical) example, more yellow in flavour without any overt wood influence. Drink now or hold 2 to 4 years.
Sara d’Amato – From the cool, ocean-kissed slopes of Walker Bay’s Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, this Hamilton Russell sauvignon blanc brings memorable charm. The illustrated whale on the label is a nod to the southern right giants cruising those nearby waters. The wine offers gently toasted edges, just-ripe fruit and a silky hint of butter, with the distinctive freshness of the variety. Breezy but polished.

Maturana Naranjo Orange Wine Torontel 2024, Maule Valley, Chile
$24.95, The Kolonaki Group Inc.
John Szabo – Expectedly explosive on the nose and the palate, and bursting with flavour — orange pekoe tea, potpourri, marmalade, apricot jam, quince paste and more in a complex presentation. In the genre, I have to say this is one of the more interesting and well-priced examples. Worth a look for the curious.

Blomidon Tidal Bay 2024, Nova Scotia, Canada
$27.95, Le Sommelier Inc.
Michael Godel – Uniquely Nova Scotian, tidal, true to signature white wine appellation, tidy, tart and blessed with some of Canada’s finest acidity. Not to mention a mouthful of juicy flavours. The alcohol is 10 percent and good times will follow.

Hidden Bench Rosomel Vineyard Fumé Blanc 2024, Ontario, Canada
$29.95, Mark Anthony Wines & Spirits
David Lawrason – Here’s a sophisticated, barreled, old-vine sauvignon that emulates white Bordeaux Cru Classé. Classic fresh herbs, grapefruit/lemon citrus marmalade and ripe guava mesh with fine barrel spice. It is medium weight, fairly dense and warm, but with fine acidity in the works. Excellent focus and length.
Sara d’Amato – Fresh off the heels of judging the National Wine Awards of Canada, here’s a standout local gem worth snapping up in this release: Hidden Bench’s single-vineyard fumé blanc. Crafted in a subtle, Bordeaux-inspired style, the wine shows a flinty, lightly smoky nose from gentle oak ageing, followed by a palate that rounds out memorably with lemon curd richness and just a touch of toasty sweetness. There’s impressive concentration here, with a lingering finish.

Bachelder Kirby Niagara Cru Single Vineyard Vieilles Vignes Pinot Blanc 2023, Ontario, Canada
$34.95, Lifford Wine & Spirits (Select Wine Merchants)
David Lawrason – Grab it while you can — a rare-ish and intriguing pinot blanc from old vines on the boundary of Niagara Lakeshore and Four Mile Creek. The nose is soft with Fuji apple, yellow plum and almost tropical banana-notes typical of this grape. There are also leesy/crouton touches from barrel fermentation in large 500-litre puncheons. It is medium weight, rounded and plush, yet quite delicate.

Catena Alta Historic Rows Chardonnay 2023, Mendoza, Argentina
$39.95, Connexion Oenophilia
Megha Jandhyala – Though the theme of this release is “anything but chardonnay,” I feel compelled to highlight this gorgeous example from Catena that will be ready to enjoy in a year or two. It is a rich and creamy yet lithe and agile wine, with tender fruit enveloped in notes of oak spice and buttered brioche.

Buyer’s Guide Vintages June 20: Rose

Rapaura Reserve Pinot Noir Rosé 2025, Marlborough, New Zealand
$19.95, Vinexx
David Lawrason – The necklace of show medals on a bottle from the LCBO indicates there is reason to perk up. And yes, there is impressive depth, energy and complexity to this bright, pale rose. The nose lifts off with classic pinot noir sour cherry pit/strawberry, grapefruit, saffron and rose. It is medium weight, quite racy, intense and well balanced (13% ABV) with lively acidity and a trace on rounding sweetness.
Sara d’Amato – It’s officially rose season at the LCBO, and there are several standout value picks to explore right now. This New Zealand rose hits the mark: it’s bright, salty and bone-dry, with a lively streak of acidity. I’ll admit, I tend to shy away from pinot noir roses as they can sometimes feel a touch leafy or prematurely oxidative. Yet, this one flips that script — it’s unapologetically fruit-driven and refreshing.

Stratus Cabernet Franc Rose 2025, Ontario, Canada
$32.20, Stratus Vineyards
John Szabo – Pours somewhere between a deep rose and a light red. Delivering full flavour, this is a substantial cabernet franc at 13.5% ABV declared. A wine for the table, whatever colour you prefer to call it.
Michael Godel – More than just rose is pulled from varietal bones. Draws colour, substantial (and ripe) fruit, extract, tannin, phenols and intensity. Is this a red wine? May as well be because depth and complexity conspire for wisdom and understanding well beyond what it means to be rose.

Buyer’s Guide Vintages June 20: Reds

Vincent De La Remondiere Morgon Cru Du Beaujolais 2023, Beaujolais, France
$22.95, Connexion Oenophilia
David Lawrason – This is a firm, slightly ferrous/iron, meaty gamay, very much on point for Morgon, the village cru known for making sturdy, age-worthy gamays. Actually, there is not much fruit charm here on the nose, although strawberry/red cherry does emerge on the palate. It is medium weight, firm, almost lean and quite gritty in texture. Aerate and/or age a couple of years.

Arnaldo Caprai Rosso Montefalco 2023, Umbria, Italy
$23.95, 30 50 Imports
John Szabo – Showing beautifully now, having turned the corner into more savoury territory with tannins sanded down to a fine grain. Red fruit shifts a bit leathery, mingling with wild herbs and dry, dusty earth. Drink over the near term.

Planeta Plumbago Nero D’avola 2022, Sicily, Italy
$24.95, Noble Estates Wines & Spirits Inc.
Michael Godel – Remarkable structure puts Plumbago in the rarefied air of inexpensive nero d’Avola that can age to nearly 10 years post vintage. Uncomplicated and assured. Tannin still speaks, so give some air for best current results.
John Szabo – Classically spicy nero from Planeta’s Menfi property in southwestern Sicily. Wood is perfectly integrated at this stage, tannins are plush and gentle, and acids in check. Stylish, generous and widely satisfying.

Castello Di Querceto Chianti Classico Docg 2022, Tuscany, Italy
$24.95, Profile Wine Group (Vin Vino)
Michael Godel – Twenty-eight months later and firmly entrenched in the early stages of a five-year-plus drinking window. No secondary character yet, but tannins are softening, perhaps now 12 to 18 months away from completing their work. Top level deal in Chianti Classico Annata.

Back 10 Big Leap Cabernet Franc 2023, Ontario, Canada
$29.95, Andrew Brooks
John Szabo – Attractively perfumed at this stage, Back 10’s 2023 cabernet franc is fluid and silky on the palate, with ample fresh-ripe dark fruit still on display. Comfortable, balanced, drinking well. Chill lightly and enjoy over the next 1 to 3 years.

Wynns Coonawarra Estate Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon 2023, South Australia, Australia
$44.95, Mark Anthony Wines & Spirits
Megha Jandhyala – Made with top-quality fruit, this historic cabernet sauvignon is potent and poised, displaying classic Coonawarra character. I love the dense flavours of dark fruit, dried eucalyptus leaf, violets, wet earth and barrel spice. This wine is ready to enjoy but can easily be cellared for another 3 to 4 years.
John Szabo – Wynns’s classic black label, now in its 69th vintage, in yet another fine example, mid-weight and elegant with finely dusty tannins edging towards silky texture, and lively, succulent acids. Best from about 2028.

Castello Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva Docg 2021, Tuscany, Italy
$58.95, Stem Wine Group Inc.
Michael Godel – Beauty incarnate, the proviso of sangiovese perfumes returning again and again, sip after sip, promising and providing all that we ask for. Drink 2026 to 2032.

That’s all from me today! All the best for your travels, whether literal or figurative, and I hope you have a wonderful and memorable summer!

Megha Jandhyala

Use these quick links for access to all of our June 20th Top Picks in the New Release. Non-premium members can select from all release dates 60 days prior.

John’s Top Picks – June 20th
Lawrason’s Take – June 20th
Megha’s Picks – June 20th
Michael’s Mix – June 20th
Sara’s Selections – June 20th

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