These six excellent new releases at the LCBO make great last-minute gifts

A rich Italian red

For the Europhile with a penchant for big reds, give the 2020 Duca di Saragnano Alchymia Primitivo IGT from Puglia, Italy (Vintages Essential $22.95). This wine only became a Vintages Essential in the summer, but it’s already a bestseller. It’s that good.

Each sip starts with the perfume of red fruits and earth, coffee and stone, before drenching the palate with a cashmere crush of muddled cherries and blackberries laced with black earth, graphite and a touch of black olive. Despite the depth and broad-shouldered appeal, the wine remains refreshingly drinkable — so certainly table friendly. Easy win, especially at the price. Score: 95

A can’t-go-wrong white

For those who gravitate to crisp, unwooded whites, the bottle to snap up and wrap up is the 2021 Zenato San Benedetto Lugana DOC from the Veneto region of Italy (Vintages Essential $21.95). This new Vintages Essential is sure to appeal to everyone from the Pinot Grigio drinker to the one who prefers the quiet stoniness of Chablis.

From its faint fragrance of brisk sea air and lemon zest to its vivid wash of vinosity that glides in glasslike and pure and then cascades with pear, salted stone, lemon and almond, this bone-dry white is all charm. Instantly refreshing with undeniable weight and substance, it is sure to please. Easy elegance. Score: 93

Californian dreaming

For the lover of toasty-creamy whites, give a bottle of the newly released 2021 First Press Chardonnay from Sonoma, California (Vintages $26.95). Each swirl of the glass releases the shy scent of lemon meringue pie before streaming in and fanning out with fetching flavours of lemon curd, freshly rolled pastry and vanilla bean before leaving behind the unmistakable flavour of crème brûlée. That vanilla-cream-toffee finish lingers for ages before closing with a toasty-smoky-mineral note. Dry, bright and fun to drink. Score: 91 

Italy’s answer to Champagne

Fans of fine fizz would appreciate the recently released NV Ca’ del Bosco Franciacorta 45a Edizione Cuvée Prestige Extra Brut from Lombardy, Italy (Vintages $43.95). Like Champagne, Franciacorta is based on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir made bubbly by a second fermentation in bottle. So it can offer sophistication, complexity and finesse in the glass, which is the case here.

Each fragrant glassful opens with dried apricots, poached peach and buttered toast on the nose. Strings of tiny bubbles pierce the pale liquid and bead, mousse-like, on the surface. Then, the brisk attack beams in, quickly unfurling with flavours that echo the aromas in a deliciously dry and delicate way. A touch of hazelnut and lemon zest soon emerge before the wine tapers to a long slow finish. Sophisticated bottle at a reasonable price. Score: 90

An undervalued Cabernet

Give the bargain hunter on your list the 2020 Feudo Arancio Cabernet Sauvignon DOC Sicily, Italy (LCBO $12.95 till Dec. 31, reg. $15.95). It might just become that person’s new house wine because it’s so inexpensive — but it doesn’t look or taste that way.

This new General Listing at the LCBO tastes ripe, smooth and full of fruit with its dry but not-too-dry expression of macerated blackcurrant and cherry goodness threaded with caramel, dark chocolate and nuts. Juicy, versatile red that’s a total crowd-pleaser. Attractive label too. Score: 90

A top notch Prosecco

Impress the Prosecco drinker on your list with the NV Ziraldo Prosecco Brut Superiore DOCG Valdobbiadene, Italy (Vintages $26.95). This new release shines glossy blond and dances with delicate aromas of white peach and sliced pear with a touch of almond cookie. Then, it darts in lively and fresh, fruit-driven yet mineral. A flood of orchard fruit and grapefruit — flesh and pith — saturates the palate then tapers to a long, slow, savoury finish that suggests bitter orange first, then cinnamon stick. Attractive weight and substance here. If you want a step up from ordinary Prosecco, this is the wine. Score: 90

This upmarket Prosecco is by Donald Ziraldo, who is a bit of an Ontario wine legend, having founded the first winery in Canada after Prohibition with his business partner, Karl Kaiser. That was Inniskillin Winery in Niagara back in 1974. He’s done many wine projects in Ontario and abroad since then — and this is his latest venture.

Although all these wines work very well as gifts, consider picking up one for yourself, too, to splash in your glass as you wrap things up this holiday season. You’re worth it.