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Pick of the week

Viu Manent Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 ($12.95,

No. 059196) from Chile is brimming with pronounced blackberry, cassis, chocolate and cigar tobacco. A good choice for rare steak.

*****

It happens once or twice a decade. Clouds part over France's customarily nebulous wine regions, the sun parks itself overhead and collectors drool in anticipation of a historic vintage.

It happened in 2005 in that trinity of regions hallowed by collectors, Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhône Valley. Conditions were especially good in Bordeaux, where the reds are blended mainly from cellar-worthy cabernet sauvignon and merlot.

Wine Spectator magazine has been dutifully whipping up a buyer's frenzy. In its current cover story, it ranks the 2005 Bordeaux vintage a near-perfect 99 points, calling it "among the greatest since the legendary 1961."

Canadian shelves have yet to see most of the high-end 2005s, which take a couple of years to mature in barrel and bottle and which should start pouring in later this year. British Columbia's Liquor Distribution Branch expects to have its best single day ever on Oct. 3 when it will release 6,500 cases of the stuff.

As for Burgundy, which specializes in earlier-maturing pinot noir and chardonnay, the mood has been more subdued, at least among Canadian shoppers. Supplies of great Burgundy are much more limited and usually don't make it onto store shelves. They tend to be snapped up by well-heeled customers operating outside the store system, buying direct (usually in minimum six- or 12-bottle case orders) from winery agents, whom they presumably have been plying with holiday gifts and free hockey tickets.

For the rest of us commoners, it means taking chances with less-distinguished labels on store shelves. Today marks the most substantial Ontario-store rollout yet of 2005 Burgundies, some of which are available in other provinces, notably British Columbia and Quebec. What follows are my highlights, though I wasn't very impressed over all. If you're looking for value, keep reading. The best buys from today's Vintages release aren't Burgundies at all.

Among reds, I most liked Domaine Doudet Aloxe-Corton Les Guérets 2005 ($44.95, product No. 066530). This premier cru is medium-bodied and chunky, with a fleshy texture, classic raspberry-like fruit and an attractive undercurrent of earth, herbs and tobacco. In British Columbia, look for Doudet-Naudin Clos du Roy 2005, another premier cru from the same producer ($59.95, No. 857219).

Among white Burgundies (all chardonnays), I most liked Paul Jacqueson Rully 2005 ($27.95, No. 065045), with its apple-toffee tones and firm acidity, and Bouchard Père & Fils Beaune du Chateau 2005 ($41.95, No. 901207), fairly lean, with a pronounced stone-mineral core and lively acid backbone. A few British Columbia stores are currently stocked mainly with the 2004 vintage. Look for the 2005 coming soon (at $49.99, No. 366500).

The big value, also a white, comes from the 2006 vintage, Paul and Mallory Talmard Macon-Uchizy 2006 ($15.95, No. 066639). This is substantial and fruity for a Macon, light- to medium-bodied with a nice herbal quality. Also excellent for the money is a wine I have mentioned before, Louis Jadot Bourgogne Chardonnay 2005, part of the continuously available Vintage Essentials category ($18.80, No. 933077). It's a great white to snap up by the case for a special party or to keep around as a high-end house wine.

By far the best wine of today's release comes from the Rhône, however. Chateaux de Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2005 ($89.95, No. 711317) is an especially cellar-worthy vintage of a big red wine that ranks generally among the longest-lived of the southern Rhônes. Big and firm, with a dense tannic backbone and classic nuances of black fruit, licorice and tar, it's dark and very concentrated. Give it 15 years in a cool cellar if you can. Limited quantities of both the 2004 and 2005 are available in British Columbia ($91.20, No. 277988). Look for the superior 2005.

Another top red of this release is Chateau Kirwan 2004 ($52.95, No. 664391), a third-growth red from the Margaux district of Bordeaux that ranks as the other good long-term cellaring candidate - and a decent buy in that regard. The concentration here is very impressive, with its dark, inky-purple hue, velvety-rich texture and classic Bordeaux minerality.

And now to those values I mentioned earlier. The standout bargain of today's rollout is Viu Manent Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 from Chile ($12.95, No. 059196). This full-bodied red shows why Chile is the top exporter of highly affordable cabernet sauvignons. It's brimming with pronounced blackberry, cassis, chocolate and cigar tobacco. A good choice for rare steak.

Memoria Primitivo di Manduria 2004 ($12.95, No. 687210) is a very impressively made Italian based on primitivo, a.k.a. zinfandel. Where many zinfandels veer into raisin territory, this perfectly ripened red is expertly balanced, showing plum and dark chocolate on a velvety frame, with a nice, funky-earthy note on the long finish.

Speaking of well-balanced zinfandels, I also liked Howling Wolf Zinfandel 2004 ($15.95, No. 057356) from California's Shenandoah Valley. Lean for a Californian, it shows a clear, relatively transparent colour and good, juicy acidity. Not hugely complex, but well made.

Also very good and worth the money is Robertson Winery Wolfkloof Shiraz 2005 ($18.95, No. 626341), a dark, luscious red with rich flavours of cherry liqueur and chocolate in a smooth, round package with a nice tingle of acidity on the finish.

And another impressive red from Chile, though more expensive than the aforementioned Viu Manent, is Perez Cruz Reserva Carmenere 2005 ($24.95, No. 670539), leading off with a core of almost-sweet cherry, plum and chocolate, followed by a pronounced, tea-like herbal quality.