8.25/10 $12.75 Palatine Hills Lakeshore Red Blend VQA (Ontario). Garnet purple colour. Cherry, leather, vanilla and ripe berry on the nose. Dry and medium bodied with almost nonexistent tannins. Jammy notes of blackberry and strawberry, along with vanilla and smoke. This red is a blend of Cab Sauv, Baco Noir, Merlot and Gewurztraminer.
At first sip: it’s got nice rounded juicy flavour! This red blend is easy-going but also has lots of character. It’s fruit forward and packs a really nice, savoury mouth feel. There is a hint of sweetness to it, however I wouldn’t quite call it semi-dry. If you are a fan of Baco Noir, I’m thinking you will enjoy this bottle as that was what first came to my mind. And despite the blend with Cab Sauv, I did not detect much oak flavour here.
Overall, I really enjoyed this bottle! It’s got plenty of crowd-pleasing appeal, offers unbeatable value for the price, and would be well suited to accompany most casual dinners (although something like smoked dry rubbed ribs would be an unreal combo).
Side Note: I picked up this bottle from PalatineHills while on round two of tastetheseason (…so it’s not actually available at the liquor store—sorry!). To be honest, I had never really heard of their winery before and was surprised to learn that they have been long established in NOTL.
Their winery had a really cool vibe, was on the modern side with friendly staff, and had lots of complimentary tastings to choose from. Oh, and not to mention that their pumpkin spice waffle on a stick was SIZEABLE and delicious, and the highlight of my day. I definitely recommend adding them to your NOTL visit next time.
young winehopper 
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