LCBO Sale Wine of the Week: April 11

Thorn-Clarke Barossa Grenache Shiraz 2016 (Barossa, Australia)

Sale $14.95, Regular $17.95
Discount (until April 29): $3.00
LCBO #499616 | 750 mL bottle

Tastes like: Velvety red and blue berries, plum and nice soft spice. Full-bodied and weighty, but well balanced, fruity and easy to like. Complex and lively.
Pairs with: Steak and burgers on the grill, mushroom tagliatelle, wild boar ragu, grilled portobellos.
Good for: When you want to balance heft and finesse — kind of like doing yoga with a barbell. It’s fun and you look good doing it!
Alcohol: 14.5%
Drink: Now to 2020.

Why we're drinking this
Grenache and Shiraz combine in this hefty and fruity wine. It’s very much an Aussie profile, with classic Shiraz spice and heft, along with nice red-fruit qualities from the Grenache. Both grapes are capable of much richness and high alcohol, and this wine does weigh in at 14.5% alcohol, which makes it a bit hot. But it is well balanced and you don’t really notice. This is a very well-made wine from Australia’s Barossa, which is famous for its Shiraz.

Tasting note
This is a powerful wine with lots of fruit and spice. It’s easy to like, as that velvety richness is quite seducing. So be careful… at 14.5% alcohol, it can sneak up on you. But there’s lots of fresh berry fruit, lovely sweet spice and a little oak toast, making for a complex and eminently sippable wine. It’s delicious on its own or with food. Try big juicy steaks, roast beef and other fatty things. Go for big rich flavours to match the wine’s heft. Mushroom tagliatelle, roast portobellos, wild boar ragu, huge drippy burgers… that sort of thing. It’s not a shy wine, so your food will need matching personality.

Find it at your LCBO
Check availability on the LCBO website!

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