{"id":7250,"date":"2025-11-24T21:04:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T21:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/24\/let-the-people-speak-summer-2025\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T21:04:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T21:04:20","slug":"let-the-people-speak-summer-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/24\/let-the-people-speak-summer-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Let the People Speak – Summer 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reviews from the masses…<\/span><\/p>\n

I am lucky enough to teach wine classes in the city of Toronto. For 6 weeks I see 18 to 20 wine-curious folks, they come out to hear me preach the gospel of wine on a variety of topics. Each week, we pour three to five wines from the chosen topic: Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon, if we’re discussing grape variety; New Zealand or <\/span>France,if<\/span> the topic is a country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many years ago, a wine producer once said to me, “Why numbers, or stars, or any scire for that matter? Make it simple, like <\/span>Siskel<\/span> and Ebert.” Not a bad idea, so let’s put it into practice.<\/span><\/p>\n

My students disagree with many of the numbers they see on the bottles they buy – it is a topic path we often wonder down <\/span>— but they do know what they like…<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are the wines they liked, thumbs up, and didn’t, thumbs down.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thumbs Up …<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Chateau La Rose de <\/span>Vitrac<\/span><\/strong><\/span> 2022 Bordeaux<\/strong><\/span> (France) – $17.95 <\/span>– LCBO 43908 \"Summer<\/span><\/p>\n

Creekside<\/span> <\/span>2020 Shiraz<\/span><\/strong><\/span> (Ontario) – $15.95 <\/span>– LCBO 66654<\/span><\/p>\n

De Simone 2019 Merlot<\/strong> <\/span>(Ontario) – sold out – from cellar<\/span><\/p>\n

Family Tree (Henry of Pelham) 2024 Sauvignon Blanc “The Soldier’s Wife”<\/strong> <\/span>(Ontario) – $16.95 <\/span>– LCBO 25649<\/span><\/p>\n

Hester Creek 2022 Syrah<\/span><\/strong><\/span> (British Columbia) – $19.99 <\/span>– <\/span>winery only<\/span><\/p>\n

\"SummerLes Dauphins 2022 Cotes du Rhone<\/span> <\/span>Reserve Red<\/span><\/strong><\/span> (France) – $14.95 <\/span>– LCBO 385385<\/span><\/p>\n

Mascota<\/span> 2023 La <\/span>Mascota<\/span> <\/span>Cabernet Sauvignon <\/span><\/strong><\/span>(Argentina) – $16.95 <\/span>– LCBO 292110<\/span><\/p>\n

Penny’s Hill 2024 On Pound Per Acre Chardonnay <\/span><\/span><\/strong>(Australia) – $10.95 <\/span>– LCBO 32828<\/span><\/p>\n

Remy Pannier 2023 Sauvignon Blanc<\/span> <\/span>Val de Loire<\/span><\/strong><\/span> (France) – $14.15 <\/span>– LCBO 471318<\/span><\/p>\n

Rocca Della Macie 2023 <\/span>Moonlite<\/span><\/strong><\/span> Chardonnay Toscana<\/strong><\/span> (Italy) – $15.00 <\/span>– LCBO 30946 \"Summer<\/span><\/p>\n

Rosemount 2021 Shiraz<\/span> <\/span>Diamond Series<\/span><\/strong><\/span> (Australia) – $16.00 <\/span>– LCBO 302349<\/span><\/p>\n

Santa Carolina 2022 <\/span>Reserva<\/span> Cabernet Sauvignon<\/span><\/strong><\/span> (Chile) – $14.00 <\/span>– LCBO 275925<\/span><\/p>\n

SoHo Wines 2024 Sauvignon Blanc<\/span> <\/span>“Peggy” Marlborough<\/span><\/strong><\/span> (New Zealand) – $18.00 <\/span>– LCBO 144386<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thumbs Down …<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Bonamici<\/span> 2020 Merlot<\/span><\/strong><\/span> (British Columbia) – sold out – winery only<\/span><\/p>\n

Chateau Haut <\/span>Balastard<\/span> 2023 Bordeaux<\/span><\/strong><\/span> (France) – $14.30 <\/span>– LCBO 25608<\/span><\/p>\n

Concha y Toro 2023 <\/span>Casillero<\/span> del Diablo<\/span> <\/span>Merlot<\/span><\/strong><\/span> (Chile) – $11.95 <\/span>– LCBO 427088<\/span><\/p>\n

\"SummerConcha y Toro 2023 Sauvignon Blanc<\/span> <\/span>Diablo Crystal<\/span><\/strong><\/span> (Chile) – $15.95 <\/span>– LCBO 32498<\/span><\/p>\n

Francois <\/span>Martenot<\/span> 2023 La Collection<\/span> <\/span>Grande Reserve Chardonnay<\/span><\/strong><\/span> (France) – $14.40 <\/span>– LCBO 42074<\/span><\/p>\n

Smoky Bay Winery NV Cabernet Sauvignon<\/span><\/strong><\/span> (Australia) – $10.95 <\/span>– LCBO 553891<\/span><\/p>\n

Vineland Estate Winery 2022 Unoaked Chardonnay<\/strong><\/span> (Ontario) – $15.95 – LCBO 669374<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviews from the masses… I am lucky enough to teach wine classes in the city of Toronto. For 6 weeks I see 18 to 20 wine-curious folks, they come out to hear me preach the gospel of wine on a variety of topics. Each week, we pour three to five wines from the chosen topic: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vintages-releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7250\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}