Apologies and Suggestions

Hello everybody

I think that I owe all of you an apology - which is hereby tendered - for taking an unannounced sabbatical from this column, but it was starting to feel a little bit too much like work. I do intend to pick it up again, but, I think, on a more scaled back basis. In other words, instead to trying to cover every Vintages release, I intend to write more irregularly (is that a word?) as products that strike me as being really exceptional come to my attention.

Along those lines, I have a few suggestions:

Burgundy lovers should get some of the Albert Bichot Pinot Noir Bourgogne Vielles Vignes 2008, which is presently on sale for $13.25 a bottle. This is an unbelievable price for a decent burgundy, with notes of sour cherry and beetroot. Not the most complex wine, but it is great value, and will go really well with pork or poultry dishes. It's medium bodied, quite dry and with good structure and a medium to long finish. This is a general list product, and you may have to search around a bit for it, but you won't regret the effort. It even has a screw cap, which, from my point of view, is a great advangage and convenience for any drink now wine. I bought a case, and you should buy some too.

I also bought a good bit of another burgundy, the Dufouleur Pere et Fils Chambolle-Musigny 2007 at about $49.00 a bottle. This is a very elegant, complex wine which will benefit from another year or so in the bottle, or an hour or so of aeration, and is easily big enough to stand up to a rare cut of beef, as well as more traditional pinot noir accompaniments. I thought it was worth the $49, so imagine my chagrin when I found it in a clearance centre for $40.35. I bought more. If there's no clearance centre near you, your local vintages consultant should be able to get it for you. Highly reccommended.

If you're like me, you've been spoiled by Grey Goose Vodka, but you're more than a little put off by the price ($48.95 for a 750 ml bottle). If so, I have three suggestions for you, and, although they are not quite the same, I found all three very comparable (I generally drink my vodka pretty straight in martinis with only a drop of vermouth for flavour) and at much better prices. These are all general list products.

- My favourite of the 3 is Slava Ultra Premium Vodka ($32.95) from the Ukraine. Quite similar to Grey Goose, but perhaps not quite (but almost) as smooth. A very good substitute, though, at 2/3 the price.

- Russian Standard Vodka ($25.45). This is a wheat vodka from Russia, and, on a recent trip to St. Petersburg, is clearly quite popular in the birthplace of vodka.

- Zirkova Premium Vodka ($22.95). This is the younger brother (sister) of the Slava (above), and is also from the Ukraine. It is a step down from its more expensive sibling, but, if you like your vodka ice cold, or mixed, I'd bet you won't be able to tell the difference.

Any one of these three vodkas, depending on your taste, represents good value as against Grey Goose without sacrificing anything serious in the way of quality.

Cheers for now.

John