Wine Tasting

Wine Appreciation

For further information or questions please contact Wine Convener - Michael Preston.

The Applewood PROBUS Oenophiles:
“Oenophile , a person who enjoys wines and is not a connoisseur.”

Wine Tasting is a pretty broad topic. I’m sure that most, if not all of you, have tasted wine in an informal setting. I’m sure too that most of you have either been on a wine tour, visited a wine cellar, a wine bar or all of the above, and experienced some of the formalities in their tastings - noting colour, clarity, aroma/bouquet, grape type, hints of fruit, coffee, chocolate, sour grapes etc.

Well, Applewood Probus Tastings, from my experience, incorporate some of this formality, but REALLY, we are just enjoying the wines. We do use an evaluation sheet to score our impressions on each wine tasted - Appearance; Aroma/Bouquet; Taste/Texture; After-taste and more. It’s amazing how at times everyone’s scores can be so similar, or so very opposite, which causes immediate “guffaws” and much friendly discussion.

Personally, the tastings have exposed me to wines that I may not have otherwise tried, as well as helped me develop a “do not purchase list”. Above all, it’s a great social gathering in a very informal setting, where there is a good group of guys, plenty of conversation, opinions and laughter.

The groups decide for themselves what works best for their meeting every month. All groups meet at least 8 times per year, (usually excluding July and August). Each group member hosts at least one meeting per year, with the other members contributing $20 - $30 (the group’s decision) to cover cost of the wines, cheese and crackers, etc.

There are currently four groups,each consisting of 8 - 9 members. Those who prefer to participate occasionally may register on a”Spares” listing.

The present group coordinators and meeting days are:
Group 1 (Mike Read) - 2nd Tuesday of the month.
Group 2 (Mike Preston) - 4th Wednesday.
Group 3 (Reg Perkin) - 3rd Wednesday.
Group 4 TBD
Group 5 (Dave Stubbert) - 3rd Thursday.

Our wine groups are encouraged to invite “spares” as well as members of other groups to make up their usual complement (in case of absenteeism). Probus has a culture of fostering socialization.

If you would like to join the Wine Appreciation Group, or have an interest in changing to another group, let it be known to the Group Coordinator or myself and we will try to make it happen.

PLEASE ENJOY RESPONSIBLY

Cheers Mike Preston

Group 1 - June 16, 2026

Seven members Wine Group 1 assembled at my place to appreciate a variety of Cabernet Sauvignon wines. The wines chosen were either from countries that are generally not famous for this wine, either because they are major wine producers that concentrate their production on other varieties of wine (e.g., Argentina on Malbec; Italy on Sangiovese; South Africa on Pinotage and Shiraz); or because they are in countries that not widely known for the production of this wine.

The wines selected were:

Ranking	Country	Winery	Origin	Vintage Year	Price	LCBO #
1	Italy	Collavini Villa Caniungo	Friuli-Venzia	2024	$15.00	31793
2	Isreal	Galil Bar Series	Upper Galilee	2023	$25.95	42516
3	South Africa	Neil Ellis	Stellenboch	2020	$19.95	41448
4	Ukraine	Bolgrad Select Collection	Yalpug Valley, Odessa Region	2024	$17.95	48357
5	Argentina	Catena	High Mountain Vines, Medoza	2024	$22.95	985002
6	Greece	Mega Spileo Estate	Achaia Region	2018	$36.95	539924

All of the wines were very much appreciated. Four were made from single variety Cabernet Sauvignon (100%) whereas two were blends containing 85% (Neil Ellis) and 91% (Catena) Cabernet Sauvignon, respectively. The wines from Italy and Argentina were favoured; however, but the wine from Greece had a distinctive taste that some rated exceptional and favoured. The conversation was wide-ranging and generally stimulating. It concerned topics such as the monthly speakers at Applewood Probus General Meetings (high quality of recent speakers very much appreciated), discussion of the wars in Ukraine and Iran (and Lebanon), favour of the increasing diversity of the Canadian population, and we should all consider seeing the movie Pressure, which is a true story dramatizing the hours leading up to the D-Day invasion in June 1944.

Denis Bailey

Group 5 - May 21, 2026

All 8 members of Group 5 met at the home of Joseph Reid to taste 2 white wines and 4 red wines. With much entertaining discussions on current world affairs and lots of laughter, the following wines were scored by the group as follows:

Jules Taylor Sauvignon Blanc 2024, $19.95, LCBO # 224428, 13.5 %, 3G. This Marlborough New
Zealand white is said to have an intense bouquet of ripe fruit. A Dean Tudor recommendation.
Score- 90.25

Ferzo Pecorino Superiore DOC Abruzzo 2023, $17.95, Vintages Essentials # 573863, 13%, 5G.
This highly-rated Pecorini varietal from the Abruzzo region of Italy is said to be light and crisp
with vibrant floral notes.
Score- 87.75

Shiraz Galway Vintage Yalumba, $19.95, Vintages # 41311, 14.5%, 4G, This fruit-forward and
fragrant, full-bodied and smooth Shiraz from Other, Australia gets great reviews . Drinkable to
2029.
Score- 90.0

Michel Gassier Nostra Pais 2023, $25.95, Vintages # 295410, 14.5%, 3G. This Grenache-based red
blend from France gets high ratings from Chris Waters. It is described as having a pleasantly ripe
fruity character. The blend includes Mourvedre, Syrah and Carignan.
Score- 87.25

Lucio Leuci Primitivo KPM 2021, $15.95, LCBO # 645853, 14.4%, 10G. This Primitivo from the
Salento region of Puglia (the southernmost tip, surrounded on two sides by seas) is a full-bodied
red, said to have a pleasing floral note, with good depth and length.
Score- 89.6

Alvis Drift 1 Pinotage 2022, $17.95, Vintages # 48109, 13.5%, 5G. This Pinotage from the western
cape of South Africa gets high ratings from Chris Waters. It is described as medium-bodied, with
a fruity and spicy flavour.
Score- 91.6

Group 3 - March 18, 2026

I hosted the Group 3 Wine Tasting Meeting on March 18th, 2026 and chose SHIRAZ/SYRAH, an old favourite.

Only one of the six tasted was called SYRAH.The rest were called SHIRAZ. This is the name of the grape used to make the wine. There seems to be no distinction between syrah and shiraz grapes.

Three of the wines were from South Australia, two from Canada and one from South Africa.

See below for details:

Ranking	Location	Name	Vintage Year	Price	LCBO #
1	Canada	Copper Moon	2020	$11.95	153311
2	Canada	Creekside	2020	$25.95	66634
3	Australia	Bin 555	2023	$16.05	441643
4	S Africa	Porcupine Ridge	2024	$17.95	863290
5	S Australia	Promised Land	2021	$13.95	441813
6	SE Australia	Smoky Bay	2021	$11.15	17650

The Canadian wines ranked one and two. This is better than the ranking three years ago when when I chose shiraz for the tasting.
I would like to think the Canadian wines and/or tasting has matured and improved with time.

There seems to be an effort in marketing the wines as shown by the catchy names. The names have some significance. For instance Copper Moon indicates the grapes were harvested at night.

Paul Walters

Group 2 - February 2026

Mike Preston, Victor Fornasier, Bob Ewart, Bob Weese, and David Luckock met at Jim Christie’s home. We also welcomed two new members Mario Furtado and Brian Divell.

Group 2 sampled two Pinot Noirs (one Canadian and one Chilean), two Shiraz (one Canadian and one Australian), and two Cabernet Sauvignons (one Canadian and one Argentinean).

Collectively the group preferred the Canadian Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon, but liked the Australian Shiraz over the Canadian. Unusually (for our group) we also gave the highest marks to the most expensive bottle and the lowest marks to the cheapest bottle.

Jim Christie

Wine	Location	Name	Score (out of 20)	Price
1	Chile	Cigar Box - Pinot Noir	13.2	$12.05
2	Niagara	Henry of Pelham Painted Wagon - Pinot Noir	14.6	$21.95
3	Australia	Sidewood - Shiraz	15.4	$19.95
4	Niagara	Peninsula Ridge - Shiraz	14.1	$16.95
5	Argentina	Kaiken - Ultra Cab Sauv	15.1	$22.95
6	Niagara	Reif Estate - Cab Sauv	16.5	$34.95

We hosted the Group 3 Wine Tasting Meeting on March 18th, 2026 and chose SHIRAZ/SYRAH, an old favourite.

Only one of the six tasted was called SYRAH.The rest were called SHIRAZ. This is the name of the grape used to make the wine. There seems to be no distinction between syrah and shiraz grapes.

Three of the wines were from South Australia, Two from Canada and one from South Africa.

See below for details:

Group 3 - Janurary 21, 2026

Our group of seven tasters… Bryce Atkinson, Jim Demeroutis, Jack Doney, Reg Perkin, John Spence, Marty Wanat and myself were challenged with the evaluation of a variety of red wines from Ontario acknowledging the theme of “ Elbows Up “. Unfortunately, Neil Paget, Doug Gilpin and Paul Walters were unable to attend, but they were capably replaced by John and Jim.

We tasted six wines… two Cabernet Sauvignon’s and four blends… Pinot Noir, Merlot, Bordeaux and Cabernet franc.

The top ranked wine was from Trius Winery… “The Icon”. “This wine shattered expectations in 1991 when it was named the best red wine in the world. 35 vintages later it remains Canadian, classic, bold, refined, and unapologetically original.”

Everyone enjoyed the selection of wines, camaraderie, and a considerable number of interesting conversations.

Don Steen

Group 2 - November 26, 2025

On November 26, the Group 2 Wine Appreciation section met for a tasting at The Fairways home of host David Luckock.

The event was staged as a blind tasting of six wines, arranged in three pairs. The two wines in each pair were made from the same grape varietal. The first was Sauvignon Blanc wines, one from from Chile and the other New Zealand. The second pair were Rioja wines, (Tempranillo grapes) both from Spain. The final pair were from the Rhone Valley in France (Grenache based blends).

After blind-sampling each pair in sequence, participants were challenged to identify the country of origin, the growing region, plus the grape variety from which they were made. In conformity with our group’s long track record on such questions, our guesses were wide-ranging on all counts, with accuracy proving elusive. No matter. The next questions about each pair were much easier to answer: “Which wine do you like better?", followed by “Why?”. Replies to this demanding test were unusually consistent for our distinguished panel of eight tasters.

Only at the end of the tasting was it revealed that each pair of wines included a rock bottom priced example and a (sort of) top priced example.

Typical prices (for the reds) were about $12 and about $44 per bottle.   So the real objective for this blind tasting was to discover whether higher priced wines are invariably better. In the case of the Sauvignon Blancs and the Rhone Valley wines, there was unanimous support for the better wine. In the case of the Riojas, the group strongly preferred the much less expensive bottle. That may have been due to a predominant “earthy” quality of the more expensive version, which many found unpalatable.

Perhaps lubricated by the wine consumption, our group engaged in a spirited debate about the state of Canada’s public healthcare system, with consideration of the need for a major overhaul (as presently being contemplated in Alberta).

For anyone interesting in trying our tasting samples for themselves, here are their specifics:

Santa Carolina                Sauvignon Blanc (Chile)       LCBO # 269597    $9.90
Stoneleigh Latitude       Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough, New Zealand).    LCBO # 40137    $23.95

Mesta Tempranillo D.O. Ucles Organic    (Spain).        LCBO # 40137    $10.80
Urbina Especial Reserva 2006        (Rioja, Spain).     LCBO # 10494    $44.95

Chemin Des Papes Cotes du Rhone   2024   (Rhone Valley, France). LCBO # 36056     $11.95
Famille Perrin Les Sinards Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2022 (Rhone Valley).   LCBO # 926626 $43.95

Group 5 - November 20, 2025

Wine group #5 met on November 20 hoping to finally answer the question:

Do you really have to spend a king’s ransom to get a wine that would satisfy the most discerning Probus palate? To help shed light on this puzzle, we tasted 3 relatively inexpensive wines alongside of their somewhat more expensive counterpart. We compared the following:

SANTA CAROLINA Sauvignon Blanc VS. STONELEIGH LATITUDE Sauvignon Blanc Chile #269597 $9.90 New Zealand #40137 $23.95

MESTA Tempranillo D.O Ucles. VS. Urbina Especial Reserva 2006 Spain # 44591 $10.80 Rioja, Spain 10494 $44.95

CHEMIN DES PAPES VS FAMILLE PERRIN LES SINARDS Cotes du Rhone France Chateauneuf- du-Pape #36056 $12.00 #926626 $43.95

The conclusions were less than definitive. While everyone generally agreed that the more costly wines displayed more character and complexity, with fuller bodies and more well developed and defined tastes and noses. Not everyone agreed that they were worth the extra expense.

It appears that we are going to have to do a lot more tasting before this question is finally resolved. :)

Dave Litner

Group 5 - July, 2025

WINE TASTING GROUP 5
JULY 17, 2025
Group 5 met in July and tasted both Rose and Red wines. Below are the rankings for each wine
TWO IN THE BUSH BIRD IN THE HAND SHIRAZ 2022 Australia - $18.95

2, SMOKY BAY ROSE – NE Australia $11.00

3. SIDEWOOD STABLEMATE SHIRAZ 2021 Australia $17.95

4. WITTS END LUNA SHIRAZ 2022 - South Australia $15.95

5. TORO BRAVO Shiraz Garnacha Rosado 2024– Spain $10.50

6. PROTEA ROSE 2024 - South Africa $15.00