By Gaby Israel
The “Day After Tomorrow” is not only a name of a apocalyptic movie. It’s also a phenomena known at the LCBO as the month of January.
After all the December hype with a huge variety of expensive wines a person can find in one single release, there isn’t any money left in the wallet (regardless of how deep your pocket used to be), and it seems as if there is nothing interesting left on the shelves… Or is there?
Here are my top 3 picks for ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ release:
2007 La Pieve Barolo – $28.95
Who said a good Barolo needs to cost $50+ to be enjoyable? A perfect wine choice for the winter. Since 2007 was a classic vintage (RP rewarded it 97!) in this region and Natalie gave this 2007 La Pieve Barolo (as well as their 2005) a generous 92, I’d recommend buying 3-6 bottles and consume it over the next 5-10 years – what a great GPCi !
2006 Fattoi Brunello di Montalcino – $34.95
2006 was a stellar vintage in Tuscany. Add a tempting price for a very supportive review by Winespectator (WS=92) and you’ve a got a winner for the cellar. Brunello goes well with so many dishes I like – from simple steak, to stew and even pasta carbonara. You name it. a very food friendly wine. If you like good Brunellos, this 2006 seems like a good choice – it will age gracefully for 8-15+ years.
2009 Domaine De L’Arnesque Cuvée Capalane Châteauneuf du Pape – $39.95
From the excellent 2009 vintage in the southern part of the Rhone Valley. Not as famous as other Domaines (yet) in the region. This is a 100% Grenache that was aged for 6 months in barrel. Got an impressive 18/20 points from Jancis Robinson (top 20 CdP together with Beaucastel, Roger Sabon Prestige and other more know CdP). For half the price of Beaucastel, I’d say buy 3-6 bottles and enjoy them slowly over the next 15 years.
Gaby Isreal
Gaby has been providing wine tasting notes and buying recommendations for several years now.
The name WineGPCi (pronounced Wine Gypsy) was given by his friends. GPCi stands for Gaby’s Potential Cellaring Index. While searching for “treasures for the cellar” without going to the bank, the GPCi was initially used to calculate the ratio between the price of the wine and the number of years it can potentially be cellared for; trying to find the wines that had the smallest index/ratio possible.
Any good wine that had a GPCi of 3.5 and under, was worth buying (mainly if you were planning to develop a cellar). Many years and “750 bottles in the cellar” after, his knowledge, experience and passion continued to grow. He continues to focus on helping the consumer finding “logical” ways of buying wines and planning the budget for it.
His great passion for wine revolves around old-world wines such as Spain, France and Italy while experimenting the new world exciting regions of Chile, Argentina, Australia, Canada, the US and others.
