Pelee Island Monarch Red

2008 Pelee Island Monarch Red, $9.95. LCBO#107763.

Wine Wednesdays have made me especially fond of the middle of the week. I thought I’d be patriotic and sample a Canadian $10 bottle, which is no mean feat if you want something VQA, and not mass-produced in the Niagara (Romanian juice) tradition.

Pelee Island Winery delivers an exceptionally fun and sippable bottle for a reasonable price. It is a red blend, which they list as Zweigelt: 33%, Baco Noir 40%, Chambourcin 10%…..and 17% mystery if you are able to do simple math.  No matter, as the wine is well worth drinking, even if the vintners were drunk when they calculated the technical data. I really like Baco Noir, and this delivers a lighter version of that extreme fruitiness.

The wine is a ruby colour, with an earthy nose and a fruit forward, jammy taste. Kevn detects raspberries while I say grapefruit. It has a sweet-tart quality but still a balanced finish. Somewhere between light and medium bodied, it would be excellent as a summer wine, and paired well with our BBQ dinner. I feel a picnic related daydream coming on…..

It is a very fun and friendly wine, and I think I may keep some on hand for our inevitable housewarming party.

Overall, I give this wine 8/10 for taste and 4/5 for value.