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2023 One Pound Per Acre Chardonnay South Australia

(LCBO 32828, $10)

Score 92

Australia and California are both sun-drenched places capable of making ripe, round expressions of Chardonnay, with a natural affinity to American oak. This bottle is a case in point. Each glassful tastes like the perfect, lemon Danish pastry. The fragrance calls to mind tart lemon curd, toasted pastry and vanilla icing. The entry is smooth and bright with a bracing centre balanced by a slight butteriness and a twist of orange zest. Then, it slowly tapers to a vanilla-toffee finish. Easy win at a low price. (13.5% alc. 3 g/L sugar)

2024 Lindeman鈥檚 Bin 65 Chardonnay South Eastern Australia

(LCBO 142117, $12.45)

Score 94

Those who crave richer styles of oaked Chardonnay will love this expression. Each swirl of the glass releases vanilla cupcake and cr猫me br没l茅e aromas. Then, it surges in with sun-soaked flavours of juicy pear, baked apple and fresh pineapple drizzled with caramel before receding to that vanilla-cream character found on the nose and lingering. Tasted blind, you might mistake this Aussie Chardonnay for a more premium version from California. One sip and you see exactly why this label has been popular for eons. Reliable bargain. (13.5% alc. 5 g/L sugar)

2023 Speck Brothers Family Tree 鈥淭he Goat Lady鈥� Chardonnay VQA Niagara Peninsula

(LCBO 16792, $16.95)

Score 90

This bottle from Ontario tastes like wooded Chardonnays from cooler parts of California, Washington and Oregon. It鈥檚 ripe and toasty, fermented and aged in American oak and shows a subtle note of sweet butter, but that bright seam of acidity is where the cool climate shows through. The luminous white starts with the scent of orange Creamsicle before sweeping in with a generous wave of ripe pear and lemon-butter that soon shifts to reveal hazelnut biscotti and marmalade on toast. Short finish but keeps you sipping. (13% alc. 6 g/L sugar)

To replace your favourite California聽Cabernet Sauvignon

2022 Barone Montalto Cabernet Sauvignon Nero d鈥橝vola Sicilia DOC, Italy

(LCBO 621151, $12)

Score 94

Sicily, that island off the coast of Italy, enjoys hot, sunny summers and mild winters. So the styles of red wine produced there tend to be ripe and jammy, like the sweet-centred Cabernets and red blends from California. If you love that style, this is your wine. It blends Cabernet Sauvignon with Nero d鈥橝vola, a black-cherry-scented variety. And the results are deliciously hedonistic. Think strawberry jam and plump black-cherry aromas followed by a velvety blast of muddled cherries, cassis, dark chocolate and coffee crema. (13.5% alc. 10g /L sugar)

2023 Villa Puccini Governo Toscana IGT, Italy

(LCBO 31802, $16.05)

Score 94

If you miss those rich, almost spoonable Cabernet Sauvignons and red blends from the U.S., you鈥檒l love this gorgeous Governo. It鈥檚 like that 鈥� but more affordable. This lush red starts with the warm perfume of poached plums and berries before a fleshy, expansive flood of flavour follows. Then, allusions of fruitcake and walnut emerge on the finish. Saturated and full, yes, but refreshing acidity hems in the opulence well. Fun fact: Governo means the wine was made with dried fruit, which adds depth and power. (14% alc. 13g /L sugar)

To replace your favourite California聽Pinot Noir

2023 Leyda Reserva Pinot Noir D.O. Valle de Leyda, Chile

(LCBO 36816, $16)

Score 93

California and Oregon Pinot Noir tends to be round and fruit-forward 鈥� much like this bottle from Chile. On the nose, a beautiful black raspberry and wild blueberry fragrance draws you in and then nods toward dark earth and warm violet. That invitation leads to a shiny-smooth slip of ripe-berried goodness: raspberry and blackberry at first, followed by coy allusions of graphite, violet and spice. Sweet-fruited but bone dry, this slow sipper offers outstanding quality at a very reasonable price. Might become your new house red. (13.5% alc. 3 g/L sugar)