Other than their famous icewines, we have absolutely no acquaintance with Canadian wines. So when we saw some Pillitteri Estate wines offered at discounted prices at Fairprice Finest some weeks ago we bought two to try, one red (a merlot) and one white (a gewurztraminer and riesling blend). The white is still in the fridge. The red was drank over the weekend with our fried rice lunch.
The price of the 2010 Pillitteri Merlot was below $30 (I can’t remember the exact price, but the supermarket seems to be a good place to look for affordable wine in Singapore). Being our first Canadian wine, we really did not know what to expect. It turned out to be really pleasant. Very fruity and smooth, almost like liquid blackberry jam but without the sweetness. Minimal tannins can be detected, even when straight out of the bottle. Not much depth or complexity though – it was a simple open-and-drink type of wine for a casual meal such as fried rice or pizza.
Would we buy it again? Definitely yes, if they are still selling it below $30. If it is significantly more than that, we would probably want to browse a bit to see what else is available before placing one in the shopping basket.
Cheers!