Sometimes, I’m an optimist to a fault. During that long string of warm-ish, sunny days when cherry blossoms and magnolias were exploding all over town, I figured that they’d go on forever. A few recent, rainy days shook me into reality; I’m assuming I’m not the only one.

I’d been in such a spring-y state of mind that I’d put bigger, richer reds on the back burner—but I found them calling me as I donned a few layers and grabbed the umbrella. Assuming we’re not out of the woods yet, I have a round of reds to share this week.

A note on pricing: come Wednesday (April 1), B.C. Liquor Stores will be tweaking price tags across the board to accommodate the new wholesale liquor program coming into effect. If you happen to clip and save this column for future shopping trips (you all do that, right?), please take these prices with a grain of salt.

Nederburg 2011 Manor House Cabernet Sauvignon (Western Cape, South Africa; $18.99, B.C. Liquor Stores)
Oh, man—I’m totally impressed with this one. I don’t know what it is, but most often I find under-$20 Cabernet Sauvignons from anywhere in the world not so enjoyable. They’re often too sweet, too high in alcohol, or just don’t have a pleasant taste. My Goldilocks Cabernet is right here. This is such a textbook example of the variety that I wouldn’t think twice about using it as an example of the style in a seminar or class. Dark currants on the nose with a good clutch of violets, lilacs, and cedar continue on to a palate loaded with chewy black fruit and peppermint. The oak treatment is a touch heavy-handed tanninwise, but a good couple of swirls in a big glass will provide a little ease.

Dinastia Vivanco 2009 Crianza (Rioja, Spain; $22.49, B.C. Liquor Stores)
Sometimes a wine just tastes Spanish. Old-school, leathery aromatics mingle with fruity tobacco, red berry fruit, and licorice as you sip, along with oven-roasted tomatoes to make things food-friendly. There’s a warmth to this wine, and I don’t mean the heat of alcohol. It’s soft and comfy, something you can swaddle yourself in on the couch while the wind howls outside.

Finca Las Moras 2012 Paz Malbec (San Juan Cuyo, Argentina; $18.99, B.C. Liquor Stores)
We’re used to seeing a lot of Malbec coming out of Mendoza, Argentina’s most popular wine region. This guy comes from San Juan Cuyo, a little further north, with a lot more heat. The result is a wine that has solid fruit intensity and concentration, but the high-altitude vineyards allow for good acidity to keep things balanced. Mocha and stewed plums waft out of the glass, with a palate chock full of blackberries and dark cherries. Right in the middle of it, post-sip and pre-swallow, there’s a bright red centre of strawberries and raspberries that slips away as soon as it appears. The black fruit and concentration carry out the very long finish.

Osoyoos LaRose 2010 Le Grand Vin (Okanagan Valley, B.C.; $45, B.C. Liquor Stores)
This is the current vintage available in B.C. Liquor Stores; I love that we can easily nab something local with a little age on it. A Bordeaux-style blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec, Osoyoos Larose’s Le Grand Vin has been an Okanagan benchmark for a decade now. In the not-so-distant past in B.C.—I’m talking the ’90s here—we seemed to have this need to make our reds as big and bold as possible. Being such a new region, I think the philosophy of many was to prove we could make big and oaky reds like the Aussies or Californians. Not only was this style not ideal for our wines, overripeness and heavy oak just mask the purity, minerality, and natural acidity of our fruit, and it significantly affected how our wines aged. You’d have wines taking on secondary flavours like sarsaparilla, smoked meat, and even soy or hoisin notes, ideal in certain wines with age, but these were cloaked in heavy oak with tannins still so grippy that the mouth puckered after each sip. Here’s a great example of a wine coming along well. Jammy and chocolate-y on the nose; there’s a few carvings of roast beef following, along with dried plum, blueberry, and a hint of sage. The oak is coming into balance, and it’s so well structured I’d venture there’s still a good five to seven years to go.