ottawa foodies

I'd like to buy a bottle of wine for a good friend as a hostess gift for a party she's having. She's a big fan of Amerone. I'd like it to be a vintage from 2008, the year I met her. Sappy, I know. Hopefully 2008 wasn't a dreadful year in wine!

As well, it can't be something that has to be specially ordered in, as the party is this Saturday. Yeah, I know, I've left it to the last minute.

Budget: I can go up to $40.

Any suggestions?

Can't think of many particular wines, but go to one of the bigger LCs, and look at the Italian or Spanish sections. I've bought older, but non-vintage (read:non-expensive) wines from those countries, from about that year.
Vellitri is one Italian that comes to mind. Unfortunately, generally, older is either more expensive, or past the 'best drink by' date.

Hmmm, hadn't thought about the fact a 2008 might be past its 'best drink by' date.

Thankfully, my friend enjoys all sorts of alcohol. Are there any other kinds of booze that would be from 2008 that would fit the budget? A 2008 wine would be preferred, but a 2008 anything will do in a pinch! ;-)

A good bottle of 2008 Amarone should not be past its "best by" date but your selection might be a bit limited at below $40. Here is one option by a good producer, although I have not had this particular wine. You also can do an online search of Vintages website for "amarone 2008" and then check the results against your local store(s).
www.vintages.com

Sorry, I wasn't overly clear in my original post! I mentioned that she likes Amerone to give people an idea of her taste/flavour preferences in wines. Not because I need to buy her a bottle of Amerone. She's already got lots of that on hand, lol!

In that case, I would recommend going to an LCBO with a large Vintages section and take advantage of the consultants that they have on staff. With a $40 budget and a 2008 Vintage year, I am sure that they can come up with many suitable recommendations for an Amarone lover. I have had good dealings with the staff at the King Edward and the Westboro Superstore locations.

FYI:
The King Edward LC has the Velletri I mentioned-2008.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I was limited for time, so I only had access to 2 LCBO's that had a vintages section. One vintages section was so small, it was more like a vintages shelf, not a section!

I did find a 2008 Douro from Portugal, and I warned her that it might not be very good. To hedge my bets, I also picked her up a 2011 Vallpolicella Repasso which I was told was good.

Call me facile (I dare you!), but I think that anything that's still being sold at Vintages is not going to be over-aged. Maybe it won't be to your tastes, sure, but it's not going to be past its prime.