Here is a simple proposition. Choose Canadian when wine shopping or cellar digging for this, our 145th Birthday weekend. With no disrespect intended to the developing and burgeoning wine community of Nova Scotia and the most excellent Cideries of Quebec, today and over the following three days is the time to think Ontario and British Columbia.
http://o.canada.com/tag/june-23-2012-release/
What’s in a name? So many expressions define our national day of unity. Today we simply say Canada Day but let us not forget Le jour de la confédération, Dominion Day and La fête du Canada. The country united may see its wine regions separated by thousands of Kilometres but thanks to Bill C-311, they are now inching closer than ever. Let’s see wines from both provinces sharing the same table this weekend. “A bottle of red, a bottle of white, ” perhaps a bottle of rosé for Canada Day.
The grape: Pinot Gris
The history: Originally from Burgundy, a mutation of Pinot Noir, most at home in France and as Pinot Grigio in Italy
The lowdown: Winemaker Dan Sullivan is hitting it out of the park with all things Pinot in Prince Edward County
The food match: Pulled Pork Sandwiches with pickled ginger, pear and cilantro mayo
Rosehall Run Pinot Gris Cuvée County 2010 ($22) is off the off-dry chart where gun-metal pear and pomello peel away layers of mineral velocity. Sanctified, paint stripping stuff, rated PG. On my card at Barque. 89
The grape: Cabernet Sauvignon
The history: Bordeaux superstar
The lowdown: You’d be surprised how it can work for dessert wine and for blush rosé
The food match: Burgers with bacon, cheddar and aioli
Peninsula Ridge Beal Vineyards Cabernet Rosé 2011 (177840, $11.95) reeks of an underrated animal manure yet its savoury, red pepper jelly and wild leek pickle express its baa-benefits. The backbone is good, the cheese of a craftsman’s coagulation. Nice IVR*. 87
The grape: Gamay
The history: Hails from Beaujolais
The lowdown: Not just for Nouveau anymore. Serious renditions come from Morgon, Côte Du Puy and now Niagara
The food match: Beef Ribs and BBQ Sauce
Fielding Estate Gamay 2011 ($18.15) comes from concentrate and yet avoids Niagara iodine-ness. Impossibly see through Ori-Gamay, leaden but not weighty. Plum, cherry, spiceless and subtle regatta. Malleable and walking on the moon. “I may as well play. Keep it up.” A Barque Red. 87
Ontario
Angel’s Gate Pinot Gris 2010 (285783, $18.95) is perfectly typical of Beamsville Bench PG, if just shy of wielding Fielding Estate’s prowess. A mulch and multitude of pear and spice reports end of term good marks with room for improvement. Certainly a student of the niche. 86
Featherstone Gewürztraminer 2011 (64592, $19.95) from up on the Twenty Mile Bench exhibits positive Escarpment energy and vibration. Not quite the Iration of winemaker David Johnson’s Rieslings but the white rose, lychee and longan scents are intoxicants in their own right. A lack of back limits one visit per. 87
Flat Rock Unplugged Chardonnay 2011 (68015, $16.95) mocks me for imagining an apple orchard of acoustic salinity and neo-nutrient nirvana. Smells like Twenty Bench spirit. “And I forget just why I taste. oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile.” 88
Southbrook Triomphe Chardonnay 2010 (117572, $21.95) is Niagara-on-the-Lake organic and biodynamic issue. Wow. Blanched, voluminous and deliberate. Big smoke filbert in a Muscatel or white raisin, resinous Port bowl. 86
Ravine Vineyard Meritage 2010 (285627, $24.95) on the St. David’s Bench shows impressive concentration for the locale. The colour of a face gone savagely red. A near-volatile Niagara acidity blows up on the long bench then rides the wind through the creeks and out along the river. Big oak treatment in balance with the cherries, gravel and further stone fruit in crenellated cohorts on the valley floor. Look for 2010 reds, again and again. 88
Wildass Red 2008 (86363, $19.95) intimates that Stratus struggles in the marketing department but notch one more for the red guys in Ontario, “in a functional way.” Trouble come running with meaty, cured artisan charcuterie. Well done. Could eat it with a spoon. 87
British Columbia
Quail’s Gate Rosé 2011 (275842, $17.95) may be an Okanagan Texas-Leaguer but it’s just a routine pop fly IMHO. Yes Tony, the rhubarb note is prominent but there’s no complimentary strawberry. Elk droppings maybe. Blooper, bleeder, dying quail. 84
Mission Hill Reserve Chardonnay (V) 2010 (545004, $19.95) the Essential rises to the plateau of bigger, bulkier Okanagan whites. Hasidic diamond merchant of Jake and Elwood acidity. Good overall impression, if the style confronts you. 88
Mission Hill Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (V) 2009 (553321, $22.95) combines citrus and cassis bore of an Okanagan Red Ash. Aussie Coonawarra mint and eucalyptus subdue some overoaking but the structure is solid and the crowd-pleasing quotient high. 87
IVR* – Vintage Direct Intrigue-to-Value Ratio
CVR** – Vintage Direct Curiosity-to-Value Ratio
Good to go!