There’s no time for preamble. VINTAGES rolls out another long list of wines for the weekend. All your summer bases are covered. The Pinot Noir from New Zealand are really, really good. There are whites from Greece, Niagara and South Africa to not only try but embrace. Two Ontario reds will satiate the grill. Here is a list of eight wines to look for right now.
From the left and clockwise: Argyros Atlantis White 2012, Tawse Sketches Of Niagara Riesling 2013, Featherstone Gewürztraminer 2013, Featherstone Gewürztraminer 2013, Redstone Vineyard Reserve Cabernet Franc 2010, Hamilton Russell Chardonnay 2012, Staete Landt Paladin Pinot Noir 2010, Hidden Bench Terroir Caché Meritage 2010
The gateway of the Tawse Riesling portfolio and first to be released is an omnipresent beacon for what is to come from the single-vineyard sistren. Built fruit forward from an orange zest, stone rose and lemon glade guide, this is the Sketches most juicy sensation yet. Incredible vacuum of citrus acidity waterfalling into a great white hole. Though surrounded by so many a Riesling with site specific personality, “she’ll carry on through it all.” Intensity in dry Riesling. Tasted June 2014 @Tawse_Winery
Argyros Atlantis White 2012, Greece (371658, $17.95, WineAlign)
Assyrtiko is the rock but the composition is altered by smaller parts of Aidani and Athiri. Softer, warmer and much more approachable than the Santorini, not quite so stony but with more intense juice. A modern take on the ancient game. The palate lays out the uneven, tannic and rocky road to the amphitheatre. A long walk on carefully arranged boulders. A salt bath in warm springs. The wines of Argyros do so much to bring Greece to the world. Citrus finish and more salty mineral. Tasted June 2014 @KolonakiGroup
Such a pretty and elegant take on Gewürztraminer, of flowers white and in bloom, nuts blanching away. A structural, searing tightness to the mineral laced fruit will develop yet unrealized tannin and tension. There may be nothing gangly or highly viscous about it and its style is nearly, completely dry. Notes of orange zest and lychee pit. Very clean. Elan, ecrue, pearl. Tasted June 2013 @featherstonewne
Clos Henri Bel Echo Terroir Greywacke Pinot Noir 2012, Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (159137, $22.95, WineAlign)
“It is a special joy for the Bourgeois family to make Pinot Noir in New Zealand.” That statement is one you just gotta love. The Henri Bourgeois clan clearly have a whole lotta love for the climate, soils, people and the possibilities the terroir presents for his dedication towards restrained, elegant Pinot Noir. Though this teases with highly modern and juicy elements, almost, dare I say, Sonoman, there remains a rooted, savoury sense of the earth. Takes a page out of Burgundy’s book and plants it in Marlborough. Plums, cherries, smoke, spice, some tannin and for the price, nearly impossible structure. Angles and bitters persist but beneath a wealth of fruit. “Keep a coolin’, baby.” The price is impossible. Great value. Tasted June 2014 @ClosHenri
Redstone Vineyard Reserve Cabernet Franc 2010, VQA Lincoln Lakeshore, Ontario (381244, $29.95, WineAlign)
Would I not be remiss to ignore the Tawse Laundry Vineyard by way of comparison? With the Redstone, the sister winery puts forth the same amicable fruit with charred meat accents yet minus the hyper-specific Pender perfume and wisdom. Here is an ocean in between the waves. I came in to taste Redstone with an open mind, even “bet against the company again. They tried to redefine everything that I know and love. Gotta know you’re mine.” Winemaker Rene Van Ede has fashioned a delicious Cabernet Franc that speaks in a clear 2010 voice. A war on drugs. Though it bears no teeth of conceit there is a very positive funk and sanguine notes make a play, but ultimately submit to an overall red currant, sweet bell pepper and tobacco realm. The pyrazine ring compound binds many types of pepper, cracked, swelling and swollen. A long and rich elixir without the oak needing to be heard. It does not shout but whispers. Unmistakable Pender mentored Rock ‘N Roll Cabernet Franc. Really well made. Tasted twice, March and June 2014 @RedstoneWines
Hamilton Russell Chardonnay 2012, Wo Hemel En Aarde Valley, South Africa (931006, $34.95, WineAlign)
From what is rapidly developing as a (if not already engraved in stone) Grand Cru site in the Hemel En Aarde Valley, 2012 is a vintage that comes to greater strength from strength. Every aroma, every nuance is characterized by elegance and elasticity. Romantic Chardonnay, so representative of real love, of mineral, of most excellent barrels, ripe fruit and deft touches. Hamilton Russell takes South African Chardonnay to an entirely higher level. “Thought I’d been in love before, but in my heart, I wanted more. Seems like all I really was doing was waiting for you.” Tasted June 2014 @TrialtoON
Staete Landt Paladin Pinot Noir 2010, Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (376731, $36.95, WineAlign)
Though the Paladin is four years in it still retains its barrel baby fat. The rich red fruit tower reels behind a slightly reductive must and a compromise of toast and splinters from18 months spent in a mixture of 25 per cent new and 75 older French oak barrels. There is a whole surrealist street gang of fruit lurking in shadows of a de Chirico drama. I can sense the ripe plums and the cherries ready and willing to bake in the proverbial pie, and though blisteringly dry (less than 1 g/L residual sugar), it will always see potential by way of total acidity (6.1g/L). Will realize a seamless transition to mid-life anxiety while the fruit simmers away in a cauldron of that fine acidity. Ruud Maasdam’s Pinot Noir is of the scuola metafisica kind. Tasted June 2014 @StaeteLandtWine@liffordretail
The richest Terroir Caché to date, making use of its barrel in judicious but never obnoxious ways. Huge Bench wine, needs 10 years for sure. From my earlier, April 2014 note: “No other Niagara red and for sure no alternative Peninsula Bordeaux blend exists in such a vacuum of dichotomous behaviour. Act one is an out-and-out boastful, opulent show of Rococo. Act two a gnawing and gnashing by beasts. The pitch and pull of the Terroir Caché 2010 optates and culls the extraordinary through the practice of extended délestage, what Hidden Bench notes as “a traditional method of gently draining the wine and returning it to tank with its skins during fermentation.” The ’10 is about as huge as it gets, highly ferric and tannic. Still chemically reactive, you can almost imagine its once small molecules fitfully growing into long chains. Berries of the darkest night and he who should not be named black fruit are confounded by minerals forcing the juice into a cold sweat. Will require a minimum of 10 years to soften its all-powerful grip.” From my earlier March 2013 note: “has rich, voluptuous Napa Valley written all over it. Sister Merlot dominant, Beamsville Bench sledge monster. Plumbago, mineral, blackberry and coffee in a wine that will be the ringer in a blind tasting 10 years on. Harald may be saying “this is our family jewel.” Mr. Thiel, you make good wine” Last tasted June 2014 @HiddenBench@BenchVigneron
So you make wine from Ontario-grown grapes and it fails VQA inspection. The economic impact is potentially crippling. Here’s the short story. The sale of an Ontario VQA-certified bottle of wine sends approximately 15-20 per cent of the profit to the province. Without the stamp the tax cost is upwards of 50. There is no money to be made if your wine has not been blessed by VQA. Here is the long version:
The total Landed Cost (what the winery keeps) is calculated based on this:
Basic Price (retail price)
minus Environmental Tax fee (same for VQA and non-VQA)
minus Bottle Tax/Levy (same for VQA and non-VQA)
minus LCBO Wine Levy (applied to non-VQA only, yet minimal – $1.15 for $26btl)
minus LCBO mark-up (which is completely different between VQA and non-VQA – $0 for VQA, $8.5039 for a non-VQA wine based on a $26)
For a $25.20 ($25 + bottle deposit) bottle of wine, this is what the winery (Total Landed Cost in VQA language) keeps:
VQA retail: $20.56
VQA licensee: $20.56
non-VQA licensee: $12.44
These numbers come from a calculator, designed by VQA and the LCBO themselves that gives you the breakdown, once you enter the retail price.
François Morissette has that crazed look in his eye. The Quebec native faces the professional fight of his young winemaking life and has no intention of backing down. There will be no compromise of the viniculture oeuvre. Morissette’s day in, day out plight has been instigated by the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA), the regulatory board that determines whether or not a wine made in Ontario gets its stamp of approval. It has already happened four times. VQA has rejected his Rieslings.
The pearl Morissette Cuvée Blackball Riesling 2011 is a $26 (retail price including bottle deposit) non-VQA bottle of wine and so the winery’s profit (before operating and production costs) is $12.98. Do the math. Sounds like a loss leader to me.
Pearl Morissette pigs
Morissette makes the wines at Pearl Morissette out of the Twenty Mile Bench in Jordan, Ontario. He’s opinionated and sometimes just plain pissed off. There are those who surely consider him a rogue, a dissident and an SD but at the end of the day, just how is he so different from his Niagara brethren and sistren? He is a farmer and a purveyor of fermented grapes. Granted his methods are progressive and experimental but the goal is the same as any honest and passionate winemaker. François Morissette wants to make memorable wine. Last July François Morissette told me “it’s not that we don’t want to make natural wines. We want to make wines with the least amount of impact.”
Talking about being different and distinct and staying the course – for a reason. pic.twitter.com/wxsYiwGVry
— Pearl Morissette (@PearlMorissette) May 23, 2014
In July of 2013 at the i4CCool Chardonnay Conference in Niagara, Francois expounded on some of the more important facets of making wine in Ontario. “Climate is the number one terroir driven aspect. The clone is nothing without the rootstock. They are inextricably linked.” He is a man who believes wholeheartedly in natural acidity. “You will have riper fruit on dry matter.” These are the ideas of a “rebel,” of a winemaker willing and ready to push the envelope. “I cannot ever apply what I learned in Burgundy as a farmer to Niagara. It’s a totally different animal.” These are the words of “pot-stirrer” Francois Morissette.
Foudre at Pearl Morissette
Today, Monday, May 26th, François and his girl Friday Svetlana Atcheva will once again go before the powers that be at VQA. In their meeting with Executive Director Laurie Macdonald they will argue that their four-time rejected Riesling is bio-chemically sound, that it is a wine with no technical faults. The question of penalizing innovation will be raised, albeit in the spirit of cooperation. They will assert that the level of residual sugar (which the VQA panel seems to feel is “atypically” too low) and perceived sense of dryness must not be the focus. Morissette and Atcheva will explain to the panel that their Riesling is not oxidized but that the use of wood foudres (in addition to typically employed stainless steel tanks) allows for a gentle yet natural, controlled oxygen transfer. Ms. Macdonald will be asked the question on everyone’s mind. “How can an organization that reigns over such a young wine region be so sure what is correct and what is not?” What they should really say is “who are you to play God with wine?”
The sensory evaluation panel and decision makers maintain the necessity that “VQA wine grapes meet standards such as minimum ripeness levels (degrees brix) attained through careful viticultural practices.” This statement suggests that the Pearl Morissette Riesling fails to meet the criteria laid out by the decided governance. Does the system not sound like it is seeking conformity in the name of typicity? I spoke with Atcheva last Monday at the Generation Riesling tasting and she adamantly refutes the VQA position on Pearl Morissette’s wines. Skin ripeness, not sugar levels, indigenous yeasts, minimal interventionist winemaking and most of all quality should be the determining factors to passing their Ontario wine to VQA status. François just wants to be free to sell his wines to whoever he pleases without being shackled to taxes and bureaucracy. “My preference would be for 1,000 people to buy one bottle. But that takes time.”
Atcheva spoke at length this past weekend with a senior LCBO product consultant who elaborated on the selection process for the VQA panel. Up until a few years ago panel members were chosen based on their tasting experience. Today seniority lands spots on the tribunal. Work an LCBO cash for fifteen years and you too can decide the financial future of an Ontario winery.
Conrete Egg Fermenter
For a full account on VQA evaluation processes and the rejection of Morissette’s wines, read Rick VanSickle’s article, The ‘black-balled’ Riesling from Pearl Morissette in Niagara and the storm that’s brewing over VQA rejection: Let’s talk about it. Another response by Tim Reed Manessy brings the VQA system’s shortcomings into proper focus. Behind the ‘Black Ball’ is Manessy’s take on his blog, Somm on the Run.
Hinterland’s Jonas Newman, François Morissette, Montreal Gazette and Chacun Son Vin’s Bill Zacharkiw, WineAlign’s John Szabo M.S. , Wine Country Ontario’s Magdalena Kaiser Smit and Assistant Winemaker Ryan Corrigan tasting Cabernet Franc
Through the generosity of François Morissette, Naomi Laurie, Ryan Corrigan, Cameron MacDonald and Svetlana Atcheva I have had the opportunity to taste, consider and assess the wines of Pearl Morissette out of tank, barrel, concrete egg fermenter and bottle on several occasions in the past year. Here are my notes on many of those moments.
This introduction to the experimental oeuvre of François Morissette holds attention and water. The delve into texture shaping by way of progressive malolactic fermentation during primary fermentation is a stirring exercise in character building. The ’10 is a conjoined cuvée of two, one of which contained 20% botrytis affected grapes. It spent eight months on fine lees in stainless steel and finished so very dry, at 1.27 g/L residual sugar. Biochemically correct, reeking and bleeding of the Peninsula’s veins, Blackball was submitted for VQA approval four times and rejected because it “lacked varietal typicity.” Perhaps it was the lack of human intervention, the anti-Bonzai approach, that doomed this diffident Riesling. Perhaps the texture should take it on the cheek for its brilliant disguise, for changing the subject and forcing the taster to open their mind and act innocent for a moment in time. The Blackball has that effect. Sadly, it too will be typical one day. Tasted July 2013
The 2011 Cuvée Blackball picks up where the ’10 left off. When tasted from a stainless steel, not yet labeled sample in bottle back in July of 2013 it showed high acidity and citrus but also a bottle-shock musky note. Nearly one year later the wine has fleshed into that sought after experimental texture, as if it were aged in foudres. It’s flexibility was encouraged by three months of aging on its fine lees. The ’11 is the jumping off point and the bridge towards understanding where the Riesling program is heading. Others will follow. “There’s no real reference for these wines,” admits Morissette and that’s the clue to understanding why haste judgments are passed. Fear of the unknown empowers tradition to stagnate and end up getting left behind.Tasted July 2013 and May 2014
The craving for texture led François Morissette to employ small barrels to ferment a small (68 case) amount of 2011 Riesling, in this instance eight year-old neutral barriques. Close-minded, new world wine geeks might fear anarchy but ask any winemaker from Pfalz and they would say, “tell me something new.” The succor is so benign and simultaneously, subtly huge. The increased lees contact on small volumes of wine promotes corpulence and viscidity. The methodology results in more fruit presence; in pear and yellow plum, not to mention that unmistakable Niagara citrus. This ’11 has the most levels of expression. There is nothing revelatory or regulatory about it, beyond the fact that it works and that it would stand out as an excellent example in a flight of Trocken Riesling. The ’11 exemplifies the flesh versus acid continuum. The freshness of this Riesling has emerged, thanks to meticulous sorting, ne0-liberal winemaking and the use of a -1°C fridge. François Morissette does not like to race against time. His Riesling speaks volumes about that. Tasted July 2013 and May 2014
When tasted in July of 2013 the ’12 Barrique had only been in bottle for three days so the musk was quite front and centre. Aged in foudres (neutral, old wood casks) it held much latitude at such a young age with notes of herbiage (mint, tarragon), nary a drop of residual sugar and a wholly unique type of dry acidity. “It will not always show this way,” commented Morissette. Tasted 10 months later I can say this. The ’12 Riesling Barrique avoids excessive malic and tartaric acid, not to mention any amount of volatile acidity. It is viable, vital and technically sound. “This is a wine that will take time,” pleads François . “I care about texture, not about varietal character.” Though perplexing and untamed, the wine has undeniable body and that noble bitterness in its unsung tang. It is the anti-Riesling hero, full of experiential conceit and needs to be revisited often, to see where it will go. Tasted July 2013 and May 2014
Stylistically speaking, the bottles (and kegs) that emerged from the 225L hemorrhaging of Cabernet Franc from both oak and concrete vessels have no reference point. In fact, the advertence is one created by Francois Morissette. The flexible disposition is difficult to pinpoint and without trying to sound blowsy in assessment, this goes places yet visited by bone-dry Rosé. If it were the only wine made on premises the barn doors would always be banged upon. A most current wine, exigently red and almost indiscernible as Cabernet Franc. It suffers no stenosis and does not live a single green day. Another VQA rejected wine, the LPR walks down a boulevard of broken dreams and it sings, “I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known.” Last tasted November 2013
With utmost integrity Pearl Morissette chose not to vinify Pinot Noir from the fruit of the 2008, 2009 and 2010 vintages due to unacceptable levels of sour rot. With the 2011 harvest came inspiration. It was noted that local tree fruit farmers make use of the practice of storing their harvested fruit at 1° Celsius in a large refrigerator. This pseudo-cryogenic cooling practicum worked to halt the progression of the dreaded rot. Buying time allowed the crew to clean sort without having to worry about a single berry contaminating the lot. So what? So a pure, clean Pinot Noir was the result. Tasted four months after bottling, the modest (12.7 per cent alcohol) and vinified so dry (2 g/L residual sugar) ’11 held barking fruit on a tight leash and a moonscape of dusty, grainy tannin. Nine months later (to the day) the sensory evolution became as if cherries, strawberries and the tension in seeking ripe perfection were wine. Tasted July 2013 and April 2014
François Morissette’s 2010 is a pioneering example towards defining Bench appellation Cabernet Franc isomeric reactions. Relationships between grapes of a growing area and their ultimate destination in bottle. An affair of veraison, leaf drop, frost, hand harvesting, whole cluster sorting and berry oak fermenting. Indigenous yeast, punch downs and overs for phenolic skin extraction and polymerization. Neutral oak and sulfur dioxide to provide antimicrobial and antioxidant protection. An eighteen month somniac’s rest, fine lees and no filtration. The structural arrangement in cohabitation of radicals and ions leads to such a Cabernet Franc. Fully expressive of an endemic, very ripe, vegetal varietal vicissitude that is both inbred and necessary. Currants and peppered berries of power and grit. Dry (2 g/L residual sugar), plump (13.7 per cent alcohol) and scarce (618 cases made). Reflective of the warm 2010 vintage and will always act in stark contrast to the elegant 2011. Tasted July 2013 and March 2014
19th Street Cabernet Franc 2011, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (winery, $38, WineAlign)
First tasted from a barrel sample in July 2013. “From what is turning out to be a very elegant vintage, the 2011 Cabernet Franc is early proof that on the Twenty Mile Bench “we can turn a vineyard very quickly, in three years we can turn a vine.” This is significant in consideration that in Europe, vine age is always key.” Now in bottle the aromatics are hyper-pronounced and though the tannins are less rigid, less exerting and less demanding, they are not nearly ready to throw in the towel. Longevity will define ’11 and it will be the genesis of Pearl Morissette’s CF program used to compare future vintages. “The day of judgement’s come,” and you can bet that the wine’s been “resting, for this testing, digesting every word the experts say.” With the ambient transition of a hairless heart, the 2011 Cabernet Franc segues from anxiety to counting out time. Tasted May 2014
Was the ’09 DN this lush and so pretty last summer? Was it bronzing as if sun-kissed and so delicate? Tasted alongside Chef Cameron MacDonald’s White Bean Cassoulet, duck and pork neck wrapped pate it sings in a Lindley-esque falsetto. From my earlier, July 2013 note: “Tragically singular in expression, regardless and in spite of the terroir, mixes metaphors and pulls it off. “Takes arms against a sea of troubles,” by convincing ADHD fruit of an uncertain vintage to settle, play nice and “by opposing, end them.” Now entering the load out zone, this Hamlet cuvée is “the first to come and the last to leave, working for that minimum wage.” A sentimental ballad here to stay, be remembered and to set the stage for all dix-neuvième to come.” Last tasted May 2014
Having had the opportunity to taste the 2010 Cuvée Dix Neuvieme on several occasions over the past 10 months, every layer and fibre of its being has ingratiated itself to me. The tropical, solar 2010 vintage required that steps were taken to preserve freshness for when the final blend was to be assembled. A small portion of the juice was fermented separately in stainless steel tank and then injected into the 18-month, neutral barrel mass. The ’10 is full of verve, rigor and grinning elegance. It speaks of a salinity so typical for PM Chardonnay which comes from the usage of lees. This is what could be referred to as a “tannic” white. While it lacks the intensity of the bookending vintages on either side, as a middle sibling it is the glue and the rock that speaks diplomatically and most eloquently for the family. Last tasted May 2014
A child of a hot and dry summer, a stress-free winter slumber and a non-invasive spring awakening. Sets out lean, tight and mean, but the dry extract invites spicy, stone fruit and an emergence of tropical lushness. Can there be another specimen that so rightfully defines Pearl Morissette, the top of the Bench or Niagara as a whole in 2011? Tasted July 2013
Barrel and Tank Samples tasted July 2013 and May 2014
19th Street Cabernet Franc 2012
Tasted in July 2013 from one of two barrels, it’s not so (amazingly reductive) and redolent of the most earthly currants. From a very immense year, in primary quality, barely evolved. Blessed with such ripe tannins this will have even bigger structure. Francois declares “I’m now a believer that Cabernet Franc is the most important grape to grow in Ontario (on this side of St. Catherines). Nine months later, with the wine still sitting on its primary lees and not yet racked “it’s so torqued,” notes John Szabo. “We made a monster CF without cream,” adds François . Pure, énorme, immovable yet so stable. There was a nearly volatile spike during fermentation and malo but it’s done. A death metal beast. Tasted July 2013 and May 2014
19th Street Cabernet Franc 2013
From juice housed in concrete, wood and open top fermenters this occupies impossible Cabernet Franc colour territory. Sweaty, chalky and bloody, it’s a bit reductive in extract and intensity. Lifted florally and very savoury, this is quintessentially Cabernet Franc in character. Crunchy tannins come late in magnanimous fashion. Tasted May 2014
Chardonnay 2013
Tighter than it looks, sitting on its lees, pushing the envelope. In a German 2,500L barrel it’s rounder and softer. In second fill Alsatian Foudre it gains tang, spirit and backbone. From the Koscis Vineyard’s heavy red clay there is less texture and mid-palate. Out of a smaller (228L) barrel the wood is felt in fluidity, structure and creamier, clearer fruit. The largest barrel adds (10 per cent) new oak and finishes the ferment the earliest. It brings textural tack and a chewy finish. “New oak doesn’t make it better. It energizes the wine,” says Morissette. Overall this will be a rich, ripe-fruit based opulent Chardonnay, high in potential (13+ per cent) alcohol with a remarkable sweetness despite little or no residual sugar. Tasted May 2014
Chardonnay from barrel with Ryan Corrigan, Jonas Newman, Francois Morissette and John Szabo
Rosé 2013
If this Cabernet Franc is flirting with an acetic danger it is not enough to scare me away. Certainly edgy and there is a chance it may be pushed to the fringe, hippest markets but that also may just be a necessity if it is once again rejected as VQA. And it should not be. Tasted May 2014
Bill Zacharkiw making notes at Pearl Morissette
Gamay 2013
In July 2013 Francois Morissette made this statement. “If we can’t make Gamay in a Cru Beaujolais Style, I’m not interested.” In May 2014 his ’13 Gamay causes Bill Zacharkiw to comment with blatant honesty, “just line up at the tank. Forget the bottle.” From 100 per cent whole clusters sent to cement fermenters. Once again the hue is just impossible. Sulphur-free, this walks a fine and perfect line of Cru banana Gamay. Pushes the Gamay envelope in that it’s gulpable but with a duress to remind you not to overdo it. A Gamay with a chamber of 32 doors. In it “I’d rather trust a man who doesn’t shout what he’s found.” François Morissette. Tasted May 2014
If you have never had the pleasure of visiting Tawse winery in Vineland and more specifically, the cool serenity of their barrel rooms, then you still have some wine living to do.
Last month I was invited to work through the barrels once again with Pender, Norman Hardie, Redstone winemaker Rene Van Ede and the visiting Gautier Roussille of Tonnellerie de Mercurey. Hardie is instrumental in bringing the cooperage’s barrels to Ontario and Tawse employs them with coadjuvant good fortune. Pender gathered this group together to assess the sundry effects on his developing 2013’s, by tasting the wines out of particular barrels, from specific oak forests and with different levels of toast. Twenty-one or so passes of the thief later, the picture had been drawn. Every barrel tells a story.
Paul Pender, Gautier Roussile and Norm Hardie discuss a Mercurey barrel
Tawse makes use of wood from more than one cooperage so the comparisons of various barrels housing identical blocks of Chardonnay or Pinot Noir is a study in algebraic proportion. The reveal in such company is the real deal. What is abstruse to most lay palates is piously obvious to these major leaguers. When the going gets wooden, the wooden turn pro.
Stealing sips from a wine’s temporary wood house makes allowances to peer behind the scenes. The possibility exists to note the accentuating fruit effect of Eric Fourthon’s Okanagan-manufactured, 100% French oak from mineral forests ‘Céres’ barrels. There is the wine-tightening advance by another barrel from the Forêt de la Bertrange. To that antithesis there is the diametrically opposed impart of Tonnellerie de Mercurey’s CLL toasted oak. The precocious corollary of Billion’s Vosges or the curating texture of Jupilles. It’s all too fascinating. At the end of the day it’s about matching barrel to fruit, to fashioning better barrels, to make the best, most consistent wines, year after year.
When it comes to Chardonnay and choosing the forest from the trees, both Norm and Paul agree. Early picking and the right use of barrel leads to higher malolactic fermentation. Tastes from the Quarry Road Vineyard taught the most about barrel usage. The Quarry site was purchased by owner Moray Tawse from the holdings of Vineland Estates. “Best deal he ever made,” says Pender. All the early year’s bitterness is now mineral. “This is the County in Niagara,” he says.
Norm Hardie and Paul Pender in the Tawse Barrel Cellar
Here are very brief notes on 21 wines, quickly run through out of barrel, many of which were tasted twice. Once on January 10th and again on April 23rd. A 21-oak salute to the work of Master Coopers, Norm Hardie, Rene Van Ede and Paul Pender.
Quarry Road Chardonnay 2013, Mercurey (Neutral) Three year-old vines, density, tang, tropical melon in aroma and flavour.
Quarry Road Chardonnay 2013, Ceres (Mineral) This is very pretty, the most gem-like, the most like Burgundy. Will go to stainless on the lees in September for six more months before going into bottle. The purest expression from the best vineyard.
Quarry Road Chardonnay 2013, Mercurey (CLL toast) The wood tightens this wine up considerably, mainly on the finish. High citrus notes and even if it is splitting hairs, the oak really impacts the finish.
Quarry Road Chardonnay 2013, Mercurey (Large barrel, CLL toast) Reveals a fresher, more reductive, less oak feel.
Robyn’s Block Chardonnay 2013, Mercurey (One year-old, CLL toast) From the oldest (32 years) vines, the richest site, working best in tandem with new oak, here showing very primary, fermenting notes. A most restrained Robyn, reigned in.
Robyn’s Block Chardonnay 20123 Mercurey (New) Same old vines, increased tang and girth into which the barrel disappears. Sappy toast on the back end, quite young in its evolution. Rich, thick and the most density. Aromatically lime. Will function expertly as a foil to the Fourthon barrel in the final blend.
Robyn’s Block Chardonnay 2013, Céres (Mineral) Exclamatory fruit and this stage, this is the wine (barrel) to drink.
Lenko Chardonnay 2013, Céres (One year-old) From the oldest (1959) vineyard in Canada. Can handle the most oak. This is creamy, full and reminiscent of Robyn in 2008 and before. Anything but a lean style. Ain’t nothin’ but a house party. “Dig that crazy soul.”
Lenko Chardonnay 2013, Céres (Bertrange, new) Oak tightens up the wine, which has a tendency to be large, or blowsy. “I don’t like Chardonnay at two tons per acre,” notes Pender. “It’s too fat.”
Lenko Chardonnay 2013, Mercurey (New) More sappiness and the tightest yet. Showing the most oak but three to four months should settle its issues.
Huff (South Bay, Prince Edward County) Chardonnay 2013, Mercurey (Large CLL toast) The fat one, the tenor, with high lemon and lime notes. There is orange zest, lots of fruit and mineral, like licking a steel pipe. A citrus-bitter finish, the most yet, likely due to the very low (1/2 ton) per acre yield.
Huff (South Bay, Prince Edward County) Chardonnay 2013, Ceres (Mineral) Turns woody on County fruit. There’s a separation in this one and very ripe lemons and limes. “I almost think I should have picked this earlier.”
Pinot Noir Cherry Avenue 2013, Céres (Bertrange) More richness but still firm and quite tannic. More painted layers, cherries, toasty, the wood a bit green.
Pinot Noir Cherry Avenue 2013, Billion (Jupilles, medium toast) Has the most elegance yet the toast is still very apparent but there is more sweetness, in how the fruit reacts with the tannins. Here is that curation of texture.
Pinot Noir Cherry Avenue 2013, Billion (Toasted head barrel) Brings out the black cherry nose but the tannin is green and drying. “It will rally, ” says Van Ede.
Pinot Noir Tintern 2013, Billion (Vosges, medium toast) From only three year-old vines on a site Pender likens to “reclaiming the swamps,” or “the Golan Heights project.” The site is next door to John Howard and the wine is already showing colour, freshness and drive.
Pinot Noir Tintern 2013, Billion (Vosges, medium plus toast) A bit reductive, more tannin, more sappy wood.
Pinot Noir Quarry Road 2013, Billion (Old barrel) High limestone content means harder tannins. This is edgy and mean. Would work better with a lighter toast.
Pinot Noir Quarry Road 2013, Billion (Vosges, medium plus toast) Tarry, edgy, walking on the blade. The middle palate has more fill. “There’s a roughness in that vineyard,” explains Pender.
Pinot Noir Quarry Road 2013, Billion (Toasted head) Less edgy, rounder, fleshier, fresher. The gaps here are filled in.
Tawse winery is growing and gaining weight but just like its vineyards, the pursuit is wagered in natural and holistic ways. The Tawse effect distills a biodynamic appropinquation, in the acquisition of new vineyards, in the gathering of tonnage from Niagara and Prince Edward County growers, in the farming and production of estate grapes. I have been making regular visits to the Vineland, Ontario winery for the past three years. The natural, self-sustaining processes remain open, obvious, front and centre.
Chardonnay fruit might travel across the 401 and down the QEW from South Bay at Huff Estates. It may skip across King Street and skirt up Cherry Avenue from Daniel Lenko. It may come to early fruition from young Tintern Vineyard Pinot Noir vines out of the Vinemount Ridge. Whatever the source, the approach is simple. Let winemaker Paul Pender get his mind and his mitts on that fruit. Then let him work his magic. Seek biodiversity, soil fertility, crop nutrition, and chemical-free pest, weed and disease control. Fight the good fight against the harshest of winters with vines of deeper roots and stronger canes.
Paul Pender and Tawse Robyn’s Block Chardonnay 2008
The Tawse portfolio may now seem hyper-varied and even massive. Nothing and everything has changed. The lots remain small to manageable, the choice of varieties consistent and the wines, ever increasingly impressive. Whatever faults, idiosyncrasies or misunderstood characteristics there may have been in some older wines, they are no more. There are now purer and more vibrant aromas and flavours. Wait until you get a load of 2012 and 2013. Paul Pender’s acumen and winemaking professionalism has reached a whole new level of Rock ‘N Roll.
Paul Pender is a big picture guy. He is the Niagara renaissance man; songwriter, vocalist, lead guitar, producer and engineer. He’s Cuddy, Cripps and Chris Shreenan-Dyck rolled into one. Pender’s handling of growing, picking, fermenting, aging and bottling is nothing short of impossible and yet he does it with a conceit of ease. At last count I noted three Sparklings, three Rosé, two Dessert Wines, six Chardonnay, five Riesling, two Gewurztraminer, one Pinot Gris, one Sauvignon Blanc, six Pinot Noir, three Cabernet Franc, one Cabernet Sauvignon, one Merlot, one Cabernet-Merlot, one Meritage and one Gamay. Thirty-seven wines. One goal. Getting better all the time.
Tawse winemakers Rene Van Ede and Paul Pender
The winter and early spring of 2014 has found me cozying up to the wines of Tawse. On a frigid January evening on my way to Ice Wine Fest I spent time with winemaker Pender in the cellars, speed investigating my way through the barrels of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Not to mention Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling and even Sauvignon Blanc. I’ve tasted Tawse with Daniel Lafleur at Somewhereness, with Vinifera’sDaniel Beiles at Barque Smokehouse and at the winery’s portfolio tasting at The Spoke Club.
Tawse Spark Blend 2011 and Quarry Road Chardonnay 2008
Here are notes on 14 Tawse wines tasted from bottle in April and May 2014.
From the newest estate vineyard, the single-vineyard Limestone Ridge exteriorizes its name in a rubric of pressed rock, struck flint and chalky density. Paul Pender has coaxed a multiplicity of linear character, with major notes of lime zest and juice, persistent from start to finish. A mid-pause of oozing, residual sinensis is the determinant towards the wine’s matrix of longevity. A longer, leaner, meaner and mightier Riesling charged by a different sort of power. Kinetic, frenetic and electric. Tasted twice, April and May 2014
This introductory release is a blend of 65 per cent Chardonnay, 22 Pinot Noir and 13 Pinot Gris. A linear, straight shooting star, a sparkler that is so “surprising it goes so fast.” Bright, flashy, attention grabbing and fleeting. These are bubbles with a plan, anything but bad company and quite remarkable for the price. Lemon, lime and ginger strum in wound tension and the wine gets on top very quickly, then disappears into the starry night. Exhilarating while it lasts. Tasted April 2014
From fruit (east of Beamsville) next to Puddicombe, which is essentially Winona on the eastern edge of the Niagara Escarpment appellation. Some parcels of disparate Niagara fruit joins this inaugural effort, a rich, viscous and warming Chardonnay. Layered and expertly balanced, it carries the best of both the Quarry (mineral) and Robyn (approachable) worlds. The spicy accent gives the blend its singular personality. Tasted May 2014
Though it’s a blend of several sites, this Tawse Pinot stands alone and of itself as a grower; it grows on you after multiple tastings. The first go ’round seems simple, vintage warm and tight. Taste again and the sappy wood seeps mineral, the phenolic red cherry ripeness turns black and the tempering is led by a sweet earth kind. Earth that smoulders in a rising Zeppelin kept afloat by tobacco and the swirling spores of pungent mushroom. Pinot Noir truth and value from a Niagara house of the holy kind. “You know-whoa, that’s right.” Tasted twice, April and May 2014
Boasts classic flint and citrus Twenty Mile Bench aromatics. In 2012 it’s also lush, rich and so very pear and longan fruity. Whorls like a wind turbine blowing the polar aspects against each other’s walls. Forms a bridge and meets the twain, from atomic to tropic. High tang and flavour. Big yet classic Riesling. Tasted May 2014
This is the second Pinot Noir made from the Vinemount Ridge vineyard, a place where the rock can’t help but tyrannize the fruit. The 2010 Quarry Road gains positive proportion in that it is painted and coated by the ripeness of the vintage. Of a tougher mind and shell than the other Tawse Pinots, a bird on the wire just trying to be free. Not as easy to approach or love, it might plead “if I, if I have been unkind, I hope that you can just let it go by.” Sings in a wise, raspy and rusty way, despite the youthfulness of the vineyard, but it shines. So in the end “hey, why not ask for more?” Tasted May 2014
At this stage the 2008 Quarry Road is fully resolved, integrated and as soft as full malolactic Chardonnay can be. The unmistakable note of creamed corn lingers longer, as does the look on the winemaker’s face, but air brings it around. Returns to a fresh beginning, “from a year that might not have turned into anything,” admits Paul Pender. Now standing firm, the wine benefits six years on from clean, rotless fruit and pure, angular acidity, holding steady to the admirable finish. Tasted April 2014
The pinpoint accuracy and gemstone capture of the Quarry is exaggerated in ’11, amplified and fully plugged in. From my earlier, October 2013 note: “Carries that classic Paul Pender perfume; rocks and stones, flaxen, refulgent toast and the verdure Vinemount terroir. A free flying, linear, atmospheric smear of thermal fortitude and backbone. A polemic Bowie Chardonnay to make you believe “the strangest things, loving the alien.” From my earlier March 2012 (barrel tasting) note: “Resides on the mineral, slate and lime side of the tracks. The calcareous quality imparted by its eponymous SV terroir makes it the antithesis of David. Creamy, 24-karat fruit.” Last tasted May 2014
From the Vinemount Ridge sub-Appellation of the Niagara Peninsula, the Tawse Laidlaw Pinot 2010 is the least gregarious, the quiet sibling, the most feminine, the sleeper. Laidlaw may play hardest to get and is the least obvious when considering perfume but her palate is the sweetest of the line-up. Strawberry macerates sous-bois for an authentic Burgundian experience. Patient, focused and structured. Tasted May 2014
The speed and the steel have slowed to yellow caution and the now honey-toned flesh has added more weight. There’s just something about Daniel Lenko at this juncture. From my earlier (tasted three times) July 2013 note: “From wiser men who’ve been through it all” is the kind of one-off we should all wish to re-visit in 10 years time. The study: Daniel Lenko’s fruit in the hands of winemaker Paul Pender out of a most confounding vintage. That 2011 in terms of Ontario Chardonnay strikes and speaks to me in tongues is no secret, so the Tawse treatment fascinates in ways to make me giddy. Tension and elasticity are present here in super-hyper Beamsville Bench concentration. Apples pile upon apples, in magnetic purée and layered maceration. A full-on body attack and phenolic structure will see this Lenko to a future (five to seven years) in grace and gorgeous line. A Chardonnay to “scheme the schemes, face the face.” Last tasted April 2014
A year in bottle has elevated the perfume, concentrated the cherry flavour and placed a crown on its regal head. The sweet tannic quotient resonates from its very core. Showing great at this time. From my earlier April 2013 note: “From the Vinemount Ridge is dry and cut with spice, a favourite for winemaker Paul Pender. The sour acidity from fruit such as cranberry and pomegranate are here in deep, concentrated and naturally sweet tones. Niagara limestone casts a Burgundy mineral shadow and the wine is iron tough yet silky due to the warmth of the vintage.” Last tasted April and May 2014
The 2008 Robyn’s Block neither matches the roundness nor the tempering acidity of the Quarry but what it lacks in those areas it makes up for in critical mass and balance. The creamed corn effect is here, as are apples in ciderish activity, from a wine that “was on a starved diet,” says Paul Pender. Though currently a bit reductive and funky, it’s not gun-flinty reduction, like the “smell of a battlefield on the morning after a civil war fight.” Swirling brings out cane sugar to replace the creamy silage and the rest is history. Calm, quiet and approachable inactivity. Tasted April 2014
Cabernet Franc Van Bers Vineyard 2009, VQA Creek Shores, Ontario (355867, $49.95, WineAlign)
What a wonderful vintage for Creek Shores Cabernet Franc and what a difference a year makes. Ripeness, development, rich layering, absence of chalk. Extreme elegance and void of an overbearing currant and bell pepper greening. Tannins are toned and fit. From my earlier, April 2013 note: “From the Creek Shores Appellation is proof that a well-rounded grape has no point. The Van Bers is winemaker Paul Pender’s purlieu, edgy, outlying, unconcerned with the norm or the banal. Makes full use of a cool vintage with heart-stopping acidity and eye-popping verve but not without delivering Soul, in the form of flowers and a fruit basket to your doorstep. “It’s like thunder and lightning.” Capers, camphor and a knock on wood add R & B complexity.” Last tasted May 2014
From two acres of Pinot Noir planted in 2005 known as David’s Block within the Cherry Road Vineyard. A clash of hot and dry weather encouraged the young fruit to find ripeness, in flesh and in tannin. There is an elegance about this Cherry, in part no doubt to wine technique in acumen. The Paul Pender perfume, a combative interplay between cherries and earth, is here. “The in crowd say it’s cool” but it has yet to Rock the Casbah. Cherry 2010 is only offering a glimpse of greatness, so hold out for what will surely develop when the vines reach their next level of maturity. Tasted April 2014
From left: Jean Maurice Raffault Chinon Rosé 2013, Anselmann Edesheimer Rosengarten Siegerrebe Spätlese 2012, Delas Frères Les Launes Crozes Hermitage 2011, Tabalí Reserva Especial 2009, Flat Rock The Rusty Shed Chardonnay 2011, Quails’ Gate Merlot 2011
We’ve pleaded, we’ve begged. We’ve been down on hands and knees. We’ve asked for spring. It has finally (sort of) arrived. There is only one thing left to say. Let it wine.
Just in case you happen to live in Ontario and were not aware of the system’s system (or you’ve forgotten), here is a friendly primer and reminder. VINTAGES rolls out a new set of wines every two weeks. We (the wine media) taste them a month ahead and comment on their correctness. Sometimes we even admit which ones we really like.
More reviews than space here permits are available, along with other critics’ thoughts at WineAlign, the place to go for access to bi-weekly previews of critics’ release notes and their top recommendations for all VINTAGES new releases.
These wines are in stores now. They are just six of my recommendations from the May 10th, 2014 release.
Jean Maurice Raffault Chinon Rosé 2013, Ac, Loire, France (119693, $16.95, WineAlign)
There is a cautious though skilled reservation in this Rosé, the Cabernet Franc currant and peppery aromas a faint and subtle thought. Light and refreshing Chinon as dry as dry ice and built with tang and length. The late note is of slightly charred bell pepper. Excellent food versatile Rosé, even if it falls away quicker than should be. Tasted April 2014 @LeSommelierWine
A really fun wine. Siegerrebe is not meant to be contemplated by a panel of ancient philosophers with modern doctorates. In its most basic incarnation it is a sipper, a warm weather, sundowner tipple to quaff on its own or as an aromatic lifter in conjunction with fortifiers in a light, fizz-induced cocktail. This Spätlese (late harvest) later-picked variation offers a step up the beanstalk of residual sugar-laced complexity. At the price it begs to be tried. The fruit is both sweet and drying at the same time, like Moscato in a waxy, soapy, juicy fruit, bitter way. Tasted April 2014
Tabalí Reserva Especial 2009, Limarí Valley, Chile (107540, $22.95, WineAlign)
A mating of masculine, slow, open-grill smoked meat and cooking bacon aromas and a dehydrated Syrah lees, coarse pepper crust is tempered by feminine, cool eucalyptus and juniper accents. A big wine that is rounded and grounded by some Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Anxious, tight, modern and a real finisher. Tasted April 2014 @TabaliWines@oenophilia1
Delas Frères Les Launes Crozes Hermitage 2011, Ac, Rhône, France (701359, $22.95, WineAlign)
What a gorgeous flower and wet stones nose in this Syrah. So pretty and inviting. Tart, sweet berries, smooth and integrated fruit acid continuum, very sure and correct. A perennial righteous bottling, anything but excessive and a tremendous value is every way. Don’t be Delas to know. Tasted April 2014 @HHDImports_Wine
Flat Rock The Rusty Shed Chardonnay 2011, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, (1552, $24.95, WineAlign)
The Shed’s balance is best in ’11, the equation solved. A sweetness on the palate is buttery, the length languid, smooth and graceful. A very pretty Shed. A spirit in the night. “Stand right up and let it shoot right through you.” From my earlier February 2014 note: “Conspicuous by its texture from a mild to middling vintage “when you picked before or after the rain.” Though combined, the antechamber of acidity and good cheer trumps the mudroom of funk and doldrums. A Guns ‘n Roses vintage, a pull in two directions, with a potential for breakdown. “Ev’rything was roses when we held on to the guns.” A soft, buttery note tempers the tang and yet that tang lifts the fruit. The tension is what sets the ’11 up for a classic run. Last tasted April 2014
Quails’ Gate Merlot 2011, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (169961, $25.95, WineAlign)
From estate vineyards on the Boucherie Mountain bench, this is cool Merlot, from a cooler vintage, with cool climate anxiety. The conditions and the style wave a finger to promote some vineyard funk to speak, along with Merlot’s characteristic dust and powder. “A big red beacon,” as in berries and plums, earth and spice. Red all around. Smoky, still so young, with lots of acidity and tannin that will need five years to come together. Kneel down to show some appreciation for this quality Merlot. A bit of late bitter stringency but of no real matter. Tasted April 2014 @Quails_Gate
History may one day remember them as the group of twelve, or perhaps, “The Ontario School.” They are the 12 wineries who have banded together to ensconce a strange but beautiful word on the tongue, in the dictionary and out in the world. Somewhereness.
They are purveyors of the land from which their grapes grow and ferment into wine. Facilitators of terroir, working a canvas forged by millions of years of geological and climatic evolution. Their assembly is based on both exigency and on Moira; destiny, share, fate.
Like that other famous group, “collectively they agree.” Ontario’s cool-climate wine regions need to qualify and certify a distinctive winemaking style. In juxtaposition to old world, European tradition, the intensity of Somewhereness needs to reflect an increasingly Ontario-centric partiality.
These are the members. 13th Street, Bachelder, Cave Spring, Flat Rock, Hidden Bench, Hinterland, Malivoire, Charles Baker, Norman Hardie, Southbrook, Stratus and Tawse. Matt Kramer of Wine Spectator used the term and now it defines an enterprise. “As a group of 12 wineries growing small lots of site-specific vines in Ontario’s ancient glacial soils, we’ve invoked Somewhereness as a word enabling us to articulate in one collective voice.”
How do you get to Somewhereness? As related to wine that is like asking, Who am I? Why do we exist? What is the meaning of life? The Somewhereness movement, the notion, comes to light through this statement. “Somewhereness is revealed in the mysterious time capsules we know as bottles of wine. As ethereal gifts of a carefully tended location and a moment in time, each is imprinted with a vineyard’s sense of place,
its soil, climate, seasons, vintage variations — and its maker’s methods.”
In 2013 I wrote about Somewhereness over the Canadian wine rainbow. “Above all else, the rainbow’s fulcrum is the “somewhereness” of Canada’s wine regions. Terroir is the great catch word for wine. A vine’s home determines its potential, its structure, its sense of place. Micro-climates, soil, geology, altitude, slope and vegetation all contribute to the make-up of a wine forged from that specific parcel, lot or locale.”
In Come together, over wine I continued the discussion. “Intensity is in the air. The artists are at work, blessed with a geographical, geological and climatic canvas unique to the planet. They share arts and letters, compare and contrast methods, style and results. The sense of community is palpable, obvious and quite frankly awesome. They are Ontario winemakers and they are coming together. Right now.”
At the end of last year my column 13 Canadian wines that rocked in 2013 reviewed what Canadian winemakers do best. “That is producing unique, cutting edge and brilliant takes on cool climate grapes. They also match beautifully with the songs referenced in their tasting notes. When the wines are assessed and considered in part or as a whole, who would dare to say there are no great wines being produced?”
On Wednesday April 9th, Somewhereness brought the band to St. James Cathedral for a full-on tasting that is rapidly being recognized as a must not miss Ontario event. Here are notes on some of the wines I sampled.
From left to right: Malivoire M2 Small Lot Gamay 2012, Flat Rock Nadja’s Vineyard Riesling 2012, 13th Street Sandstone Old Vines Gamay Noir 2012, Southbrook Whimsy! Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, Tawse Laundry Vineyard Cabernet Franc 2011, Charles Baker Picone Vineyard Riesling 2008 and Norman Hardie County Unfiltered Pinot Noir 2012
13th Street Pinot Gris 2012, VQA Creek Shores, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (Winery, $19.95, WineAlign)
Here you have an honest, 100 per cent stainless steel treated Pinot Gris from an estate vineyard located adjacent the market on Fourth Avenue in the Creek Shores appellation. So very dry and really fine fruit, crisp, neoteric, rising and falling in waves of tempered acidity. Made in a comfortable, country-twanged, folk-rock style, like a Cowboy Junkie. Juicy, mouth-watering work and very easy to fall for. An angel mine, this 13th Street, “and I know that your skin is as warm and as real as that smile in your eyes.” This effort by Jean-Pierre Colas is as good as it gets, a tally for Creek Shores and its kinship with the variety.
Malivoire M2 Small Lot Gamay 2012, VQA Niagara Escarpment, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (Winery, $19.95, WineAlign)
A six-month lay in French oak for 60 per cent of the Gamay fruit sourced exclusively from Malivoire’s Beamsville Bench estate vineyard is just what the go doctor ordered. Only Malivoire’s Gamay smells specifically like this; of tart and savoury capers, of small, earthy gemstones, of peppery currants, of meaty braising Bouille. A striking wine from a fortuitous Gamay vintage and great value that puts me in mind of how special the Courtney will be. Though the soils may differ, proximity wise they are close cousins.
Just add three months and witness a new evolution, a density, from a honeyed thing. Entering a pre-adolescence with a new bounce in its step. From my earlier, January 2014 note: “A champion cyclone of forces combined to elevate the already incumbent position of this Twenty Mile Bench Riesling. An ideal growing season magnified transmission upon a paradigmatic two and a half-acre block. This southern-most and highest altitude section of Flat Rock’s vineyard rests aboard a solid bed of limestone and wake me up if that rock was not drawn up into the vines in this stellar Riesling vintage. Sure its warm and nearly off-dry but such an effortless squeeze of lemon hydrates and elevates orchard fruit and honey out of the year of the lemon. After each sip its “every time you kiss me, lemon crush.” Love this prince of a Twenty Mile white in 2012, the dynamism smiling on the tart, succulent fruit. The length is one of outright bravado. This will develop for 20 years, of that I am convinced. There is just so much fruit. A Nadja for the ages.”
Part Beamsville Bench (70 per cent), part Twenty Mile Bench (30), this best of both worlds Pinot is full of calcium magnesium carbonate, Jurassic bark. Playful as opposed to angry, this is not so much Snoop Dogg’s Dolomite but more like an animated Futurama. Seduces with a sweet red berry entry and bound by a really fine acid/tannin/fruit balance. Admittedly not overly complex but for the price it shows good structure. As far as Pinot goes, this one is a made for beef or rack of veal.
The most versatile fizz in the Hinterland portfolio, what winemaker Jonas Newman refers to as his “chameleon.” As aromatically floral as this Charmat method bubbles (secondary fermentation in tank) ever gets, the ’13 brings out the garden under the mist of a sprinkler, late on a summer evening. It’s not so much about fruit as it is about texture, pollen and wet rocks. Try it at Barque.
This binary vineyard symbiosis will be bottled as the Niagara Pinot. Just filtered a few days ago it strides out with the utmost confidence in swagger, with a purity of fruit is spite of Thomas’ shock, awe and reductive apology. A bright sway of terroir gives rapture to a peaking raspberry bush imagined forward into a cooled pie. A renewed elegance abides with an absence of humidity and with a fully ameliorated knowing that a fleshing will happen. Really fine.
Gamay may be winemaker Shiraz Mottiar’s decisive resource but Chardonnay is his thing. The Moira’s ranks as one of Niagara’s best, vintage in, vintage out and this Mottiar, from the winemaker’s home vineyard is the trump card. This Malivoire special agent is set in 2 – 5 year old 300 L French oak hogsheads and aged on the lees in barrel for 10 months. The result? Texture. With the use, or lack thereof in new oak, Mottiar’s Chardonnay becomes a study in compages, with strong abilities and the accents of green orchard fruit and a faint sensation of blanched nut. Nothing toasty mind you because it’s all about density and girth; a Shiraz thing. I find his Chardonnay is all about texture.
13th Street Sandstone Old Vines Gamay Noir 2012, VQA Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (130195, $29.95, WineAlign)
If roses were stones they would produce an aroma that only 13th Street’s Sandstone Gamay would recall. Some previous vintages have pushed the boundary to sky-high excess and a subterranean ferrous burrowing but in 2012 the perfume is both grounded and ethereal. The sandy tuff rock is so in that glass, like the smell of a rugged beach, mist and salinity spraying and rising off the rocks. The ’12 now knows “I don’t have to sell my soul.” Wholly singular Gamay and with hopes it will always be this going forward. Where as before it said “I want to be adored,” it now confirms “you adore me.”
Tawse Laundry Vineyard Cabernet Franc 2011, VQA Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (130997, $34.95, WineAlign)
A lean Laundry with as much finesse as winemaker Paul Pender has ever shown in his poignant Cabernet Franc realm. When a vintage deals you calm and scale you sit back and relax. The Lincoln Lakeshore advancing in years vines bring yet unseen front end red berry, licorice and red currant softness in 2011. There is elegance but also a refusal to yield its back-end bite. A level of enveloping grain and chalk is unique to this bottle and should be seen as a very good effort with the possibility ahead for movement and a gaining of flesh. A graceful, gently pressed Laundry.
Southbrook Whimsy! Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (260281, $34.95, WineAlign)
A 100 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon whose barrel aging specs are integral to discussing its unfolding. This Whimsy is a seven barrel (172 case) lot of which 86 per cent was aged for 13 months in (71 per cent) French oak. Plain and simple, a wood-heavy decision that has provided allied excellence five years after that demanding vintage. The agglomeration is one of steroidal currants, rocket red berries and an assiduous savoury edge. Just now are the beginnings of a caramel oozing from out of the centre of a dark chocolate house. Really quite an amazing, rich cake example from the vintage. Showing so right and so strong now, in its territory and wheelhouse.
Norman Hardie County Unfiltered Pinot Noir 2012, VQA Prince Edward County, Ontario (125310, $35.20, WineAlign)
Hardie’s 2012 County Pinot Noir is a beacon, a flashing light on the shore, an invitation to copycats because this is what making red wine from limestone foundations is all about. To taste this ’12 is to experience Hardie’s purest berry maceration and distillation to date. It’s as if there was no alcohol present and in fact, at 11.5 per cent it is a modest and transparent pronouncement. Longevity may not bless the ’12 as in other vintages but this is certainly the most groomed and coiffed County Pinot Noir.
Tasted at Somewhereness 2014 as part of a vertical retrospective going back to 2007. The Vinemount Ridge’s now famous Picone Vineyard is set within a 10-acre estate on the Niagara Escarpment. Planted to the Weis 21 clone, the Riesling grown here digs in for complexity from sectional moieties of clay and sandy soil atop a unique base of limestone bedrock. Charles Baker began working with these grapes in 2005 and it is this 2008 where the learning curve took a turn for the Riesling stratosphere. The ’06 found luck in the stars but this vintage lays the framework and foundation for a master plan. At this stage in the ’08 evolution there is a prodigious and viscous honeyed textured. Ripening tree fruit juices run like maple sap in spring and the run off is beginning to think syrup. A cutting ridge of acidity arrests the sugaring, allowing citrus and flinty rock to recall the wine’s first, fresh steps. Baker’s Riesling time travels in circles with no real beginning and no real end. From my earlier, September 2012 note: ““Whoo-ahhh” Mojito, green apple skin scent of a Riesling. Seductive to sip, a bodacious body of influence, then back-end bite. A wolf pack in sheep’s clothing.”
No other Niagara red and for sure no alternative Peninsula Bordeaux blend exists in such a vacuum of dichotomous behaviour. Act one is an out-and-out boastful, opulent show of Rococo. Act two a gnawing and gnashing by beasts. The pitch and pull of the Terroir Caché 2010 optates and culls the extraordinary through the practice of extended délestage, what Hidden Bench notes as “a traditional method of gently draining the wine and returning it to tank with its skins during fermentation.” The ’10 is about as huge as it gets, highly ferric and tannic. Still chemically reactive, you can almost imagine its once small molecules fitfully growing into long chains. Berries of the darkest night and he who should not be named black fruit are confounded by minerals forcing the juice into a cold sweat. Will require a minimum of 10 years to soften its all-powerful grip. From my earlier March 2013 note: “has rich, voluptuous Napa Valley written all over it. Sister Merlot dominant, Beamsville Bench sledge monster. Plumbago, mineral, blackberry and coffee in a wine that will be the ringer in a blind tasting 10 years on. Harald may be saying “this is our family jewel.” Mr. Thiel, you make good wine”
Patient as ever with the cool-climate, slow and low ripening Cabernet Franc, winemaker J-L Groux stuck with belief, regardless of the warm 2010 vintage. The Stratus single varietal space and time continuum of let it hang (though not to December), 20ish months of aging, nearly half in French oak barrels, has brought forth the most dense and luxe Cabernet Franc to date. “It’s never old school, all brand new,” with Groux so this red swells in wholly pure black currant fruit and is as big as it gets for J-L, which is saying something. This beastie boy will age over a 20-year period. Style is the thing, and yes, the aromatics.
The Locust Lane Vineyard, originally planted in 1998, was Hidden Bench’s first acquisition, in 2003. It has a unique perpendicular cross-slope effect, undulating in all four directions, gathering sun hours in its own special way. The vineyard produces the richest and warmest Pinot Noir with fruit flavours more akin to ripe plum and black cherry than almost anywhere on the Beamsville Bench, certainly as any from the Hidden Bench stable. While the ’11 is not the biggest beast nor the Bordeaux bully of the Terroir Caché, it is surprisingly tannic and strong. It’s anything but hot, though it attacks with fervor. Big berry fruit, macerated strawberry, rich pie notes and spice. A great Locust vintage.
Pinot Noir from the Mountainview Road Vineyard on the Beamsville Bench. Photo: William Roman, http://www.rosewoodwine.com/
In the past 10 days there have been opportunities to taste the Ontario wine industry’s state of the union. Tawse Winery rolled out the red carpet, the Key Keg and a must check ’em out set of new wines in a sister brand known as Redstone Wines. County in the City presented a major introspective of Prince Edward County at the Berkeley Church and Somewhereness, the definitive Ontario goût de terroir on display April 9th at St. James Cathedral has the local wine community abuzz with new catch phrases.
#somewhereness event in TO highlights the high level of quality wine on offer from Ontario. Genuine cool climate stylishness. Bravo
Full reports on those three events will be coming out over the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, Ontario wines and winemakers are well represented in this week’s VINTAGES April 12th release. That and a mess of catch phrases, idioms, colloquialisms and overall word play.
A sundry type of tasting note composition can theoretically make cause to “burn one’s boats” though the phrase “crossing the Rubicon” holds more water and instills greater confidence. Before feeling the need to act on a Mr. Bursian attack and screaming “release the hounds,” it is highly recommended to read between the lines, click on the pop culture references but refrain from and “don’t look the gift-horse in the mouth.”
Ontario wines have come so far and in such a short period of time. Sure there are some outfits that might be considered a “flash in the pan” and specific examples weighted down by “feet of clay.” Who does not hope that as a group, wines from Niagara, Prince Edward County and Lake Erie North Shore avoid a “hoist with one’s own petard’ or go “sailing under false colours.” There should be no fear. Ontario wines are no longer merely improving. They are “throwing down the gauntlet.” There is no reason to reject the idea of spending $38 on an Ontario red or white. Quality is officially and incontestably in the bottle.
Here are six wines in stores now, five from Ontario, the other made by an Ontario winemaker, to have a go at this weekend.
From left to right: Pondview Riesling 2012, Fielding Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2013, 13th Street June’s Vineyard Riesling 2011, 13th Street June’s Vineyard Riesling 2012, Bachelder Oregon Chardonnay 2011, Rosewood Estates Reserve Pinot Noir 2010
Pondview Riesling 2012, VQA Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (271148, $15.95, WineAlign)
While winemaker Fred di Profio’s ’12 remains true to the Pondview idea of mineral-driven Riesling, the vintage dictates the course and this one simply carries four miles of juicy fruit, accented by green herbs and a spread of lime jam. It’s dry, vinous and cidery with a slight sour aftertaste. A lamb Riesling, lambic, iambic and pedantic. Good value. Tasted March 2014 @Pondviewwinery
Ever orchard fruit bearing, omnipresent juicy Sauvignon Blanc. Pliable and informal, typical in itself and for the local marl. Kept on its toes by a wailing, sharp green peppercorn cut by caper line that runs through, then gracefully descends towards a grassy, song of freedom refrain. Tang is the final act of its redemption. Well-structured and proper. Does a Fielding wine ever not abide and chant “we forward in this generation, triumphantly?” Tasted March 2014 @FieldingWinery
13th Street June’s Vineyard Riesling 2011, VQA Creek Shores, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (147512, $19.95, WineAlign)
June’s vineyard, now in its (correct me if I’m wrong) 12th year is both nascent and senescent, increasingly producing a blatant expression of Creek Shores Riesling. Today’s fleeting study faces a direct, anti-diminutive aridity and more dried herbs. In 2011, the austere vineyard speaks but the Riesling realizes atonement through a corpulence of flesh and bone down by the sheltered shores. A much tougher assignment than the gilded platinum hand dealt to vineyards upon the upper reaches of the Escarpment. Tasted September 2013 @13thStreetWines
From my September 2013 note: “from Niagara’s Creek Shores and built of the classic Alsatian Clone 49 inordinately defines place and time in an agglomerated manner. Maximum floral intensity, zero petrol tolerance and an arid accumulation speak volumes about the appellation. To taste you will note it just barely believes it’s off-dry. Unique and unambiguous, plosive Riesling.” Tasted March 2014
Call it whatever you like; house red, Bistro red, un verre de vin rouge maison. All phrases to describe a refreshing and wholly compatible glass of red wine. The Tawse is crafted for such purpose, combining Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot in a Médoc state of mind. Aromatically it spews tobacco, tea, currants and white pepper, all wrapped in a tight, food-friendly package and demanding to be paired this way. Solid red. Tasted March 2014 @Tawse_Winery
Bachelder Oregon Chardonnay 2011, Willamette Valley, Oregon (273334, $29.95, WineAlign)
The citrus stands out today. If the base and necessary oak treatment is your kryptonite, by all means, walk away from the Oregon Bachelder Project. But that decision deprives that part of your brain that processes progress and reason. This is not the oak-driven Chardonnay of your 1985. This is the future. Embrace the angles, the quotients and the variables. Fruit as function, rock as relation and barrel as the algebraic cauldron that allows the wine to come to conclusion. Sure there’s oak but it drives the equation. Deal with it. Tasted April 2014 @Bachelder_wines
From my earlier February 2014 note: “Yet another three months later re-taste to show Bachelder’s Oregon terroir may be the most difficult to assess in its infancy. This short slumber has changed everything. Oregon distinction, smell it, commit it to memory and you’ll never forget it. “Picture yourself staring at a loved one in a restaurant,” says Thomas. “Would you be able to pick this out as Chardonnay?” Some ciderish activity, from sedimentary and volcanic soils that used to mingle with ocean waters, give this a sea salt and fossilized lava stillness. More buttery (dare I say, popcorn) goodness than the rest. And restrained tang. And length. Wow.
From my earlier November 2013 note: “While Burgundian in hopes and dreams, this is very much a $29 Oregon white. No mask, no hidden altruism, simply the right Chardonnay for the right price. Bone dry, orchard driven, high acid, void of harmful terpenes. There is a salinity and piquancy not influenced by PH, perhaps by the ocean, by sandstone, but regardless it’s unique to place, unlike Niagara, Prince Edward County, or for that matter Burgundy.”
Prettier in 2010 the Rosewood is, the aromas a precise glowing arcade of earthy, warm, peppery fire. April redolent of a burgeoning, sweet cranberry marsh. Present, accounted for though not tough tannins. Glazed by an unobtrusive candy shell. A fine, inviting, sweet and soft Rosewood Pinot, true to vintage and neighborhood. “Then I’ll dig a tunnel, from my window to yours.” Tasted March 2014 @Rosewoodwine
As time goes by, I am hearing less comments like, “well that one got a 95,” and “that one is better value because it got a 90.” Wine ratings may increasingly becoming maligned and less frequently employed but that does not mean they don’t have their place. Scores continue to be necessary as a way to evaluate wines that lack a certain level of honesty. Wines on the edge of being dodgily made, encumbered by heavy-handed, industry-fed, mass marketing machines. Scores separate and differentiate the wheat from the chaff when dealing with over the top residual sugar, hyper-acidification, bloated alcohol and (lack of fruit) masking. Embrocating one Malbec an 85 over another’s 84 makes a comment on the relative validities of those two sweetened confections.
Attaching a rating to a tasting note is not a question of right versus wrong. Ratings measure a bottle of wine against its peers. That is the simple answer. The problem is that the tasting experience is a subjective one and each reviewer has personal preferences, so in order to align with one (or more), the consumer must self-calibrate alongside a critic whose palate they’ve figured out. Very difficult to do, so relying on scores has always been the easiest road to travel.
Part of the problem is that tasting notes, on their own, are often fleeting and impossible to grasp. Guilty as charged. Fred Swan put this is the most eloquent terms. “Tasting notes are like photographs, portraying a subject at one brief moment in time and without a back story.” If tasting notes are just snapshots, is that not compelling testimony as to the need for an accompanying score? Or is the rating simply a tool understood within the context of marketing?
Jamie Goode’s take. “I find myself in a tricky position: I use points even though I don’t like to because readers find them useful. And I have to calibrate my scale with the major critics. This pushes me into a corner.”
Still the debate is growing and for good reason. The wine community is tiring of seeing scores, especially those tabulated using the Robert Parker Jr. anointed 100-point scale, attached to a critic’s wine tasting note. The question has always been this. Why would you need scores to sell wine?
Mr. Parker feels so strongly about the entrenched longevity of his system that he’s announced the launch of a new lifestyle magazine called “100 Points by Robert Parker.” Does this sound like a last gasp fling from a captain going down with his ship? Bill Zacharkiw seems to intimate the idea, but the Montreal Gazette wine critic is smarter than to lash out and drag anyone through the mud. Taking a high road, Zacharkiw writes, “from grapes to wine styles, there is truly a wine for everyone. I have my taste, you have yours, and Parker has his.” No, nor scores neither. Nor scores neither.
The fervor and sometimes rage in the argument reminds me of the (second) most famous of Hamlet soliloquys. “Why it appeareth nothing to me but a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man!” Most of the voices chiming in on this hot topic only see the ratings world in black and white. There are more shades of grey than many would freely admit. Scores have their place.
Meanwhile, Decanter is reporting that Château Pontet-Canet made a bold decision to test (more than 20 years) of uncharted waters by setting their en Primeur pricing in advance of the taste and ratings levies by the major critics. Since the nineties the likes of Parker, Decanter and Wine Spectator have all but determined Bordeaux Futures pricing. Pontet-Canet’s move is being seen as another nail in the 100-point coffin. One Bordeaux négociant commented, “If other chateaux follow this same pricing model, we might as well go home now.”
The real issue is the bottle itself. In the new world of wine, who has not thrown new stock and a vested interest into wines made naturally, in sustainable, biodynamic or organic ways? Who has not made a resolution to drink more honest wine? Producing good wine still trumps the natural theatre of viticulture and viniculture but honesty is the new order. Honest wines should go forth and be free of wine ratings.
Wine scores can be ignored if we concentrate on what matters. Like apiculate yeast, fermentative vigor, microflora, clonal selection and soil. We also need to talk more about and mention flaws, like chlorinated compounds, hydrogen sulphide and volatile acidity. These are things that are too often brushed under the rug.
I will continue to post ratings of the wines I review on WineAlign because as a community of critics we offer a round table of opinions that allow the wine buyer to make gathered, educated and informed decisions. In consideration that this forum is a singular expression of opinions, this column will no longer attach scores to tasting notes. It’s quite obvious, plain and simple. I only write about honest wines for canada.com. The prose speaks for itself.
With spring beginning this Friday, no joke, here are the last of the great big winter reds. Five wines recently tasted that thrilled by way of their fairness, their honor and their virtue. Wines that need no score.
From left: Mi Terruño Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Pearl Morissette Cabernet Franc Cuvée Madeline 2010, Ruffino Ducale Oro Riserva Chianti Classico 2008, The Hess Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 1990, and Château Calon Ségur 2010, Ac Saint Estèphe
Mi Terruño Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Mendoza, Argentina (364133, $15.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 29, 2014 Release
Stands out for its honest fruit, this Mendozan from San Roque district in Maipú county. Qualified by an admirable level of restraint, low in residual sugar and alcohol, straightforward, unencumbered. Winemakers María Eugenia Baigorria and Sergio Giménez have let the fruit speak in clean, level tones, in red berries, licorice red and black, a dusting of spice, red cherry and even strawberry. This is textbook hands off winemaking with nearly exceptional length and simply solid from start to finish. Mi sueno, mi terruño. Tasted March 2014
Pearl Morissette Cabernet Franc Cuvée Madeline 2010, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula (winery, $38, WineAlign)
Francois Morissette’s 2010 is a pioneering example towards defining Bench appellation Cabernet Franc isomeric reactions. Relationships between grapes of a growing area and their ultimate destination in bottle. An affair of veraison, leaf drop, frost, hand harvesting, whole cluster sorting and berry oak fermenting. Indigenous yeast, punch downs and overs for phenolic skin extraction and polymerization. Neutral oak and sulfur dioxide to provide antimicrobial and antioxidant protection. An eighteen month somniac’s rest, fine lees and no filtration. The structural arrangement in cohabitation of radicals and ions leads to such a Cabernet Franc. Fully expressive of an endemic, very ripe, vegetal varietal vicissitude that is both inbred and necessary. Currants and peppered berries of power and grit. Dry (2 g/L residual sugar), plump (13.7 per cent alcohol) and scarce (618 cases made). Reflective of the warm 2010 vintage and will always act in stark contrast to the elegant 2011. Tasted July 2013 and March 2014 @PearlMorissette On the card at Barque Smokehouse
Ruffino Ducale Oro Riserva Chianti Classico 2008, Tuscany, Italy (353201, $43.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 29, 2014 Release
A re-release showing an exuberance of advanced character. Now acting out the strikingly rich and golden vintage, in Lamé and gilded iron. Speaking a most Tuscan, elite vernacular, already recognizable and evolving into its own skin, with a notion towards herbaceous, dried fruit. A classic pasta and roasted meats red wine. Nonna’s Trattoria kitchen in a glass. Drying just a touch, so drink up. Earlier note: “Slight earthy funk, imparted by the vineyard floor and in part from the wood. Sappy, resinous, distinctively warm-blooded, plummy fruit. Tuscan tang though light on pucker.” Tasted October 2013 and March 2014
The Hess Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 1990, Mount Veeder, Napa Valley, California, USA (662015, $59.00, WineAlign)
A seminal bottling from a game-changing year, for two all important reasons. One, it was a great vintage for Napa reds and two, the Mount Veeder sub-appellation was established. While only 24 years ago, a mere five wineries existed there at the time, including Mayacamas, Mt. Veeder and Hess. No hyperbole to say this is tasting a piece of history. Despite my “shouting all about love,” this splendidly aged Cabernet is not so much about resilience as it is persistence and infinite wisdom. All those years ago there were Napa reds made at a mere 12.5 per cent alcohol, with finesse and a sense of George-like calm. With little aeration there is fig, prune and toffee gently weeping but with air the aged fruit is swept away by a wave of gob stopping Cassis before its time. Preconceived notions of banausic, early days Cabernet are smothered by the magic dust of this Hess religion, a Dharma of licorice, ash and enlightenment. A wine to make you forget where you are. Depth, length and up to a half decade yet of reserved life lay ahead. Tasted March 2014 @HessCollection
Château Calon Ségur 2010, Ac Saint Estèphe, Bordeaux, France (259010, $149.85, WineAlign) An In-Store Discovery from the VINTAGES March 29, 2014 Release
A blend that in 2010 is extremely high in Cabernet Sauvignon (86 per cent), with support from Merlot (12) and Petit Verdot (2). Immaculate hue in blue jasmine meets red ochre, echoed by blue and red fruit aromas. A purity of freshness and an exotic perfume distracts from the absurdity of the price, if just long enough to become intoxicated by its qualifications. It really does have it all. Red velvet layer cake made of the finest chocolate, the world’s least refined and highest quality sugar, spices only found in places reached and hand-picked by agile, primate-like humans. So approachable and marked by sweet tannins that will carry this Saint Estèphe for three decades. Tasted March 2014
We’re going to begin the last week of March with a quartet of white wines as a prayer for the hopes of warmer weather. A bottle full of fresh and sprite grapes to be brought into the temple as a gift to lay down at the altar, sacrificial ferments meant to appease the harbinger gods of Spring. A prayer on the back of a wine angel to usher us out of the cold, to drink in long time missing, rarefied air.
Is this plea just a bit too Exodus 40:6 for you? “And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.” Maybe too much like an American World War Two patriotic song? “And our trust in the Lord, we’re comin’ in on a wing and a prayer.” Do you read this and think, “See the rich man lost and lonely, watch him as he dines, sitting there just testing all the wines…” Does this make you roll your eyes due to a kitsch allergy? “Our wine, which art in heaven, hallowed by thy legs…For thine is the Chardonnay, the Merlot and the Cabernet. Forever and ever. Amen.”
An assembly of really good white wine seems as good a plan as any to beg for Spring weather, prosaic waxing or not. Let’s just make a plan. Open a bottle of white wine a day for four days, or open one and wait four days. Then look out the window. If I were a betting man I’d say Spring will have sprung.
From left: Casal Di Serra Verdicchio Dei Castelli Di Jesi Classico Superiore 2011, Coopers Creek Select Vineyards Dillons Point Sauvignon Blanc 2012, Estate Argyros Assyrtiko 2011, and Tawse Robyn’s Block Chardonnay 2010
Casal Di Serra Verdicchio Dei Castelli Di Jesi Classico Superiore 2011, Doc Marche, Italy (268169, $17.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 29, 2014 Release
What once was, though no longer is a single (Montecarotto) vineyard designated Verdicchio, the exceptional quality of the grapes remains obvious, front and centre. A five months lees meets yeast cold soak and a distant, though influencing stone’s throw from a (somewhat) far away coast combine for complex effect. A brilliant platinum hue and loaded stony, mineral relish is piqued by a pinch of salinity. The overall elaboration is urged along by lime citrus in zest, aromatic bitters and evolving fruit entering a nut stage. Very, very Verdicchio. 89 Tasted March 2014 @UmaniRonchiVino@Noble_Estates
Coopers Creek Select Vineyards Dillons Point Sauvignon Blanc 2012, Marlborough, New Zealand (66092, $19.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 29, 2014 Release
There is just something about Sauvignon Blanc from vineyards on or near the shore of Cloudy Bay. Alan and Petrina Shutkowski’s plot in Morgans Road joins ranks the likes of the original and iconic Cloudy Bay and te Pā as purveyors of distinct and inadmissible fruit. Rises to a next level concentration and exceptional length. Larger scale producer does upscale SB at a large-scale price with distinction. A thing that sings long and in the right green grass key. Avoids the sickly, herbal sweetness of overbearing aspara-gooseberry and bell pepper. Incredible acids and just the right kind of salivating, mouth-watering verve and tang. Just a pinch of grapefruit pith joins in to magnify the bitters in all the right ways. Tasted March 2014. 91@CoopersCreekNZ
Estate Argyros Assyrtiko 2011, Santorini, Greece (366450, $22.95, SAQ 11901091, $24.50, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 29, 2014 Release
A 100 per cent Assyrtiko from a 150 year-old, Cycladic Phylloxera sanctuary vineyard. Separates itself from other Santorini adelphoi by ageing 20 per cent of the inoxydable, ancient-minded grapes in French barrels. An Assyrtiko that can’t help be anything but stony, atomic driven goodness. Volcano flow and spew, with more texture than most, its elevated price a necessary reflection of a tertiary expertise. Elevated aromatics, locked in tight by the barrel and matched by extreme flavours, so primary, raw, powerful, relentless and grippy. A remarkable white wine that impresses with a sensation of mouth rope burn full of complex, seafaring knots, this Assytiko will age for 15 years in the cellar and develop into something ethereal. Will melt away in dreamy waves when it settles together. Myth will beget legend, legend will beget truth. 93 Tasted March 2014 @KolonakiGroup
Tawse Robyn’s Block Chardonnay 2010, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula,Ontario (662841, $45.95, SAQ 11031443, $48.00, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 29, 2014 Release
This current visit to the ever-ambrosial Robyn’s Block 2010 is unlike any that have come before. Seemingly lignified at present, a stranger in town, in an unexpected, dumb phase stalled as if by agostamento. Twenty Miles of limestone lurk and a green gem’s goddess figure hides behind the looking-glass. This regnant Robyn pleads “take away my inhibitions, take away my solitude.” While not the most flattering of her evolutionary positions, a retinue of resurgent fruit will lead to Robyn’s exodus. A few years patience and this cool climate Chardonnay will regain her warm, tropical smile, to shine again. 92 Tasted March 2014 @Tawse_Winery
Listening to Flat Rock Cellars’ winemaker Jay Johnston rattle off the numbers and particulars of his 2013 Pinot Noir harvest you can’t help but survey the odds of something preternatural. Vintage speculation for 2013 in Niagara has met with tempered interpretation, a play down on the effects of weather and generalizations that it was just another normal meets classic year. Nothing to see here. You sure about that?
This according to VQA Ontario. “2013 was an interesting year with some significant weather variations through the growing season…weather conditions during the 2013 season were quite variable…with some isolated late frosts in Niagara…temperatures through September and October were slightly higher than normal but October was wet putting pressure on harvest schedules and many wineries worked long hours to optimize harvest strategies around the weather.” Sound the alarm?
Flat Rock’s vineyard is a wondrous bit of topography. Peer out from the conclave tasting room and witness a rolling set of undulating and breaking waves, ascending, descending and demarcating the landscape. Let Ed Madronich point out individual plots and blocks. Imagine each sub-section of the vineyard as its own little hermetic world, with its own soil biology and guided by its own little set of rules. Now taste Pinot Noir tank samples from 19 disparate parcels. Internalize, disseminate, deconstruct and reconstruct. As if you were the master of single varietal assemblage. Mind blowing actually. Nerdy, but mind-blowing.
House and Home Food Editor Eric Vellend and I sat down with Johnston and Madronich at the winery for a comprehensive look at those ’13 Pinots, fresh out of their infancy and just beginning to offer a glimpse of what they will be. A total of 185 tonnes were harvested at a more than modest 24 to 24.5 brix, a sugar quotient effectuated by timing as much as sunshine. Nineteen chapters delineate the story, in 160 barrels and in the end there will be two wines. The 2011 Block Series experiment will once again go unrepeated, though Jay notes a return could be considered for 2014.
PHOTO: Eric Vellend Flat Rock Cellars Pinot Noir samples from the 2013 vintage
The tank room was very cold on this last day of February 2014 (you don’t say) so Johnston brought up the samples in what can only be described as a highly classified, secret society of winemakers, high-tech way; in plastic water bottles and Erlenmeyer Flasks. The goal was to offer a representation of the fingerprint of the vineyards and the fermentation management through full composite blends of each batch. We tasted through eight of the 19. The first three are from batches that end up in the Flat Rock Estate Pinot Noir. Clonal selections are noted in brackets.
PHOTO: Michael Godel Flat Rock Cellars 2013 Tank Samples
South (115)
Tang at the forefront, a mineral streak, red berries and a lingering whisper of citrus squeeze from recent (X-mas) sulphuring.
Horseshoe (777)
Dusty and also juicier, from an icy, polar beginning to come back around, calm down and seek a softer, common (to South) end.
Road (777)
Beastly, meanest sucker of the three, speaking with the most rock. The only one (of the first set of three) with some funk.
Monster (A blend of clones)
Funkadelic funky but also the fresh maker. Cherries and high-toned perfume, a feral hint in a leafy, good compost way.
Pond (667/777)
Most like cousin Monster, with increased ferrous activity and striking as the most recognizable to be Flat Rock Pinot Noir, even at only four months of age.
Mountain (667)
The darkest hue yet, with more smoke, heavy rock and a fuller structure.
Bruce/Summit
Bottom and top of the (west) vineyard collide with a mineral tie connecting the two. Grit and toughness here, depths of Mordor and Prunus Serotina, cherries gone black. The combo effect confuses the fruit, rendering the B/S the least subtle and distinctive.
Bruce West
Back to dust but also tang and bigger tannins. Vines with less vigor and smaller berries to thank.
These eight samples all begin in antipodal and far away places but come together to seek common ground. As a window to the outlook for 2013 I can say with unequivocal doubt that if these wines were in bottle they could all be enjoyed right here and now. Pinot Nouveau. They are possessive of a computation in complexity to each tell an individual story. It would be hard to figure Jay and Ed waiting a full 12 months to see them into bottle, especially from the showy blocks. Look for Flat Rock to knock some off to racking in late spring to preserve their amazing level of freshness. The 2013 vintage looks to offer immediate gratification. Its longevity remains to be seen.
PHOTO: Michael Godel Vineyard view, Flat Rock Cellars. Note the warmest rows.
Nearly 4000 cases will be available of this nearly-unfiltered, very established and always well-thought out Pinot Noir. A consideration of the plots and barrels micro-management that determine the crasis of this Estate wine demands an extrapolation in full-on assessment. The medium-coarse Chinois filtering lends to a tannic chain of texture thick in grain and chalk. A heavier Estate because when the weather gives you heat you make a climate appropriate wine. This monkey is not a product of arctic air and it “got too deep, but how deep is too deep?” Thermal vintage melt, ritzy ripe cherry stuff in 2012. From the Ritz to the Rubble, if you like, or the Flat Rock. 88
There will be 660 cases of this barrel cherry-picked, now iconic Bench Chardonnay. The warm vintage called for a combo-malo approach, part batch all in, part arrested development. Gravity influenced top down blending also work to seek a svelte elegance and this ’12 really straddles the humid line. Thinks to be ribald but remains chaste, only allowing a kiss from the barrel and a caress from the rocks beneath the soil. Accept immediate but know that deferred gratification is the hallmark of this bottling. 89
From a sample just pulled from the tank. Jay Johnston’s concept for Nadja is to create many fermentations together, using 2000L tanks and some barrels. The ferments are arrested when they achieve balance and then blended. Nadja still has her young fizz on and she’s exaggerated in Metallica meets a wondrous kind of sour. Already showing an unfurling of (mostly citrus) fruit but also spice and hurried depth. Frantic Riesling, will she “stop to warm at karmas burning, or look ahead, but keep on turning?” 89-90
Tasted from a tank sample. The 2013 Rosé marks a change in direction and approach. No longer a one-dimensional, typical method blush made by saignée, bled off cold soaks, the ’13 goes at it half and half through skin fermenting. As soon as the skins dry out they are removed. The result (though not really apparent four months in) will be aridity with the sweet balance arriving by way of a six to seven percent sulphured dose of Gewürztraminer. The sample swims both upstream and down, through waves of salinity and dulcitude. Will lay claim to being one of the more interesting Rosés from the vintage. 87-88
Tasted from a barrel sample, this singular Bench brew of Syrah, Merlot and Pinot Noir. After 14 months in barrel, all separated at birth, the varieties were blended in mid-January and will be bottled this March. Yet unsettled, there is a level of unctuousness and cake layering. A big red for the believers, for those who lust for big reds. Currently showing its wood, freshness, acids and potential for balance. 87-88
Tasted with proprietor Ed Madronich at the winery. This was Flat Rock’s first ever Sparkling wine made in a challenging vintage. The base wine was fermented dry and sent to neutral barrels. Sugar and yeast were added after eight months and it then entered the bottle. Newer vintages may see time stretched to 20 months. At this stage it is very much alive, showing the whole orchard and nothing but the orchard, albeit with some fallen fruit. Some sugar lingers but not enough to pull it from dry. With time the orchard gives to grapefruit. In the end it’s big and biscuitous. Says Madronich, “Our wines can go 15 years, no problem.” We’ll see about that. 89
Tasted with proprietor Ed Madronich at the winery. Six and a half years have done this unoaked Chardonnay six and a half years of wonder. Green herbs and apple jam spread on a whole wheat cracker. To believe there is not a day of oak on this wine is to bury one’s head in the sand and begin again. It’s that stubborn Bench limestone doing the fooling. “We have great soil,” grins Ed. A few minutes and a few more swirls in it begins talking in the vernacular of Chablis, in a matchstick tone. It’s also fleshing as it goes. Six plus years and $17? “It’s crazy.” 90
PHOTO: Eric Vellend Flat Rock Cellars Rusty Shed Vertical
Barrel fermented, barrel aged, gravity fed. No other Niagara winery can offer up a vertical like this, in this price range. If there is another, let me know and I’m there.
2011 (WineAlign) Conspicuous by its texture from a mild to middling vintage “when you picked before or after the rain.” Though combined, the antechamber of acidity and good cheer trumps the mudroom of funk and doldrums. A Guns ‘n Roses vintage, a pull in two directions, with a potential for breakdown. “Ev’rything was roses when we held on to the guns.” A soft, buttery note tempers the tang and yet that tang lifts the fruit. The tension is what sets the ’11 up for a classic run. 91
2010 (WineAlign) Increased sugar from a hot year with early ripening. Picking decisions played a crucial role, the prudent winery avoiding the heat of the day. This was key to preserving freshness and acidity. Though the aromas are soft and muted, the palate is lush and plush with a mid-section of adolescent body fat. 89
2009 (WineAlign) A slow and even ripening season culminated with a warm and dry harvest. Ideal harvest conditions. This ethereal ’09 has that late harvest come of age feel but is unwavering from a dry sense of humour. Acting as fresh as the day it was bottled, ole’ blue eyes is in ownership of the best of all the surrounding vintages. It was a very good year for the old Rusty Shed, like “life as vintage wine from fine old kegs, from the brim to the dregs and it poured sweet and clear.” A classic crooner, with wood now neutral and supportive, that will last alongside fruit, to the autumn of its years. 91
2008 (WineAlign) From a cooler, wetter, “Burgundian” vintage. Noticeable terpenes and delineated streaks in the aroma, palate continuum. Like mild cider in a diluted but not watered down way. A matter of elegance and refinement. The oak integration may be the most calming yet and the wine has maintained its freshness. A vintage to measure with clonal ancestors and distant cousins if not Flat Rock siblings. 90
2007 (WineAlign) From a very warm and dry vintage with low yields. Dichotomous, with clean fruit working with and against some barrel and earthy notes. Was a tough year to “manage acidity and freshness,” a fight that was paramount to success. Flint and matchstick also work this ’07, as much like Riesling as Chablis so in that sense this is reminiscent of the Unplugged. In another way, the earth says this is as much of a Brett-influenced vintage as any. 89
2006 (WineAlign) Like the 2007, this has that golden hue so it appears that seven to eight years is the marker for the apogee of consumption. A vintage tough on reds, good on whites. Though not high on opulence, the ingot sheen is like fool’s gold and the trickery works to great effect. A fortune is won in patience because this elegant ’06 eventually sheds its rust, gives up fresh apple and palate cleansing acidity. A show of age and propriety. 90
Less than a case is left of this first Pinot Noir made by Ed Madronich. At the time Flat Rock made just 500 cases, including two Rieslings (Estate and Nadja) plus two barrels (43 cases) of Chardonnay. From a cool vintage, 11 years on this Pinot is reddening to maroon, with sour cherry flavours submitted to earth. A hint of soy and toffee. Herbaceous, young vine minted, accented by dill and mushroom. Holding on and showing that older vintages had (not known at the time) depth and structure. Creamy texture if not the cleanest Pinot ever made. First world problem. 88
Godello 