I’m splitting up the teaser for the VINTAGES December 10th release into three sections; Canada, New World and Old World, if only for the old-school, nostalgic and compartmentalized way of things. First up are wines that stretch across the great Canadian divide, from all the way west to east, by way of Ontario, of course. Eight up, right now.
Welcome @muller_brent to team RED! with nazlanmak captain @treve_ring #nwac16 @winealign
The WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada are a complex, multifarious and many-splendored thing. The Nationals bring unity, cross-provincial comity and international variety to the Canadian wine scene. That’s more than can be said about the commerce side of things. It requires a whole lot more than good will to make this most important Canadian competition happen. It takes 1,500+ unique wines, algorithms, logistics, space, time and people.
My fourth Nationals in the books and the apogee of perquisite function is reached. That’s how it feels, in retrospect. The overture of function and the apex of wine journalism culminates at the vertices of colleague and responsibility. To find the profound wrapped up in the membrane of gifted opportunity allows a wine writer to make a valid and justifiable contribution. It affords a conclusion written in vouchsafe doling, where medals are heaped upon the best wines produced in Canada. It’s an avail of satisfaction, a community distraction and a labour of love.
How lucky we all were to have her back in the captain’s chair. Happy Canada Day @djwines #nwac16
Congratulations to Tawse Winery. In his WineAlign report David writes, “winery owner Moray Tawse and winemaker Paul Pender have harvested Winery of the Year honours at Canada’s largest wine competition again this year, the fourth time since 2010. Tawse Winery is on a roll, with five gold medals in this year’s showdown, plus eight silver and eight bronze medals.”
The people at the forefront are the judges, women and men from across the country (representing seven provinces) as well as international guests, from the U.K. and America. Not just any America, mind you, but native America, from California (by way of Alaska). The judges rule but they are not the most integral cog in the NWAC machine. It is the wine fairies that run the engine and they need naming. Head wineaux Bryan McCaw. Logistics and administrative gurus Sarah Goddard and Carol-Ann Jessiman. Statistics bordering on actuarial science sabermetrics specialist Earl Paxton. Photographer Jason Dziver. Head judges Anthony Gismondi and David Lawrason. Volunteers. Lifters, carriers, movers, pourers and judge-doting servers. These are the heroes.
The 2016 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada judges photo (c) Jason Dziver and WineAlign
In his WineAlign report, Anthony Gismondi writes “this year’s National Wine Awards was the most inclusive yet, with 230 wineries entering over 1,500 wines from across the country. The numbers only make the achievement of Lake Breeze as Canada’s 2016 Best Performing Small Winery of Year all that more impressive.”
I would like to make it clear that I write all of my tasting notes for The Nationals solely based on the notes scribbled during the competition. Though I am fully aware of the wines in question when composing the final copy, the transcribing process remains 100 per cent pure and loyal to the original notes. Nothing is added. No acidification, chaptalization, fining or filtering.
Dispatch @winealign note to Canada- You are making awesome @coolchardonnay …next stop #i4c #nwac16
“There was a dazzling array of top quality Canadian wines at this year’s 16th WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada with over 1,500 entries from 230 wineries in six provinces. There were 16 coveted Platinum medals spread over 14 wineries, and seven different wine categories.”
My top 40 are not necessarily the best I tasted but rather the best of a cross-section that insists on being inclusive for as many categories across the compendium. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Gamay and Riesling are disproportionately represented and for good reason, but there are thirds, fourths and fifths exceptional examples that are not celebrated on this versatile and ubiquitous list.
Treve Ring made it clear that “no matter what shade, it’s pretty obvious that more folks are thinking pink. And with fresh results from the 2016 National Wine Awards of Canada held in Penticton, BC last month, Canadian winemakers are stepping up with terrific offerings.”
The notable exception and varietal inconsequence comes at the hands of Cabernet Franc, a grape that I’ve come to herald over the past two years, especially from out of the auspices of Niagara gatherings and master classes, along with other Canadian competitions I’ve judged at. Franc has shown well at the Ontario Wine Awards, at Gold Medal Plates and at comparative varietal get togethers. When we convened at Peller Estates in the spring of 2015 during a CAPS Best Canadian Sommelier competition, the Cabernet Franc flights were revelatory. At the 2015 and 2016 Ontario Wine Awards the varietal shone in Icewine meanderings. At NWAC 2016 its promise stagnated and receded into wooden shadows.
Why is this? The simple answer could be examined as too many quality CFs made by many good vignerons were not entered. Another view sees a rapid return tho excess barrel aging in less than stellar vintages, namely 2013 and 2014. The last concern is a heavily weighted Okanagan participation. The sage and dry desert impart mixed with wood clouds many B.C. renditions. It’s not that they are poor wines by any stretch, but they tend to blend in as one, especially when eight or more are tasted side by side by each.
Pronto! Largest assembly of Canadian wines in one place- 1,525 @WineAlign National Wine Awards #nwac16
Speaking on behalf of the entire WineAlign/Chacun son Vin crew might be a slight over-reaching opinionated bit of creative license but judging these awards ranks amongst the most important things we do as wine journalists. These wines are in our hands and we pay attention to every detail, on a playing field set as level as there can be in the pantheon of wine competitions. Nothing is taken for granted and the collective palate works towards the most just conclusions possible. These Top 40 wines are what I spent the most energy on. All deserving of their accolades.
Quebec
Les Pervenches Seyval Chardonnay 2015, Quebec (Winery, $20.00, WineAlign)
A two-varietal conjoin of chardonnay (80 per cent) and seyval blanc (20) opined with the sort of high level of acidity that stakes territorial claim out of what is surely the coolest climate in the competition. The sharp drift leans to shale and flint. Great glade energy and piercing phenolics are superb. Oak is not even a twinkle in its eye, nor negative reduction neither. Directly solid phenolics, tart and angling to greenery. Lemons all over and lime too. Such zing. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @LaRoutedesVins@VinsduQuebec
Domaine Acer Charles Aimé Robert, Quebec (Winery, $30.00, WineAlign)
Maple syrup as maple syrup, reduced, syrupy, caramelized, rich, buttery (brown) and with direct acidity. Mostly in balance. Roasted nuts and even some fig. Roasted chestnuts off the Portuguese cart. Marmite and umami. The return of the sherry semblance that speaks an Oloroso vernacular, the nutty Solera professor, dried apricot beauty. The maple is so in, so reduced and perfectly realized. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016
Desrochers D Cuvée De La Diable Vin De Miel, Quebec (Winery, 375ml, $20.00, WineAlign)
Just amazing honey wine, all beeswax but here without as much funk and so stressed in lemon citrus with savour, not balm. Like sweet sherry, envisaged in the vein of say Montilla-Moriles Pedro Ximenez, from 100 per cent honey. Really haute-fashion acidity. Pine resin and forest floor. Quite complex and irrefragable into its long finish. Honey buttered toast, sour and so good. Really well made, balanced and ethereal. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016
New Brunswick
Happy Knight Black Mead 2015, New Brunswick (Winery, $13.29, WineAlign)
From honey (87 per cent) and black currant (13) together for a wonderfully lactic, chalky, saccharine mess. There are moments of simple sour and insipid tartness but the up and downs bring about structure. And then the lifted florals. Drink 2016-2017. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @happyknightwine
Nova Scotia
Blomidon Estate Winery Tidal Bay 2015, Tidal Bay, Nova Scotia (Winery, $19.99, WineAlign)
Simply the simplest white blend in the flight, for good reason and measure. Languid and salty, bittersweet. Not much fruit of texture but the acidity is zesty and orange juicy. A bit funky and prickling. Leaves behind a green mango paste in the mouth made piquant by lime. Ça marche. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @BlomidonEstate
Ontario – Niagara Peninsula
Chateau Des Charmes Sauvignon Blanc 2015, VQA St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (Winery, $14.95, WineAlign)
Much ripeness in style, juicy mango and a note of Kenyan pineapple. Palate offers balance returning back west into stone fruit and a shot of metal moonshine. It comes so easy. This is cracker soul. “Come and party with your spirit guide.” The winemaker and the vigneron walk their walk and talk their talk. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016
Chateau Des Charmes Gamay Noir “Droit” St. David’s Bench Vineyard 2014, VQA St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (Winery, $17.95, WineAlign)
An adroit poster child for the battle cry of #gogamaygo, this is deliciously and devilishly dark fruit crusted with rusticity. It is also bright, volatile within every threshold of the ideal and tart with cru proportions. Possessive of the relentless ongoingness of gamay syntax, from sour black cherry to ascendant and structurally lean. Well done. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @MBosc
Beautiful variegation is noticed on the leesy, creamy and somewhat reductive nose. Certainly already into the beeswax, this is weighted but lifted chardonnay. Flinty, smoky too. All this before a taste. Good harmony into the texture where palate and tannin meet at the proverbial chardonnay crossroads. No semantic crimps, lexical distresses or syntactical trials. Big and beautiful. Full to the long finish. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @LegendsWinery
Who would fail to comply with the memo for giving it up and appreciating the mineral sauvignon blanc, down along the cove where “I spied my little bundle of joy.” Platinum pear and white peach, sprinkled with maldon, bobbing for rocks, “walking hand in hand.” Direct, white tannic, dry extracted, low pH SB, direct, with purpose and just a wee bit of harmonica. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016
Here the complete deal is limestone-mineral, old vines, relative altitude and low tonnage. Variegated layering on the palate. The Germanic one, all in, slope driven and dry with citrus compression. This is most excellent, mouth-watering riesling. “This is really, warden in my back, goose all in my gut.” A wine that stretches and turns back on itself. Under the Pressure. Drink 2016-2025. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @HiddenBench@BenchVigneron
Compression and a slight bend to oxidation are hallmarks of the 2014 Niagara Riesling season and yet the QRV manages to buck the trend. The oscillations of tannin, extract and off-dry flavours are all wrapped up in greater acidity than some previous vintages have seen. This is one of the more striking 2014 Niagara Rieslings with some credit surely do to the cool Vinemount Ridge site. The rest of can be credited to winemaking and good luck. The sour in this Quarry Road is of a sumptuous kind, laying August stone fruit over layers of fractured limestone. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted April 2016 @Tawse_Winery@DanielatTawse
Really effective actuality, from barrel for couverture and bite, through texture by lees and with inhalant because of the mineral play. This has it all going on. The middle palate is so beautifully filled in, the spice and smokiness just a mild, intoxicating smoulder. Lovely stuff and terrific length. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @AdamoEstateWine@hinterlandwine
Two Sisters Eleventh Post 2012, Niagara River, Ontario (Winery, $39.00, WineAlign)
Red raspberry and a posy of green quintessence filled by oak in a merlot (50 per cent) with equal addendum from two cabernets. There are moments that are somewhat downy soft and mocha-creamy but the brain gladly socializes with the cappuccino bordeaux blend. What ultimately matters is how this soft serve is the least astringent and most silky wine in the flight. Just as your guard lets down the tannins storm the castle. Intriguing blend with cellaring structure. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @2SistersVine@apearcevino
Hidden Bench Chardonnay Tête De Cuvée 2013, VQA Beamsville Bench, Ontario (Winery, $45.20, WineAlign)
Intensely reductive and so very fresh chardonnay with serious cool-climate excitability. A minor dishy aroma might detract for some but its the phenolics talking, not yet rendering the porcine baby fat, looking for integration, speaking in tart, chalky (liquid) tones. Like fresh pasta dough in a warm kitchen. Complex wine not yet understood. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @HiddenBench@BenchVigneron
Love the cool feel, the apricot aspic glaze and the herbs underneath the sweet surface. Really tangy fruits and great acidity. This has balance and vitality. Actually causes a bit of mouth watering with clean, clear, crisp and precise riesling character. Drink 2016-2025. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @Jackson_Triggs@CBrandsCareers
Domaine Queylus Pinot Noir Le Grande Reserve 2013, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (Winery, $60.00, WineAlign)
The top-tier Pinot Noir is quite fruit intense, but also sappy and uttered in soft, indecipherable if almost resolved words. That said the length traipses to somewhere distant, to a boundary no other Queylus Pinot Noir has yet made. As it is thought on, this wine climbs to that far away peak that can’t really be imagined. The wine lingers longer than the pen and like the sword, pierces with svelte pinpoint accuracy. The flavour profile is indescribable, neither fruit nor mineral dominant and not exactly earthbound either. The abstruse profile persists but can’t be named so like language, must go on and on. Time heeds no dissipation. The wine lingers forever. Drink 2017-2025. Tasted June 2015 @QueylusVin
Ontario – Prince Edward County
Waupoos Cabernet Franc Reserve 2013, Ontario (Winery, $29.95, WineAlign)
Rich cabernet franc, extracted and with some big, but beneficial wood. Quite aromatic stuff here of black cherry with vanilla and lavender accents. Savoury and leathery palate with juicy, sumptuous elevations. Really lively stuff with nary a chocolate or a mocha moment and no bitters. None. Brilliant. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @waupooswine
Huff Estates Cuvee Peter F Huff 2011, Méthode Traditionnelle, VQA Prince Edward County, Ontario (Winery, $40.00, WineAlign)
Nothing can be so considered as leaning to an oxidative style until you imagine this in a flight of nine and take in its old-school on par with Method Cap Classique like charm. Or Jura. Great acidity circulates and like tribunates protects the sparkling rights from arbitrary acts of reduction. With flavours recalling mandarin, lemon and then an aromatic return to exotic, in lemongrass and galangal. Length is excellent. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @HuffEstatesWine
Ontario – Lake Erie North Shore
Pelee Island Vinedressers Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, Lake Erie North Shore, Ontario (Winery, $19.95, WineAlign)
Dark, muted and tannic, of bitter chocolate, this unforgiving cabernet sauvignon is blessed with high savour and underlying brine. This is an oak monster but not creamy. It’s all bitter chocolate but not astringent. Not mean. Gotta see past the demanding attitude because it’s really quite balanced within the conceit of it’s largesse. Ultimately elegant, floral and complex. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @Peleewinery
British Columbia – Okanagan Valley
Synchromesh Riesling 2015, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $19.00, WineAlign)
Beautifully microbial, beeswax-scenting, wild ferment riesling. Needs agitation to shed its bacterial baby fat. Quite viscous and grippy mouthfeel. Transports the fundamental factors from vine, fruit and fermentation in a suitcase of natural love. The acidity is texturally palpable, essential, extended gainfully from low pH. There is some residual but so much sink your teeth into it stuffing to carry it forward. Most excellent less than off-dry palate and with the drive to finish with impression over the next 10 years. Drink 2016-2026. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @SynchromeshWine
The View Ehrenfelser 2015, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $19.95, WineAlign)
So floral, with orange peel, white rose potpourri, a bit of funky humidity, cool and viscous. Great mouthfeel, tart, frozen-gelid acidity. Sweetness never causes any suffering. Great finish. Miles ahead of the field in off the beaten path varietal gambolling. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @TheViewWinery
Wild Goose Stoney Slope Riesling 2014, VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $20.00, WineAlign)
Beautiful atmosphere with hopes and dreams to climb high into the stratosphere. The terpene that lurks is just a prop, a step-ladder for the more purposed realities to use and get up there with the airs and the stones and to thank the terpenes for their unselfish ways. Very concentrated and purposed riesling with compressed bitters. Princess in high tops. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @wildgoosewines
Finals of 24 #pinotnoir in three flights. Mountain tea for all #nwac16 @winealign National Wine Awards of Canada
Volcanic Hills Pinot Noir 2011, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $20.00, WineAlign)
Oranges, peaches and apricots. In pinot noir. Strawberries, cherries and raspberries. So much fruit. Turns earthy and spicy on the palate. It’s a very good characterful expression that walks straight down a line. So much character and then tannic, sharp and acerbic on the finale. The tannins hang around the fruit like a clever. Drink 2017-2021. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @volcanichillswi
Ciao Bella Pinot Rosé 2014, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $20.75, WineAlign)
Love the early note of minor volatility to check and balance for soft and downy, simple and into pleasure. Smells like unripe pickled strawberry. Though some decent salinity and brine offer up a rosé reality there lacks a bit of ingratiating 100 per cent pinot noir charm. Improves and brings out some pinosity by good bitters, gin and tonic, orange zest and some spice. In the end it’s actually more than quite good. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @ciaobellawinery
Spierhead Pinot Gris Golden Retreat Vineyard 2015, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $21.85, WineAlign)
Just a moment of skin contact renders to immediate complexity. Great rust, scraped stone and wild citrus. Lots of white grapefruit on the palate and pith, but not too much. Very persistent. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @spierheadwinery
Haywire Secrest Mountain Vineyard Gamay Noir Rosé 2015, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $22.90, WineAlign)
Really earthy 100 per cent gamay Rosé. Good mineral in here. This was made with a purpose. “Now everybody’s gonna tell you it’s not worth it. Everybody’s gotta show you their own thing.” There is balance and ballad ease. This is just so drinkable. “Is this the past or the future that is calling.” Gamay, I love the times you’ve come. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @Haywirewine@OKCrushPad
Joie Farm Gamay 2014, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $23.90, WineAlign)
A gamay with global explorations that is so inimitable it founds it’s own, toute de suite, self-dissolving genre. This really sweats and wicks away the umami of gamay. It has the notion, sumptuous spice, tight, circular winds and biggest stage presence. Such a mineral palate, density and the gumption to pour with unwavering varietal swagger. Best in show. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @JoieFarm@LiffordON
Bordertown Cabernet Franc 2014, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $24.00, WineAlign)
Beautifully fragrant cabernet franc, unhindered and unencumbered by obnoxious, noxious barrel plenitude. Red currants, liquorice and plenty of summer savour. Pencil lead to graphite and cool climate attitude. Rustic in all the right ways, like Rioja Gran Reserva meets the Loire. So natural and charcuterie cured. Spicy all over the finish. Just a bit bitter perhaps. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @BordertownWine
Moon Curser Syrah 2013, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $27.00, WineAlign)
Cooler and more Mediterranean savoury. Tart and direct, taut and full of miles away imaginings. There seems to be some elegance to temper the gambling and cajoling in the big chamber. Like a self-correcting shake-up, as if something were veritably being worked out. Give it some time and some love. Drink 2018-2023. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @mooncurser
Stag’s Hollow Grenache 2015, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $29.99, WineAlign)
An effete, in effect style of grenache, pretty, pure and elegant. She resists the trappings of overripeness, over-extraction and over-pressing. She is conceived with great purpose and with pelucid substance. Her palate is silken, with fresh berries and then the sort of grand structure that rolls into ambient endings. One of Canada’s great grenache triumphs. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted June 2016 @Stagshollow
Sperling Natural Amber Pinot Gris 2015, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $30.00, WineAlign)
So much beeswax and honey wine attribution. Porcine, delicate and quite elegant for the statement. Plenty of acidity and even more relish. Why not give a little Grauburgunder love to the winemaker for giving the style a shot, and succeeding. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016.
From my earlier note of January 2016:
Ann Sperling is not merely fussing about with natural ferments, skin-contact macerations and non-sulphured, self-preservations. She is learning about winemaking, opening doors to perception and interested in doing things in different ways. Her second go ’round with a natural Amber Pinot Gris furthers the non-plussed discussion and the understanding. While pouring the inaugural 2014 from keg on tap last year at Vancouver’s Belgard Kitchen, it was Sommelier David Stansfield who so succinctly noted “this wine is a raw expression of vineyard, grape, and time.” This gets right to the heart and the crux of the Orange matter, especially within the context of a North American account. Sperling has many supporters in her corner, including husband-winemaker-consultant Peter Gamble, the folks at the Casorso-Sperling Kelowna Farm and Bill Redelmeier at Southbrook Vineyards in Niagara. This 2015 is a veritable pink cloud, anti-orange, still so very musty, funky, tanky, with great Sperling acidity and pierce. There is so much exuviation to evanescence and back again flavour. There is feigned sweetness that purposes towards and with gearing second wind into length. How much pleasure is this from and for Pinot Gris? Drink 2016-2017
Sperling Vin Gris Of Pinot Noir 2014, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $30.00, WineAlign)
Anti-Rosé Vin Gris pinot noir, light of blush and leaning to terpene. While lost in a nether land between the categories of hue, the appeal is wrought by the wine’s refusal to be unclassified. And it need not be. I think I get what the attempt was here; lithe, light, easy free-run with nearly no hue inducing skin contact and it travels the path akin a fruit wine realm; ever so slightly sweet and very tangy, like currant pureé. Prejudices and preconceptions are cast aside. Such a rare occasion affords a taster assessing blind to know so little and enjoy so much. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @SperlingVyds@AnnSperling
Coolshanagh Chardonnay 2014, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $36.95, WineAlign)
Really beautifully reductive, ranging to all chardonnay fronts, from expectation and into results. Terrific integration, multiplicity and circulation. Chardonnay flush with fabric and forged by framework. Enjoy it now and over five more glowing years. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @OKCrushPad
Burrowing Owl Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (73098, $44.95, WineAlign)
Rich, dried fruit and a welling tension inflates and rehydrates this cabernet sauvignon with cool, savoury, bluff sage and piquant nettle garrigue notions. It has an intelligent and characteristic taste. Tending to write the cabernet sauvignon personality book, this desert play is full of varietal notion and somehow typical. Drink 2018-2024. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @BurrowingOwlBC@LeSommelierWine
Moon Curser Dead Of The Night 2013, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $54.95, WineAlign)
Serious syrah and tannat split. Deep cimmerian demi-glacé, rich and chocolatey, somewhat sweet but full of fruit and mineral. Syrah getting together with tannat of augmentation, opulence, concentration, of getting more in. Long and lingering. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @mooncurser
Meyer Pinot Noir Micro Cuvee Mclean Creek Road Vineyard 2012, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $65.00, WineAlign)
A very amenable and mostly, fully, completely copacetic pinot noir with tonic and beneficial bitters managing the fruit. Fruit that is directly up front and neither garrigue nor barrel spice makes cause for any distraction. No mental gymnastics are required to understand this wine. Great leave it be pinot noir. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @MFVwines
British Columbia – Naramata Bench
Deep Roots Pinot Gris 2015, Naramata Bench, British Columbia (Winery, $19.00, WineAlign)
A bit stinky and reductive but on the precipice and so purposeful. Pear, platinum pipe and graphite. Good viscosity and slightly off-dry to the point where savour and spice take over. Better balance here. The reduction blew away with ease. Spicy finish. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @DeepRootsWine
Terravista Albarino 2015, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $25.00, WineAlign)
Quite a dense albarino with plenty of metal in its back pocket and salinity “singing to an ocean.” Gobs of fruit play along with the sea air. I like the acidity and the zeppelin zest, the citrus led with a full twist. Tart and close to sour with some sulphur but “it’s a real fine way to start,” even if it doesn’t quite blow my mind. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @Terravistawines
La Frenz Syrah Rockyfeller Vineyard 2014, Naramata Bench, British Columbia (Winery, $28.00, WineAlign)
Here syrah plays a floral song while doused in perfume of roses in the tar sands. Less oak driven and fresher than the compatriots in its flight. Give credit where it’s due. Syrah buoyed, lifted and blessed by five per cent viognier. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @LAFRENZWINERY
British Columbia – Similkameen Valley
Twisted Hills Paradise Pear Organic Cider 2015, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $18.00, WineAlign)
Bruised pear leads this spot on cider with a cool whiff of concrete tank and a minor pear puree, of sauce spiked by cinnamon. Quite dry and saline within terrific acidity. Umami makes the salivator glands work overtime. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @twistedhills
Eau Vivre Malbec 2013, BC VQA Similkameen Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $23.00, WineAlign)
A rich juicy malbec of all in red fruit, tom foolery fun things and life affirming positives. Just the malbec with creamy american vanilla anglaise. “Sidewalk sundae strawberry surprise.” A bit of a malbec ice cream cone but that’s more than OK because the ice cream man, one man band will be “good to you yeah, good to you, I’ll be good to you, I’ll be good to you.” No need to hold off because malbec so inviting waits for no one. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @EauVivre
In 2016 and for the first time in its brief yet facund tenure, Ontario’s International Cool Climate Celebration will include some other cool-climate varietal representation; pinot noir, gamay and cabernet franc. Yes it is true. Plus has joined the i4c, an ideogram of addendum, a character of diversity for the fluently persuasive and forceful congress. This gathering will open its arms for colour and to allow its constituents to regale with what they do best. For an event-driven pure as single-varietal snow and formerly known exclusively as chardonnay, is this really a shocker? This is the reality of democracy.
In August of 2015 I asked the question, can chardonnay get any cooler? My immediate answer to myself was this. “Five is a big number. Any annual convention that survives and thrives into a fifth caucus must be divined by some unseen force, a guiding hand perhaps, by avatar or prosopopoeia. And something other. The International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration has priceless equity on its side. Three aces in the hole. Canadian climate and geology, adroit farmers and winemakers, simpatico of communities.” That answer was not exclusive to chardonnay. It held the door open for more.
Niagara’s Cool Chardonnay Conference will take place between July 22nd and July 24th. It begins on Friday with the annual School of Cool, Viticultural and Winemaking Sessions in the Grand Room at White Oaks Conference Resort & Spa. Ian D’Agata (Decanter, Vinous.com), John Szabo (MS) and twenty of the brightest talents in the world of Cool Climate viticulture and winemaking will explore three provocative topics. Two seminars from Wines of Chablis and Riedel Canada will follow.
Friday’s main event, “Flights of Chardonnay” will be hosted at Niagara District Airport. Sixty winemakers from nine countries and 75 wines will be poured at this “boots and blue-jeans” event. The new culinary marché will offer dishes from Niagara’s top chefs and the mainstage will feature live bands as the sun sets over the airstrip. On Saturday night the Cool Chardonnay World Tour Tasting & Dinner will return to Ridley College in St. Catharines, Ontario.
When I reflected back on i4c 2015 I wrote this. “Yes, we thought these things and then year number five blew our minds. We had been wrong. We found out that the bar had yet been breached. Further was still out there, not yet claimed, hovering in the realm of the possible and still, going forward, yet remains plausible.” And so in 2016 there will be reds. Oh, the blasphemy, the bastardization, the spurious board gone askew. Really? Can this multifarious variegation really cause such angst? Must we express ourselves with varietal racism just to be heard? Just take it easy man.
The internal red invasion comes at an appropriate time, by coincidence or not with “TanninAlert” a new Brock University Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) program that will track tannin levels in red wines which impact bitterness and astringency. The joint CCOVI and Ontario Grape and Wine Research Inc. (OGWRI) concept will provide Ontario grape growers and winemakers with information on the ripeness of these flavours to help consistently create rich and robust Ontario red wines. Red wines and cool chardonnay living together like cats and dogs. What a revelation.
At the end of this week I will prep my chardonnay palate in Chablis for six days. Last week I tasted, assessed and judged more than 40 Canadian chardonnays in Penticton at the WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada. Now I count down the days (22 of them) and in anticipation I’ve drawn up more cool tasting notes as the great #i4C16 event nears. Many will become available through VINTAGES next week for the July 9th release. After Canada Day. Notes that include chardonnay, gamay, pinot noir and gasp, riesling. Imagine the horror of tasting such an intruder at a cool chardonnay conference sometime soon.
Tawse repeats itself in 2014 with a gamay noir that breathes deeply and breeds consistency. From a vintage that few varietals could find great shine, gamay seems the outlier and Tawse does what was required. The firm, dark and tasty taut fruit is really all that matters, a result of a driven desire to celebrate the simplicity of the grape In Niagara when uncertainly lurks. Eight months in oak committed neither diversion nor crime. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted June 2016 @Tawse_Winery@DanielatTawse@Paul_Pender
Château Des Charmes St. David’s Bench Vineyard Chardonnay 2012, VQA St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (430991, $19.95, WineAlign)
Tasting the CdC SDB chardonnay a year after it may have been held up with halting reduction is the best thing I could have done and props are fisted forward to the folks at the winery for timing this perfectly. It’s so very mineral-driven and may have stung like a bee in 2015, now fluttering and dancing like a butterfly instead. The barrel presented texture is all marzipan and honey butter with a crunchy bite of rye toast under-spread. Dramatic for the vineyard and exceptional as a price with quality quotient from a polarizing chardonnay vintage. Exceptional timing is exemplary and day assessing uplifting. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted June 2016 @MBosc
Oak Bay Pinot Noir 2012, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (267146, $19.95, WineAlign)
The Oak Bay pinot noir by St. Hubertus has drifted into settled middle age at a time when whatever high tones may have once spoken loud have now faded away. This is light, truffled and whiffing of a vanilla cigar. Blackberries and currants too. Simply complex enough to offer up some value that exceeds decent and enters the realm of great. Drink 2016-2017. Tasted June 2016 @St_HubertusWine
Tinhorn Creek Chardonnay 2014, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (378489, $19.95, WineAlign)
Classic cool-climate please all camps Okanagan chardonnay. From here and there, with this and that; Black Sage and Golden Mile Bench fruit. New oak and stainless steel, wild and cultured yeasts. Herbs and spices, fruit and mineral, ying and yang. Lean, green verdancy and warm, textured liquor. Cool and boozy. All in for $20. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted June 2016 @TinhornCreek@SandraOldfield
Flat Rock The Rusty Shed Chardonnay 2013, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (1552, $24.95, WineAlign)
It’s as if this label had bided all this time to be the benefactor of 2013 fruit. This Rusty Shed, this 20 miler with the track record to age, a wine that sheds baby fat over a 10 year mineral through echelon stratum, in ways few other peninsula to bench chardonnay can do. This Jay Johnston handled surfer of a wine, buoyant and balanced, centred and able to withstand turbulence, oscillation and tidal sway. Here with sumptuous and spiralled fruit gaged in lode intervals and a tartness held in lope and line by a membrane of extract and tannin. Best ever. Showing well, repeatedly and to forecasted repute. Impressing critics and consumers alike. Bravo. Drink 2016-2025. Tasted June 2016 @Winemakersboots@UnfilteredEd@brightlighter1
Charles Baker Riesling Ivan Vineyard 2015, Niagara Escarpment, Ontario (395921, $27.20, WineAlign)
In 2015 Ivan delivers the labour of ripe, concentrated fruit, by lower yield, alcohol and spine, concomitantly and conversely to elevated, amenable juicy potability. I can think of 100 reasons to drink this repeatedly over the next three years while the more structured ’13 and ’14 Ivans continue to mature. Three good reasons would be breakfast, lunch and dinner, from scones, through croques and into fresh, piquant and herbed shrimp rolls. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted June 2016 @cbriesling@StratusWines
Bachelder Bourgogne Blanc Chardonnay 2013, Burgundy, France (416602, $28.95, WineAlign)
The winemaking gypsy Thomas Bachelder “flies from coast to coasts” and his 2013 French foray into basics and the essential tenets of white Burgundy is a trip replete with a sunbeam shining through your hair. A sweet Melissa of a chardonnay, an ode to what is pretty, simple and carefree about Bourgogne Blanc, but also the idea of chatting up and producing pure driven varietal wine from ideal terroir. Bachelder does this, albeit with romantic vision, here with phenolics, dry extract and mineral of organza sheathing. The vintage speaks clearly and the wine responds with thanks, in kind. “Crossroads, will you ever let him go?” Drink 2016-2020. Tasted June 2016 @Bachelder_wines@LiffordON
Henry Of Pelham Speck Family Reserve Chardonnay 2013, VQA Short Hills Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (616466, $29.95, WineAlign)
The barrel toast is a gift of the highest order, dispensing a twinge neither wholly lucid nor abstruse, but somewhere on the demurred line in between. Exposes flint in mineral over fruit in its younger development, with elements of sunshine, forest glade and some herbal tones. Not to say it is balmy in any perceptible way, its lees layered body pops fresh in happily reductive design, in a real Ontario way. So representative of the regional, modern, cognoscenti connection. Drink 2017-2023. Tasted blind at the WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada, June 2015 @HenryofPelham@SpeckBros
The greatest surprise is a skeptic’s dream, that is, no surprise. The vintage was a gift for chardonnay as we all know and so Francois Morissette does what a wise winemaker does. He lets the fruit from such conditioning speak on its own behalf. The less is more approach allows his fruit to do more than most, to condense into pure elixir of terroir, to inflate with airy, philosophical heir and to exhale a perfume so very, very Cuvée Dix-Neuvieme. Like marzipan but more umami and like stone fruit but crossed with the orchard. The palate and the texture speak of resolution after the revolution and the level of calm post chaos is quietly dramatic. Hypnotizing clarity is what it is. Drink 2017-2027. Tasted June 2016 @PearlMorissette
The Okanagan has my full, immediate attention, that and 1,525 wines from across Canada at the great show. We call them the WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada, a.k.a. The Nationals and I will be judging all week from this glorious set of benches and hills in the golden west. Until next week, here are 10 picks from the June 25th VINTAGES release…Godello.
Jardin Inspector Péringuey Chenin Blanc 2014, Wo Stellenbosch, South Africa (443473, $15.95, WineAlign)
A reductive chenin blanc with a distinctive struck stone aroma. With two minutes air the chenin begins to assert itself and from its Stellenbosch origins. Grest preserved and compressed citrus, lively acidity, soul from soil tang and terrific intensity. Length extrapolated from price of a better than good equation. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted June 2016 @Jordan_Wines@AbconWine@WOSACanada@WOSA_ZA
Domaine Les Yeuses Les Épices Syrah 2013, Igp Pays D’oc, Languedoc-Roussillon, France (177584, $15.95, WineAlign)
Consistently one of the greatest Syrah values on the planet, Les Yeuses smells like the Northern Rhône with familial ties in the Swartland. Smoky and meaty, spiced with all hues of peppercorn, deep and variegated. A remarkably complex syrah for a pittance. Like cassoulet, “it’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that.” Even better with a whole roast; duck, chicken or hip of beef. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted June 2016 @les_yeuses@cartowines@LanguedocWines
El Gordo Del Circo Verdejo 2014, Do Rueda, Spain (441220, $17.95, WineAlign)
The ballad of El Gordo is a soft and fuzzy peach big star. Yes this tastes just alot like the candy but with sweetness replaced by savour. This carries a country riff and electric tang of commercial, albeit alternative broadcast feel. El Gordo is El Goodo, verdejo to sip when “it gets so hard in times like now to hold on.” Rueda for the people, like a #1 record that stands the test of time even if it never really sold all that well. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted June 2016 @RutaVinodeRueda@WineLoversAgncy
A terrific off-dry riesling with intense tart flavours and omnipresent circulating acidity. A range or stone fruit invades the aromatics; peach, apricot and nectarine. Tropical yes but grounded, struck flinty and so full of energy. One sip and feel the energy buzz, the lightning strike, the rush of adrenaline. Amazing. Drink 2018-2025. Tasted June 2016 #domdechantwerner@HHDImports_Wine@germanwineca
Château Eugénie Cuvée Réservée De L’aïeul Cahors 2013, Ac Southwest, France (295949, $22.95, WineAlign)
This is a striking malbec with bursting aromas, mostly floral but also of an inhalant that elicits modern sangiovese, from grosso to Gran Selezione. It is rare for malbec and also Cahors to be imagined as born in an ancient cellar yet having come to fruition in a modern vineyard. This cuvée is a major step up from the house’s basic malbec, with deep, profound fruit and restraint found. Barrels and soil funk are certainly part of the mix, but so is traditional acumen. Beautifully crafted and structured red that will benefit from two years settling. Drink 2018-2025. Tasted June 2016 #ChâteauEugenie#cahors
The thing about a Hidden Bench riesling is its ability to mark a bench twain. Neither dry and stark nor sweet and unctuous, the balance struck is a factor of the house. This 2014 carries the strong torch of energy and vitality but it seems a bit more arid and direct than before. The lemon condense is at an all time high, the major zest and minor pith as important as the juice. Would like to see this find some age. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted June 2016 @HiddenBench@BenchVigneron
Tawse Laundry Vineyard Cabernet Franc 2012, VQA Lincoln Lakeshore, Ontario (130997, $31.95, WineAlign)
The richest and deeply phenolic Laundry Vineyard cabernet franc, likely to date, from fruits of labour expressed with plum, red currant, Ontario strawberry and raspberry compote, so much so that it warms the heart. Wood is but a blanket to keep the draught out, nothing more and it will slowly peel away as the years roll on. The spice in here is so beautifully baking with home kitchen delight. The sweetness is pure extraction, dry and rehydrated. Paul Pender’s management in Laundry ’12 is one of his finest works to date. You could absolutely drink this now and also watch it slowly turn over 10 years time. Might it have been the last? Drink 2016-2022. Tasted June 2016 @Tawse_Winery@DanielatTawse@Paul_Pender
Cuvée Du Vatican Châteauneuf Du Pape 2012, Ac Rhône, France (719120, $38.95, WineAlign)
Though you know it’s going to be a big Rhône red it hits you anyway, with waves over the head by ripeness and mineral intensity. While balance is a four letter word in wines like this, you have to grow up and mature a bit to appreciate the nuance hidden in the brawn. There is nothing shy about Châteauneuf-du-Pape these days and especially in bottles like this, of unabashed hedonism and enthusiasm. This Sixtine will drink as it precociously does like this for a decade because the structure and the burly bones will take long to break. Drink 2017-2024. Tasted June 2016 @VINSRHONE@RhoneWine
Domaine Michel Juillot Mercurey Les Champs Martin 1er Cru 2012, Ac Burgundy, France (455089, $45.95, WineAlign)
This is a most beautifully volatile pinot noir that represents more than virility and exceptional quality for the village. Mercurey can be tough as nails and while the undercurrent here is firm, rigid and unbreakable, the roses are nothing short of flattering, hypnotizing and intoxicating. What this Mercurey lacks in preciousness it more than makes up for in talent, strength of character and trailing length. Drink 2018-20225. Tasted June 2016 @TheCaseForWine@BourgogneWines@bourgognespress#DomaineMichelJuillot
Domaine Bott Geyl Schoenenbourg Grand Cru Riesling 2012, Ac Alsace, France (456970, $50.95, WineAlign)
Incredible richness seeps from Christophe Bott-Geyl’s Schoenenbourg riesling, with alternating layers of aridity and tannic sweetness. So different from Bott-Geyl’s Mandelberg, in which early morning sun and hastily picked fruit resolves a more unctuous, nearly tropical expression. Here out of marl-gypsum you note the scratched and scraped stone, the liquid left behind as whitewash residue, the sugar playing upon that rock, devouring the mineral, defining the wine. It’s all quite remarkable. The Schoenenbourg lingers forever. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted June 2016 @bott_geyl@VinsAlsace@AlsaceWines@drinkAlsace@VinsAlsaceQc
Why wouldn’t you grill #asparagus and why wouldn’t you use @barquebbq rubs?
Olivier & Lafont Gigondas 2013 and Domaine La Fourmone Le Poète Vacqueyras 2013
When you face the reality of finding yourself in VINTAGES ambivalence, slowly pacing, randomly, to and fro across the wine map of the world. These are times when you don’t have the faintest clue why, or what, or, for what reason and to what end. It’s not simply a matter of what wine should you pick. No, it’s deeper than that and even if you don’t realize the magnitude of the decision, the lucubration is also there. The exercitation of the intellect incites the self-reflective question. Drink now or save it for later?
It does not matter if you have come to this place to purchase a bottle of wine for tonight’s dinner. It matters not if that wine is a dinner invitation gift, in fact, it matters more. You might bring that purchase home and decide that another more prescient bottle is ready. Your friend may choose to save your contribution for another, further down the cellared road day. And so every purchase is fraught with trepidation, with dichotomy, with doubt.
Price is the most obvious demarcation point for early, middle or late consumption. The number is not a hard one nor is there a guarantee for success. Everything is based on probability, risk, reward and chance. Twenty five dollars can buy you 10 years and in some cases, 10 months. If provenance is near-perfect, before and after purchase then the odds increase dramatically. Any bottle of wine, whether $10 or $100 that spent time in the sauna of a storage tank, tanker or storage tomb will take their leave in adolescence. You have to ask yourself the question, level up or level down? Spend $15 or $50. Crack it tonight or in 2025? Remember this. Contradictions are what make wine interesting. Consistency is for cooking.
I have spent the last 30 years considering wine in some respect. The last 15 much more so. The tries, trials, errors, tricks, and tribulations have taught me one thing. I prefer and receive much more instant gratification from drinking wines young but nothing compares to the insight and the exhilaration of partaking in older wines. Fifteen years are that terminus, at least for me. You will notice that five wines reviewed below fall into the near breaching $30 price category. A certain kind of sweet spot for wines that can spend quality time in the cellar.
As the weekend approaches, the VINTAGES June 11th release brings the two worlds together, as it always does, to tease buyers into making yet another bi-weekly decision. Drink now or save it for later? The answer is both. Some things never change. I’ve 15 recommendations for you. After all, isn’t that the magic number?
Crios De Susana Balbo Chardonnay 2014, Mendoza, Argentina (243196, $13.95, WineAlign)
Fresh, reductive and herbal scented chardonnay from winemaker Susana Balbo, nicely delineated from ripe 2014 fruit. There is a decidedly toasted barrel edgy spice and good tart complications. Simply stated, properly made chardonnay. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted May 2016 @susubalbo@sbalbowines@ProfileWineGrp@winesofarg@ArgentinaWineCA
Waves of natural, fresh-air, verdant meadows running cool with rapid run-off springs aromas make this Casablanca Valley sparkler feel fresh and inviting. The palate takes it to a very citrus place, albeit within the context of pale, lucid and pellucid. Great value and fresh as there is. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted May 2016 @VinosEmiliana@WinesofChile@DrinkChile@WinesOfChile_CA
Jardin Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Wo Stellenbosch, South Africa (663302, $16.95, WineAlign)
Reductive and so very pungent, here we receive sauvignon blanc from Stellenbosch with a real sense of high-spirited purpose. Carries a bit of fresh Sancerre proposition in its heart and seeks to take matters up to another South African level. It mostly succeeds. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted May 2016 @AbconWine@WOSACanada@WOSA_ZA
Château Des Charmes Estate Bottled Old Vines Pinot Noir 2011, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (256834, $18.95, WineAlign)
Perhaps a difficult vintage for pinot noir but not so for healthy, established, confident old vines. From berries to beets and cola, all wrapped up in cozy sweetness, here pinot noir sings uninhibited and free. It is surprisingly easy to drink and not at all astringent. Thanks afforded the vineyard and the winemaker’s deft, less is more touch. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted May 2016 @MBosc
A rich, heady, toasty and vital Riesling from the terrific Twenty Mile Bench Limestone Road Vineyard, tilted out with preserved citrus and waxy, lemony concentration. At present this outlays on the sour-rutaceae-rusticae ledge and I can see why it would be both confounding and misunderstood. The vineyard and its riesling in sparkling form search for a coming together, in bottle, without the assistance of gross lees. A few years are required and needed for the sugars to work their magic and strike fear into the citrus for future balance. I think this will come around and really find its aim to please. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted May 2016 @Tawse_Winery@DanielatTawse@Paul_Pender
Byron & Harold Rose & Thorns Shiraz 2013, Great Southern, Western Australia, Australia (453183, $19.95, WineAlign)
Just as every rose has its thorn, Western Australia has its knight is shining armour in Great Southern. Shiraz from this place is possessive of its very own, singular and distinctive perfume, like roses in hyperbole and varietal specific oak-imparted exotic spice. Byron and Harold does shiraz as if by Shakespeare, of the Dane, with his courtesans on call. A cool, long drink of shiraz soliloquy, finished with currants, citrus and relative cool climate acidity. Special value here. You can pick the right poison with this power ballad. Drink 2017-2024. Tasted June 2016 @ByronandHarold@KylixWines@Wine_Australia
This is an outlier for the Nadja’s Vineyard riesling, with deeper concentration and compression than before. More Mosel and less Twenty Mile in 2015, of light alcohol and an increase in off-dry, extract meets acidity. There have been Nadja’s with more air and exhale but I can’t recall one with such density in vitality. A great Nadja to be sure but of a deferential sort of character. Two or three years should bring it back into its self-imposed and created line. Drink 2018-2024. Tasted May 2016 @Winemakersboots@brightlighter1@UnfilteredEd
Seresin Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (735043, $24.95, WineAlign)
Sauvignon Blanc borrows a page from its first Marlborough golden age in this Serezin 2014, finning balance in the most important facets of its character. Ripe fruit, natural acidity and memorable dry extract. The citrus is exotic, the stone fruit balanced between tart and ripe, the finish long and meaningful. With so much pungency in surround abound this exhales a true breath of fresh spring air. Were Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc always like this I would be glad with a glass, every day. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted May 2016 @SeresinEstate@DionysusWines@NZwineCanada@nzwine
Limestone and martime influences converge in this highly perfumed pinot noir. It smells of red berries, soft, wet rock and mollusc shell. The crustaceous salinity is a new drift for pinot noir but not entirely out of the happy equation. Loquacious and malleable, the flavours replay what red berry meets white light the nose had given. This is quite singular in expression, natural and handsome. At $28 it is a terrific, unexpected find. Drink 2017-2023. Tasted May 2016 @TabaliWines@hobbsandco@WinesofChile@DrinkChile@WinesOfChile_CA
Oldenburg Vineyards Syrah 2012, Wo Stellenbosch, South Africa (443457, $27.95, WineAlign)
Indicative of the new and improved Stellenbosch for syrah, in which perfectly ripe phenolic fruit meets consumer appeal. Quite a traditional upbringing means clean, pure, rich and plenty but it does not embrace new or outside the box. For the price this represents tremendous, albeit traditional value in a syrah with no fraying or funky edges. It will live a perfectly long life. Drink 2017-2027. Tasted May 2016 @Oldenburgwines@WOSACanada@WOSA_ZA
Domaine La Fourmone Le Poète Vacqueyras 2013, Ac Rhône, France (452268, $29.95, WineAlign)
Poetic and stunning Vacqueyras, so fluid, natural and effortless. From raspberry to plum, by garrigue and though dusty, delicate underbrush, the cure is cut with hands-off dedication. A certain kind of delicate spice just pricks here and there but you know it’s there. This is exactly what restrained Rhône and vacuous Vacqueyras need to be. The tannins are so fine. Such great structure will take this very long. Drink 2017-2025. Tasted May 2016 @Lafourmone@VINSRHONE@RhoneWine@TFBrands
Concha Y Toro Terrunyo Peumo Vineyard Block 27 Carmenère 2012, Entre Cordilleras, Peumo, Cachapoal Valley, Chile (562892, $29.95, WineAlign)
Concha Y Toro’s Block 27 has always dominated the price meets profundity of this signature varietal success story for Chile. Calling out a vineyard its equal for correctness and depth at under $30 Canadian is a tall order. Gobs, waves and oscillations of dark fruit, intense savoury scents and the rush gained from a syringe-injection of its lush elixir perpetuate in 2012. This albeit with a roast and a confiture of black currant and bell pepper. Or vice versa. Ripe acidity and tannin add layers, not opposition. The overall amalgamation seems a bit sweet though in actuality the grit is what stakes claim and standing. Nothing but huge in 2012. Drink 2018-2023. Tasted May 2016 @conchaytoro#escaladewines@WinesofChile@DrinkChile@WinesOfChile_CA
Olivier & Lafont Gigondas 2013, Ac Rhône, France (452300, $29.95, WineAlign)
Beautifully accomplished and confident Giogondas from messieurs Olivier et Lafont, ripe but restrained, balanced and carefully, contractually structured. Purity and silky albeit spicy textures wrap themselves up in flavour. No spikes, rips or fissures are to be found. Exemplary Gigondas. Drink 2018-2028. Tasted May 2016 @vonterrabev@VINSRHONE@RhoneWine
Jean Dauvissat Vaillons Vieilles Vignes Chablis 1er Cru 2009, Ac Burgundy, France (457002, $49.95, WineAlign)
Any signs that put this old vines Dauvissat into a time machine dating back to 2009 are less than obvious. Its freshness and composure are astounding. Chablis of structure as laid out in this Vaillons walks a particularly direct line and steadies effortlessly in one spot. The flint, toast and struck rock are subtle, atomically spicy, fine and unseen. The direct connectivity between vineyard and chardonnay is near perfect. Premier Cru would be hard pressed to exceed the limits of this Vaillons’ ability. Drink 2016-2024. Tasted May 2016 @BIVBChablis@BourgogneWines
Ridge Lytton Springs 2013, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA (982413, $57.95, WineAlign)
From the vineyard planted in 1902, with petite sirah as the number two support to Zinfandel (as opposed to Geyserville), the Lytton Springs is not as mineral but it has a deeper intent. Perfume repeats as it should and has to. Only Lytton Springs smells like this, more floral of fruit and its blossoms in opposition, interchangeable and in support of one another, out of a pretty aromatic vintage, It is the palate that digs into baked earth, so very masculine and tougher by tannin. Density is but ethereal, acidity so similar but this is certainly richer and retreats back to that feel of natural fermentation. A tremendous Lytton Springs, born this way, with wisdom and structure and will remain for 10 plus years before really beginning to change. Tremendous balance in a characterful field blend red. Drink 2018-2024. Tasted twice, May 2016 @RidgeVineyards@VinoTorino@rogcowines@sonomavintners@CalifWines_CA
It reminds me of Richard Yates at his early career, Revolutionary Road best, in tense humour, as noted by James Woods, “a celebrated indictment of suburban surrender.” Here we are, in 21st century Ontario, preparing to head to our suburban respite sanctuaries with tools, sundries and supplies in hand, only lacking one essential piece. Good wine. We turn to the LCBO, to VINTAGES, to the ceaseless recurrence of release and we find limbo. Last week? Next week? Why not now?
We are willing to submit and surrender but the shelves are stocked with 2nd tier choices, the wines of first degree excitement already having disappeared with the previous week’s first wave. So if you need wine suggestions for the Victoria Day weekend I’ll have to send you on a retroactive search through the May 14th VINTAGES release. “It’s a beautifully typical story of these times and this place.”
Why am I looking forward and into the eyes of May 28th? Well, I’ll tell you why. The finest collection of Canadian wines in some time gathered together at one communal table will become available, sadly just days after the May 24 three-day escape. These wines would have sold well, in droves actually, had VINTAGES made use of their excellence in advance. So, as a messenger for the stars, it is my duty to tell you about their upcoming presence in diplomatic conformity of early 21st century Ontario realism, on the LCBO stage. These be the 10 of them.
Jackson Triggs Okanagan Reserve Series Viognier 2014, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (445700, $15.95, WineAlign)
This 2014 Okanagan take on Viognier is an all out rich, ripe and boozy affair. Sparks fired by a cold play take the lead, singing with spice, marked by galangal and ginger in control over the wishful act of balancing extract. “And I saw sparks, yeah I saw sparks,” enough so for such a Viognier to be on your way. Sharply struck, in smithereens and yet epic for the price. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted May 2016 @JacksonTriggsBC@CBrandsCareers@winebcdotcom
Good unction for the un-oaked Jay Johnston procured Chardonnay, more green apple and early honey than before. This is the purity machine in motion, direct, spoken in a Bench vernacular and zagging like the rows of the vineyard. Still at $17 and not to be bypassed for anything that might think to stand in its way. Can you say petite Chablis? Drink 2016-2020. Tasted February 2016 and May 2016 @Winemakersboots@brightlighter1@UnfilteredEd
The bottle tells you about grapes handed the pink slip during post harvest deliberations, something not lost within its own ironic twist. When you have pink lemons you made pink lemonade, done here to great simulated effect. Tart is the operative, like a perfect square of gelid red citrus on a plate to foil briny sea morsel and verdant greens. With the right herbs and lettuces this pink grapefruit Rosé will handle itself with pairing irony and relative ease. Welcome aboard Sébastien Jacquey. Megalomaniac’s winemaking approach to Rosé never had it so good. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted May 2016 @MegalomaniacJHC
13th Street June’s Vineyard Riesling 2013, VQA Creek Shores, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (147512, $19.95, WineAlign)
Continues to throw its weight about and has now engaged a phase of typical J-P Colas redolence and pungency. Strict adherence to Creek Shores citrus minerality injects the June for future time-lapse release, an internal ooze that will take years to push its way upwards to the surface.
From my earlier note of December 2014: 2013 was a perfect follow-up for Niagara Riesling, after a vintage where so many exceptional wines were made. The ’12 June’s by Jean-Pierre Colas was his best and with this repeat performance in ’13, the consistency of June’s vineyard is further cemented. Once again, the citrus injection is a Creek Shores thing, a vehemence not matched by other sub appellations. Where ’13 differs is its weight. There is a textural density improved upon and at the same time dragging on the freshness of the fruit. The trade-off will mean less immediate gratification in lieu of more flesh and bone for a longer period of aging. Given at least five years rest, the 2013 June’s Riesling will discover a Ribeauvillé like future.
Such a ripe and extroverted Pinot Gris, in a style created and honed by winemaker Richie Roberts, here in 2014 near its apex. Singular without feeling the pressure to induce rapture or revelation. Fleshy ripe, of peaches, plums and nectarines. Typically and expectedly fresh, juicy, industrious, vehement and good, spicy length. Always well-made, hitting essential, doctrinal Pinot Gris notes and so very food versatile. May I suggest a whole grilled fish, lemon and fresh herbs. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted May 2015 and May 2016 @FieldingWinery@RichieWine
Joie Farm A Noble Blend 2014, BC VQA Okanagan Valley (454793, $23.95, WineAlign)
The dial is turned up in the noble blend, an amalgamation of five grape varieties and nine vineyards. The inspiration and the intent is Alsace, the result lying somewhere in between. It is an inspired blend and it does resemble Alsace but in the end it’s all Joie Farm. Distinct from structure and connectivity, not to mention drinkability, with a shot of spice. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted May 2016 @JoieFarm
At first the 2013 Red alights in high tones juxtaposed by a chew of sultana, an odd entry for the Thirty Bench, carrying on for the first few minutes in the glass. There are sulphide notes, of red onion and yet after a few minutes they begin to resolve, caramelizing to sweetness, mixed with tannin. The transformation continues, playing new notes, of red rooibos tea and seasoned seaweed. Grilled onions and charred poblanos come on the palate. Currants finish off the profile. The emotive cabernet franc really dominates this blend and though at first difficult to crack, the eventuality is an equation figured as a true positive. Drink 2017-2021. Tasted May 2016 @ThirtyBench
This is more than an interesting look back into the Tawse time machine to compare where the Grower’s Blend now sits as compared to what it was like in its youth. Now into liqueur, of cherry and earth, no longer just a hint of what they wish to be. This shows the excellence of the 2011 vintage for Pinot Noir and the master blending acumen of winemaker Paul Pender. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted May 2016 @Tawse_Winery@DanielatTawse@Paul_Pender
Cave Spring Csv Riesling 2013, Estate Bottled, Cave Spring Vineyard, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (566026, $29.95, WineAlign)
That flesh, that Kabinett flesh, fills the CSV in every crevice. In 2013 the residual sugar number lies between 15 and 16 g/L, and though the crop was bigger, it was still picked later than in 2012. The result is formidable corporeal concentration, consistency of house style and perhaps the only ’13 Niagara Riesling to imitate, perpetuate and extrapolate on the vintage that came before. This Cave Spring concentrates fruit and Escarpment into a powerful Riesling, streaming like charged particles through changing expressions. A lingering ascension hovers as it rises, until it slowly fades into the welkin, like a balloon that languidly gets lost into the blinding blue of a midday sky. Drink 2017-2025. Tasted April 2015 and May 2016 @CaveSpring@TheVine_RobGroh
Bachelder Nuits St Georges La Petite Charmotte 2013, Burgundy, France (357228, $58.95, WineAlign)
From the Nuits St Georges parcel that Thomas reaps, built on the premise of soil, structure and depth. The lithe beauty of this La Petite Charmotte block is lifted and held in the highest esteem in 2013, perhaps with even greater sensibility of character than out of what was an exceptional 2011. The Nuits iron power surge may have descended down a half level but the redolent Beaune balance is spot on. So very perfumed. That Bachelder perfume, expressed in Neaune craving and breadth. Drink 2017-2024. Tasted May 2016 @Bachelder_wines
“Sun come up it was blue and gold.” #cuvee2016 #pictureinaframe #niagarafalls
The Ontario wine industry has powered through many big weeks during the tenure of its young but wise, short howbeit concentrated history. None seemed larger than the first week of March, beginning with Taste Ontario at the Royal Ontario Museum and ending with the 28th edition of Cuvée at the Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls.
And now #cuvee2016 @CCOVIBrockU #vqa @winecountryont #scotiabankconventioncentre
In between and as a preamble to Ontario’s annual gala celebration there was the presentation of the Tony Aspler Cuvée Award of Excellence, presented by Mr. Aspler to viticulturist Lloyd Schmidt, for advancing viticulture in Ontario by accessing the best vinifera varietals from nurseries around the world and fighting bureaucracy to do it.
Tony Aspler Cuvée Award of Excellence winner for 2016 viticulturist Lloyd Schmidt and Tony Aslper (c) Brock University
Father and son grape growers Howard and Wes Lowrey from St. David’s were honoured with the Cuvée Vineyard of Excellence Award sponsored by BASF Canada Inc. The 2016 category was best red vinifera and the Lowrey’s were recognized for their Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard. The winner is chosen by an expert panel that makes field visits throughout the growing season to monitor quality.
Cuvée Vineyard of Excellence Award winners Wes and Howard Lowery are flanked by grower Matthias Oppenlaender and Julia Harnal, BASF Canada Inc. (c) Brock University
The VQA Promoter’s Awards are designed to recognize exceptional contributors to Ontario’s wine industry. The honours were endowed as follows. For Education, Peter Blakeman of The Canadian Food and Wine Institute at Niagara College. The Promoter-at-Large, Norm Hardie of Norman Hardie Wines. In the LCBO category, Nina Hofer, Product Consultant. In Hospitality, Peter Elmhirst of Elmhirst Resort. For Lifetime Achievement, Peter Gamble, formerly of Hillebrand, VQA, Stratus and Ravine, now consulting winemaker at Benjamin Bridge, Lightfoot & Wolfville and Versado Wines.
Proceeds from the Cuvée Grand Tasting go to support the Cuvée Legacy Fund established after the 2015 event. The fund has already awarded $15,000 in academic scholarships and contributed $13,000 toward industry-driven research projects. At the awards ceremony, the 2015 scholarships were also handed out.
Cuvée 2016 was orchestrated by Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute who will also play host to the Expert’s Tasting of Ontario wines in April. At this year’s reception 52 VQA wineries each poured one carefully selected wine for the Grand Tasting and were joined by 13 culinary partners. Earlier that week, Taste Ontario was hosted by VQA Wines of Ontario and Wine Country Ontario. Upwards of thirty producers contributed more than 125 wines to the media and trade event.
Taste Ontario reds
The food establishments on hand were granted the space and signage to show off and showcase their talents. Having their names projected onto the walls around the perimeter of the room made it very easy to locate who was placed where. The wineries received no such similar sort of spotlight signage so happenstance played a significant role on what got tasted. Still it was nice to see a Toronto neighbourhood friendly face in Ossington joint Actinolite Restaurant with chef Justin Cournoyer acting out his special brand of an Ontario forest passion play.
Forest flavours of Actinolite
The pork belly ‘Lollipops’ from Vintage Inn – Escabeche by Chef Chris Smythe, Korean fried chicken by Garrison House Chef David Watt and Duck Mu-shu from Golden Lotus Restaurant’s Chef Sing How were exceptional. Also on hand was omnipresent Niagara events food contributor Artisan Ontario presented by Chef Mark Hand and Mario Pingue. I somehow missed out on Backhouse Chef Ryan Crawford’s burrata and braised beef short rib ravioli tasting plates. No chef had a longer line-up all night long.
Pork belly ‘Lollipops’ from Vintage Inn – Escabeche Chef Chris Smythe
Insofar as an assessment of Ontario wines is concerned, from a varietal point of view, Riesling and Chardonnay have not relinquished any stronghold on their domination, nor should they any time soon. I can’t help but feel and notice that winemakers continue to reach for the big red machine and wish upon an intangible Bordeaux star when they should be concentrating on fresh, gulpable Cabernet Franc and Gamay. They should also take some chances with these necessary, best Ontario option red varieties. Press less, reveal freshness and let natural ferments find low-alcohol impressions of impossible, ethereal beauty.
Pingue Prosciutto
At Cuvée there was no shortage of Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and big red blends. Where was the Cabernet Franc? Kudos to Brian Schmidt of Vineland Estates for his varietal choice, albeit in a perfect little tidy $15 package. It was the only one. That is a travesty. Kacaba’s 2013 Cabernet Franc was a Platinum Award winner at the 2015 WineAlign Awards of Canada. They can’t be blasted for pouring their 2012 Syrah and you can only pick on but others should have seized the opportunity. J-L Groux of Stratus Vineyards offered up his 2013 Gamay from magnum. Brilliant! Where was the rest of Ontario’s Go Gamay Go arsenal? Varietal lampoonery I tell ya.
Perhaps I can be accused of filtering my view of the evening through the oculus of an infundibuliforms installation. Just maybe I’m a wee bit harsh in my assessment of choices made but there were several wines poured at Cuvée that we’ve seen many times before. While the inevitable will influence choices because of inventories and the bottom line, the event is not about finding buyers. The purpose and long-term vision should focus on teaching, on educating and ultimately on celebrating what Ontario does best. Not just what, but where. Choosing what to pour must come out of a disseminated varietal necessity so that sub-appellations can be further defined and understood.
My top ten wines tasted at the two bookending events were these.
Cattail Creek Small Lot Series Old Vines Riesling 2014
Cattail Creek Small Lot Series Old Vines Riesling 2014, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (Winery, $21.95, WineAlign)
A Cattail Creek joint starring Roselyn Dyck and consulting winemaker Steve Byfield, from a block of Clone 21 (Weiss) Riesling planted in 1976, one of the oldest in Ontario. This OV loitered in subdued maturation because of a brutal winter, a cold spring and a cool summer. A beautiful fall abrogated what came before and brightened the possibilities. Dyck and Byfield took full advantage, channeled their inner Mosel science of the mind, dialled back the sugar and submitted to the vintage’s desires. The result is a scintillant of Riesling with texture and acidity getting together to”grab a piece of something that you think is gonna last,” reelin’ in the year and shining like new. Steely Riesling at its Niagara flats finest, short of bracing and far from cloying. Though a long ways from the Bench, put this ’14 in the vineyard cru discussion with Picone, St. Urbain, Carly’s Block, Triangle, Steelpost and CSV. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted March 2016 @CattailWinery@TerroirLover
If the 2013 from Fielding Estate helped decipher the code of the how, where and why of Peninsula Viognier, this follow up 2014 speaks at the symposium. Sourced from the Four Mile Creek sub-appellation, a locale fast becoming the consensus ground zero for the option, this single-vineyard is farmed by grower Rick Smith. Low-cropped and hand-picked, this is the cleanest Viognier in town.The spice kick starts au fait late, sneaks up the backside and boom. Gotcha! Winemaker Richie Roberts has a vested investigated interest in this white variety amongst Niagara choices deeply pondered and painstakingly explained. Some off-roading chances taken going forward will elevate this wine into territory occupied by the excellent and the outstanding. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted March 2016 @FieldingWinery@RichieWine
Henry Of Pelham Speck Family Reserve Chardonnay 2014, VQA Short Hills Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (Winery, $29.95, WineAlign)
Vintage in and out this is the manifestation of an unequivocal Niagara icon for Chardonnay. An unwavering, stylistically consistent, best fruit first cuvée from Pelham’s oldest (1988) estate vineyards in the Short Hills Bench. Quite reductive and dramatic Chardonnay in 2014 with multi-macerated flavours. Needs some time for the barrel and the malo to get together with tangy, soil-driven fruit. A bit clunky at the present time. Should be fascinating to watch it develop, oscillate, flip-flop and ultimately settle into something fine over five years time. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted February 2016 @HenryofPelham@SpeckBros
Call this an experiment if you will and while winemaker Regan Kapach was blessed with a perfect ferment (and one that would not, could not be repeated in 2014 and 2015), don’t believe for a moment that divine skill was not integral to making this wine happen. Like an early 1990’s MTV production of Neil Young, David Bowie and Nirvana all wrapped up into one unplugged special, here is what happens when unfined, unfiltered and unsulphured jam as one. One major “un” omission, or inclusion in this case is French oak, the catalyst and the glue to keeping this freak of Chardonnay nature together. True, this is the one grape that can handle such a hands off winemaking process, but in Ontario? Not so simple. From the Little Vineyard up on The Bench, the Tenacity is not so much. It’s dreamy, creamy, lightly toasty and full of gelato texture and flavour. It glides and slides, lifts and cleanses. It’s a beautiful impossibility. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted March 2016 @16milecellar
Rosehall Run Ceremony Blanc De Blanc Brut, Prince Edward County, Ontario (Winery, $34.95, WineAlign)
A little ceremonial joy in the division here with Dan Sullivan taking some fizz chances to create a new PEC sparkling order. A multiple vintage cuvée from estate grown fruit of weight, substance, tang, drive, a shot put of citrus, servitude to PEC Chardonnay, certitude to B de B style and structure. Just enough pierce to go through and come out clean, even in the face of oxidative time, on the other side. Dips into the well of Champagne to recover its fearless tactility. These are bubbles that “travel first and lean towards this time.” Timing is everything. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted February 2016 @Rosehall_Run@sullywine
Oh, the accessibility of Quarry Road in 2012. Still totes the emerald shine, the gemstone tannic scrape and yet the flesh is rendered rich, ripe, ratcheted and riled up. This has tonality like never before, layered and strudel buttery. At this point the vines for Quarry are 17 years of age, sophic and erudite, compounded by the organic, biodynamic and prudent pruning practices that have cemented its vigour. The clay-limestone, fresh-mineral, push-pull is a veritable careening of expression. Though its longevity may not pile towards a compressed future like that of ’09 or ’11, the earlier and often response will act both as Chardonnay charming and Quarry Road magnetizing. For the next five years it will be very hard to turn away. Drink 2017-2020. Tasted April 2015 @Tawse_Winery@DanielatTawse
Cave Spring CSV Blanc De Blancs Brut 2008, Beamsville Bench, Ontario (237198, $39.95, WineAlign)
As expected the Cave Spring 2008 Chardonnay Sparkling solicits thoughts and ideas centred around age. It elicits a complexity response and one taste means a succumbing to the contagion of its vitality. With its autolytic character shining bright, Cave Spring’s BdeB acts out a fantasy up on a silver screen. Another seven year itch is realized in guaranteed Ontario age ability. Has acted way past simple citrus and yet remains a little closed, just now entering the window of showmanship. Another year or two and this will vie for an Oscar. The bubble program production is unparalleled at Cave Spring, perhaps more than any studio in Ontario. Tasted February 2016 @CaveSpring@TheVine_RobGroh
Creekside’s website waxes about the vintage, noting “the 2012 growing season felt like it had been imported up from California.” This is a type of pragmatic truth (as opposed to correspondent or coherent) because it is useful in applying winemaker Rob Powers’ gathering of phenolic ripeness in lieu of extraneous matter to make this Broken Press. When perfect provisos give you perfect fruit you listen to the winds of the vintage and just go with it. Viognier conditions the mess of richness with more pragmatism in 2012, lifting the aromatics and hooking the rug, up and away from drought conditioning. This BP dips into the earth of the northern Rhône to recover its fearless tactility. And so you feel the autumn’s moderate, crucial rainfall in this wine, its warm days and cool nights. The harvest on October 2nd from the St. David’s Bench Queenston Road Vineyard amounted to nine barrels, eight older French and one new Hungarian, leading to 210 cases. This is the best Syrah from QRV made to date. It will live long because of that aforementioned pragmatic truth. Drink 2016-2024. Tasted March 2016 @CreeksideWine@hobbsandco@AMH_hobbsandco
Oh yes the vineyard speaks, like previous vintages but with clenched teeth and a hyperbole of natural yeast and soil funk. The most charcuterie salts and dehydrates from the middle sibling in 2013, with wisdom and a tale of future memories created in the here and now. Then you will return, to this time that will be its past, when things were so different and the assessment a figment of later imagination. At least three years (and possibly five) will pass before things are set straight for this past to be revealed. The level of smarts and savvy riches are amplified in the Réserve 2013. It is the strongest reminder that reconciliation takes time. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted June 2015 @QueylusVin
Beautifully floral Lowrey from Thomas Bachelder, squeezed with restraint and pressed for pitch perfect Niagara Pinot fashion. Lowrey at its elegant best, ripe red though on the edge of anxious, eyes rolling and persuasions lolling though just shy of any sentimentality. Another layer of lovely infiltrates a taster’s psyche, grabbing hold of the heartstrings and then relents, lets go, stays on the righteous path of peurility. The ’13 Lowrey Vineyard gifts such texture and tannins that flirt with danger. It is a wine of life-affirming footnotes. I ask of it, “oh ye teasing beautiful Pinot Noir. When can I drink of thee?” Soon, but not yet. There is no greed from this vineyard and in these hands. As always, Thomas does the right thing. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted March 2016 @Bachelder_wines@LiffordON
The British, reports Aaron Saltzman, are developing a taste for fine Canadian vintages, and not just Icewine. “It’s a niche market, but it’s being received quite well.” Even though Icewine still accounts for 75 per cent of sales in England (1.2 out of a total 1.59 million Canadian dollars), in 2015, Canada sold $168,500 worth of table wine to the U.K. That number was five times lower in 2013, at $34,889.
In Decanter Magazine’s April 2016 issue they discuss “The best Pinot Noirs in the world (outside Burgundy).” Five from Canada are nominated out of more than 80 total. Ian d’Agata included the Bachelder 2013 Lowrey Vineyard, along with two others from Ontario, Flat Rock Cellars Gravity 2012, Twenty Mile Bench and Norman Hardie Winery, Cuvée L 2012, Prince Edward County. The two recognized from the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia are Meyer Family Vineyards 2013, McLean Creek Road Vineyard and Tantalus Vineyards 2012.
The Canadian wine renaissance is attributed to high-end, artisan winemakers like Norman Hardie and Thomas Bachelder. That’s the cool factor. The truth of the matter is that Canadian winemakers have realized and capitalized on the significance and exceptionality of their terroirs in regions such as Niagara, Prince Edward County and the Okanagan Valley. Journalists and buyers from around the globe know it and have begun to spread the Canadian gospel.
Dr. Jamie Goode has had a profound effect on alerting fellow Brits to the Canadian thing and that ambassadorship has filtered through to the wine shop owners and trickled down to the consumer. Much of the education is attributed to Dr. Janet Dorozynski, Global Practice Lead for Canadian Wine, Beer and Spirits, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada in Ottawa. Dr. Dorozynski has brought the wines and their makers to England and pried open the doors to perception.
Last week I tasted through a hundred or more Ontario wines at Taste Ontario and at Cuvée 2016 in Niagara. Those notes are coming soon. For now let’s concentrate on the VINTAGES March 19th release. Here are some of the Canadian wines up for grabs.
Really striking Sketches Riesling here in 2014, aromatically wild and full of complex flavours. So representative, lemony beyond lemon and full of juicy acidity. Almost too much of a good thing but it should settle a bit and replace some of that stark contrasting acidity with copacetic sweetness. Great fruit in 2014. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted March 2016 @Tawse_Winery@DanielatTawse
Culmina Decora Riesling 2014, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (444836, $24.95, WineAlign)
Judging from the ripeness, strength, density and effective grape tannin this may as well be noted as pulchra, decor, charissima, that is, powerful, beautiful, charming. All three are apropos in this really forward and mineral tangy Riesling. Could this come from anywhere but the Okanagan Valley? Should develop with intellect into a honeyed, elastic expression. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted November 2015 and March 2016 @CulminaWinery@winebcdotcom
Riesling squared- Culmina Decora 2013 and Charles Baker Picone 2012
Henry Of Pelham Estate Cabernet/Merlot 2012, VQA Short Hills Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (395855, $24.95, WineAlign)
Exceeds elegant expectations with poise and presence, a Bordeaux blend so refined it pleases. Effectively restrained and remedies with tonic. Circulating acidity ranges while chocolate whips, but wholly within reason. Spice accents assist in the celebration (why not?) to effectuate this red’s firm grip and grasp of Claret reality. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted blind at WWAC15, August 2015 and March 2016 @HenryofPelham@SpeckBros
The Dream is a ripping, layered and well executed appassimento from Barclay Robinson. Much oak influence but with that fencing there is more than the spice is right. Sweetness is valued in the context of ripeness, acidity and burgeoning tannin. Here we find a big wine and well within the parameters of the sensibility. Tasting and thinking on the dried and rehydrated grape approach can leave you “lost in the dream, or just the silence of a moment, it’s always hard to tell.” With the ’12 Abbraccio, “Il Sogno” shares the passion for the planning and shows that “love’s the key to the things that we see.” And a little bit of unknown appassimento magic. Drink 2017-2020. Tasted March 2016 @wineaffair@BarclayRobinson@EpicW_S
A vintage that begged to be protected in the vineyard, meaning no leaf plucking and no thinning. A most excellent goal of (0.691895068 kg / m2), or 2.8 tons an acre was realized, as opposed to one in 2010. Heavy vigor slowed down the ripening (leaving that kind of tonnage on the vine), to an elongated balance. Comes from terroir Baker nods to as “a barren tundra,” which you don’t get down the hill. In 2012 there was no waste, no rot, no problems. Its residual climbs to 15 g/L but you’d never know it. There is a confit of citrus, a mellifluous sensation of preserved lemon. Total count is 600 cases. From my earlier, March 2014 note: “Baker’s iconic child yet breathes in unsettled, spumous emission from out of a warm vintage. So primary and such a hard act to follow. Vanguard Vinemount Ridge, arid as the desert and citrus, carbonic tight. Treated with cool, cooler and colder methods to seek result and strike balance in an opulent, lees-appertained, tangy finish. A Picone that says I don’t live today, so it is told and canvassed, “uh, get experienced, are you experienced?” Last tasted March 2016 @cbriesling@StratusWines
In the past 12 months I have tasted Canadian wines. Somewhere between hundreds and a thousand of them. Aside from day-to-day assessments at home, in the LCBO sensory lab, at the WineAlign office and at events in Ontario, I’ve also been a part of judging panels. In 2015 I sat in at the Ontario Wine Awards, WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada, WineAlign World Wine Awards of Canada and Gold Medal Plates.
Flight 3, code red #pinotnoir redux. Right proper #NWAC15 picks & pours @FortessaCanada stems @winealign staff rock!
In 2014 the highlights numbered 14, just as in 2013 the number chosen to cant, recant and decant excellence in Canadian wine was 13. And so forth leads to 15 in 2015.
The Legend, the Sommelier and the Godello #geddy #yyz #gmp2015 #goldmedalplates #rush
Canadian wine is growing with exponential force, gaining ground in markets at home and abroad. Brits dig us. I know, they told me. British Columbia is a desert oasis of variable climates to fascinating degrees. Oh the Syrah, Riesling and Gamay that rocks forth. Ontario stood up to two straight brutal winters and screamed, “we still made great fucking wine.” Take that mother nature.
And I quote. “Picking a top anything list is both a chore and a labour of loyalty. The opportunities to learn more about Canadian-made wine, especially the processes and the efforts, were numerous in 2014. Canadian winemakers opened their doors and when people came, they taught. They walked the vineyards, showed off their prized barrels and walked through the processes of making wine. Tasting and barrel rooms make for the greatest classrooms. Get out there in 2015. The experience is priceless.”
Riesling at the Carriage House, Vineland Estates Winery – March 7, 2015
So I did. In 2015 I visited Niagara for Icewine Fest, discovered exceptional cider (with percentages of Pinot Noir and Riesling) made by Angela Kasimos at Small Talk Vineyards and have been pouring it on tap at Barque Smokehouse and Barque Butcher Bar ever since.
The pioneer for #vqa #wineontap feel good recognition from @winecountryont Thank you from @barquebbq #ontariowineweek #ontwine #drinkontario #pourontario
The taps at the two restaurants poured a record number of wines in 2015, from Tawse, Lailey, Norm Hardie, Creekside, Between the Lines, Kew Vineyards, Redstone, Stratus and Leaning Post. In March we travelled with CAPS Ontario for an eight-hour intense immersion into Niagara Riesling and Cabernet Franc.
Another visit with Ilya and Nadia Senchuk at Leaning Post Wines in Winona, Ontario shed new lights, especially for Syrah from the Lincoln Lakeshore. In June I toured the facilities at Niagara College with Dr. Jamie Goode, Magdalena Kaiser and our host Chef Michael Olson. Jamie and I tasted through an impossible number to count Domaine Queylus wines with Thomas Bachelder. On that I will report really soon. Really soon…
Cool Chardonnay at Ridley College
The Cool Chardonnay conference in July was in fact, the coolest yet. I spent three more glorious Annapolis-Gaspereau Valley days with Mike and Jocelyn Lightfoot in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Visits to Domaine de Grand Pre, L’Acadie Vineyards and Benjamin Bridge filled out the east coast foray.
Comity in the County godello.ca #PECwine #princeedwardcounty #cherryvalley #clossonridge #danforthridge #greerroad #laceyestates #hubbscreekvineyard #hinterlandwine #lighthallvineyards #clossonchase #adamoestatewinery #northshoreproject
In the fall I made pilgrimage to Prince Edward County to get a grip on the eskers, ridges and aspects of what makes wine so special in that part of Ontario.
As always there are wines that should have, would have and could have made the cut were there more time, space and yet another, better headline to write. Somewere knocked off the shortlist because they may not have been quite as exciting though were this list one of “most important,” then perhaps they would have stayed put. These four are perfect examples of that condition.
Château Des Charmes Old Vines Riesling 2008, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (277228, $16.95, WineAlign) Perhaps the assessment seven years later creates an unfair advantage but come now, a great wine is a great wine from its humble beginnings. At $16.95, in 2008 or 2015, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, on the Peninsula, this type of emerging propensity is more than gold or platinum, it’s money.
The Good Wine Cabernet Franc 2012, VQA Lincoln Lakeshore, Ontario (350751, $20.95, WineAlign) from winemaker Ross Wise and The Good Earth Wine Company’s Nicolette Novak is a necessary example of $20 Lincoln Lakeshore Cabernet Franc offering up every reason to drink it and demand that more me made.
Creekside Estate Winery Pinot Noir Queenston Road Vineyard 2013, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (Winery, $22.95, WineAlign) is what winemaker Rob Power refers to as a lay lady lay style. Still the Kama Sutra Pinot Noir of inviting behaviour.
Hubbs Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir Unfiltered 2010, VQA Prince Edward County, Ontario (Winery, $28.95, WineAlign). The HCV Danforth Ridge is clearly a top Pinot site in the County (along with slopes on the Greer and Closson roads). Planted to high density the results are proven in wines like this 2010
The year that was 2015 seemed to bring out the adventurous winemaker, the risk-taker and the progressive thinker. While these five wines were not so much exciting as much as they were cerebral, they need to be mentioned. Whenever the envelope is pushed and the emotions of geeks are sequestered, well then a wine has achieved something special. These five really opened some doors.
Hillebrand Showcase Series Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2011, VQA Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (199273, $36.20, WineAlign) speaks the treble language of the vintage, predicated on bold ideas looking forward towards a bright future. Ultimately it is yeast and vintage, non partisan to site, that elaborate the Wild Ferment.
Southbrook Vidal Orange Wine 2014
Southbrook Vineyards Whimsy! Orange Wine 2014, Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (Winery, $34.95, WineAlign). The technique and the practice is ancient and has been kept alive. The only questions need asking are “is it good, is it well-made and would I like to drink it?”
In bottle @Tawse_Winery #quarryroad 2014 #natural soon to tap @barquebbq #chardonnay #naturalwine #unfiltered #paulpender #vinemountridge #niagarapeninsula #vqa #ontwine
Tawse Chardonnay Quarry Road Natural 2014, VQA Vinemount Ridge, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (Winery, $35.95, WineAlign). It’s one thing to make a natural wine in Ontario and a world away to do so with Chardonnay. “The law was never passed, but somehow all men feel they’re truly free at last. Have we really gone this far through space and time?”
The latest rendition of Vin de Curé, the “Parish Priest’s,” and the Jura’s Vin de Paille (Straw Wine) of Burning Kiln Stick Shaker Savagnin 2013, VQA Ontario (367144, $24.95, WineAlign) is a white elixir in search of roast pork, braised belly and cured bacon. Not to be missed.
Inniskillin Discovery Series Botrytis Affected Viognier 2013, VQA Niagara Peninsula (375ml), Ontario (405027, $39.95, WineAlign) though not a common Viognier practice can be imagined with Vendanges Tardives simulation.
Filtering Nova Scotia #peggyscove #eastcoastswing15
I try to concentrate on new releases, unless something old (read: Riesling) jumps out and bites me in the ass. The 15 Canadian wines tasted in 2015 that wooed, wowed and whetted the appetite are the fingers, toes and tongues of their creator’s ideals, hopes and dreams. They are also quintessentially representative of their time and place.
And the winners are…
Charles Baker Riesling Ivan Vineyard 2014, VQA Niagara Escarpment, Ontario (Winery, $27.00, WineAlign)
From the rich limestone and sandstone beneath the clay, 1.1 acre Misek vineyard, a southerly ledge up from Highway 8 and an easterly hill down from Cherry Avenue. A very linear Ivan combs the catacombs of the Escarpment’s underpinning. A retaining wall of vintage attenuated rocks and stones, a vineyard’s low yields and the voices in Charles’ head have produced a striking Riesling. In 2014 adolescence has entered adulthood. Now before us is a grown up Ivan, mature Ivan, maybe even wise Ivan. Texture is in manifest control in this loyal, stay at home Baker, not yet running wild like free-spirited Picone. Ivan has presence, sometimes a great notion and is Baker’s longest bit of prose to date. The next great Riesling vintage will make it iconic. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted April 2015 @cbriesling
Closson Chase Chardonnay Closson Chase Vineyard 2013, VQA Prince Edward County, Ontario (Winery, $27.95, WineAlign)
This CCV Chardonnay is one of departed winemaker Deborah Paskus’ final acts at Closson Chase. It will forever be noted as a legacy-cementing, swan song of career excellence. Crafted by Paskus and bottled by the next one, current winemaker Keith Tyers, the 2013 CCV is simply a tour de force. No such combination of richness, tropicality and pure grape tannin has ever infiltrated this Chardonnay, from this vineyard. I’m not sure there is a comparison in Ontario, at this level of excellence and at this price. A wine of pure impression, with Montrachet-like structure and Folatières-like precision. Seemingly capacious, its facile legerity is hypnotizing, quantitatively escalating in assembly of aromas, flavours, through texture and finally to longevity. The wine spent 16 months in a mere (17.25 per cent new) oak. That it notes 12.5 per cent alcohol on the label is next to impossible. The substance is just too buttressed to be so tender and effete. Impeccable balance, refinement and mineral finish. This is Chardonnay to confuse the world’s fine white collectors, to wreak havoc at international tastings for five to 10 years. Only 712 cases are available and at $27.95, is down $2 in price from the 2012. Best ever, hands down. Drink 2017-2023. Tasted March 2015 @ClossonChase
“There’s no work in walking in to fuel the talk.” @MalivoireWine Melon & @PearlMorissette Gamay #NWAC15 Parting of the Sensory #CuvéeMonUnique #shirazmottiar #treadwells #winealign #winecountryontario
Pearl Morissette Gamay Cuvée Mon Unique 2014, VQA Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (Winery, $29.00, WineAlign)
In December of 2014 I counted the ’13 CMU Gamay as one of my mind-blowing wines of the year. Once again we are witness to the authentic, raw and natural impossibility of the wine, from 100 per cent whole clusters sent to cement fermenters. The hue is just impossible, the wine sulphur-free. That ’13 Gamay did not last. I tasted again this winter and it failed me. It may return. This ’14 will never leave. It is natural to the 14th degree and yet its rich, smokey chocolate centre and structure of pure physical stature will not let it slide, into a dumb phase or oblivion. This Gamay will strut. It already does. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted June 2015 @PearlMorissette
Cave Spring Csv Riesling 2013, Cave Spring Vineyard, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (566026, $29.95, WineAlign)
That flesh, that Kabinett flesh, fills the CSV in every crevice. In 2013 the residual sugar number lies between 15 and 16 g/L, and though the crop was bigger, it was still picked later than in 2012. The result is formidable corporeal concentration, consistency of house style and perhaps the only ’13 Niagara Riesling to imitate, perpetuate and extrapolate on the vintage that came before. This Cave Spring concentrates fruit and Escarpment into a powerful Riesling, streaming like charged particles through changing expressions. A lingering ascension hovers as it rises, until it slowly fades into the welkin, like a balloon that languidly gets lost into the blinding blue of a midday sky. Drink 2017-2025. Tasted April 2015 @CaveSpring
Any Chardonnay from a vineyard discovered on a bicycle just has to be the bomb. Winemaker Shiraz Mottiar has had many an adventure on his bicycle and it all began here in a plot of perfectly planted Chardonnay. A block that became his home vineyard. The fodder for this most balanced Chardonnay and its abilities transcend all that has come before. You would never know a barrel was ever involved and yet the silken sheaths of texture are well compressed and expertly ingrained. Nothing falls out of place. Everything remains in its right place. The radio is dialled in, from the top and outward in waves. “There are two colors in my head,” Everything in its right place. Drink 2016-2024. Tasted November 2015 @MalivoireWine@ShirazMottiar
Thirty Bench Small Lot Steel Post Vineyard Riesling 2009, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (Winery, $30.00, WineAlign)
Riesling Masterclass at Terroir 2015
Balance is and therefore always was struck. The match percusses flint for a mere nano-second, with just a brush on cymbal, the rock bleeds but is quickly clotted because the fruit shines still, like around the clock light. The steely aspect is a posterior one, antithetical and yet purposed, from this vineyard. Youth tells common sense to think 2011. The Riesling behaviour seems to play that part, of a chalky, piercing acidity, so typical of that vintage and so distinctly Thirty Bench. That the wine is older is not a big surprise because 2009 is the bomb. It may just be the best Riesling vintage, from on that Bench, in the last 10. Drink 2015-2025. Tasted May 2015 @ThirtyBench
C.C. Jentsch Syrah 2013, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada (Winery, $34.95, WineAlign)
Oh so beautifully nasty Syrah, spicy, saucy and wicked. Resin, somewhere between myrrh and mastic, redacts reductively and tension stretches the savoury aspects in all directions. Blood orange and anise blend into the aromatic grain, repeating again through flavour mettle. Fruit, acidity and tannin are interwoven, circulating and on edge, in pitch perfect darkness. Syrah in the big time with the stuffing to age. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted blind at WWAC15, August 2015 @CCJentschCellar
“I want you to see the difference between vineyards. That’s terroir.” This the crux and the impetus to abide and acquiesce fruit from McNally, a cooler, higher site of younger vines. For Ilya, this is “truffle hunting, eating roasted pig, at the base of an oak tree.” The forest floor and the catalytic funk come across more in flavour than smell, following cherries in the dead of an aromatic night. Modernity be damned, this strikes ripe, layered and nearly indelicate. The wine’s got some real chew to it, along with crispy flowers, like nasturtium and lavender. “I think this is the best Pinot that I’ve made,” boasts Senchuk, from 15 year-old vines at Peninsula Ridge. Ilya’s muse came from the 2010 made by winemaker Jamie Evans, along with the Voyageur ’10 made by Ross Wise at Keint-He. Wines that spoke in a vernacular that Senchuk could understand and relate to on a deeper level. Prime ripeness defines 2012. Though it teases of grandiose terroir, its complexities reign in the power with each sip, every time. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted June 2015 @LeaningPostWine
Potatoes, not wine #pei @normhardie
Norman Hardie County Unfiltered Pinot Noir 2013, VQA Prince Edward County, Ontario (125310, $39.00, WineAlign)
Procuring depth in County Pinot Noir is a tough task within the constraints of resisting a temptation to reach for sugars, alcohol and dark berry fruit. Norm Hardie’s 2013 unfiltered (at 10.9 per cent) and lambent exegesis succeeds because it offers the best of all available worlds. Roots for vines that burrow to limestone develop a structure that while may have at one time been inconsistent, have crossed the threshold in ’13 to establish a guarantee. A Hardie PEC Pinot Noir can be bright and accessible. It can also be tough, tart and tannic, as it is here, again, but not without its foil. The work is now innate, the transitions seamless, the crossroads left in the dust. This wine will please two camps; those who can afford and demand immediate gratification and those who are willing to wait for secondary (two to three years) and tertiary (four to seven) character development. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted April and September 2015 @normhardie
Culmina Hypothesis 2013, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada (Winery, $39, WineAlign)
In 2013 the blend is not listed on the label though it strikes as a return to Cabernet Franc, albeit with a layer of lush not yet perceived. The 2013 combines the best of worlds put forth by the two previous vintages; ripe fruit, earthy-mineral tang, proper acidity and ripe, tonic tannin. The composition here is the most, accomplished, distinguished and relished. In 2013 the enjoyment can be right now or up to 10 years on. All this with thanks to exceptional balance. Drink 2015-2023. This wine has not yet been released. Tasted November 2015 @CulminaWinery
Sparkling wines by Hinterland
Hinterland Les Etoiles 2012, VQA Prince Edward County, Ontario (Winery, $39.00, WineAlign)
An axial split between Pinot Noir and Chardonnay balances this traditional method Sparkling wine, specific to and what can only, obviously be from Prince Edward County. Acidity defines its existence in every facet of its being. A rich star to be sure, from a warm vintage, free from frost and more importantly, immune to mould. Jonas Newman talks of the methodology, in growing low to the ground. As the sun goes down, the canopy shades the fruit, slowing down the ripening, extending the season, developing the sugars, the complexities and preserving the acidity. At 6 g/L RS, with limestone communication and that sassy acidity, Les Etoiles in ’12 is pure County Sparkling. It exudes untamed apple and unnamed acidity. The Hinterland acidity. It strikes early and often. Just add warmth, stir and voila. Terrific year. Drink 2015-2021. Tasted October 2015 @hinterlandwine
Ancienne Chardonnay and Pinot Noir 2013 with a glass of soon to be released Rose
If de novo for Pinot Noir is to be found in Nova Scotia then count me in because the inaugural release from Lightfoot & Wolfville is the trailblazer for and from the extrinsic frontier. Tasting the painstakingly measured yet barely handled 2013 for the first time (from bottle) is like falling into a glass of Nova Scotia cherries. Somehow there is this simultaneous and virtual voyage abroad to imagine a comparison with Nuits-Saint-Georges, in its earth crusted, sanguine, welled up tension that begs questions and belies answers. A year yonder the taste from barrel and what can be said? Pinot Noir adjudicated, into a cortex of recognizable consciousness and thus into the natural Nova Scotia mystic. Ignore and forgive the dope of first returns, for no one could have imagined such ripeness and immediate gratification. Future releases will dial back in the name of structure. That said, in 2013 there is a red citrus, ferric debate that will send this to an exordium seven years down the road. Impossible inaugural release. Approximately 50 cases made. Drink 2015-2022. Tasted July 2015 @lwwines@rachel_hope
Stratus assemblage and varietals
Stratus Tannat 2012, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (Winery, $42.00, WineAlign)
“To me this is one of the most successful new varieties we are planting,” exclaims J-L Groux. In similar ways with Stratus varietal cousin Petit Verdot, acidity rules the roost. Smells like a just sliced open bag of organic earth, freshly neutral, funkless and emptying into a (first use) terra cotta pot. A rich, looking straight ahead expression. What it hides in fruit is lost to the brilliance of balance though plum is the operative hidden flesh and it will make a clearer impression when it steps clear of the tar and the tannin. This is pitchy sagacity, with poise and length. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted June 2015 @StratusWines
Tasting The Old Third at White Oaks
The Old Third Sparkling Pinot Noir à la Volée 2011, VQA Prince Edward County, Ontario (Winery, $59, WineAlign)
“On the fly” is not exactly what comes to mind from this 100 per cent Pinot Noir, first Sparkling wine made by Bruno Francois. Calculated, attention to detail and intensity of ideation more like it. Three years on the lees, no dosage and from a vintage to speak in more than whispered voices, of acidity that announces its arrival with immediacy and a summons to contest. The nose does yeast, toast, citrus and ginger. A first release revelation as ever graced Ontario’s waves, as dry as the desert and lingering with switch back traces of its yeasty, toasty self. A single vineyard can be this way, equally and in opposition of natural and oxidative, with a hue less than Pinot Noir, though unrequited as a triumph when you get a ripe white from such Pinot. The production of 1200 bottles is relatively house high in a stunner that needs no sugar to draw up its flavours. Drink 2015-2023. Tasted twice, July and October 2015
asting across the @Benjamin_Bridge Vero, ’08’s, ’04, Sparkling & Cab Franc Rosé. Thanks JB, Scott & Mike
Benjamin Bridge Brut Reserve Methode Classique 2004, Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia (275396, $95.00, WineAlign)
The ’04 is hanging in beautifully, on a wire of impossible balance, at 11 years old not yet really transitioning. There is simply too much brightness for it to give up its youth. You have to strain your ears, nose and throat to assuage just a hint at oxygen, life affirming breaths and then a keener sense of toast and yeast. Still behold the grapefruit, a sign of remarkable adolescence, the hang time amplified and in mass hyperbole here, in this current appraisal, address and time. How can richness act and display with such alpha freshness? How can an aging body not shed baby weight, turn lanky, lean and awkward? How is it neither the bitter pill of juvenility or senility has been swallowed? That is not the case here in a Blanc de Blancs which still has five to seven years of very active life ahead. Drink 2015-2021. Tasted July 2015 @Benjamin_Bridge@jbdeslauriers
It has finally happened. It has come to this. Inflation has hit the LCBO. The old Mason-Dixon line for finer wine has left the building. We are finally rid of the oppressive bar of redundancy and free from the high water mark. First it was the penny, now it’s the $20 dollar bill. The over-under threshold of $21.95 is the new $19.95.
The wines I have chosen to recommend speak to the change, beginning with, going forth and prospering from the VINTAGES October 17th, 2015 release. One lonely bottle from the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia’s west coast stands to keep the frontier from moving north but the tide has risen and prices are no longer safe. Mark my words. Beginning in the fall of 2015, a twenty and a toonie in your pocket is the new requiem to make purchase for the common denominator in competent and felicitous dinner companions. On that note, everyone should be given a 20 per cent raise. Surely we don’t want any drinking of less than stellar LCBO issued wines.
Here are the picks.
From left to right: San Raffaele Monte Tabor Pinot Grigio 2014, Dirty Laundry Gewurztraminer Madames 2013, Palacios Remondo La Montesa 2012, Trimbach Riesling 2012, Southbrook Triomphe Cabernet Franc 2013, and Red Hill Estate Pinot Noir 2013 and Hinterland Borealis Method Charmat Rosé 2014
San Raffaele Monte Tabor Pinot Grigio 2014, Igt Veronese, Italy (204768, $14.95, WineAlign)
Ripeness extended out of extraction leads to slight distraction in 2014, with mineral notes falling off the charts. The vintage is one of hyperbole for this particular Pinot Grigio abstraction, fruit compressed, stones crushed and dry extract seared by arid ice. Salinity and brine are magnified too though the overall impression in ’14 is one of weight, like the elements are being sent substrata, as opposed to the typically aerified course. Still there can be no denying the complexity such a $14 white affords, even if the line here is a bit right of centre. Drink now for hedonistic pleasure, with any savoury sea creature and alongside the next 60 days of increasingly cooler nights. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted September 2015 @oenophilia1
Dirty Laundry Gewurztraminer Madames 2013, BC VQA Okanagan Valley (423228, $21.95, WineAlign)
Illustrated Gewürztraminer of appreciably pointed attributes, on the off-dry side of town but with enough acidity to float on. Les Madames offers up the most sweet and inviting set of vinous virtues for the triple-threat DL schematic. The Summerland vines and warmth make for a fully expected and dramatized aromatic wine with the most unctuous behaviour. Were the pH and the grape tannin of a higher combined force this would also be a wine to lay down, to wait and watch for the sugars to slowly develop into things tertiary. As it is, find some flavourful and spicy fare to seek succulence through osmosis. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted October 2015 @DirtyLaundryVin@winebcdotcom@bottleneckdrive
This perennial confluence of the left and the right, of two oceans, grapes and barrels is the red wine portal into the Álvaro Palacios idiom. The modern polish and sanctity of Rioja conjoin for the most representative first pass at Tempranillo-Garnacha you will and should encounter. The vintage is not a rigid one, the wine a downy entry into the style and the equation. The fruit dominates calcareous longing and leaning but for the time being and the audience reached out to, there are no questions or complaints. Red plum and subtle liquorice meander into clay, get a sprinkle of white rock and distill into a seasoned, approachable liquid. Cracks are filled, bonds are cemented and dinner is properly accompanied. What won’t this work with and for? Drink 2015-2019. Tasted October 2015 @WoodmanWS@RiojaWine
Trimbach Riesling 2012, Ac Alsace, France (734517, $21.95, WineAlign)
“Six plus months will do wonders” is a statement of probability for well-made Riesling and for Trimbach, of the obvious. Coequality between fruit and mineral bobs on the surface of the vineyard and the rim of pale platinum beauty. Illustrative Alsace. Drink 2015-2022.
From my earlier note of March 2015:
To Jean and Anne Trimbach and most Alsatians, this Riesling from their ‘Classic’ range may represent the best that basic can be but when it travels oversees it gains a stature well beyond its humble roots. Here is another one of the those dictionary entry wines meant to depict and define. Quite simply emblematic Alsace. Built with acidity to envelop sweetness, marked by herbiage that is alive and fresh. Weight and density draw from Ribeauvillé rocks. Parity is realized in osmosis by fruit and mineral. As always, there is the tannic underlay, the length and the purposed bitter finish.
Six months have amplified the current, running in a direct aromatic-flavour line from strawberry to black currant. Such healthy up front fruit with nary a moment of humidity shines while the wine remains just grounded enough to call it Niagara.
From my earlier note of December 2014:
Still organic through and through, despite only a small portion of estate fruit contributing to the overall design of the Triomphe Cabernet Franc ’13. Contracted growers fuel and fulfill the Southbrook ideology, to seek purity in healthy berries. The red fruit here shines on with Daliesque impunity. Its agglomeration makes a juicy, gregarious offer to sip. The vanilla-lavender streak brings elegance, more so than in ’12, along with an elevated sense of savour and really compounded red, red fruit. A natural sweetness and long finish are easy on the gustatory senses. Will be available at VINTAGES in February 2015, when the ’12 runs dry.
Red Hill Estate Pinot Noir 2013, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia (58073, $21.95, WineAlign)
The Mornington perfume, distinct, ethereal, lifted, elevated, fresh with a bit sauvage, not of musk, but of a wild road less trodden. A step beyond fresh, into learned territory and also above crisp, into crunchy. Very interesting and complex Pinot Noir, so obvious as anything but, yet unique, tart, striking and long. This should have many consumer fans and expand horizons for broad appeal, but also be a friend to the discerning taster. Most impressive. Tasted November 2014 @RedHillEstate@Noble_Estates
The Ancestral cousin continues its arid ways in 2014, ostensibly a better vintage for the sparkling tank methodology. The fruit, acidity, volatility and tension all elevate and there is nothing surprising about that but where this sophomore succeeds is in the dry take on Gamay bubbles. So many winemakers would be tempted into higher dosage and the soft allure of enticing a younger audience with sweetness. Jonas Newman won’t go there. This is fun and simple but its aridity and dry extract keep it real. Like a September Algonquin campsite gaze upwards at the Aurora Borealis. “The icy sky at night.” Drink 2015-2018. Tasted October 2015 @hinterlandwine
From left to right: Creekside Estate Reserve Viognier Queenston Road Vineyard 2013, Dominio De Tares Cepas Viejas Mencia 2011, Tenuta Rocca Barolo 2010, Cvne Imperial Reserva 2009, Prunotto Barolo 2010, Tawse Pinot Noir Lauritzen Vineyard 2012, Duckhorn Merlot 2012 and Banfi Poggio Alle Mura Brunello Di Montalcino 2010
Exceedingly mineral in 2013, decidedly varietal and power prepositioned for the purpose of small lot, attention to detail Creekside adjudication. Though Syrah and Cabernet Franc would seem to define the winery’s signature strokes, it is this small production Queenston Road Vineyard labour of love that crawls beneath the radar. The ’13 is outright juicy, unctuous, feathered in weight and warm-pitched to verdant greens. The vintage doles out more warmth than expected but acidity carries the weight, over the water and onto the dance floor. I’d wait a couple of years for some more floral and honeyed notes to develop. Drink 2017- 2022. Tasted October 2015 @CreeksideWine@hobbsandco
This is rich and powerful Mencia, even for itself, sheathed and layered by the alternating variegation of French and American oak. From Alliers to Missouri there is comfort to be found in its warm blanket, alcohol (14.5 degrees) and depth of fruit. It might come across as figgy and raisined and indeed those aromas and flavours are imagined, but they are fresh, not dried. Acidity and tannin envelop fruit. Old vines offer substantial heft, concentration and brambly fruit like Zinfandel and Primitivo, but here there is a citrus lift to carry the weight. Emblematic Bierzo that has and will be more exciting with just that much more freshness and tension. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted October 2015 @DominiodeTares@oenophilia1@dobierzo
Modern speak and safely on the pleasurable side of volatile. A real deal for Nebbiolo, ready and willing in afford of whatever’s in your pocket. Framework is well-delineated, wood properly judged, the view clearly visible from multiple correct vantage points. Not earth shattering but at the price reaches more than appropriate goals. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted September 2015 @regionepiemonte
Another impressive, formidable and structured Tempranillo from the Cvne stable, from old vineyards and the comforts of both French and American oak. Such a rich and deep exhalant, as much fruit as tannin, mineral as acidity. There are many moving parts but one day they will align. Like a jigsaw falling into place, “the beat goes round and round,” swirling with tannic noise and plum fruit aromas, with earthy and botanical flavours. This begins with a murmur and ends with thunder. It rocks and wails in between. Rioja made only in the best vintages and the kind of $39 wine to lay down for 15 plus years. It will play on the radio and in your head for at least that long. Drink 2019-2029. Tasted October 2015 @Cvne@vonterrabev@RiojaWine
The faintest hue. The rusty pilgrim. Such a pretty scent. Fresh roses and the beginnings of osseous imagination, to seek a classic pairing, with osso bucco. The real deal in normale Barolo. The righteous Nebbiolo beginning. The jumping off point with no sharks in the water. The effortless offering. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted September 2015 @HalpernWine
Typically Tawse and exemplary of Lauritzen. The highest of the vineyard tones and a plot up on a ridge (now 11 years of age) growing up before our eyes. The fruit is not shy in any way. Possessive of earth alternating with min real neither Cherry nor Quarry nor Laidlaw can lay claim. This is a Pender Pinot that seethes, oozes and owns its vineyard’s fruit, rocks and clay, earth and elements. Upwards and drying, with tannins that shriek. Ripping and yet at once, a few years down the road to be, elegant Pinot Noir. Drink 2017-2020. Tasted September 2015 @Tawse_Winery@Paul_Pender@DanielatTawse
Duckhorn Merlot 2012, Napa Valley, California (992529, $59.95, WineAlign)
Always rich and flavourful, the champion vintage here elicits a nearly massive Merlot in benchmark Napa ideal. This has strength in situation and there is something you can’t quite put a finger on, but it emanates from a special brand of umami. Strength, poise and sweetness that never cloys. There grades a balanced capability and pure, grainy, sweet, supple tannin. Alcohol travels a really grand yet gracious line. It’s not hot at all. This is a Merlot steal, with fruit to match a long, meandering road. Drink 2016-2025. Tasted September 2015 @duckhornwine@rogcowines@NapaVintners
Banfi Poggio Alle Mura Brunello Di Montalcino 2010, Tuscany, Italy (372250, $69.95, WineAlign)
Arguably the most modern and stylishly put together Brunello on the market today yet without an overdoing of oak hinderance. Like the deliciously devilish 2007 this has a wealth of beauty and gregarious aromatics but unlike that precocious vintage there is weight and brooding behaviour as well. The depth of fruit and earth are not weighted down by excessive alcohol (a very good thing) though there is a bit of dried fruit and flowers mixed in to the cure. There is also a bitter almond pith note ties into the aggressive but starry-eyed tannins. This needs three to five years to come together. The hope is for that slight bit of green tannin to find its integrated way with the fruit. Drink 2018-2025. Tasted October 2015 @CastelloBanfi@AuthenticWineON
Godello 