Godello

Wine experts Brock and roll, Brock on

Mar6

The Expert’s Tasting is more than just a study on Niagara wine.
Photo: JEAN-PIERRE MULLER/AFP/Getty Images

Part two: 25th anniversary of the Cuvée 2014 Expert’s Tasting at Brock University

Flights three, four and five: Pinot Noir, Red Blends and Wine Options.

Related – When experts break wine together

The Expert’s Tasting is more than just a study on Niagara wine. It eulogizes what came before, reflects back on what is lost and ultimately asks the questions, “Where do we go from here? Which is the way that’s clear?” Grow grapes, make wine. Rock on.

The Brock University Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute now lays claim to being the central hub of information and guidance for Niagara’s wine industry. In partnership and in sharing expertise with Wine Country Ontario, the Grape Growers of Ontario, the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, VQA Ontario and Niagara Culinary College, Brock’s CCOVI is the go to rock, central to Niagara’s world-class wine growing soil.

In 2015, the annual Cuvée gala weekend, one of the most prestigious celebrations of Ontario wine and food, will now be organized by Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI). The theme will be a look forward to Ontario’s significant wine styles and emerging varieties. Props to that.

The #CCOVI event continued the task of celebrating the annual VQA Promoters awards, handed out to the individuals who supported and promoted the industry through media, the LCBO, at large and over the course of a lifetime. The 2014 awards were handed out to William Mancini, Lloyd Schmidt, Erik Peacock, Shawn McCormick, David Lawrason and posthumously, care of his wife Rose Lamas-Churchill, to David Churchill.

PHOTO: Michael Godel
#CCOVI Expert’s Tasting Pinot Noir Flight

At the Expert’s Tasting wines were poured blind. The third and fourth flights (Pinot Noir and Red blends respectively) showcased just how far Niagara has travelled in fashioning quality reds. The Pinot Flight was all about balance and elegance. Bench Pinot stands out like a beacon on the Escarpment’s shelves. Blends centred around Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc are excelling with each passing vintage, in kind to the ever-increasing wine acumen of the growers and winemakers. That and the macro-intense studies of Niagara’s micro-terroirs.

@ericvellend It's who u ride with. Oh the palates. Greats @Matt_Loney @RichieWine @brightlighter1 FTR, Richie was mum pic.twitter.com/6dE9Y0r8gt

— Michael Godel (@mgodello) March 2, 2014

This final flight of five wines (in order, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend) made for a less confounding competitive round, which was not the case in 2013. I clearly found vicarious fortune through the mates at my table. It’s not just who you know, but who’s palate you draft behind.

Dear @WineCountryOnt & @CCOVIBrockU, you of #glc generosity, largesse, community #Cuvee2014 + #ExpertsTasting = wine cup runneth over #ccovi

— Michael Godel (@mgodello) March 2, 2014

Here are my notes on the final 19 wines poured at the Expert’s Tasting 2014.

FLIGHT #3 – YOU’VE BEEN PINOT’D!!

From left: Devil’s Corner Pinot Noir 2012, Flat Rock Gravity Pinot Noir 2012, Inniskillin Pinot Noir Reserve 2011, 13th Street Essence Pinot Noir 2010, and Fielding Estate Pinot Noir Jackrabbit Flats Vineyard 2010

Presented by Dr. Belinda Kemp, CCOVI Scientist, Oenology. “There is nothing funny about Pinot Noir,” she complains in deadpan humour, “it’s the unfunny grape. Fascinating, but nothing to laugh at. It’s not funny at all.”

Devil’s Corner Pinot Noir 2012, Tamar Ridge, Tasmania, Australia (317966, $23.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 1, 2014 Release

A good fresh start to the flight. At first earthless, weightless, cran-raspberry scented. Feminine, warm, inviting and then turning temperamental, difficult, evolving. Ultimately maternal, clay-influenced, brought down to mother earth. Vanilla ringer. 87 Tasted March 2014 @BrownBrothers

Un bon nouveau départ à la (troisième de l’expert de dégustation) vol. Au début Earthless, en apesanteur, cran-framboise parfumée. Féminine, chaleureuse, accueillante et puis, se tournant capricieux, difficile, en constante évolution. En fin de compte maternelle, argile influencé, ramené à la terre mère. Vanille sonnerie. Dégusté Mars 2014

Flat Rock Gravity Pinot Noir 2012, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula (1560, $29.95, WineAlign)

In a vintage potentially muddled by warmth and a humidor of radio frequency, duplicating berry phenolics, Flat Rock’s Gravity remains a definitive, signature house Pinot Noir. In 2011, the head of the FR class from its most expressive barrels shared the limelight (and top juice) with the Pond, Bruce and Summit one-offs. In ’12, Gravity’s sandbox was its own. The style is surely dark, extracted, black cherry bent, as per the vintage. Yet only the Rock’s soil does earth in this variegate, borne and elevated by the barrel’s grain. There are no fake plastic trees in a Flat Rock Pinot. “Gravity always wins.” 90 Tasted March 2014 @Brighlighter1

Dans un millésime potentiellement confus par la chaleur et une cave de la fréquence de la radio, la duplication des composés phénoliques des baies, la gravité de Flat Rock reste un définitif, maison de signature Pinot Noir. En 2011, la tête de la classe FR de ses barils les plus expressifs partage la vedette (et le jus dessus) avec les mesures ponctuelles Pond, Bruce et Summit. En ’12, bac à sable de gravité était son propre. Le style est certainement foncé, extrait, pliée de cerise noire, selon le millésime. Pourtant, seulement le sol de la roche ne terre dans ce variegata, porté et élevé par le grain du baril. Il n’y a pas d’arbres en plastique faux dans un Flat Rock Pinot. “Gravity gagne toujours.” Dégusté Mars 2014

Inniskillin Pinot Noir Reserve 2011, VQA Niagara Peninsula (winery, $24.95, WineAlign)

A by-product of a rain-heat-rain, cold soak-warm ferment-16 month French barrel childhood. The ’11 Reserve Pinot is impressively floral while simultaneously brooding and serious. The middle palate binds citrus and savoury, gilded, dulcet rose, Langhe-like. Breakdown happens late, in syrupy alcohol and charred pulp. “In that case I’ll have a rum and coca-cola.” Complex Pinot for the common people. 88 Tasted March 2014 @InniskillinWine

Un sous-produit d’une pluie-chaleur-pluie, le froid tremper-chaud ferment-16 mois baril français enfance. Le ’11 Réserve Pinot est alors impressionnante floral simultanément couvaison et grave. Le milieu de bouche se lie d’agrumes et salé, doré, rose suave, Langhe-comme. Répartition arrive en retard, dans l’alcool sirupeux et pâte carbonisée. “Dans ce cas, je vais avoir un rhum et de coca-cola.” Pinot complexe pour les gens ordinaires. Dégusté Mars 2014

Domaine Queylus Pinot Noir ‘Le Grande Reserve’ 2011, VQA Niagara Peninsula (winery, $65, WineAlign)

The Thomas Bachelder mentored, two-vineyard assemblage Grande Reserve Pinot Noir grinds more cracked pepper than any predecessor. Every barrel from the Twenty Mile Bench (formerly Le Clos Jordanne’s, Neudorf Family La Petite Colline Vineyard) and Mountainview vineyard were scrutinized to determine the final blend. Bachelder sees black fruit in the early life yet despite the ebullient seasoning, the LGR’s genes are intrinsically feminine. Red cherry, tellus fertility and a mother’s strength hold the family of barrel children together. This is an ambitious and hard to read Pinot Noir. Judgement reserved for five years before the word classic will be used. 92 Tasted March 2014 @QueylusVin

Le Thomas Bachelder mentor, l’assemblage de deux vignoble Grande Réserve Pinot Noir broie poivre craqué plus que ses prédécesseurs. Chaque baril de Lincoln Lakeshore (anciennement Le Clos Jordanne de, Neudorf famille La Petite Colline Vineyard) et le Twenty Mile Bench (Mountainview) appellations ont été examinées attentivement afin de déterminer l’assemblage final. Bachelder voit fruits noirs dans le début de la vie et pourtant, malgré l’assaisonnement bouillante, les gènes de la LGR sont intrinsèquement féminin. Rouge cerise, tellus la fertilité et la force de la mère détiennent la famille des enfants de baril ensemble. Il s’agit d’un Pinot Noir ambitieux et difficile à lire. Jugement réservé pendant cinq ans avant le mot classique sera utilisé. Dégusté Mars 2014

13th Street Essence Pinot Noir 2010, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (237222, $44.95, WineAlign)

Five months have aged the Essence with more bronzing minerality and core strength. Imagine the old-world chemistry it will enumerate after five more years. Previous note: “Only the second coming of The Essence. Lucid, willing and able Pinot Noir from an assemblage of fruit sourced across the region. Atypical in that sense, speaking to a broader range of terroir and to a wider audience. Breadth and depth much like a Côte de Beaune, earthy of serious dirt layered over top a cherry core. Attention now and for five plus years is needed because though to taste it’s currently confounding, time will see more complexity, development and emerging emotion. It will then solicit a cry of ”baby, sweet baby, you’re my drug. Come on and let me taste your stuff.” 91 Tasted October 2013 and March 2014 @13thStreetWines

Cinq mois ont vieilli l’essence avec plus de minéralité de bronzage et la force de base. Imaginez la chimie du vieux monde, il va énumérer après cinq années de plus. Note précédente:… “Seule la seconde venue de l’Essence Lucid, désireux et capables Pinot Noir à partir d’un assemblage de fruits provenant de toute la région atypique en ce sens, parler à un plus large éventail de terroir et à un public plus large étendue et la profondeur un peu comme un Côte de Beaune, terreuse de terre grave posés sur le dessus une cerise noyau. attention maintenant et pour cinq ans et est nécessaire parce que le goûter est actuellement confondre, le temps voir plus de complexité, le développement et l’émotion émergents. Elle sera ensuite solliciter un cri de “bébé, bébé doux, tu es ma drogue. Venez et laissez-moi goûter vos trucs.” Testé Octobre 2013 et Mars 2014

Fielding Estate Pinot Noir Jackrabbit Flats Vineyard 2010, VQA Lincoln Lakeshore (winery, $24.95, WineAlign)

Though a recent phenomenon, a Bench area winemaker’s keen interest in the Lincoln Lakeshore as a unicorn Pinot growing locale has come out of the forest’s shadows. From dual-vineyard plots and specific barrel choosing, the JRF expressly microwaves its agminate gathering, that is, 14 months on lees in barrel, a warm vintage and virtually unfiltered ferment. Completely free of its closet, there is coffee, toffee and strong tea overtop rufescent fruit close to its earthly roots. An austere, tough and gritty Pinot Noir, from the Burgundy side of the pond, echoing the presenter’s choice of words. “It’s fascinating but nothing to laugh about.” 89 Tasted March 2014 @RichieWine

Bien que d’un phénomène récent, le vif intérêt d’un vigneron de la zone du Banc de la Lincoln Lakeshore comme un Pinot locale croissante licorne est sorti de l’ombre de la forêt. Des parcelles à double vignoble et choix de canon spécifique, la JRF tout micro-ondes expressément sa collecte de agminate, soit 14 mois sur lies en barriques, un millésime chaud et ferment pratiquement non filtré. Complètement libre de son placard, il ya du café, caramel et thé fort overtop Rufescent fruit proche de ses racines terrestres. Un austère, dur et graveleux Pinot Noir, du côté de l’étang de Bourgogne, en écho le choix du présentateur de mots. «C’est fascinant, mais pas de quoi rire.” Dégusté Mars 2014

The Foreign Affair Pinot Noir 2009, VQA Niagara Peninsula (winery, $43.95, WineAlign)

An ambitious and in retrospect streetwise project now in the golden age of its life. From fruit grown both on the estate’s Crispino Vineyard and at the Vineland Research Centre. Then winemaker Ilya Senchuk dried 40% of the grapes which subsequently spent 15 months in French and Hungarian oak. The modest 13.1 per cent alcohol has realized a resolved, gentle and effortless balance of figgy/raisin-driven fruit and clear spirit. The beaver is not so different from a Tawny meets Reserve Port, Pinot-style. Appassimento, you’ve been Pinot’d. ‘Ciao’ for hello and goodbye because now is the time to drink. 88 Tasted March 2014 @wineaffair

Un projet ambitieux et débrouillard, rétrospectivement, maintenant dans l’âge d’or de sa vie. De fruits cultivés à la fois sur Crispino Vignoble de la succession et au Centre de recherche de Vineland. Puis vigneron Ilya Senchuk séché 40% des raisins qui a ensuite passé 15 mois en fûts de chêne français et hongrois. Le modeste alcool 13.1 pour cent a réalisé une résolu, équilibre doux et sans effort de figgy / fruités raisins secs et l’esprit clair. Le castor n’est pas si différent d’un Tawny Port répond Réserve Pinot style. Appassimento, vous avez été Pinot’d. «Ciao» pour bonjour et au revoir parce que c’est maintenant le temps de boire. Dégusté Mars 2014

FLIGHT #4 – RED ROAD TEST – ARE WE ON THE RIGHT TRACK?

From left: Konzelmann Estate Winery Heritage Reserve 2012, Hillebrand Trius Red 2011, Fielding Estate Winery Cabernet Merlot 2010, Trius Grand Red 2010, Stratus Red 2007, Creekside Estates Reserve Meritage 2004, and Henry Of Pelham Estate Cabernet/Merlot 2002

Presented by Trius Winery at Hillebrand winemaker Craig McDonald. McDonald makes one of Niagara’s now flagship red blends, the Trius Grand Red. He brings red blend experience to the table in spades and hearts, particularly from his work at Penfolds in the Barossa Valley, but McDonald is an ardent voice for the relationship between varietal and land. He wants you to decide for yourself, are red wines working and excelling in Niagara? In this flight, Craig’s advice is “I want you to think about the dominant varietal.” Not as easy as you might think.

Konzelmann Estate Winery Heritage Reserve 2012, VQA Niagara Peninsula (149179, $30, WineAlign)

A Merlot-based blend with support from Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The dominant varietal is the blend’s soft presence, lifting up an otherwise ground espresso, black pepper, currant and verdigris paste in its 14 per cent frame. Yet so young and unsettled, with Franz drive, chalky extract and hard bite. In this Heritage’s “edges and lines your engine’s alive,” so as a first red road-test, it sets a solid course. 88 Tasted March 2014 @KonzelmannWines

Un mélange à base de Merlot avec le soutien de Cabernet Sauvignon et Cabernet Franc. Le cépage dominant est la présence douce du mélange, soulevant un espresso moulu contraire, de poivre noir, de cassis et vert de gris coller dans son cadre de 14 pour cent. Pourtant, si jeune et instable, avec Franz entraînement, extrait calcaire et morsure dur. Dans ce patrimoine “des bords et des lignes en vie, de votre moteur” de manière un premier rouge route-test, il établit un plan solide. Dégusté Mars 2014

Hillebrand Trius Red 2011, VQA Niagara Peninsula (303800, $22.95, WineAlign) VINTAGES ESSENTIAL

Most of the 47 per cent Merlot, 40 Cabernet Franc and 13 Cabernet Sauvignon fruit was sourced from the Clark and Carlton Vineyards in Four Mile Creek. From the outset age is the focus point. Is this already showing wear and tear or is the sinewy, cassis, toffee, sweet balsamic and emulous acidity congregation preparing a long road ahead for this Niagara exhibit? Crisis? What crisis? It’s just a normal day and this Meritage will say, “maybe I’ll find my way.” 87 Tasted March 2014 @TriusWines

La plupart des 47 pour cent Merlot, Cabernet Franc 40 et 13 Cabernet Sauvignon fruits provenait de les Clark et Carlton Vignobles à Four Mile Creek. Dès l’âge de départ est le point de mise au point. Est-ce montre déjà l’usure ou est le nerveux, de cassis, de caramel, balsamique doux et jaloux acidité congrégation prépare un long chemin à parcourir pour cette exposition Niagara? Crise? Quelle crise? C’est juste une journée normale et ce Meritage dira, «peut-être que je vais trouver mon chemin.” Dégusté Mars 2014

Fielding Estate Winery Cabernet Merlot 2010, VQA Niagara Peninsula (winery, $35.20, WineAlign)

Does anybody really know what wine this is? Does anybody really care? The experts do, as do I. Chosen for back-to-back Expert’s Tastings by a panel of Niagara’s finest palates? AYFKM? What does that say? Today Richie Robert’s CF (42), Merlot (33) and CS (25) master stroke from Lincoln Lakeshore (warm), Beamsville Bench (warmer) and St. David’s (Lowrey Vineyard – warmest) is singing. Charred cherries, animale game and soft funk like top IGT. Raises its own bar. Previous note: “Alights in lithe tendrils before adding coffee, meritage mid-weight. Currants, nasturtium and red fruit compote buoy this cooler Niagara blend that combines fruit from the Lincoln Lakeshore, St. David’s and Beamsville Benches. A good dancer with “the kind of body that would shame Adonis.” Expertly balanced with the spine to age.” 90 Tasted March 2013 and 2014 @FieldingWinery

Quelqu’un sait-il vraiment ce vin ce que c’est? Est-ce que quelqu’un se soucie vraiment? Les experts font, comme moi Chosen pour Dégustations Expertises dos-à-dos par un panel des meilleurs palais du Niagara? AYFKM? Qu’est-ce que cela veut dire? Aujourd’hui Richie FC Robert (42), Merlot (33) et CS (25) coup de maître de Lincoln Lakeshore (chaud), Beamsville (plus chaud) et Saint-David (Lowrey Vineyard – le plus chaud) chante. Cerises carbonisés, jeu animale et funk doux comme haut IGT. Déclenche son propre bar. Note précédente: “. Descend en vrilles agiles avant d’ajouter le café, meritage mi-poids Groseilles, capucine et compote de fruits rouges bouée ce refroidisseur mélange Niagara qui combine les fruits de la Lincoln Lakeshore, Saint-David et Beamsville Bancs Un bon danseur.” L’ type de corps qui honte Adonis. “experte en balance avec la colonne vertébrale de l’âge.” Dégusté Mars 2013 et 2014

Trius Grand Red 2010, VQA Niagara Peninsula (winery, $55.00, WineAlign)

Roll out the best barrels from the same Four Mile Creek Clark and Carlton Vineyards. Gravity drip freshly-pressed juice directly into barrel, wait 18 months and voilà, the flagship red from winemaker Craig McDonald. The 45/33/22 Merlot/Cabernet Franc/Cabernet Sauvignon blend radiates of everything under the sun. It’s rich and lush, marked by huge extract and yet it’s also graced by sweet, limber tannins. The middle ground gives faint notes of soy and dill though it can be imagined they will be smothered as the chain lengthens and the flesh becomes more pliable. I’ve one put aside for a visit in 2018. 89 Tasted March 2014

Etaler les meilleurs fûts de les mêmes Four Mile Creek Clark et Carlton Vineyards. goutte à goutte par gravité jus de fruits fraîchement pressés directement dans le cylindre, attendre 18 mois et voilà, le rouge phare de vigneron Craig McDonald. Le 45/33/22 Merlot / Cabernet Franc / Cabernet Sauvignon mélange rayonne de tout sous le soleil. Il est riche et luxuriante, marqué par d’énormes extrait et encore il est également honoré par des tanins doux et souple. Le terrain d’entente donne des notes faibles de soja et aneth si on peut imaginer qu’ils seront étouffées comme la chaîne s’allonge et la chair devient plus souple. J’ai un mets de côté pour une visite en 2018. Dégusté Mars 2014

Stratus Red 2007, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Niagara Peninsula (winery, $44.20, WineAlign)

On a day like today, the 2007 Stratus Red’s long, long sleep (644 days in mostly new French Oak) seems particularly magnified. Today the moody tincture is a cocktail shaker filled with peat, clay, iodine, strawberry compote, sangria and divaricated tannin. No other red blend today is as complex, shows more road rage or tries to speed off the track. Previous note: “Puts a twinkle in Groux’s eye. “Still very enjoyable, agreeable and ageable,” he smiles and I note it’s not candied like it may have once been perceived. A healthy and high 88 per cent dose of new oak but it’s not the encumbrance you might expect. Still quite tight, eking strawberry and plum, and indubitably a unique amalgamation. Will offer up five more years of pleasure.” 91 Tasted September 2013 and March 2014 @Stratuswines

En un jour comme aujourd’hui, long, long sommeil de 2007 Stratus Rouge (644 jours dans la plupart neufs de chêne français) semble particulièrement agrandie. Aujourd’hui, la teinture de mauvaise humeur est un shaker rempli de tourbe, de l’argile, de l’iode, compote de fraises, sangria et les tannins divaricated. Aucune autre mélange de rouge aujourd’hui est aussi complexe, montre plus de rage au volant ou tente d’accélérer la piste. Note précédente: “. Met une étincelle dans l’oeil de Groux” Toujours très agréable, agréable et gérable “, il sourit et je constate que ce n’est pas confits comme il peut avoir été une fois perçu une saine et haute 88 par dose cent de chêne neuf, mais il est. pas la charge que vous pourriez vous attendre. toujours très serré, eking fraise et de prune, et sans aucun doute une fusion unique. offrira jusqu’à cinq années de plaisir “. Dégusté Septembre 2013 et Mars 2014

Creekside Estates Reserve Meritage 2004, VQA Niagara Peninsula (sold out, $45, WineAlign)

A straight up self-starter, 55/45 Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot, Left Bank galvanized blend. Craig McDonald noted that he and Rob Power “had no idea what we were doing.” What they had was a four year-old vineyard on the Queenston Road, St. David’s Bench in Four Mile Creek. They made this Bordeaux in a challenging vintage when there might not have been a sound mind around (who was paying them any attention) for guidance or encouragement. Though it has crossed the threshold into resinous mannerisms and elements of an armamentarium, the two mad scientists found a way to take 12 per cent alcohol and real fruit on a 10-year journey to the museum. Shows what potential there has always been and where the distinction of the 2014 Niagara reds will be in 2024. 89 Tasted March 2014 @CreeksideWine

A vous auto-démarreur droite, 55/45 Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot, Rive Gauche galvanisé mélange. Craig McDonald admis que lui et Rob Power “n’avait aucune idée de ce que nous faisions.” Ce qu’ils ont trouvé un vignoble de quatre ans sur la route de Queenston, la Cour du Banc de Saint-David à Four Mile Creek. Ils ont fait ce Bordeaux dans un millésime difficile quand il pourrait ne pas avoir été un esprit sain autour (qui les paie aucune attention) pour obtenir des conseils ou des encouragements. Bien qu’il a franchi le seuil de tics et éléments d’un arsenal résineux, les deux savants fous ont trouvé un moyen de prendre 12 pour cent d’alcool et de vrais fruits sur un voyage de 10 ans pour le musée. Montre ce potentiel, il a toujours été et où la distinction de 2014 rouges Niagara sera en 2024. Dégusté Mars 2014

Henry Of Pelham Estate Cabernet/Merlot 2002, VQA Short Hills Bench, Niagara Peninsula (winery, $34.95)

A Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot split with 12 per cent support from Cabernet Franc. Right up there with other classic H of P blends, in ’98, ’05 and ’07. All three levels, the basic Cab/Merlot, this Reserve and the Speck Family Reserve have stood the test of time, perhaps better than any other Bordeaux blends from the region. You can tell this was an enormous wine at one time. Has gently and slowly evolved into its comfortable skin yet the tannin and grit are still in working order. He’s a crooner this CM2, with a soulful Roy Orbison voice. There aren’t many like him. “That’s why I sigh and sip my lonely wine.” If anything has been learned and if anyone had been paying attention to Ron Giesbrecht while he made his wines, there should be many more to come. 91 Tasted March 2014 @HenryofPelham

FLIGHT #5 – WINE OPTIONS

From left: Stratus Chardonnay 2009, Rosewood Estates Pinot Noir 2011, North Shore Project Syrah 2012, and The Foreign Affair ‘The Conspiracy’ 2012

Presented by Peter Bodnar Rod Sommelier and member of the Brock WSET Team. After four serious and wind-sapping flights, the ice was again broken by the jocose Bodnar Rod when he made comment to the hand coverings of a wine pourer. “Maybe Jamie and I can go out tonight with black latex gloves?” Not a word in response from Mr. Drummond but if I were a betting man I’d say he just might join in that fun.

Stratus Chardonnay 2009, VQA Niagara Peninsula (winery, $55)

Comes off like a white blend, aka Stratus White but this is the outright, unchaste vintage talking. Winemaker J-L Groux crafted three wines with viticulturist Paul Hobbs. Here they split the project 50/50 with Hobbs including wild yeast fermentation and whole bunch pressing and J-L adding short skin contact, controlled yeasts and no whole bunch pressing. From extreme low yields, this one puts on a show after only 10 months in barrel. High on aroma, brazen in texture, ambient in flavour bites. Very Niagara if inexactly Chardonnay. Tasted March 2014 91 Tasted March 2014

Se détache comme un mélange blanc, aka Stratus Blanc mais c’est la pure et simple, parler cru impudique. Oenologue JL Groux conçu trois vins viticulteur avec Paul Hobbs. Ici, ils partagent le projet 50/50 avec Hobbs y compris sauvage fermentation de la levure et le groupe entier urgent et JL ajoutant un bref contact de la peau, des levures contrôlées et pas toute la bande de pressage. De rendements extrêmement faibles, celui-ci met sur un spectacle après seulement 10 mois en barrique. Haute sur l’arôme, la texture d’airain, ambiant dans les piqûres de saveur. Très Niagara si inexacte Chardonnay. Dégusté Mars 2014

Rosewood Estates Pinot Noir 2011, VQA Beamsville Bench (112177, $21.95)

What an arid specimen, tasted blind so distinctly Bench Pinot though the earthy, cranberry and cherry dust had me leaning Short Hills. The Rosewood reveal reminds of “little lonely eyes open and radiant,” berries from acidity victorious Wismer blocks on the Twenty Mile Bench. Previous note: “…and her libidinous solid core of red fruit habituated by a fencing of skin-tight acidity will see prolonging returns. Will run on like a Dave Matthews jam, in wine years scads longer than the temperate Rosewood ’10. An Escarpment’s native flint rocky note whispers “hey little dreamer’s eyes open and staring up at me…wait until I come I’ll take your soul.” Halloween wine indeed.” 89 Tasted September 2013 and March 2014 @RosewoodWine

Quel spécimen aride, dégustés à l’aveugle Banc si distinctement Pinot bien terrestre, la canneberge et de cerise poussière m’avait appuyé Short Hills. Le Rosewood révéler rappelle “petits yeux solitaires ouverts et rayonnants,” baies de l’acidité victorieux blocs Wismer sur le banc Twenty Mile. Note précédente: “… et son noyau solide libidineux de fruits rouges habitués par une clôture de l’acidité de la peau étanche verront rendements prolongeant sera exécuté sur une confiture comme Dave Matthews, dans les années à vin scads plus long que le tempéré Rosewood ’10.. silex natif notes rocheux chuchotements d’un escarpement “hey les yeux du petit rêveur ouverte et les yeux fixés sur moi … attendre jusqu’à ce que je viens je vais prendre votre âme.” vin de Halloween en effet. ” Dégusté Septembre 2013 et Mars 2014

North Shore Project Syrah 2012, VQA Lake Erie North Shore (sold out, $22)

A project part Will Predhomme (off the charts Sommelier), Hinterland Wine Company (head of the class Sparkling Wine producer) and Colio Estates (top of the heap Lake Erie North Shore red wine maker). More than impressive first outing with a burst of pretty flowers, varietal perspicuity and articulation. As Predomme notes, this is “pure, naked Syrah.” Farmed at Colio, crushed in LENS and fermented at Hinterland. There is a hint (what can best be described as) carbonic maceration in banana sweetness but it does not linger and the lightness of being meets intensity shows adventure and promise. 87 Tasted March 2014 @northshoreproj

Cave Spring Cellars Riesling ‘CSV’ Estate Bottled 2010, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula (566026, $29.95, WineAlign)

Was not so easy to return to Riesling 25 wines and three hours later but thanks goodness it was this old (35 years give or take) vines CSV. From the east Bench where limestone rules and rocks, there are apples upon apples in this vintage in waves of luxurious fruit. While Bench Riesling can be so tragically austere, racy and piercing, often in a state of hip “melancholy wine-soaked tenderness,” this CSV ’10 is bathed in luxury and pure pleasure. It’s so much more Germanic in an off-dry way and never forgets its limestone roots. Not necessarily classic Beamsville but not to be missed. 90 Tasted March 2014 @CaveSpring

N’était pas si facile de revenir à 25 Riesling vins et trois heures plus tard, mais Dieu merci, c’était ce vieux (35 ans donner ou prendre) vignes CSV. De la magistrature est, où les règles et les roches calcaires, il ya des pommes sur les pommes dans ce millésime dans les vagues de fruits de luxe. Bien Banc Riesling peut être si tragiquement austère, racé et perçant, souvent dans un état de hanche “mélancolique tendresse de vin trempé,” ce CSV ’10 est baigné dans le luxe et le plaisir pur. C’est tellement plus germanique de manière demi-sec et n’oublie jamais ses racines de calcaire. Pas nécessairement classique Beamsville mais à ne pas manquer. Dégusté Mars 2014

The Foreign Affair ‘The Conspiracy’ 2012, VQA Niagara Peninsula (149237, $19.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES Feb. 15, 2014 Release

Young, huge, rich and oozing in oak soaked spice. Currants, pepper, whole grain, berries and chalk. All in for $20. Previous Note: Quickly reminiscent of its 2011 predecessor but also different, in a basking, vintage-related warmth and reductive currency. This could not have been an easy wine to temper in 2012 considering the ripasso methodology. Just softened plum is painted all over its sheen with the poaching aromas steaming away. Grilled, melting licorice, caramelizing and disapparating before your eyes. Not to mention a French vanilla creamy garagiste waft, like nuts and bolts ice cream. But I will admit the tang, acidity and tenacity increases with each sip and swirl. Such a unique bottling to Ontario. Is there anything else like it not from Lake Erie North Shore? 89 @wineaffair Tasted February and March 2014

Jeune, grand, riche et suintant en chêne imbibé d’épices. Groseilles, poivre, grains entiers, fruits et craie. All-in pour 20 $. Note précédente:. “Vite rappelle de son prédécesseur 2011, mais également différente, dans un pèlerin, de la chaleur vintage liés et monnaie réductrice Cela n’aurait pas été un vin facile à tempérament en 2012 compte tenu de la méthodologie de ripasso prune juste ramolli est peint partout. son lustre avec les arômes de braconnage vapeur loin. grillé, fondant réglisse, caraméliser et disapparating devant vos yeux. Sans oublier une vanille française crémeuse garagiste bouffée, comme les écrous et boulons de la crème glacée. Mais je vais admettre la saveur, l’acidité et la ténacité augmente avec chaque gorgée et remous. telle une bouteille unique à l’Ontario. Y at-il quelque chose de semblable pas du lac Érié Côte-Nord? ” Dégusté Février et Mars 2014

Good to go!

When experts break wine together

Mar4

The experts broke down 33 wines in five flights, progressing through Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Red Blends and culminating in a friendly blind tasting competition round, each table of seven for themselves.
Photo: Jeanne Provost/Fotolia.com

With frozen Pond Inlet at Brock University as the backdrop to the 25th anniversary of the Cuvée 2014 Expert’s Tasting, 160 industry professionals gathered to break wine together. The original congress in 1989 might have heard the whisper, “si tu id aeficas, ei venient.” Fast forward to 2014 and Dr. Linda Bramble references Phil Alden Robinson’s declaration in Field of Dreams, “if you build it they will come.” Come they have, for 25 years running.

Dr. David Bergen spoke about the history of Niagara wines meeting the world and the movement towards what would eventually become VQA. He complemented Niagara’s true sense of community as an industry. Dr. Bergen was himself a vinous pioneer, having been a part of a group of other wine geeks back in the 1980’s tagged the PDU or, the Port Dalhousie Underground.

On the après, après, après Cuvée foggy (not the weather) morning of Saturday, March 1st there was ’89esque Steel Wheels Tour electricity in the air, waiting for the band to come on stage. The feeling was palpable, on a Bodhi guide to parochial wine enlightenment, through an aggregate of palate harmony and a caucus of local knowledge. Glass (a VQA Promoters Award decanter to be specific) was even broken, as if a Semitic bride and groom had spoken their vows to signal the reception’s begin. They had come from Niagara near, they had travelled from Ontario, Quebec, New York and beyond far. All for the purpose of tasting a covey of blindly, though anything but randomly chosen flights that have helped to define and will see to advance the future of Niagara’s viticulture industry.

PHOTO: Michael Godel
CCOVI Brock U Expert’s Tasting 2014

There were Brock University Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute luminaries, including Dr. Bramble, Dr. Janet Dorozynski , Dr. Belinda Kemp, Barbara Tatarnic and Brock’s Brian Hutchings, Vice-President, Finance and Administration. Wine Country Ontario’s Magdalena KaiserSmit, Quebec’s Véronique Rivest, winemakers and winery leaders filled the room. WineAlign was well represented by David Lawrason, Sara d’Amato and Steve Thurlow. I spoke at length with Bryan Calandrelli, winemaker at Freedom Run Winery on Friday night about the Cuvée weekend. His thoughts returned again and again to Niagara’s sense of community. That and a depth of quality are what separate the region from its American brethren in Niagara, the Finger Lakes and Long Island.

The 2014 edition of the Experts Tasting was different. The room was packed. I’m not sure there was a single empty chair. This year a larger group of Toronto Sommeliers made the trip, including Will Predhomme, Christopher Sealy, Bruce Wallner, Lori O’Sullivan, Joel Wilcox, Michelle Paris, Craig MacLean, Marissa Kelly, Joshua Corea, Rebecca Meir Liebman and Emily Bibona. City chefs joined in, including Ortolan’s Daniel Usher and the Cheese Boutique’s Afrim Pristine. Forging a tasting relationship with a core of Toronto’s most passionate wine dealers is both brilliant and necessary, for all parties involved.

PHOTO: Michael Godel
Riesling Flight CCOVI Brock U Expert’s Tasting 2014

Studying wine in a setting and with a structure like the Expert’s Tasting presents a constructible universe in infinitary logics. In the bubble of a cozy room like the Pond Inlet “every set will arise in the construction process…. In infinitary logic, there are far more than only countably many formulas, and one can cook up a formula to define a specific set, by using the formulas that define its elements.” There are limitless boundaries and infinite possibilities allowed when attempting to identify, describe and define the wines at such a blind tasting. The latitude afforded, the manifest humility and the cooperation leading to revelation combines for an exhale of the most relaxed kind.

The #CCOVI event also celebrates the year’s VQA Promoters and lives that were lived. The 2014 awards were handed out to William Mancini, Lloyd Schmidt, Erik Peacock, Shawn McCormick, David Lawrason and posthumously, care of his wife Rose Lamas-Churchill, to David Churchill. Charles Baker of Stratus Vineyards had the difficult task of reminding the Niagara community of friends lost in 2013, Gerry Ginsberg & Barbara Ritchie. Baker then spoke about Churchill, the long time VINTAGES writer and LCBO lab tasting room director. It was David who granted me entrance into the lab in 2012. I will always be grateful.

Here are notes on the first two flights at the Expert’s Tasting.

FLIGHT #1 – ARE YOU EXPERIENCED

: Clockwise from left: Charles Baker Riesling Picone Vineyard 2012, Rosewood Estates Riesling 2011, Ravines Wine Cellars Riesling Argetsinger Vineyard 2011, The Foreign Affair Riesling 2010, Charles Baker Riesling Picone Vineyard 2009, Charles Baker Riesling Picone Vineyard 2006, and Cave Spring Cellars Riesling CSV 2003

Presented by writer Rick VanSickle, winesinniagara.com with an ode to Jimi Hendrix and also, curiously to Taylor Swift. The absurdity of the duet mirrored the .429 (three for seven) batting average of Charles Baker Picones being passed into the flight by the CCOVI panel. That and a comedic pathos to soften the cumulative, piercing acidity of the Riesling gathering. An auspicious beginning. Not to be ignored were Rick’s improbable choice of kitsch props. Ice broken. Rick’s apocalyptic take? “I love the smell of Riesling in the morning. Riesling is the bomb.”

Charles Baker Riesling Picone Vineyard 2012, VQA Vinemount Ridge, Niagara Peninsula (241182, $35, WineAlign)

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?” 91 Tasted March 2014 @cbriesling

Enfant emblématique de Baker respire encore en suspens, l’émission spumeux de l’extérieur d’un millésime chaud. Alors primaire et un acte difficile à suivre. Vanguard Vinemount Ridge, aride comme le désert et les agrumes, serré carbonique. Traités à l’aide des méthodes les plus froids et les plus froids frais de rechercher résultat et bilan de la grève dans un, lies-appartenu, finition piquante opulent. Un Picone qui dit que je ne vis pas aujourd’hui, il est dit, et avait prospecté, “euh, se connu, Are You Experienced?” Dégusté Mars 2014

Rosewood Estates Riesling 2011, VQA Beamsville Bench (Winery, $16, WineAlign)

Single (21 Street) Vineyard, clone-focused, superior Twenty Mile Bench fruit steals its way into the flight. Seltzer dry, austere and asking, can you see me? Pumps up its volume with an off-dry request, in pineapple, white flowers and a bite of yellow plum. Tied together by a thumping, Noel Redding bass line. Definitive, affordable stuff. For the Bench, “you can see in the future of a thousand years.” 88 Tasted March 2014 @Rosewoodwine

Simple (21 rue) Vignoble, clone axé, supérieure Twenty Mile Bench fruit vole sa place dans le vol. Seltzer sec, austère et demander, pouvez-vous me voir? Pompes son volume avec une demande de demi-sec, de l’ananas, de fleurs blanches et un morceau de prune jaune. Attachés ensemble par un bruit sourd, Noel Redding ligne de basse. Définitive, trucs abordable. Pour la Chambre, “vous pouvez voir dans le futur de mille ans.” Dégusté Mars 2014

Ravines Wine Cellars Riesling Argetsinger Vineyard 2011, Finger Lakes, New York (winery, $24.95)

The Ravines ringer that dwells high above the shore of Seneca Lake is conspicuous for being of the oldest Riesling vineyards in New York’s Finger Lakes. The limestone soils on one hand apply swift, lean minerality and prickling flower aromas, on the other a drix sense of verboten. Did Argetsinger come to add love or confusion? “Would I be truthful, yeah, in, uh, in choosin’ you as the one for me?” The winemaker would ask to wait 10 years to reel in this Riesling’s wonders. In its current stark, dry as a bone (three g/L residual) state, it’s all lime and minerals. Though they tell each other “we are never getting back together again,” perhaps time will tell if the Jimi and the Taylor in this Riesling can coexist. 89 Tasted March 2014 @ravineswine

The Foreign Affair Riesling 2010, VQA Niagara Peninsula (127290, $24.95, WineAlign)

Older, bolder, warmer, darker. In 2010 this retrofits 10% NP dried grapes in the Venetian appassimento method. The rubric sees to an early showing of secondary notes, pushed along by 20 g/L of residual sugar. Wholly unique Riesling with “strange beautiful grass of green, with your majestic silver seas.” The most hydrated in the flight (ironic, no?) and this in spite of a third stone from the sun vintage. Up on the Vinemount Ridge. 87 Tasted March 2014 @wineaffair

Plus ancien, plus audacieux, plus chaud, plus sombre. En 2010, ce rétrofit 10% de raisins secs NP dans la méthode de appassimento vénitien. La rubrique voit un indice précoce de notes secondaires, poussés le long de 20 g / L de sucre résiduel. Riesling tout à fait unique avec des “étrange belle herbe de vert, avec vos majestueux mers argent.” Le plus hydratée dans le vol (ironique, non?) Et ce en dépit d’une troisième pierre à partir du millésime de soleil. Sur la Vinemount Ridge. Dégusté Mars 2014

Charles Baker Riesling Picone Vineyard 2009, VQA Vinemount Ridge, Niagara Peninsula (241182, $35, WineAlign)

In a struck match state of mind, crazy enough to set a guitar on fire, onstage. The burning smell is infectious and dangerous but the palate heads to higher notes, in honey and at the 22nd fret of top E, string bent. Notable that this tough, economically not-viable vintage was stopped at a natural residual sugar of 21 g/L, 50 per cent higher than in 2012. In that sense this is old-school Baker, closer to mother Germany and not yet the current incarnation of the winemaker’s Vinemount Ridge oeuvre. Alright, in 2009 “I have only one burning desire” Picone, “let me stand next to your fire.” 90 Tasted March 2014

Dans un état de concordance frappé d’esprit, assez fou pour mettre une guitare sur le feu, sur scène. L’odeur de brûlé est contagieux et dangereux, mais les têtes de palais à des notes plus élevées, dans le miel et à la case 22 de haut E, chaîne pliée. À noter que ce millésime difficile, économiquement pas viable a été arrêté à un sucre résiduel naturel de 21 g / L, 50 pour cent de plus qu’en 2012. Dans ce sens, c’est la vieille école Baker, plus proche de la mère et de l’Allemagne n’est pas encore l’incarnation actuelle de Vinemount Ridge l’œuvre du vigneron. Bon, en 2009: «Je n’ai qu’un seul désir brûlant” Picone, “laissez-moi me tiens à côté de votre feu.” Dégusté Mars 2014

Charles Baker Riesling Picone Vineyard 2006, VQA Vinemount Ridge, Niagara Peninsula (241182, $35, WineAlign)

Only Charles can follow Charles, as only Jimi could follow Jimi. Just ask Peter Townshend. The combined forces of vintage, off-dry level of residual sugar (23.9 g/L) and age have ushered this Picone into a realm of adipose, butyraceous, chewy texture. The ’06 is emblematic of its time, stunning, psychedelic, experienced. It speaks clearly and with conceit. Tasting it eight years on you can hear Baker’s 2006 voice saying “if you can just get your mind together uh-then come on across to me.” We have and continue to follow Charles, and we are paying close attention to every vintage along the ride. 93 Tasted March 2014

Seulement Charles peut suivre Charles, comme Jimi ne pourrait suivre Jimi. Il suffit de demander Peter Townshend. Les forces combinées de cru, le niveau de sucre résiduel (23,9 g / L) et l’âge-sec ont inauguré ce Picone dans un royaume de tissu adipeux, butyraceous, texture moelleuse. Le ’06 est emblématique de son temps, à l’étourdissement, psychédélique, connu. Il parle clairement et avec orgueil. Goûter huit ans, vous pouvez entendre la voix de 2006 Baker disant «si vous ne pouvez obtenir votre esprit ainsi uh-alors venir sur vers moi.” Nous avons et continuons de suivre Charles, et nous prêtons attention à chaque millésime le long de la promenade. Dégusté Mars 2014

Cave Spring Cellars Riesling CSV 2003, VQA Beamsville Bench (winery, $50, WineAlign)

Mind bending to taste a piece of recent history, a Riesling rooted in the rocks, blues and pop of the limestone, sandstone and shale Bench, but a wine also futuristic, distorted and soulful. From 25 plus year-old vines, this foxy lady has entered into true, secondary territory. She’s softened and her perfume is cast in vanilla butterscotch so much so she might mess with tasters’ minds in a flight of oaked Chardonnay. She’s “a cute little heartbreaker.” 92 Tasted March 2014 @CaveSpring

Esprit de flexion de déguster un morceau de l’histoire récente, un Riesling enracinée dans les roches, de blues et pop de la pierre calcaire, grès et schiste Banc, mais un vin aussi futuriste, déformée et soulful. De 25 plus ans vignes, cette dame rusée a conclu vrai, territoire secondaire. Elle s’adoucit et son parfum est coulé dans la vanille caramel tellement qu’elle pourrait salir avec les esprits de dégustateurs dans un vol de Chardonnay boisé. Elle est «un peu crève-coeur mignon.” Dégusté Mars 2014

FLIGHT #2 – THE NEW ABC – APPEALING BALANCED CHARDONNAY

: Clockwise from left: Flat Rock Cellars Chardonnay 2012, Fielding Estate Chardonnay Estate 2012, G. Marquis Chardonnay The Silver Line 2011, Kittling Ridge Chardonnay Barrel Fermented 2012, Cave Spring CSV Estate Bottled Chardonnay 2010, Rosewood Estates Chardonnay Reserve 2009, and Stratus Chardonnay 2010

Presented by James Treadwell, Sommelier, Treadwell Farm-To-Table Cuisine. Treadwell so astutely refers to Chardonnay as the “polarizing varietal,” the one so many love to love, and love to hate. What turned out to be so striking was the newer to older, first to last ascendency of glycerin and extract. In just a few short years, Niagara Chardonnay has undergone a rapid change and increasingly speaks in a cool climate vernacular.

Flat Rock Cellars Chardonnay 2012, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula (681247, $16.95, WineAlign)

Has spent some quality time and knows its way around a barrel but its attitude is young, fresh and alive. From 12 and 13 year-old estate vines and kissed by only 15 per cent new oak. “But here’s a funky fact that I know is real.” Flat Rock’s Chardonnays are red-hot and this fresh-faced ’12 has “baby appeal.” Blatant, colorable value on the Twenty. 89 Tasted March 2014 @Winemakersboots

A passé du temps de qualité et connaît son chemin autour d’un baril, mais son attitude est jeune, fraîche et vivante. De 12 et 13 ans vignes du domaine et embrassé par seulement 15 pour cent de chêne neuf. “Mais voici un fait génial que je sais, c’est vrai.” Les chardonnays de Flat Rock sont d’un rouge ardent et cette ’12 frais face a “appel de bébé.” Flagrante, valeur colorable sur la vingt. Dégusté Mars 2014

Fielding Estate Chardonnay Estate 2012, VQA Beamsville Bench (355842, $21.95, WineAlign)

Heavy lees and a charitable, warm temperature barrel ferment have imparted greenhouse humidity into this soft, lush Chardonnay, outgoing in personality. Effortless and easy to love if not perceptibly cerebral, though a mineral streak channels equality and “a delicate balance.” To some this may just feel like spinning plates but take the time to get to know Richie Robert’s wine and music on the radio your head will find. 89 Tasted March 2014 @FieldingWinery

Lies lourdes et un organisme de bienfaisance, chaude température baril ferment ont conféré humidité de la serre en cela, Chardonnay luxuriant doux, sortant de la personnalité. Sans effort et facile d’aimer si pas sensiblement cérébrale, mais une égalité de chaînes minérale à balayage et “un équilibre délicat.” Pour certains, cela peut tout simplement envie de tourner les plaques, mais prendre le temps d’apprendre à connaître le vin et la musique de Richie Robert sur la radio de votre tête trouverez. Dégusté Mars 2014

G. Marquis Chardonnay The Silver Line 2011, Single Vineyard Niagara Stone Road, VQA Niagara On The Lake (258681, $17.95, WineAlign)

Big, big wine in bold expression. Enveloped by well-judged oak. Might lack just a bit of cohesion, layering and synchronicity. Otherwise really fine effort from the Magnotta world. From earlier notes: “Some extra credit is awarded for a wine that knows its place, in this case the watershed of the Niagara Stone Road. Though faint, the impart of minute shells and rock fragments from an ancient sea-washed down from the escarpment has found its way into the Silver Line. The reality is that the dominant aroma is that of popcorn butter drizzled over top Niagara River stones. Opulent and tropical while at the same time like chewing on pomaded pop rocks. Works the wet and acidified vintage well with a healthy dose of the barrel.” From my previous note: “Streaks across and plays a lick on atomic 16 rails at breakneck speed, all the while jonesing for of a slice of custard pie. “It’s sweet and nice” with lead, nuts and spice. The G. might stand for grateful or great, as in value.” 88 Tasted October 2012, February and March 2014 @GMarquisWines

Grand, grand vin dans l’expression audacieuse. Enveloppé par un boisé bien jugé. Pourrait manquer un peu de cohésion, la superposition et la synchronicité. Sinon effort vraiment beau du monde Magnotta. De précédentes notes: “Certaines cartes de crédit supplémentaire est accordé pour un vin qui sait sa place, dans ce cas, le bassin versant de la Stone Road Niagara Bien que faible, l’confèrent des coquilles minute et de fragments de roche à partir d’une ancienne mer arrosés de l’escarpement a. trouvé sa place dans la ligne d’argent. La réalité est que l’arôme dominant est celui de pop-corn au beurre arrosé sur les pierres supérieures de la rivière Niagara. tout Opulent et tropical dans le même temps comme mâcher sur les rochers de la pop pommadés. Travaux du millésime humide et acidifié bien avec une bonne dose de canon “. De ma note précédente: “. Séries partout et joue un coup sur atomiques 16 rails à une vitesse vertigineuse, tout en jonesing pour d’une part de tarte à la crème” Il est doux et gentil “avec plomb, de noix et d’épices Le G. pourrait se tenir. pour reconnaissant ou grande, comme la valeur “. Dégusté Octobre 2012, Février et Mars 2014

Kittling Ridge Chardonnay Barrel Fermented 2012, VQA Niagara Peninsula (367862, $16.95, WineAlign)

From many miles away within a single vineyard along the Merrit Road, this KRC is akin to a mini-Lenko, in high-tone toast and micro-Pender like by way of a comparison to his treatment of Daniel’s fruit in 2011. Wild, piercing ray of unbroken Beamsville laser vision hits a wall of lees within the barrel to settle quietly upon the can’s floor. Buttered niblets are the warm and comfortable conclusion. 87 Tasted March 2014

De nombreux miles de distance dans un seul vignoble le long de la route de Merrit, ce KRC s’apparente à un mini-Lenko, en haut ton pain et micro-Pender comme par le biais d’une comparaison à son traitement de fruits de Daniel en 2011. Sauvage, rayons perçant ininterrompue vision laser Beamsville frappe un mur de lies dans le canon de régler tranquillement sur le plancher de la boîte. Niblets beurre sont la conclusion chaleureux et confortable. Dégusté Mars 2014

Cave Spring CSV Estate Bottled Chardonnay 2010, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula (529941, $29.95, WineAlign)

Citrus meet butter. From oldest (36-40 year-old), lowest-yielding vines on Cave Spring’s stony, limestone, rich clay, overlying shale and sandstone soils, this CSV sashays out in depeche mode. The oak, lees, malolactic, batonage and assemblage is nothing short of mad science meets high fashion. “Don’t take this way, don’t take that way. Straight down the middle until next Thursday. Push to the left, back to the right, twist and turn ’til you’ve got it right.” Builds up slowly, scales back in restraint and with only 60-65 per cent barrel ferment in 2010, it set out to get the balance right and succeeded. The definitive CSVC study. 91 Tasted March 2014

Citrus répondent beurre. Du plus ancien (36-40 ans), les vignes sur la pierre de Cave Spring, le calcaire, l’argile riche, recouvrant schiste et de grès sols plus bas rendement, ce CSV flâne dans depeche mode. Le chêne, lies, fermentation malolactique, bâtonnage et assemblage n’est rien de la science folle rencontre la haute couture. “Ne prenez pas de cette façon, ne prenez pas de cette façon. Droite au milieu jusqu’à jeudi prochain. Poussez vers la gauche, vers la droite, tourner et tourner jusqu’à ce que tu as raison.” S’accumule lentement, échelles de retour en retenue et avec seulement 60-65 pour cent baril ferment en 2010, il a entrepris de trouver le bon équilibre et réussi. L’étude CSVC définitif. Dégusté Mars 2014

Rosewood Estates Chardonnay Reserve 2009, VQA Beamsville Bench (winery, $28, WineAlign)

One of then winemaker Natalie Spytkowsky’s under the radar and unsung oeuvres out of the estate’s Renaceau Vineyard. A wild ferment, full-out malolactic and French oak barrel thang, beginning to show some age, like a well-made, dirty martini for a hard living brat pack. Sappy, herbal resin leads this ’09 into anointed autumn ripeness. It was and is a 14 per cent, 4.2 g/L, small lot (125 cases) piece of Beamsville history. 88 Tasted March 2014

Un de puis vigneron Natalie Spytkowsky de sous le radar et d’œuvre méconnus de Renaceau Vignoble de la succession. Un ferment sauvage, pleine à malolactique et français fût de chêne thang, commence à montrer des signes d’usure, comme un bien-fait, dirty martini pour un paquet de gosse dur vivant. Séveux, résine à base de plantes conduit ce ’09 en oint maturité en automne. Il a été et est un 14 pour cent, 4,2 g / L, petit terrain (125 cas) morceau de l’histoire Beamsville. Dégusté Mars 2014

Stratus Chardonnay 2010, VQA Niagara On The Lake (Winery, $55.00, WineAlign)

Can’t help but think about buttered popcorn; the best that money can buy in heritage kernels. A magnanimous effort, in a state of equatorial weave with cajoling, candied aromatics. Previous note: “From natural yeast, full batch (bunch) pressing and heeded by Paul’s (Hobbs) call to full malolactic fermentation, this fruit was picked on November 15th, a day “you had to go run and pick fast.” Groux is not trying to make California or Burgundy but make the best in Niagara. Clarity and sun drenched hue, tropical fruit dominance, sweetness, malo-butterscotch obviousness. Some tart orchard fruit late but certainly warm vintage wine. Not the most arid Chardonnay but blessed with great length.” 91 Tasted March 2013 and 2014 @Stratuswines

Vous ne pouvez pas m’empêcher de penser à maïs soufflé au beurre, le meilleur que l’argent peut acheter dans les noyaux du patrimoine. Un effort magnanime, dans un état de équatoriale tisser avec cajoler, aromatiques confits. Note précédente:. “De la levure naturelle, pleine lot (groupe) en appuyant et en tiennent compte (Hobbs) l’appel de Paul à la fermentation malolactique complète, ce fruit a été sélectionné le 15 Novembre, un jour” il fallait aller courir et prendre rapidement “Groux est ne cherche pas à faire de la Californie ou de Bourgogne, mais faire le meilleur à Niagara. Clarté et baignée de soleil teinte, la dominance de fruits tropicaux, de la douceur, malo-caramel évidence. Certains tarte de fruits du verger en retard, mais millésime certainement chaud. Pas le Chardonnay plus aride mais béni avec grande longueur. ” Dégusté Mars 2013 et Mars 2014

Good to go!

Are you getting your daily serving of wine?

Feb26

Here are 10 current releases to help keep the wolves of virus and disease at bay.
Photo: chiyacat/Fotolia.com

I know you are about to scream at your screen. Not another column about the health benefits of drinking wine. Delete. Wait, hear me out.

In a recent joint study between the Health Sciences Department, Brock University and the Oncology Department, McMaster University, scientists set out to prove the Inhibition of human lung cancer cell proliferation and survival by wine. Published a month ago, here is the paper’s conclusion: “Red wine inhibits proliferation of lung cancer cells and blocks clonogenic survival at low concentrations.” Nice.

The study was prefaced through the idea that “compounds of plant origin and food components have attracted scientific attention for use as agents for cancer prevention and treatment. Wine contains polyphenols that were shown to have anti-cancer and other health benefits.” Put two and two together and voilà. The group investigated the “effect of wine on proliferation and survival of human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells and its effects on signaling events.” The findings are nothing short of astonishing.

The operative observation here is that low doses (read: moderate consumption) of wine may have anti-cancer and chemo-preventive properties.” White wine’s cancer fighting properties exist (at two per cent concentration) though they are not in the same league as Red wine (five per cent). Or, you need to (very rough math) drink 250 per cent more white wine to reap similar benefits. Such a quagmire.

Evangelia Litsa Tsiani, associate professor of community health sciences at Brock University added “our next step is to use doses of wine that correspond to moderate wine consumption in humans – one to two glasses per day – and examine the effect on tumor growth in mice.”

We already know that the Brock University Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute’s lecture series (now in its seventh season) has had a major impact on the global grape industry. Dr. Belinda Kemp, CCOVI Scientist, Oenology noted that “they’re a great resource for the wine industry and wine researchers anywhere in the world.” I wonder if the department has plans for a wine and health benefits lecture during its eight season. Hint, hint.

The ancients, or late Bronze Age people’s such as the Egyptians, Arameans, Assyrians and Babylonians used the natural world to prevent sickness and disease. Archaeologists recently discovered wine in an Israeli wine cellar, dating back to 1700 BCE. Think the Greeks invented wine? This discovery is 1,262 years older than the Parthenon. That’s nearly as old as the Pyramids. Wine and health relations go back to a time when a woolly mammoth still walked the earth, a time when The Hammurabi code was written. The premise? A commitment to protection of the weak from being brutalized by the strong. Just like wine.

In an attempt to justify what may be construed as profligate connections, the fact of the matter remains. With each passing study conjured up and proven by internationally recognized educational institutions, the health benefits of wine continues to develop as a thing of undeniable valence. Take honest wine with food, take it regularly and live longer. Here are 10 current releases to help keep the wolves of virus and disease at bay.

From left: Dante Robino Bonarda 2011, Domaine Des Amadieu Cuvée Vieilles Vignes Cairanne Côtes Du Rhône Villages 2011, Bodegas Olarra Anares Reserva 2006, Fantinel Sant’helena Pinot Grigio 2012, and Mike Weir Limited Edition Riesling 2012

Dante Robino Bonarda 2011, Mendoza, Argentina (277640, $14.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 1, 2014 Release

Sourced from the Santa Rosa sub region of Mendoza. From sandy soils and built upon a brooding, musty set of wood-influenced aromatics that put the lurking fruit to test. Painfully dry with pronounced flavours of red licorice, sour black cherry, spice and baked figs. Gains richness as it breathes and then the drying tannins take over. Quite an effort for $15. Worth a look for something different and in spite of the idiomatic value it speaks. 88 Tasted February 2014 @DanteRobino

Provenant de la sous-région de Santa Rosa de Mendoza. De sols sableux et construit sur un ensemble de moisi couvaison des composés aromatiques du bois d’influence qui mettent le fruit qui se cache à l’épreuve. Péniblement sec aux saveurs prononcées de réglisse rouge, griotte, d’épices et de figues cuites. Les gains richesse comme il respire, puis les tanins de séchage prendre le dessus. Tout un effort pour 15 $. Cela vaut le coup pour quelque chose de différent et en dépit de la valeur idiomatique elle parle. 88 Dégusté Février 2014

Domaine Des Amadieu Cuvée Vieilles Vignes Cairanne Côtes Du Rhône Villages 2011, Rhone, France (354233, $18.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 1, 2014 Release

Paying a bit of extra attention to lower-priced, high alcohol Rhônes can offer rewards. There is much metal and merit in this Cairanne. At the price it imitates the grandeur of more expensive villages, like Châteauneuf-du-Pape and to a more realistic extent, Vacqueyras. Hued in drupe, holly berry pitch, saturated in berries, spiked by berry liqueur and seeping along with spices and extracts. Outwardly generous in flavour, knowing well that “while we’re on the way to there, why not share.” All in all he ain’t heavy, he’s my brother. 89 Tasted February 2014 @Amadieu_G

Payer un peu d’attention supplémentaire à bas prix, Rhônes forte teneur en alcool peut offrir des récompenses. Il ya beaucoup de métal et de mérite dans cette Cairanne. Au prix il imite la grandeur de villages plus chers, comme Châteauneuf-du-Pape et dans une mesure plus réaliste, Vacqueyras. Hued en drupe, houx hauteur de baie, saturé dans les baies, dopés par baie liqueur et infiltration avec des épices et des extraits. Extérieurement généreux en saveurs, sachant bien que “pendant que nous sommes sur le chemin de là, pourquoi ne pas partager.” Dans l’ensemble, il n’est pas lourd, il ya mon frère. 89 Dégusté Février 2014

Bodegas Olarra Anares Reserva 2006, Rioja, Spain (244723, $19.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 1, 2014 Release

Perhaps it’s just as a comparison to the rest of this Spanish armada fiasco I am in the throes of tasting but this Tempranillo with minor support from two G’s, Garnacha and Graciano, really has got a hold on me. I grant that it’s a bit faded and heading to melted toffee but at $20 and with the idea to enjoy it now, the wild raspberries, gariga and spicy wood notes are a treat. Savoury, licorice, roast tomato and grilling baby veal flavours will help with a slow braise of the animal’s tougher cut. 90 Tasted February 2014

Peut-être c’est juste que la comparaison avec le reste de cette armada fiasco espagnol je suis dans les affres de la dégustation mais ce Tempranillo avec le soutien mineur de deux G, Garnacha et Graciano, vraiment a obtenu une prise sur moi. Je reconnais que c’est un peu défraîchi et la position de caramel fondu mais à 20 $ et avec l’idée de profiter de ce moment, les framboises sauvages, gariga et des notes de bois épicés sont un régal. Salés, réglisse, rôti de tomate et griller saveurs bébé de veau aideront avec un lent braise de coupe plus difficile de l’animal. 90 Dégusté Février 2014

Fantinel Sant’helena Pinot Grigio 2012, Collio, Friuli, Italy (310144, $19.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 1, 2014 Release

High quality Pinot Grigio from Friuli, with an Alps to Adriatic micro-climate ideally suited to both warm and cool the needs of the variety. You might ask, what difference does that make? Plenty. So much more distinct than reputation would hold and anything but just a Northern Italian white. Lit candle waxy and spiced in Sandalwood, with a lemon peel feel, cool climate salinity and gravelly, silt-inflected Spring run-off. The world’s fleet of Pinot Grigio “have been through hell and high tide,” but thanks to Friuli, the grape keeps its respect. Full flavoured, with smithy verve, punchy, more than practical. 90 Tasted February 2014 @ProfileWineGrp

Mike Weir Limited Edition Riesling 2012, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (229286, $22.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 1, 2014 Release

The off-dry nose is an anomaly and I’m very curious to see where this goes. Persists very sweet to taste, without enough acidity, unfortunately, though the tropical flavours are boisterous and plentiful. This is a more than admirable attempt at a Kabinett style done right by a Mosel intimacy and attitude, though it’s lacking in body and structure. Still, it will age longer and develop more secondary characteristics than many a Niagara Peninsula Riesling, especially for the price. Worth tracking a case of 12 for five to 10 years. 89 Tasted February 2014 @WeirWine

Le nez de demi-sec est une anomalie et je suis très curieux de voir où cela va. Persiste très doux au goût, sans suffisamment d’acidité, malheureusement, bien que les saveurs tropicales sont bruyants et copieux. Il s’agit d’une tentative plus admirable à un style Kabinett bien fait par une intimité Moselle et de l’attitude, si elle fait défaut dans le corps et la structure. Pourtant, il va vieillir plus longtemps et développer des caractéristiques plus secondaires que beaucoup de Niagara Peninsula Riesling, surtout pour le prix. Suivi d’un cas de 12 pour cinq à 10 ans la peine. 89 Dégusté Février 2014

From left: Southbrook Triomphe Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Trimbach Réserve Riesling 2010, Le Clos Jordanne Village Reserve Pinot Noir 2011, Marchand Tawse Meursault 2011, and Kistler Mccrea Vineyard Chardonnay 2011

Southbrook Triomphe Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (193573, $22.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 1, 2014 Release

Southbrook’s seminal Cabernet has become that kind of go to, reliably delicious and affordable red, not unlike Sterling’s Napa bottling that emerged in the late 1990’s. That this can happen in any vintage out of the Niagara Peninsula is really quite amazing. Even more incredible is that here in 2012, it’s almost too much of a good thing, too hot, too sweet. Still, only Triomphe smells like this and on that note I must give it my thumbs up. The Peninsula’s earth, the purity of that warm, rich ’12 fruit, a touch of disco, that Sperling perfume. The palate is explicitly sweet, on that I’m sure most would agree but the wood is an afterthought. Alcohol is in check, berries are ripe, tannins are refined, ready to resolve slowly, efficiently and with pleasure. Direct, solid and righteous, despite the sugar high. 89 Tasted February 2014 @SouthbrookWine @TrialtoON

Trimbach Réserve Riesling 2010, Alsace, France (995316, $27.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 1, 2014 Release

Such a dry and powerful Alsatian example. Tight, angular, typically piercing and even more citrus-driven than ever. Jacked up, better than your average Joe Riesling. As a textbook example from a place where the variety rules, it tells “me that this world is no place for the weak.” Still, I find the Reserve bottling a bit overpriced, not having as much personality such as the cost-equivalent Zind-Humbrecht Herrenweg de Turckheim. Another Trimbach that’s just “gotta have no illusions” and look sharp. 90 Tasted February 2014 @trimbach @WoodmanWines

Un tel exemple alsacien sec et puissant. Tight, angulaire, généralement perçant et même plus agrumes axée que jamais. Mis sur cric, mieux que votre moyenne Joe Riesling. Comme un exemple classique d’un endroit où les règles de la variété, il dit “moi que ce monde n’est pas un endroit pour les faibles.” Pourtant, je trouve la Réserve embouteillage un peu trop cher, ne pas avoir autant de personnalité tels que le coût équivalent Zind Humbrecht Herrenweg de Turckheim. Un autre Trimbach qui est juste “Gotta Have pas d’illusions” et regardez pointu. 90 Dégusté Février 2014

Le Clos Jordanne Village Reserve Pinot Noir 2011, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (33894, $30.00, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 1, 2014 Release

Something’s missing, or rather something is happening here. The LCJ omnipresent warm Pinot coat of harm is conspicuous in its absence, or has it been reigned in? This 2011 is so much more friendly, more soft-spoken, expertly judged and picked ripe fruit richer than before. Plenty of tang and tannin but the pronouncement is in a savoury basil/chervil kind of way. Not just another high made by just another crazy guy. A most excellent, bright, Roxy Village Reserve, full of atmosphere and ambient music. 91 Tasted February 2014 @LeClosJordanne

Il manque quelque chose, ou plutôt quelque chose qui se passe ici. Le manteau chaud omniprésent LCJ de Pinot de préjudice brille par son absence, ou at-il été régné en? Ce 2011 est beaucoup plus convivial, plus à la voix douce, experte jugé et ramassé des fruits mûrs plus riche qu’avant. Beaucoup de saveur et de tanin mais la déclaration est dans un savoureux basilic / cerfeuil sorte de façon. Pas seulement un autre haut fait par juste un autre gars fou. Un excellent, clair, roxy Village Reserve, plein d’atmosphère et musique d’ambiance. 91 Dégusté Février 2014

Marchand Tawse Meursault 2011, Burgundy, France (285866, $66.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 1, 2014 Release

Winemaker Pascal Marchand possesses post-modern abilities to coax the most richesse from out of the basic of basic appellations in the Burgundian universe. This ’11 elevates an umbilical villages to exalted heights and it has really settled into its skin since I last tasted it in May of 2013. The land is speaking and oozing in a primordial drenching. The tang and verve melts in the mouth, like foie gras cotton candy. What sets it apart is the end game mellow melding of pronounced flavours left to free fall effortlessly into a black hole of critical mass. 92 Tasted May 2013 and February 2014

Vigneron Pascal Marchand possède des capacités post-modernes pour amadouer le plus Richesse de l’extérieur de la base des appellations de base de l’univers bourguignon. Cette ’11 élève un villages ombilical à des hauteurs exaltées et il a vraiment installé dans sa peau depuis que j’ai goûté en mai 2013. La terre parle et suintant dans un trempage primordial. La soie et la verve fond dans la bouche, comme le foie gras de barbe à papa. Ce qui le distingue est la fin du jeu fusion douce de saveurs prononcées de gauche à la chute libre sans effort dans un trou noir de masse critique. 92 Dégusté mai 2013 et Février 2014

Kistler Mccrea Vineyard Chardonnay 2011, Sonoma Mountain, Sonoma County, California (353706, $92.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 1, 2014 Release

The vineyard speaks first, has the microphone, tells of its volcanic, limestone story going back to 1988. Talks in a Chablis whisper which may come across as narcissistic or somehow simple, but surely deserving to receive the benefit of the doubt. The kind of toast that has you reaching for the last jar of homemade berry jam. Lemon/lime reduction, as a gelée, consommé or demi-glace of fine Chardonnay whiffed by subtle smoke and non-discernible fat. The most subtle of all the Kistlers. 93 Tasted February 2014 @TheVine_RobGroh

Le vignoble parle d’abord, a le microphone, raconte sa volcanique, calcaire histoire remontant à 1988. Pourparlers dans un murmure Chablis qui peut apparaître comme narcissique ou en quelque sorte simple, mais sûrement digne de recevoir le bénéfice du doute. Le type de pain que vous a atteint pour la dernière pot de confiture de petits fruits maison. Citron / réduction de la chaux, comme une gelée, consommé ou demi-glace de fin Chardonnay whiffed par la fumée subtile et graisse indiscernable. Le plus subtil de tous les Kistlers. 93 Dégusté Février 2014

Good to go!

From Cinquante to wine with Canada-U.S. hockey

Feb20

$Canada\'s Marie-Philip Poulin (L) celebrates with Canada\'s Meghan Agosta-Marciano.$

Canada’s Marie-Philip Poulin (L) celebrates with Canada’s Meghan Agosta-Marciano.
Photo: ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/Getty Images

I hope the Canadian men’s hockey team watched the women this afternoon. Lesson number one: Play to the last friggin’ millisecond. Canada versus the United States is hockey incarnate. The games are always exciting.

When we gathered for that first historic Salt Lake City Gold Medal game in 2002, we drank cinquante. Mario would have wanted it that way. For the 2010 Vancouver golden goal win we convened with Steam Whistle. That historic Sunday in February was my first time out of the house after a right AC (acromioclavicular) joint shoulder rebuild. Hockey injury, of course. Wine did not factor into those generation defining Olympic hockey games. Back in 2002 names like Lemieux, Sakic, Fleury, Brodeur, Hull, Leetch, Modano and Roenick were toasted with beer, though back then the brands were not so craft related. In 2010 it was all Sidney Crosby and had I been acquainted at the time with the wonders of Sparkling wine from Nova Scotia, Benjamin Bridge would surely have been flowing.

Meanwhile, Super Mario turned out to be a serious wine collector so I wonder what Le Magnifique will be opening this Friday at noon. Team Canada architect Steve Yzerman is also known to follow the way of the grape and though he won’t be sipping Napa Cabernet with the other brass during the game, I’ve a feeling there’s a ’97 waiting in his hotel room should Canada prevail over their arch rivals.

Hockey stick and wine bottles

The great Rhône wine scribe George Heretier posed the all-important debate, ”who says wine and hockey don’t make a good match?” If you want to exercise the powers of superstition, pulling out those two winning vintages will call upon the hockey gods to carry our Canadian men to gold. That and a Loonie buried beneath the surface at centre ice.

Here are eight great Canadian 2002 and 2010 wines to crack open and sip along with another Canada-U.S. classic hockey meeting.

Clockwise from left: Southbrook Vineyards Cabernet Franc ‘Watson Vineyard’ 2002, Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery Speck Family Reserve Cabernet Merlot 2002, Rosewood Estates Winery Sémillon 2010, Southbrook Triomphe Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Burrowing Owl Syrah 2010, Huff Estates Cuvée Janine Sparkling Rosé 2010, and Stratus White 2010

Southbrook Vineyards Cabernet Franc ‘Watson Vineyard’ 2002 ($30, winery) From A long and ‘wine-ding’ tasting road

Shows amazing longevity and freshness. Proof of the Peninsula’s magic to state ”you will never never never know me.” Simply solid red. 91 Tasted March 2013 @SouthbrookWine

Stratus White 2002, VQA Niagara Peninsula (660704, $44.20, WineAlign) From Select tasting through years of the Stratus Red and White

Performs a demi-sec act which is not such a stretch, considering the late harvest actualities of the Gewürztraminer and the Riesling within. Could pass for dessert-like, cool-climate French (Jura) though after the chimerical declension it’s still nothing but a Chardonnay-galvanized meritage. Like warm honeycomb buttering steamed crustaceous matter. That Stratus White medicine, in rose potpourri and honey completes the classic scene within the portal. 93 Tasted September 2013 @Stratuswines

PHOTO: Michael Godel
Stratus White 2002

Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery Speck Family Reserve Cabernet Merlot 2002 ($50, winery, WineAlign) From A long and ‘wine-ding’ tasting road

From the Niagara Peninsula shows toffee and concentrated, oxidized fruit. That said, it has aged well and still offers intellectual spirit in dried fruit and potpourri. Great old tune to Dance, Dance, Dance along to. 89 Tasted March 2013 @SpeckBros

Rosewood Estates Winery Sémillon 2010 (177758, $17.95, WineAlign) From Showcase Showdown: Rosewood Sémillon

Shows little procrastination with a superfluity of lemon, lime and paraffin but like all great Sémillon, the wine needs time. A block of wax keeps the honey down but look for a mellifluous ooze three years on. Glittering sheen, diamond-like focus and crusted by an accent of lemon zest. Krystina Roman will lead this grape to stardom. “Come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!” Top white. Shine on you crazy Sémillon. 90 Tasted October 2012 and May 2013 @RosewoodWine

Southbrook Triomphe Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (ON, VINTAGES Essential, 193573, $22.95, WineAlign) From: Good Look Ahead at Canadian Wines For Thanksgiving

Drifts effortlessly along in an extreme brightness and lightness of being. A perfumed exotic beauty that displays definitive Cabernet Sauvignon character. Tea, tobacco, Cassis, vanilla, dark berries, proper acidity, good grip and length. Dictionary entry for the vintage, the Niagara-on-the-Lake appellation and the genre. No other sub-$25 Ontario Cab does the warm vintages (’02. ’05, ’07 and ’10) with this kind of grace and power. From and kudos to winemaker Ann Sperling. 91 Tasted September 2013 @SouthbrookWine

Burrowing Owl Syrah 2010 (73072, $41.95, B.C. $39.99, Alberta $44.99, WineAlign) From: Nine big November best buy wines

This Syrah will cure so many ails. Vouchsafe for a pepper-laced, plasmic mouthfeel, a maroon liquid pewter party of rocks and stones in the mouth. Playful and childlike, digs a pony, playing and offering really good fun. Does its own Okanagan thing becuase “ev’rything has got to be just like you want it to.” 92 Tasted October 2013 @BurrowingOwlBC

Huff Estates Cuvée Janine Sparkling Rosé 2010 ($29.95, winery only, WineAlign) From: You can lead a county to the city

100 per cent Pinot Noir grapes is a phenomenal, inaugural genesis effort. More sanguine in colour than one would imagine, this sparkler is wonderfully sweet but also ”turns sweat, turns sour.” Pinot Noir is always potentially so dramatic but who knew it could be like this, like blood swirling in the glass. “Bottled in a strong compression,” with black raspberry, noticeable yeast and impressive finesse. Out of the cage. 91 Tasted May 2013 @HuffEstatesWine

Stratus White 2010, VQA Niagara Peninsula (660704, $44.20, WineAlign) From Select tasting through years of the Stratus Red and White

sends me immediately towards Bordeaux, in neo-marmalade, but also buoyed in perfume and body by 25 percent Viognier. “This variety worked so well in the vineyard in 2010,” notes Groux. Niagara honey and near-botrytis via Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc void of grass, full of vigor. A sharp note, neither metallic nor mineral, but a combination of the two is present in this so very concentrated ’10. Of a warm vintage (self-explanatory) fully picked by October 23. Though loaded with early Spring maple sap, foie gras and appley terpines, its sharp and framed by “tannic” tang and protracted length. 92 Tasted September 2013

Good to go!

What’s in a wine vintage?

Feb6

$What\'s in a wine vintage?$

The question is always being asked, what’s in a wine vintage?
Photo: Rostislav Glinsky/Fotolia.com

There was a time when Ontario wine held no candle to my thoughts, filled no glass in my tasting regimen and occupied no place in my cellar. My how time and five years of enlightenment have changed me. Rarely does a day go by when that holy trinity of wine attention does not focus on something from Ontario.

My current obsession lies in the white wines from the 2012 vintage. The two previous years were so different, 2010 at first seemingly hot and bothered, then having emerged from its shell it has since clearly spoken in a language of elegance. The 2011 that followed gave wines of piercing acidity, verve and even austerity. Chardonnay, Riesling and Semillon all grabbed my acidulated attention.

First encounters with 2012 provided great skepticism. I continue the journey of ’12 discovery and the doors of perception are beginning to open. As a white wine vintage in Ontario, 2012 is shaping up to be a classic. Candour and acidity are there, but it is the rich, fullness of the wines that have taken the industry’s prowess to a whole new level. Riesling is brilliant. Pinot Gris the best ever. Though conditions may have not produced the coolest Chardonnay, winemakers who exercised restraint made beautiful wines. White blends that made use of highly aromatic varieties made their best wines to date. Reach out and touch Ontario’s 2012 whites.

The question is always being asked, what’s in a wine vintage? Not long ago I was emphatic to state there are no longer bad vintages in Ontario. The wisdom, experience and winemaking acumen has rendered that notion obsolete. There are challenging years for sure and this harshest of 2014 winters will certainly test the mettle of winemakers. Vintage variation is real and yes, there are no bad vintages, only different ones.

The new Kew Vineyards in Beamsville is on to something and 2011 was a terrific vintage to sidle up to their unique production of red wines. While appassimento remains an Ontario enigma, not quite like growing and producing a southern Italian grape like Aglianico, but the method is still a bit of a side-show. Kew reigns in the practice and matches it to the parameters of the Ontario vineyard and the climate. Kew the new red in Ontario.

Here are six new releases, a new Kew, a Prince Edward County classic Sparkling and four definitive whites from the 2012 vintage in Niagara.

From left: FLAT ROCK TWISTED 2012, TAWSE SKETCHES OF NIAGARA RIESLING 2012, KEW VINEYARDS SOLDIER’S GRANT 2011, FLAT ROCK NADJA’S VINEYARD RIESLING 2012, SOUTHBROOK VINEYARDS TRIOMPHE CHARDONNAY 2012, and HUFF ESTATES CUVÉE PETER F. HUFF 2007

FLAT ROCK TWISTED 2012, VQA Niagara Peninsula (1578, $16.95, WineAlign) VINTAGES ESSENTIAL

Though the warmth of the 2012 vintage could have suffocated a blend such as this Twisted, to the contrary, this harmonious white unfolds as a cold play. Cool, crisp, wonderfully tart and full of citrus zest. Plenty of sunshine but no burn. Waxy and rich like excellent Moscato along with the creamy confection of mango and the tang of what pale, trenchant pineapple used to be, before it went golden. The blend of Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Chardonnay magnetizes the opposing forces of residual sugar and modest alcohol. “And you are not wrong to ask who does this belong to? It belongs to all of us.” Best Twisted to date. 89 @brightlighter1 Tasted January 2014

TAWSE SKETCHES OF NIAGARA RIESLING 2012, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (89029, $17.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES, February 15th, 2014 Release

Frothing at the glass, full on soda aromatic entry, verging to off-dry white peach and yellow plum flavours. Full of tang and zest, enriching flavours that render the soda irrelevant. All in, vigorous ’12, most ever perhaps. From my earlier note: “s’got quite the tropical warmth for Bench Riesling. When considered in terms of the vintage, this is nearly a Riesling in the service of a Pinot Gris. Very juicy fruit, dry but bursting in fricative verve. Extreme quality, low-cost. Now on tap at Barque Smokehouse. 89 Tasted August 2013 and January 2014 @Tawse_Winery @Paul_Pender

KEW VINEYARDS SOLDIER’S GRANT 2011, VQA Niagara Peninsula (367318, $18.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES, February 1st, 2014 Release

Winemaker Philip Dowell draws upon his Aussie roots, delves into a northern Italian technique (appassimento) and along with Beamsville grower Graham Rennie, does the practice proud. Vineland Research Institute has been working towards developing a Niagara appassimento thing, already embraced by the likes of Foreign Affair, Pillitteri and Colaneri. Now Kew takes the torch but with an altered finesse and restraint. Raspberry and the wet warmth of spring sun, saturated earth give way to dusty, sour cherry with an accent of peppery, herbaceous Loire-style Cabernet Franc. The dust ultimately trumps the sharp and then submits towards a metallurgical length. Would work with eclectic flavours, like Buffalo Chicken Nachos. It’s true. 88 @kewvineyards Tasted November 2013 and January 2014

FLAT ROCK NADJA’S VINEYARD RIESLING 2012, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula (578625, $19.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES, February 1st, 2014 Release

A champion cyclone of forces combined to elevate the already incumbent position of this Twenty Mile Bench Riesling. An ideal growing season magnified transmission upon a paradigmatic two and a half-acre block. This southern-most and highest altitude section of Flat Rock’s vineyard rests aboard a solid bed of limestone and wake me up if that rock was not drawn up into the vines in this stellar Riesling vintage. Sure its warm and nearly off-dry but such an effortless squeeze of lemon hydrates and elevates orchard fruit and honey out of the year of the lemon. After each sip its “every time you kiss me, lemon crush.” Love this prince of a Twenty Mile white in 2012, the dynamism smiling on the tart, succulent fruit. The length is one of outright bravado. This will develop for 20 years, of that I am convinced. There is just so much fruit. A Nadja for the ages. 92 @Winemakersboots @UnfilteredEd Tasted January 2014

SOUTHBROOK VINEYARDS TRIOMPHE CHARDONNAY 2012, VQA Niagara On The Lake (172338, $22.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES, February 15th, 2014 Release

A sachet of fiendish raising agent and scotch kindled toast seem initially atypical for the vintage but are kept in check and work alongside one another to great effect. Halfway in there are notes of lemon butter, saltwater-marked wooden ship, pine forest on a warm morning and organic smells of the world outside. The glow and ardor of what Chardonnay can rightfully be in 2012 take the lead at the mid-point and carry Triomphe through to an eco-rich, full-bodied good glass. “On the water, very free, and easy.” 89 Tasted February 2014 @SouthbrookWine

HUFF ESTATES CUVÉE PETER F. HUFF 2007, Traditional Method, VQA Prince Edward County, Ontario (198754, $39.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES, February 15th, 2014 Release

This is a glorious vintage for the classic Chardonnay and Pinot Noir flagship Huff bubbles. Lees affected in waves of chewy, fernetty, lime sherbet, ginger, coriander seed and apical almond butter. The humidity of the vintage plunges this complex sparkler into the brewing smells of a late fall apple orchard. Bronzing in attitude to middle age, a kind of medieval bubbles, hard on you, not letting go of its barbaric hold. The colour speaks of age but there is a huge amount of verve and life left yet. Your full attention is required to gather Huff’s traditional thoughts and this is quite possibly the most rambunctious PEC fizz I’ve ever encountered. So different from the 2008 ”austere, dry, flinty wine of slate.” 92 Tasted February 2014 @HuffEstatesWine

Good to go!

Deep freeze: Controversies, polar vortex and icewine

Jan17

Extreme Lows, Niagara Peninsula, December 2013 and January 2014
Photo: Weather INnovations Consulting LP (WIN)

The physiological and emotional roller coaster heaped upon grapes and growers these past 55 days has been nothing short of exhilarating, frightening and exhausting. First this monster climatic Dementor known as the Polar Vortex. Along with the demonic weather came the devastation of an ice storm, followed by record low temperatures. More recently, thaw and re-freeze. Consequences and challenges have abounded. Also, a silver lining. Freezing temperatures can kill grape buds on vines unprepared and left to fend for themselves. Those little vine kinder can also just be unlucky enough to grow up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some Niagara growers are reporting heavy losses to Riesling, Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay vines. Here are the numbers as reported by Wines In Niagara’s Rick VanSickle.

I spoke with winemaker Paul Pender of Tawse Winery in Vineland, Ontario yesterday. Paul is both unconcerned and not yet ready to make any sort of call on damage to his crops. “It’s still too early to tell,” he notes, “I won’t really head out to assess any potential damage until early March.” While Beamsville vineyards are reportedly hard hit, Pender is confident that his team’s strident and prudent vineyard management will see the vines through.

Balanced pruning means leaving a specific number of buds during the winter on a dormant cane for this year’s crop, the number based on the amount the vine grew the previous season. Tawse’s canes are cut back to two feet, the dead wood removed before winter’s freeze can hit. Buds this season were thinned from 12 to six, giving those tender bits a fighter’s chance to survive. And while Pender will not enter into an unequivocal conversation with respect to the heartiness of his vineyards as a consequence of 100 per cent organic and biodynamic farming, I can hear the surety in his voice and imagine the twinkle in his eye at the thought.

Other growers concern themselves with what may happen inside the many parts of the vine when there are freezes, thaws and re-freezes. Again, Pender is not concerned. Proper pruning should prepare a vine for a harsh winter, whether or not they are protected by a warm blanket of snow. In New York’s Finger Lakes region, Lenn Thompson is reporting “some minor bud damage to vinifera vines, but little to no vine death.” Steve Shaw of Shaw Vineyards on Seneca Lake had this to say. “Yes, this winter is definitely presenting itself in a rather volatile manner. As far as I can tell from checking a number of varieties and many buds, there does not seem to be any catastrophic primary bud kill. There is damage, but not too bad so far. I do not think that with things being this wacky that we can really rest easy until most of the winter has passed.” Brock University’s Cool Climate and Viticulture Institute in St. Catherines helps local growers with much needed information and infrastructure to deal with damaging weather. Their VineAlert program helps protect vineyards during frigid temperatures.

PHOTO: Weather INnovations Consulting LP (WIN)
Icewine Hours 2013

The news is not all bad. According to many icewine makers in Niagara, 2013 will shape up to be what many are forecasting the best ever vintage for the province. Temperatures dipped to the requiem in late December and most picked their shriveled, sugary berries before the new year. That is unprecedented, allowing this season’s icewine to remain high in necessary balancing acidity and well ahead of the fermentation arresting challenges from most years. Wine Country Ontario reported that “early icewine harvest in Wine Country Ontario starts the festival fever.” Look for the most balanced icewines out of 2013. Not to mention the Grape Grower’s of Ontario reporting the province’s grape growers gathered a record 79,756 tonnes of grapes in 2013 valued at nearly $100 million.

The Niagara Icewine Festival encompasses three weekends in January dedicated to the region’s beloved ambrosial elixir, wines that have become the calling card beyond the broader confines of Canadian borders. Icewine has been made since 1981 and in that short span of 33 years, Ontario and B.C. winemakers have challenged, and in many cases lapped their counterparts in Germany and Austria. Canadian icewine is globally renowned, even if it is not the most important wine resource bequeathed upon the rest of the world.

Icewine 101. Simply put, made from grapes that have been left to freeze naturally on the vine. Ontario’s stringent Bolshevik Initial Decrees-like laws insist that icewine must be made from approved grape varieties; the most popular are Vidal Blanc, Riesling and Cabernet Franc. Some small lots include Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Grapes are left on the vine until a sustained temperature of -8°C or lower is reached and then picked from those vines encapsulated in nets to protect them from birds possessive of a sweet tooth.

A national icewine debate is ongoing, inflamed by a recent Macleans Magazine article discussing the ideological differences between the VQA law preventing vine and grape separation before pressing and the Quebec practice of letting the grapes freeze in nets. Quebec growers do this out of necessity for fear of their fruit being smothered by excessive snowfall. Ontario’s old guard vehemently oppose the practice. The irony of VQA Ontario’s website low volume statistic, “with average yields of 500 litres for each acre netted,” is not lost on the curious. Two questions arise. How many grapes in Ontario nets end up in bottles of VQA labelled icewine and how can a culture of Canadian icewine be brought together without some form of compromise and collaboration? Yet again, is togetherness integral to the success of Canadian icewine, or more specifically, Ontario’s industry?

According to Klaus W. Reif of Reif Estate, apparently there are 3,750 berries needed for one bottle of 375ml icewine. Just consider the concentration for a moment, the hand-picked (though not all) labour involved and the specificity of the practice. The sweetest wine known to Canadians can indeed be re-worked as a palindrome for Niagara Ice Wine Festival.

A wet vial is fine nice agar

PHOTO: Michael Godel
Rick James Ice Sculpture, Niagara Icewine Festival

On Friday, January 10th, 2014 I was a most elated guest at the Xerox Icewine Gala: A Bacchus Evening of Icewine and Revelry. For a list of continuing events this weekend and next, here is a link to the festival site. More information here. With kind thanks to Magdalena KaiserSmit and Wine Country Ontario, I had the good fortune to taste a host of Niagara’s finest renditions, along with some very special bottles of sparkling and still wines. Here are notes on six wines sampled at the Fallsview Casino Grand Ballroom last Friday night.

From left: PELLER ESTATES SIGNATURE SERIES ICE CUVÉE, CREEKSIDE ESTATES WINERY SYRAH RESERVE BROKEN PRESS 2010, RAVINE VINEYARD RESERVE RED 2008, PILLITTERI ESTATES CABERNET SAUVIGNON ICEWINE 2011, and VINELAND ESTATES RIESLING VIDAL ICEWINE 2012

PELLER ESTATES SIGNATURE SERIES ICE CUVÉE, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Onatrio (284547, $31.95, WineAlign)

This is Peller’s most versatile fizz, a blend of traditional method Chardonnay and Pinot Noir sweetened by a dosage of Vidal icewine post disgorgement of its lees. The lees has been left to linger in the bottle, in spirit. Sapid, savoury bubbles tingle the senses to the bone and will offer the most comforting and proper pleasures to those discriminating and otherwise. Appealing to a large common denominator, this Peller Sparkling can really do no wrong. 90 Tasted January 2014 @PellerVQA

CREEKSIDE ESTATES WINERY SYRAH RESERVE BROKEN PRESS 2010 (202127, $39.95, WineAlign)

The floral lift from three to four percent Viognier gives notice to bend the brawny, savoury black olive and blistered Ancho fruit into balance. Syrah in a sunshine state but not from concentrate. Would accept a glass of this Brokenpress at any beck and call. “Grab your wine, take me where you been, with the violin time and the moon gettin’ thin.” From my earlier note: “Offers up gorgeous pine and pepper-laced correctness and so much juicy, fresh warmth from a terrific Syrah vintage in Ontario and even more parochial so on the St. David’s Bench. This Queenston Road Vineyard red is winemaker Rob Power’s secret weapon, absolutely freakin’ delicious stuff and the epitome of what Syrah should be like from Niagara. Verve, rigor and yet also flirtatious with expertly judged wood and tannin to re-fresh its spirit and lengthen its life. Love it.” 91 Tasted twice, October 2013 and January 2014 @CreeksideWine

PILLITTERI ESTATES MERLOT FAMILY RESERVE 2002, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (71753, $39.95, WineAlign)

Served from Jeroboam, one of 23 produced and a testament to the precocious, facile touch of then winemaker Sue-Ann Staff. The extreme five litre format has certainly been kind to the hermetic 11-year slumber of this Merlot, as has the above average red Niagara growing season. Charlie pulled out this rare behemoth “for the special occasion” and despite and with thanks to the perfect vintage meets size storm, it has held up with dramatic fortitude. Unmistakably predicated Pillitteri chocolate perfume, brushed violet, mulberry and oven-warmed baking spice. Holding in sustained concentration, the toffee, caramel and umami of wizened, oxidized fruit not yet a twinkle in its soapy sandalwood eye. How could Sun-Ann have known what time-cheating lengths her Merlot would see to? 93 Tasted January 2014 @Pillitteriwines

RAVINE VINEYARD RESERVE RED 2008, St Davids Bench, Niagara Peninsula (20483, $55.00, WineAlign)

This Bordeaux style blend (40 per cent Merlot, 33.3 Cabernet Sauvignon and 26.7 Cabernet Franc) is clothed in a coat of arms all about texture. A drawn and raised relief of dried, candied bramble fruit and charcoal lines of savoury, earthy hickory and herbs. Hearty warmth from a cool vintage, meat on a stick in a glass, charred, roasted and smoking. A spit of gamey goodness. Holding strong but drink now. 90 Tasted January 2014 @RavineVineyard

PILLITTERI ESTATES CABERNET SAUVIGNON ICEWINE 2011, Niagara On The Lake (46557, 375 ml, $60.00, WineAlign)

A most unique and striking rendition, wearer of many hats, confounding and curious. There is a funk about him that stands apart from the rest. Like a really well-aged, superb piece of washed rind cheese, then turning unabashedly sweet, with verve and symphonic tone. An orange sky of an icewine, anti-bittersweet, accented by mace and anise, carob even. “Here is what I know now brother. Here is what I know now sister.” Cabernet Sauvignon, in a vintage equipped with striking acidity, can turn into something to look forward to. One of the more interesting icewines to date. 91 Tasted January 2014 @Pillitteriwines

VINELAND ESTATES RIESLING VIDAL ICEWINE 2012, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (163018, 375 mL, $60.00, WineAlign)

This represents the icewine revolution, for the first time adding 15 percent Vidal juice into the Riesling mix. In 2012, the normally stand alone Riesling needed a shot in the arm, provided by the Vidal, a dose of icewine magic by winemaker Brian Schmidt. Lifted tree fruit blossom and added weight are the result, without hyper-sweet flavours. Riesling is the rock, Vidal the roll as this RV crashes into me. The pit orchard fruit is reduced and recognizable to taste, yet reserved and in phonic harmony. “Sweet like candy to my soul, sweet you rock and sweet you roll.” Brotherly love icewine, full of Schmidt wisdom. 93 Tasted January 2014 @benchwineguy

Good to go!

Three Rieslings to believe

Jan7

More reviews have been written, designed and pushed down your throats on Canuck Riesling than on any other grape. What’s up with that? Quality, that’s what.
Photo: hayo/Fotolia.com

There are many reasons to believe in Riesling, that versatile and brutally honest grape. Riesling holds no punches, speaks its mind, tells it like it is. Grown worldwide and vinified in so many varying styles, Riesling is not so much a chameleon but rather a mutant. It takes root in every vineyard, marking its terroir, expressing itself singularly and without apology.

Canucks make Icewine from many different varieties; Vidal, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and most often, Riesling. This coming weekend the most passionate Icewine lovers will gather to get silly with Niagara’s nectar gift to the gods. The annual #icewinefest is set to begin on Friday, roll through the weekend and continue on for three more activity filled weeks. Wine Country Ontario has all the details. For more information, click here.

In 2006, a Gothamist author made a poignant call in the column A Riesling to believe. Quote, “there was so much going on in the glass that it truly captured our undivided attention.” There’s one rub. In 2012, The BC Wine Guys stated in their post, You Give Me a Riesling to Believe, “thankfully, a hand full of the original vintners in the province held to the belief that world-class Rieslings could, and would, be made in BC.” True that. Wineries of Niagara on the Lake also employs the catch phrase in their discussion on several local wineries fashioning excellent versions of Riesling, notably Between the Lines, Cattail Creek, Konzelmann and Strewn. Montreal Gazette wine columnist Bill Zacharkiw‘s more than appropriate recent rodomontade stated that 2014 will be the year of Riesling. His stance? “It’s time to spread the gospel about this glorious and misunderstood grape.”

Riesling held centre stage in this column twice last year. In the post, 100 kilometre wine for spring, there was this: “A modern-day Riesling narrative takes place less than a 100 kilometres away, along the Niagara Escarpment and above the pictorial towns of Beamsville, Jordan and Vineland.” In June, there was the Brock University Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute’s Riesling Experience 2013. It was there I asked the $128,000 question, “are you wine experienced?” It was also there in St. Catherines that Nik Weis of the Mosel’s St. Urbans Hof winery furtively suggested, “Riesling is better than an isotonic sports drink.”

Over the past two-four months I have exonerated and upheld with the highest Riesling belief that Canada does the variety justice above and beyond the pale, in the vineyard and in the glass. Gushing praise has been doled out to Tawse, Greenlane, Flat Rock, Angels Gate, Sperling, Hidden Bench, Thirty Bench, Rosewood, Charles Baker (Stratus), 2027, Cattail Creek, Chateau des Charmes, 8th Generation, Featherstone, Fielding Estate, 13th Street, Calamus, Cave Spring, Tantalus, Colaneri, The Foreign Affair, Hinterland, Vineland Estates, Malivoire and John Howard. More reviews have been written, designed and pushed down your throats on Canuck Riesling than on any other grape. What’s up with that? Quality, that’s what.

If there is a better place to produce Riesling than up on the Beamsville Bench and the upper reaches of the Niagara Escarpment (the Mosel in Germany notwithstanding) then I’d like to know about it. With no disrespect to the Rheingau, Pfalz, Baden, Nahe, Rheinhessen, Alsace, Wachau, Clare Valley, Eden Valley, Marlborough or the Finger Lakes, Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula and to a lesser extent, British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley should and will be making some of the planet’s finest juice.

As if the list of nearly 25 Niagara producers was not long enough, here are two more to add along with their three combined terrific Riesling interpretations.

From left: SUE ANN STAFF LOVED BY LU RIESLING 2012, SUE ANN STAFF GRACE’S DRY RIESLING 2011, and HINTERBROOK RIESLING 2012

SUE ANN STAFF LOVED BY LU RIESLING 2012, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (322636, $16.95, WineAlign)

Perhaps camping in that gray area between a laugh and a tear, ostensibly off-dry and simple in succulence yet an undeniable stonking acidity manifests its ability for give and take. Honey, lemon, melon and yellow plum combine for fruit forgiveness, with no petrol and “I know there’s a balance, see it when I swing past.” Really terrific. 88 Tasted December 2013 @SueAnnStaff

SUE ANN STAFF GRACE’S DRY RIESLING 2011, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (367086, $18.95, WineAlign)

Hard lemon drop sour candy, beautifully medicinal and waxy Riesling, dry yet intimating something more, something hung and harvested longer. More lemon, freshly squeezed and grapefruit too, with Alsatian promise but with a bent towards what I don’t know. Intriguing, beguiling and herbal, like a lemon balm tisane. “I know that you are strong enough to handle what I need.” Very unique Niagaran giving yet another reason to believe in the Peninsula as a dashboard confessional for Riesling prayer. 89 Tasted December 2013

HINTERBROOK RIESLING 2012, VQA Niagara Lakeshore, Ontario (270512, $17.95, WineAlign)

Despite the pale hue this has body and a certain, distinct clarity. Nearly but not quite off-dry, this makes use of lake-effect for balance. There are fresh herbs, the tang of yellow plum and even an odd licorice note. Springs a full stein of mouth-watering Riesling belief, so much so that a “congregation gathers down by the riverside.” Another hymn to Riesling is sung. 88 Tasted December 2013 @Hinterbrook

Good to go!

2013: It was the best of wines

Dec21

15 wine releases $30 and over
Photo: Steve Cukrov/Fotolia.com

The long and wine-ding road of 2013 began with a personal plea for it to be the year of drinking better wine. I wrote about iconic wines at affordable prices and a personal hermeneutic public service announcement, a wine prescription for cold and flu. January rounded out with good reds, twenty-somethings, Robbie Burns, weekday wines and a wine analogy Super Bowl prediction gone bad.

I played pond hockey, chatted about wine and said no to ambient, rich pinks because you gotta be cruel to be wine for Valentine’s. Real wines, more hockey, Oscars, French grapes and a Somewhereness sea of grape-driven humanity occupied my winter thoughts, along with California, The Beamsville Bench, Cuvée 2013 and the zeitgeist of my virgin expert’s tasting with music as its guide. Cool grapes marched on with wines for the Ides, St. Patrick, Passover, Momofuku in Toronto and New York City.

Spring brought 100-km wine, value reds, sunshine, Masters’ colours, a Stanley Cup for house league hockey, Ontario wine events, Peter Franus, wild leeks and Mother’s Day. There was a ‘London Calling’ for Canadian wine, Go Gamay Go, an averted LCBO strike and the Elsie Awards. I delved into the schadenfreude matters of tasting notes, the humanity in real value wine and the Venn Diagrams in a paradox of accents.

The weather warmed, I cooked for 1,300 Ultimate Frisbee players, contemplated the Rolling Stones and struck Semillon in a showcase showdown. Father’s Day, Riesling and the Canada Day long weekend preceded excursions to Fenway Park and the eleemosynary earth in the North Fork of Long Island. This followed by a search for the wine pulse of the Finger Lakes and the indelible stamp of British Columbia‘s Okanagan Valley.

The International Cool Climate Chardonnay conference took Niagara by storm (literally), leading into the August long weekend. I wrote on Sauvignon Blanc, chill red wine, The Great Canadian Wine Challenge, Free My Grapes and the plea for wine to flow across Canadian provinces.

September came, as did Low alcohol wine for the High Holidays. Ontario wines shone on, especially those from Stratus, along with Spanish and Italian reds. I touted the vinous acumen of Canadian wines for Thanksgiving, the wines of Chile, the best from Ontario and presided as guest judge at the WineAlign World Wine Awards of Canada 2013. October ended with Champagne and reasons to pour a glass of wine on Halloween.

Napa Valley came to town, there were private tastings with Ontario winemakers and I made notes on Canadian made apolitical wines. There were gems, Friday bites, Beaujolais Nouveau and more from Italy. At the end of November I wondered if the wine sign of the apocalypse was upon us. Sparkling wines and the unavoidable Christmas picks have brought us to here.

Edward Steinberg once asked Angelo Gaja, “how do you make the best wine?” to which Gaja replied, “with the best grapes.” In tasting notes I extrapolate from that base and simple notion, with an intent to convey the salient facts of the grape’s life, to give life to the agriculture, even if the first two syllables are removed in the process.

Tasting notes can be clerihews, pithy poems that begin with a winemaker’s name, become the reviewer’s purport and more often than not, are penned in four lines. Word play leading the mind to consider wine as anagram, palindrome and lipogram. Writing a tasting note not as a vinous jape, but rather an artfully woven acrostic.

Reviews align like Burma Shave signs on North American highways, spaced one hundred feet apart, connected by their language. Phrases are turned on their heads, causing the notes to be peculiarly unsuccessful in making any decided impact upon the consumer college. So be it.

The musical and other (sometimes) obscure references bring about metaphasis to the tasting notes, an habitual transposition of sounds, connecting smell, flavour and structure to groove, pitch and aesthetic. The best wines produce the greatest emotion and excess of language. Here is a look back at the top 15-$30 and over releases tasted in 2013 and the tasting notes that brought them to light.

15 wine releases $30 and over

From left: RAINOLDI CRESPINO VALTELLINA SUPERIORE 2006, TAWSE CABERNET FRANC LAUNDRY VINEYARD 2010, CHARLES BAKER WINES RIESLING ‘PICONE VINEYARD’ 2011, PETER FRANUS RED WINE 2008, and FEUDI DI SAN GREGORIO TAURASI 2007

RAINOLDI CRESPINO VALTELLINA SUPERIORE 2006, Lombardy, Italy (316331, $31.95, WineAlign)

Composed of 100 per cent Chiavennasca (Nebbiolo) from Lombardy. Grace, flowing ruby robe, striking. Lit by cherries bathing in a silica and gravel mineral bath, tightly wound in a swirling pensieve of real vinous thought. Elevated by cool, altitudinous breezes and gothic, statuesque like a Mantegazza. Northern, alpine and proud. 93 Tasted April 2013 @VinumValtellina From: Top ten wines for May Day

TAWSE CABERNET FRANC LAUNDRY VINEYARD 2010, Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (130997, $31.95, WineAlign)

Assures us of several things. First, 2010 was a gift for making idiot-proof Cab Franc in Niagara, Second, the Lincoln Lakeshore is one of three obvious and essential CF locales in Niagara. Third and most important, properly adjudicated new oak can elevate CF to the upper reaches of the cool-climate troposphere. While not as masculine or bovine like brother Van Bers, Laundry’s got black cherry, tar, coal, herbs and a peaceful, grilling feeling. Essential CF from winemaker Paul Pender. 92 Tasted July 2013 @Tawse_Winery @Paul_Pender From: Alternative wines for the August long weekend

CHARLES BAKER WINES RIESLING ‘PICONE VINEYARD’ 2011, Vinemount Ridge, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (241182, $35.20, WineAlign)

Does not so much pick up where cracking ’09 left off (with no offence meant to the soothing and tuneful ’10) but rather re-writes the Baker book. From the almost famous windswept vineyard atop the Vinemount Ridge, this Picone, from older Riesling plantings is crazy lively. That ’10 is now imbued with rich, oily glück. The ’11 will realize such a future, but much further along and in combination with its inborn tension. Right up there with Baker’s “perfect vintage” 2006. 93 Tasted October 2013 @cbriesling From: Top wines shine at Taste Ontario 2013

PETER FRANUS RED WINE 2008, Red Hills Lake County Red, California ($39.95)

Composed of Syrah (85 per cent), Grenache (10) and Mourvèdre (5) comes from Fore Family Vineyards fruit on the top of 3000 foot Cobb Mountain. A fiery paradox of climate met by altitude works a strange magic on the grapes. It’s no mistral but rather some sort of wine weather occult. This SGM is highly influenced by a very tempest of dramatic temperature changes, from solar radiation to cool, tempering Pacific breezes and at great heights. Exhibits the hills’ red earth, in colour, in fragrance and in rich berry flavour. I’m grateful for this SGM blend, cool and hot at the same time, “almost ablaze still you don’t feel the heat.” 93 Tasted April 2013 @ProfileWineGrp From: The Wine Diaries: Peter Franus

FEUDI DI SAN GREGORIO TAURASI 2007, Campania, Italy ($39.95)

Lush and gorgeous. The most immediately gratifying young Aglianico yet such an infant. Earthbound red berries, perfectly ripe plums, biting tannin and off the charts acidity. Epochal verve of Middle Pleistocene volcanic rocks. Southern Italian equivalent to Southern Rhône reds, offering tremendous value under $50 where Bordeaux and Tuscany pedantically fall short. Should join the ranks of recent great vintages, ’01 and ’04. 93 Tasted January 2013 @FeudiDSGregorio @StemWineGroup From: Iconic wines, affordable prices

From left: CHÂTEAU DES CHARMES EQUULEUS 2010, BACHELDER CHARDONNAY WISMER VINEYARD 2010, CLOSA BATLLET GRATALLOPS 2007, GIROLAMO RUSSO SAN LORENZO 2008, and PALLADINO BAROLO PARAFADA 2008

CHÂTEAU DES CHARMES EQUULEUS 2010, St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (319525, $40, SAQ, 11156334, $41.25, WineAlign)

From the Paul Bosc Estate Vineyard is a classically styled blend of 50 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 25 per cent Cabernet Franc and 25 per cent Merlot, only made in exceptional years. Apropos choice from 25-year old vines (in 2010) from the warmer St. David’s Bench for Cuvée’s 25th show. Poised, balanced and regal yet this mare is temporarily a head-shy, sensitive equine red. Will trot out furlongs of tobacco and meaty aromas from now and through maturity in five plus years. A saddle of round, red fruit will age gracefully. 92 Tasted March 2013 @MBosc From: Top juice flows at Cuvée 25th anniversary

BACHELDER CHARDONNAY WISMER VINEYARD 2010, Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (345819, $44.95, WineAlign)

So sumptuous, presumptuous and precocious. Ahead of the curve, effortless and full of 20 mile mineral length. The ripe green apple never quits. My earlier note from Top juice flows at Cuvée 25th anniversary from the Twenty Mile (Vineland) Bench is the most righteous, understated charred butterscotch remoulade sauce of dreams. Richly textured and built upon a sneaky, slow and stretched breath of wild yeasts. A creeper, gatherer and traveler of both knowledge and persistence. The journey with Thomas Bachelder as related by partner Mary Delaney, from out of Quebec, by way of Ponzi and Lemelson in Oregon and to Niagara is the stuff of dreams. Tasted twice same night and hypnotized both times. 94 Tasted July 2013 @Bachelder_wines From: Hot weekend wines and cool Chardonnay

CLOSA BATLLET GRATALLOPS 2007, Priorat, Spain (156398, $49.95, WineAlign)

Stupid gorgeous Priorat and though inaccessible to most of us mere mortals, if you were to shell out $50 in November for one wine, this has to be considered. A blend of 65 per cent Cariñena, 22 per cent Garnacha, with a smattering of Syrah and Merlot. Pure purple pitch, an early summer Catalonian garden in bloom, air warm, breeze light. Wow. Blows high priced Napa and over the top Châteauneuf-du-Pape out of the water. The oak is so beautifully integrated. 94 Tasted October 2013 From: Nine big November best buy wines

GIROLAMO RUSSO SAN LORENZO 2008, Sicily, Italy ($59.95)

From agronomist and oenologist Giuseppe Russo lives a Sicilian dream. Composed of Etna’s indigenous Nerello Mascalese with a small percentage of Nerello Cappuccio, this red is a veritable lava flow of molten magma, volcanic igneous solder and opulent Scoria. Pure, unchained fruit, no disguise, striking. 94 Tasted February 2013 @Oenophilia1 From: Real wines, whisky and boys night out

PALLADINO BAROLO PARAFADA 2008, Piedmont, Italy (280412, $68.00, WineAlign)

This just has the look, the look of love. “A look that time can’t erase.” Nebbiolo you can see right through, this impossible light, this impossible life. Tea, tar and roses. A mineral spring, iron-earth field, where the game runs wild. You can relate to this Barolo, love it, relish it now but it will give pleasure for years. Not necessarily 25 but certainly 10-15. “Well, it takes my breath away.” Great vineyard. 94 Tasted October 2013 From: Holiday wine gems hit November shelves

From left: M. CHAPOUTIER LES BÉCASSES CÔTE-RÔTIE 2010, MOËT & CHANDON GRAND VINTAGE BRUT CHAMPAGNE 2004, DOMAINE LONG-DEPAQUIT MOUTONNE GRAND CRU CHABLIS 2011, CHASSAGNE MONTRACHET VIDE BOURSE 1ER CRU 2010, and MASI MAZZANO AMARONE DELLA VALPOLICELLA CLASSICO 2006

M. CHAPOUTIER LES BÉCASSES CÔTE-RÔTIE 2010, Ac Northern Rhône, France (280420, $82.95, WineAlign)

Strictly beautiful Syrah. The offspring of the Côte Rôtie’s two necessary points of view. First, the schist, silt and shingle of the Brune. Second, the silica and limestone of the Blonde. In combination they produce an iron-rust wine of a ferruginous nature, in colour and in aroma. Seeping, exotic Rooibos tea, Provençal tapenade and smouldering flowers send smoke signals clear as day. Smells so rich though it’s full of grace and bathed in ultra-elegance. 94 Tasted October 25, 2013 From: Holiday wine gems hit November shelves

MOËT & CHANDON GRAND VINTAGE BRUT CHAMPAGNE 2004, Ac Champagne, France (69773, $83.95, WineAlign)

May not be the esteemed house and vintage of the century’s love-child but I can’t think of a single reason not to spend a pittance more on a vintage-dated Champagne like this Moët in lieu of a sea of NV alternatives. Granted it’s wound maddeningly tight, spewing still young venom, crazed by pear and citrus concentrate but…trust must be placed in its charms. This Moët is quite refined. Apples tempered in acidity, beloved for its building blocks, it’s really good Champagne. 94 Tasted November 2013 @MoetUSA From: Ten sparkling wines to life

DOMAINE LONG-DEPAQUIT MOUTONNE GRAND CRU CHABLIS 2011, Monopole, Ac, Burgundy, France (46706, $89.95, WineAlign)

From Mathieu Mangenot’s ”Grand Cru” plots, the Monopole holdings in the steep amphitheatre slope of Vaudésir and the gentle rise of Les Preuses. The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine. He spoons piles of flint and chunks of rock. He explains the tin pan elevation of Chablis and Chardonnay squeezed from the bedrock, capturing every last drop of geology, refuse of stars and fossils of the ancient animals. Stoic, metazoic, super Chablis, with tremendous length. How can this Chablis have so much fruit but no apple, no lemon, no pith. “You think things are straight but they’re not what they seem.” Candy for the soul. Novacaine in liquid form. Amazing. 94 Tasted November 2013 From: Twelve days of wine for Christmas

CHASSAGNE MONTRACHET VIDE BOURSE 1ER CRU 2010, Ac Burgundy, France (344887, $101.95, Quebec $85.00, WineAlign)

A mild sylvan reductive stink is neither abstruse nor in fruit obstruction. What we have here is a brass tax in Chardonnay histrionics. Yellow and green tree fruit, wicked wild yeast game and just about as much ruminating, mineral tang as one might desire. Something wicked this way woos my wistful longing for quality white Burgundy. I could imagine drinking this well into my pension days. 95 Tasted November 2013 From: Twelve days of wine for Christmas

MASI MAZZANO AMARONE DELLA VALPOLICELLA CLASSICO 2006, Doc, Veneto, Italy (215764, $99.95, WineAlign)

If a wine clocking in at 16 per cent alcohol by volume can be considered elegant and restrained and if that’s even possible, the Mazzano is the one. Though there is nothing outright prune, dried raisin or fig paste about it, this single-vineyard Amarone is enormously tannic. Any attempt at cracking its hard shell inside of 15-20 years should be thought of as counter-productive. Smells like the aforementioned fruit just picked at maximum ripeness so there is nothing cooked, roasted or overdone here. You simply have to wait for tertiary complexity to see what it will become. I sense great. Near-perfect vintage. 96 Tasted October 2013 From: Holiday wine gems hit November shelves

Good to go!

Top ten wines $30 and under for 2013

Dec17

Finding the needles in the proverbial haystack is no simple assignment so tasting through thousands of wines each year is the necessity to the mother of invention.
Photo: Africa Studio/Fotolia.com

Folks like best of lists and I for one am happy to offer them up. Historical farsightedness can be one of life’s great pleasures so cue the retrospective view.

The $20-30 category brims to overflowing with soft wines, so often heavy, overworked, reeking of new oak and unforgiving in contrivance. That niche can also be occupied by some of the greatest wine values on the planet. Wines that are neither entry-level nor flagship. Wines that define the attitude and intention of their producers.

Finding the needles in the proverbial haystack is no simple assignment so tasting through thousands of wines each year is the necessity to the mother of invention. Looking back, I am pleased to note that Ontario wines proved their worth in this reasonable if not cheap category. That four of the ten represented here were chosen locally is a testament to the quality and the marketability of $25 Niagara whites and reds.

Here are my top ten wines, on the number or below, released and tasted in 2013.

Ten wine releases $30 and under

From left: SOUTHBROOK TRIOMPHE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2010, GREENLANE RIESLING OLD VINES 2011, DOMAINE DU PETIT MÉTRIS LES FOUGERAIES SAVENNIÈRES 2009, DOMAINES SCHLUMBERGER KESSLER PINOT GRIS 2008, and SAN FELICE IL GRIGIO CHIANTI CLASSICO RISERVA 2009

SIGALAS SANTORINI ASSYRTIKO 2011, Santorini, Greece (74781, $21.95, WineAlign)

Must be a fairy tale, a Boucles d’or narrative of structure and complexity from the first swirl and sniff. Airy, saline, built of rich, gold guts. Perfectly ripened orchard fruit and fresh-squeezed grapefruit. Taste it and there’s a joyous dance, a kefi bursting inside, like great Champagne but minus the bubbles. 92 Tasted April 2013 @KolonakiGroup From: See the humanity in real value wine

SOUTHBROOK TRIOMPHE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2010, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (ON, VINTAGES Essential, 193573, $22.95, WineAlign)

GREENLANE RIESLING OLD VINES 2011 ,VQA Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (351486, $22.95, WineAlign)

Cracks the mineral whip, froths lime into foam and atomizes stone fruit into sweet and sour heaven. Wants to be semi-dry but never quite goes there. Walks a fine line, a tightrope actually. Up there with Charles Baker and Thirty Bench for sheer madness. 91 Tasted July 2013 @GreenLaneWinery From: Alternative wines for the August long weekend

DOMAINE DU PETIT MÉTRIS LES FOUGERAIES SAVENNIÈRES 2009, Ac Loire, France (319855, $23.95, WineAlign)

Screams “I am Chenin Blanc,” in honey on the pedal and maximum mineral metal. Aggressive, pursuing machine ”stealing honey from a swarm of bees.” Petrol stinky, tangy thick, sticky with honey oozing everywhere, in comb and sweet-smelling suckle. Seriously huge and flashy. Will be stunning when it settles down. 92 Tasted April 2013 @Savennieresaoc From: Top ten wines for May Day

DOMAINES SCHLUMBERGER KESSLER PINOT GRIS 2008, Ac Alsace, France (249623, $25.95, WineAlign)

Wants to tell you she’s late harvest but you know better. “You might say you can only fool yourself.” Golden gorgeous, silken pear custard and southern hemisphere, capsicum spiked fruit. Walks on little feat but ultra-marathon runs a sweet to dry crescendoing gamut. 92 Tasted June 2013 @drinkAlsace From: Working wines for the Canada Day long weekend

From left: SAN FELICE IL GRIGIO CHIANTI CLASSICO RISERVA 2009, LAN GRAN RESERVA 2005, ROEDERER ESTATE BRUT SPARKLING, MALIVOIRE WINE COMPANY GAMAY ‘COURTNEY’ 2011, and THIRTY BENCH VINEYARDS ‘STEEL POST’ VINEYARD RIESLING 2011

SAN FELICE IL GRIGIO CHIANTI CLASSICO RISERVA 2009, Tuscany, Italy (716266, $26.95, SAQ, 703363, $27, WineAlign)

Clocks in at 12.8 per cent abv. Are you following the theme here? This CCR is just so flippin’ foxy and gorgeous to nose. It’s also demanding in iron, dried sanguine char and tough like the label’s Titian-painted medieval knight. CCR stretched out on the rack, Italianate through and through and likely in need of 10 years lay down time. Funkless which, considering the lack of coat and obfuscation, is very, very interesting. 92 Tasted August 2013 From: Fall is the wine time to be with the Tuscan you love

LAN GRAN RESERVA 2005, Rioja, Spain (928622, $27.95, WineAlign)

Its makers may now just be a cog in the Sogrape empire but it continues to do its own thing. Has that evolution I look for in Rioja. The slightest oxidative note, heaps of herbs and the umami of salty clashes with smokey Jamon. Rioja expressive of one love and one heart. Caught bobbing, dancing and wailing right in its wheelhouse, giving everything it’s made of, no holds barred and no questions asked. “Is there a place for the hopeless sinner?” Yes, in a glass of a weathered, leathery and just flat out real as it gets red Rioja. 92 Tasted September 2013 @BodegasLan From: Ancient state of the art Spanish wine

ROEDERER ESTATE BRUT SPARKLING, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California, (294181, $29.95, WineAlign)

Composed of approximately 60 per cent Chardonnay and 40 Pinot Noir. As close to greatness a house style from California can achieve. Discovers some secrets shared by cool-climate Sparkling wine, first with a delicate floral waft from out of a salmon copper tone. Complex, savoury bubbles, in rhubarb, tarragon and poached pear. Round, really fine, earthly, grounded stuff that spent a minimum two years on the lees. Marked by citrus too, namely pink grapefruit and creamy vanilla from the addition of some oak-aged wine. 91 Tasted November 2013 From: Ten sparkling wine to life

MALIVOIRE WINE COMPANY GAMAY ‘COURTNEY’ 2011, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario ($29.95, winery only,)

Spent 14 edifying months in French oak and will live adroitly for another five years as a result. So much plum inherent in all its faculties, berries and currants too. The winemaker star of Shiraz Mottiar is rising higher into the cool climate stratosphere with each passing vintage. His wines walk a haute couture runway of class and style. 91 Tasted April 2013 @MalivoireWine @ShirazMottiar From: Come together over wine

THIRTY BENCH VINEYARDS ‘STEEL POST’ VINEYARD RIESLING 2011, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario ($30, winery only, WineAlign)

From the Andrew Peller stable leans late-harvest or Spätlese, with 18.5 grams per litre of residual sugar. Clean, crisp, precise and near perfect Beamsville Bench expression. Flinty minerality and fantastic whorl by way of winemaker Emma Garner. Equal to if not more of a bomb than the stellar ’09. 93 Tasted March 2013 @ThirtyBench 100 kilometre wine for Spring

Good to go!