Brett happens

Pinot Noir 2009, VQA Prince Edward County, Casa-Dea Estates Winery ($20)
Aged 15 months in oak barrels (not new ones, I’d wager). 12.2% ABV.
“Cherry slush” (in the words of one taster) and forest floor: doesn’t really pinote. Light- to medium-bodied. Reedy tannins and tart fruit, like red currants. Flat and lacking depth, though there are some tasty minerals on the finish. Not bad but far better Pinots can be had for about the same price. (Buy again? No.)

Pinot Noir 2008, VQA Prince Edward County, Exultet Estates ($35)
The first vintage of this wine. Can’t find any technical info on the 2008 but the 2009 was aged in new oak barrels for about one year. 12.8% ABV.
Earth, berries, beet and some oak on the nose. Initially a dichotomy of fruit and oak in the mouth. Improved with breathing, gaining depth, breadth and balance and eventually holding its own against the Old Third Vineyard and the Hardie. 2008 was a tough vintage in Ontario; this medium-bodied wine was good enough that I’d be interested in tasting the 2009. (Buy again? Maybe a bottle of the 2009.)

Pinot Noir 2009, Cuvée County, VQA Prince Edward County, Rosehall Run ($22)
Made from fruit sourced from various Hillier area vineyards, including the estate’s own. Aged about one year in French oak barrels (no info on their age but probably not a high percentage of new). 12.5% ABV.
Nose of red berries and shoe leather. Smooth and simple, tasting of red berries and beet. Light, tight tannins. Good acidity and minerality. A refreshing, somewhat earthy quaffer. (Buy again? Yes.)

Pinot Noir 2009, County, Unfiltered, VQA Prince Edward County, Norman Hardie ($39)
Aged 11 months in small oak barrels, 40% new. 11.5% ABV.
Rich, Burgundian nose of earth, red berries and oak. Smooth, round, delimited. Pure fruit, a silky texture, fresh acidity and fine tannins. Sits lightly on the palate yet has substance and presence as well as an underlying stoniness. A wine with nearly everything except éclat. Pricey. (Buy again? At $25 probably; at nearly $40 probably not.)

Pinot Noir 2010, The Old Third Vineyard ($42)
Specializing exclusively in Pinot Noir, the winery planted its first vines in 2005. Total production, including a  semi-sweet botrytized Pinot Noir, is under 500 cases. High density planting and severe selection keep yields low. This cuvée is fermented in stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeasts, then racked into French oak barrels, a fraction of which are new, where it matures for about one year. Bottled unfiltered, unfined and minimally sulphured. 12.5% ABV.
Ça pinote like none of the others. A silky textured welterweight. The tart red fruit is rooted in stony bedrock, structured by fine tannins, buttressed by woody oak and present through the long finish. Has a depth and complexity that the other wines lack and a combination of elegance and earthiness evocative of Burgundy. (Buy again? Yes.)