Posts Tagged ‘Ontario’
Somewhereness 2013: Introduction
Ask winegrowers, winemakers, sommeliers, wine merchants or wine writers to define terroir and you’ll get different but overlapping answers. For some, it’s the soil – the geology – period. For others, it’s that plus the vineyard’s topography, the lay of the land. Still others add climate – sunniness, degree days, rainfall – to the mix. A few will say it’s the interaction between all these factors and the people who work the land and make the wine.
I suspect this last definition – the land, its lay and the climate as expressed through the vintner’s art – is close to what six of Ontario’s better wineries had in mind when they banded together to form the Somewhereness group. One of its members, Norm Hardie, defines the concept of somewhereness as “not terroir but more … a place that you’re happy in, where you’re bien dans ta peau.”
The Somewhereness website is a little more specific about what the concept means to its members: place (bordering Lake Ontario), soil (clay and limestone), quality (a dedication to making premium wines) and stewardship (caring for the land, which has led to an increasing reliance on organic and biodynamic farming). And though they don’t specifically list it, they do refer to climate: “the coolest fine wine region on Earth.”
After holding annual events in various rest-of-Canada cities, Somewhereness recently premiered in Quebec at a well-attended presentation and tasting for wine media and trade types held at Montreal’s SAT. Here’s hoping the positive reception leads to wider availability of the group’s wares in local restaurants and on the SAQ’s shelves (while a few of the wines are available at the monopoly, most are private imports).
All 12 current Somewhereness members were present (13th Street, Bachelder Niagara, Cave Spring, Charles Baker, Flat Rock, Hidden Bench, Hinterland, Malivoire, Norman Hardie, Southbrook, Stratus and Tawse). I managed to visit eight tables before the end and will post my notes over the next week or two. First up, the wines of the group’s founder, Charles Baker.
MWG June 20th tasting (3/8): Frankly pink
Ladybug rosé 2012, Niagara Peninsula, VQA, Malivoire Wine Company ($15.95, LCBO 559088)
Cabernet Franc (74%), Gamay (19%) and Pinot Noir (7%). After crushing, the grapes were left to macerate on their skins for 12 to 24 hours. Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks. 13% ABV.
Pink heading toward cherry red. Engaging nose of red berries and spice. Smooth texture. Clean and fruity though with a savoury streak. Off-off-dry though with enough acidity to lightly sour the finish. A summer sipper, nothing more but also nothing less. (Buy again? At that price, sure.)
Bourgueil 2011, Équinoxe, Domaine Yannick Amirault ($20.55, 11900872)
100% organically farmed Cabernet Franc from 30-year-old vines. Manually harvested. Barrel fermented with indigenous yeasts. Matured 12 months in barrels. The winemaker suggests aging this for two to five years after bottling. 12.5% ABV.
Pale coppery pink in the bottle but pallid in the glass, a straw-coloured white with rosy glints. Faintly fruity nose (strawberry-rhubarb?) with whiffs of dried dill, seaside rocks, dried chlorine. Less spectral on the palate: dry, lightly and tartly fruity, chock-a-block with minerals and firm acidity. A bitter note chimes in on the finish. Seems to straddle the line between rosé and white. Its savour and strictness make it a food wine (I’m thinking a cool slice of seafood terrine). (Buy again? Yes.)
Wildass cheek
Wildass Red 2011, VQA Niagara Penninsula, Stratus ($24.70, 11601143)
A self-styled “cheeky” proprietary blend of Cabernet Franc (31%), Merlot (28%), Cabernet Sauvignon (18%) and Syrah (11%) with a little Tannat, Petit Verdot, Tempranillo and Sangiovese thrown in for the hell of it. Aged in oak barrels (11% new) for 246 days. 14% ABV per the winery, 12.5% ABV per the LCBO and SAQ.
Exuberant, engaging nose of red fruit, pencil box (wood, graphite and eraser), spice, shoe leather. Medium bodied, fluid. The core of spicy, juicy fruit gains some slate and then milk chocolate. Zingy acidity runs throughout, as do the light but firm tannins. Dried herbs scent the savoury, mildly astringent finish. Maybe a little less wowing than the 2008, but still (and as always) a pure, tart and refreshing wine, one of the most drinkable, food-friendly reds to come out of Ontario. It’s not surprising to learn that the winemaker hails from the Loire. To Quebec’s eternal shame, it’s 25% more expensive at the SAQ than at the LCBO.
MWG December 14th tasting (1/4): Two Proseccos and a ringer
The Mo’ Wine Group celebrated its seventh anniversary on December 14. As usual, the tasting featured sparklers, Champagnes, some potentially sublime still wines and an odd bottle or two. We began with two Proseeccos and a mystery wine contributed by one of the group’s original members.
Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore 2011, Extra Dry, Bandarossa, Bortolomiol ($19.50, 10654956)
100% Glera (aka Prosecco). Pressed off the skins, fermented with selected yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats. Sparkled using the Charmat process, which lasts close to a month. Matured one to three months. 18.0 g/l residual sugar. 6.0 g/l total acidity. 11.5% ABV.
Sliver to the other wines’ yellow-gold. Perfumy nose: bath powder, lemon and a candied note one taster dubbed “Hubba Bubba.” The foam lasted several minutes around the edge of the glass – the first time I’ve encountered that – though in the mouth the effervescence was fine and soft. Drier and more acidic than expected (a good thing) but also shallow. (Buy again? No, not when the far more enjoyable 2011 Bisol can be had for less.)
Vidalsecco 2010, Ontario, Huff Estates ($19.95, purchased at the winery)
100% Vidal Blanc. Sparkled using the Charmat process. Matured in stainless steel vats. 12 g/l residual sugar. 11.5% ABV. 400 cases made. Crown-capped.
Noticeably different nose: lemon and chalk but also mastic, star fruit, chewing gum (“Juicy Fruit” said another taster, continuing the Wrigley theme) and a hint of foxiness. A little like sipping ginger ale, though dry and fine-textured with an appealing tang and a long, clean finish. (Buy again? Sure.)
Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore 2010, Extra Dry, Le Rive di Ogliano, Masottina ($23.15, 11791750)
100% Glera. Fermented with selected yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats. Sparkled using the Charmat process. 13.0–15.0 g/l residual sugar. 5.2–6.2 g/l total acidity. 11.5% ABV.
Perfumy again, though not to the Bortolomiol’s boudoiry excess, with a honeyed edge and a hint of lemon zest. Soft, almost caressing effervescence. Very dry. A certain complexity of flavours, including a floral note on the finish. Tasty. (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG July 13th tasting: report (5/5)
Zero de Gris 2009, Frontenac Gris, Huff Estates ($34.95/375 ml)
The winery’s first ever late harvest wine (reportedly it would be an ice wine if VQA rules admitted the grape variety). 100% Frontenac Gris picked when the outside temperature is well below 0ºC (32ºF). Fermented and aged in stainless steel. 11.5% ABV. 300 cases made.
Rich amber in the glass. Spicy, slightly resinous nose reminiscent of goldenrod honey. Medium weight. Sweet but not sacharine or syrupy. Good acidity. Clean citrus and stone fruit linger long. While lacking the kaleidocopic flavours and acidic dazzle of the best Vidal ice wines, this is a pleasant after-dinner sipper.
MWG July 13th tasting: report (4/5)
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.)
MWG July 13th tasting: report (3/5)
Chardonnay 2010, Unoaked, VQA Prince Edward County, Rosehall Run ($20)
A blend of Chardonnay (65%) and Chardonnay Musqué (35%). Fermented with the light lees in tanks at 10-12ºC. Aged on the lees for about 8 months. Malolactic fermentation kept to a minimum. 12.7% ABV.
Oddly floral but fresh nose with lemon, minerals and a hint of wax. Light textured and dry. Faint fruit (apple, pear, lemon), lots of minerals and a hint of bitterness. Crisp acidity and good length. Clean and refreshing. (Buy again? Sure.)
Chardonnay 2010, County, VQA Prince Edward County, Norman Hardie ($35)
Fermented in temp-controlled stainless steel tanks with gentle stirring of lees. Aged in French oak barrels from various coopers and with various levels of toast. 12.2% ABV.
Muted nose: lemon, apple, minerals and a hint of camphor. Richer than the Rosehall but not heavy. Attractive from the get-go with a minerally attack. Tropical fruit and oak emerge on the mid-palate, then segue into an ashy, lemon-pith finish. (Buy again? The wine has appeal but the QPR is whacky when you can get an excellent premier cru Chabis for less.)
Chardonnay 2009, Unoaked, VQA Prince Edward County, Casa-Dea Estates Winery ($16)
Fermented in stainless steel tanks. Five months’ aging on the lees. 12.9% ABV.
Canned Niblets corn, gaining some tropical fruit. Very dry. Rich, bordering on flabby texture. Little acid backbone and not much follow-through. (Buy again? No.)
Chardonnay 2010, The Blessed, VQA Prince Edward County, Exultet Estates ($35)
No technical info to be found other than a mention that the grapes are “ultra-ripe” and a reference to new oak barrels. Chances are good that it undergoes malolactic fermentation too. 13% ABV.
The nose? “Aunt Jemima’s butt – a happy, fun thing,” to quote one taster. Tropical fruit, butter, ashy oak, vanilla and a hint of caramel. Winey texture. Less than bone dry, though the sweetness and extract are balanced by firm acidity. Good length. In terms of New World style, goes right up to – but not over – the edge. (Buy again? Not my cup of tea – and that’s setting aside the in-your-face religiosity.)
MWG July 13th tasting: report (2/5)
Rosé 2009, Method Traditional, VQA Prince Edward County, Hinterland Wine Co. ($37)
75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay. Aged two-plus years on the lees. Disgorged and dosed in batches as stocks run low. 12% ABV.
Medium salmon pink with a faint bronze cast. Fine, lazy bead. Muted nose: bathpowder and a hint of nectarine and yeast. Dry and minerally. Good balance between extract and acidity. Only lightly fruity until the finish, when raspberry swells. As the wine breathes and warms, it turns sweeter and less integrated and gains a faint metallic edge. (Buy again? Maybe, though a QPR winner it’s not.)
3630 Bubble 2008, VQA Prince Edward County, Barnyard Wine Co. ($39)
A tiny winery. The wines are made at Hinterland’s facilities. The 3630 refers to the number of vines per acre. For the 2008 vintage, the estate’s entire crop was used for this bubbly, a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. 11.6% ABV.
Red berries, nectarine and a whiff of brett. Sourish and odd at first but coming around. Quite dry and never very fruity. Racy acidity it has in spades and lots of minerals on the finish. (Buy again? Maybe if it weren’t so expensive.)
Dea’s Cuvée 2008, Méthode cuvée close, VQA Ontario, Casa-Dea Estates Winery ($16)
A blend of Chard and Pinot Noir, with at least some of the fruit coming from elsewhere in the province. Made by the less labour-intensive cuvée close method (aka Charmat process). 12.5% ABV.
Yeasty, sour apple and silage with a metallic edge. Facile, fruity and sweet. Compared with the other wines in the flight, it tasted artificial and cheap. (Buy again? Nope.)
Cuvée Peter F. Huff 2008, VQA Prince Edward County, Huff Estates ($45)
A blend of Chardonnay (65%) and Pinot Noir (35%), the winery’s “all-county Blanc de noirs” claim notwithstanding. Traditional method vinification. Spent 30 months on its lees. 600 cases made. 12% ABV.
Delicate on the nose and palate. Rich effervescence. Light lemon and red berries. Quite dry and long with a toasty/yeasty note surfacing on the finish. Very elegant and the standout in this flight. (Buy again? Maybe, though excellent Champagnes can be had for less.)
Les Étoiles 2008, VQA Prince Edward County, Hinterland Wine Co. ($39)
A 50-50 blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir made using the traditional method. Aged on the lees for more than two years. The name likely refers to Dom Perignon’s apocryphal cry when he had his first sip of sparkling Champagne: “Venez vite, je bois des étoiles !” (Come quick, I am drinking stars!). If so, the winery is throwing down the gauntlet 12% ABV.
Electrum with a fine but plentiful bead. Toast and lemon on the nose. Minerals, lees and faint yellow stone fruit on the palate. A little funky and disjointed on both, improving only slightly as it breathed. Good balance between stuffing and acidity. Showing some depth, breadth and length. Still, it was hard to shake the feeling that the wine was “unsettled,” as one taster put it. An off bottle? Unfortunate because you could see the Champagne-like potential. (Buy again? To give it another chance, yes.)
MWG July 13th tasting: report (1/5)
The Mo’ Wine Group met on Friday the 13th to taste its way through an assortment of wines from Ontario’s up-and-comingest wine region, Prince Edward County, located on a peninsula jutting into Lake Ontario, about five hours by car from Montreal. Parallels having been drawn between the county’s cool climate and limestone soils and those of Champagne, we were especially interested in checking out the sparkling wines. Many thanks to members M and L for selecting and transporting the bottles.
Ancestral 2011, VQA Prince Edward County, Hinterland Wine Co. ($23)
A wine inspired by the sparkling Gamays (sometimes with a little Poulsard thown in) from Bugey Cerdon in France’s Savoie region. The name refers to the rarely used (outside of Savoie and Gaillac) méthode ancestrale of sparkling wine production, whereby the wine is bottled before fermentation is complete. Fermentation is then allowed to continue in the bottle and the carbon dioxide that is a byproduct creates the effervescence. (Like those of far too many Ontario wineries, Hinterland’s website is stingy with production details. One sentence found there – “Using the Ancestral method, the bubbles of this wine was [sic] achieved by capturing the carbon dioxide produced during the primary fermentation” – and the lack of a deposit in the bottle suggest that they may also be using some form of the transfer method.) In any case, this is 100% Gamay Noir and 8% ABV.
Pale strawberry pink with cotton candy glints. Foam disappears quickly; occasional small bubbles remain. Come-hither nose of yeast, strawberry and rose. Light on the palate with a fine effervescence. Fruity and off-dry, though the sweetness is tarted by bright acidity. Turns drier on the finish as minerals and a hint of earthiness emerge. Not quite up to Bugey Cerdon standards – this is simpler, more superficial, a bit more soda poppy – but not terribly far off and certainly enjoyable in its own right. Serve chilled as an outdoor sipper, an aperitif, with not very sweet stawberry- or rhubarb-based desserts or, possibly, as an accompaniment to Indian food (Bugey Cerdon works, so why not this?). (Buy again? Yes, a bottle or two for an all-Canadian dinner or picnic.)
Brett happens 
MWG July 13th tasting: final thoughts
with 3 comments
Our snapshot of wines made from Prince Edward County’s leading grape varieties leaves me with several thoughts.
Although our sample size was small, it’s apparent that, compared with the wines in the MWG’s last PEC survey (about four years ago) and the occasional bottles tasted since, the overall quality is improving and some world-class wines are now being made in PEC.
That said, the wines’ quality/price ratio is out of whack. For every wine we tasted, you can find more interesting non-PEC wines in the same style for the same price and often for less. While the wineries’ small scale, start-up costs and higher operating expenses (for example, PEC vinifera vines have to be buried to survive the winter, an expense Niagara winegrowers don’t bear) are partly to blame, it’s also clear a premium is being charged, in all likelihood due to the product’s rarity (small production) and the high demand (fueled by Ontario media and local pride). The bottom line: if you want to experience what Prince Edward County has to offer, you’ll pay for the privilege.
Prince Edward County is the nearest fine wine region to Montreal and Quebec. In terms of dry table wines, only one or two Quebec wineries even begin to approach the overall level. Odd then that it’s off the radar of so many Montreal wine geeks, wine bars, restaurants, agents and the SAQ. Of course, Canada’s antiquated liquor distribution laws have something to do with this.
I can’t shake the impression that the area is still feeling its way toward a style. What’s interesting, distinctive, about the region is that it appears to be one of the few in North America with the potential to make the lighter, brighter, mineral-driven wines that wine lovers allergic to the fruit-driven New World style crave. The most successful wines in our tasting fit that mould; the least successful, the tropical fruit Chards, didn’t. My advice: Look to Chablis, not Carneros. Think Loire, not Lodi. Forget the Merlot and consider planting grape varieties from cool-climate regions like the Jura, Savoie, Austria, Hungary and Alto Adige. It’s a niche that needs filling in North America and you guys are uniquely positioned to fill it.
Trying to find technical information on PEC wines is an exercise in frustration. Want to know if a wine was aged in barrels, what the barrels were made from, who they were made by, what percentage was new? Curious about what grapes in what proportion went into the wine? Wondering what kind of agricultural practices are used? Whether a wine is filtered, fined or sulphured? You probably won’t find many if any answers to those and other technical questions on the winery’s website. Yes, some of these are tiny operations. But others aren’t (looking at you, Norman Hardie). And anyway, winemakers, you have this information. It can be typed up in five minutes. It doesn’t have to be nicely presented; the people interested in it don’t give a damn about formatting. What’s important is that it be available. As things stand now, we’re forced to scour the Web for reviews and reports on winery visits, and even when we find information on blogs or in articles, it’s incomplete and often contradictory.
And while we’re in lecture mode, winemakers, how about getting your French act together? “Method Traditional” doesn’t cut it. Neither does calling a Chardonnay-dominated blend a “blanc de noir.” Claiming your wine is inspired by those of “Bougey-Cerdon” doesn’t inspire confidence. And those are only three of several glaring examples of fractured French. You’re located a few hours from the second largest French-speaking city in the world, from the heartland of franco-North American culture, from a hotbed of European and natural wine appreciation and from a potentially big market for PEC wine sales and tourism. You really don’t want to come across looking like des amateurs.
Written by carswell
August 28, 2012 at 10:36
Posted in Commentary
Tagged with Mo' Wine Group, Ontario