Ever since I have been drinking wine I have had an affinity with Rieslings. Way back when I was introduced to the beauty of the grape when I was able to taste many of the great Rieslings of Germany. I remember meeting Fritz Hassenbach of Gunderloch Estates, the only German winemaker to be given multiple perfect scores from the Wine Spectator magazine (He actually came to Stargazers to host a Winemakers dinner in 2003). The experience meeting Fritz was wonderful and over the years I have had the pleasure to enjoy many of his wines, including one of his 100 point wines.
Now I still enjoy a good bottle of German Riesling now and again but not very often. Why would I when we can make just as good a wine here in Ontario. Niagara makes some stellar Rieslings. Angels Gate, Cave Springs and Vineland have been perennial favorites of mine. I am pleased to say that Lake Erie North Shore Rieslings are up to par with both Niagara and Germany. The Sanson Estates 2007 Riesling is a very pretty wine and typical of the style. There is a beautiful pear nose with luscious stone fruit flavors. I like my Rieslings very racy so for my taste it lacks acidity but the supple mouth feel is quite pleasant.
I have a bottle of the 2006 and 2007 Rieslings from Smith & Wilson chilling in my fridge and I will give you my report on the difference in years shortly.
Until then, Drink up!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
I'm Back
So I have taken a break for the last six weeks from this blog. Honestly I haven’t been drinking much wine. With the kids being out of school and routines going straight out the window, so went the blog. Stephanie and I are going to be more diligent in our wine drinking… Oops I mean wine writing.
I was down at the LCBO in Windsor and I noticed Colio’s new line of wines “Girls Night Out.” I think that this is a brilliant marketing idea. I know that girls quite often get together for wine and gossip nights and now they have a wine just for those occasion. How does the wine taste? Honestly I don’t know. I am deferring the description to my better half the next time she has a “Girls night out”.
What I have been drinking is Smith & Wilson’s Pinot Gris. This is a full bodied wine for a Pinot Gris. There is lots of grapefruit, banana and a touch of coconut wrapped around a firm acidic backbone. I don’t suggest this a patio sipper, but definitely a food pairing wine. I would suggest either coconut shrimp or scallops with a tropical fruit salsa to match the acidity. Either way it marries well with food as the acidity cleanses the palate for the next bite.
On the docket over the next couple weeks I intend to focus on Rieslings. I have a bottle of Sanson’s Riesling that won bronze at this year’s All Canadian Wine Championships as well as Smith & Wilson’s 2006 & 2007 Rieslings. Look for the notes on these shortly.
I was down at the LCBO in Windsor and I noticed Colio’s new line of wines “Girls Night Out.” I think that this is a brilliant marketing idea. I know that girls quite often get together for wine and gossip nights and now they have a wine just for those occasion. How does the wine taste? Honestly I don’t know. I am deferring the description to my better half the next time she has a “Girls night out”.
What I have been drinking is Smith & Wilson’s Pinot Gris. This is a full bodied wine for a Pinot Gris. There is lots of grapefruit, banana and a touch of coconut wrapped around a firm acidic backbone. I don’t suggest this a patio sipper, but definitely a food pairing wine. I would suggest either coconut shrimp or scallops with a tropical fruit salsa to match the acidity. Either way it marries well with food as the acidity cleanses the palate for the next bite.
On the docket over the next couple weeks I intend to focus on Rieslings. I have a bottle of Sanson’s Riesling that won bronze at this year’s All Canadian Wine Championships as well as Smith & Wilson’s 2006 & 2007 Rieslings. Look for the notes on these shortly.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Focal Pointe and Zweigelt
Stephanie and I opened up a bottle of Viewpointe 2002 Focal Pointe Cabernet Franc the other night with dinner. I like what John is doing with his wines, and there is a definite consistency with his reds. The Focal Pointe has a deep dark color with a tempting smokey cedar nose. The luscious deep black fruit caresses the palate with balanced tannins and hints of chocolate. The wine is maturing nicely and I would suggest drinking it over the next 5 years with a big juicy steak.
Another older wine Stephanie and I enjoyed was the 2002 Pelee Island Reserve Zweigelt. Typical of many local wines there is abundant earthiness when it is first opened. Subtle honey aromas with mushroom and barnyard fill the glass and hints of cranberry and tobacco develop as the wines open. The tannins are round and beautiful with a lingering finish. This wine definitely reminds me of an Italian Amarone with its earthy flavors. Enjoy this with food that features mushrooms and or truffles.
Another older wine Stephanie and I enjoyed was the 2002 Pelee Island Reserve Zweigelt. Typical of many local wines there is abundant earthiness when it is first opened. Subtle honey aromas with mushroom and barnyard fill the glass and hints of cranberry and tobacco develop as the wines open. The tannins are round and beautiful with a lingering finish. This wine definitely reminds me of an Italian Amarone with its earthy flavors. Enjoy this with food that features mushrooms and or truffles.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Mead
In my quest to explore local wines, I discovered a few months ago that there is a Meadery located just outside the borders of Chatham-Kent in Alvinston. Stephanie, the kids and I took a drive to Munro’s Honey and Meadery to pick up some local honey and to explore their meads.
Let me tell you that they have a great gift shop. There are all things bee there, including a glass hive where MJ and Madeline spend a good time looking for the Queen Bee. I respect Munro’s as their honey is unlike many honeys you buy in the grocery store. It is fragrant and floral and has all the trademark honey characteristics without tasting sugary sweet.
Now for the Mead. I must admit that this is my first time tasting Mead, but considering Munro’s have won many medals, I think this was a good place to start. I picked up three bottles for tasting, Mead, Honey Wine Mead, and Sweet Mead. The first two are slightly off dry table wines while the Sweet Mead was definitely a dessert style wine. Munro’s also make a Dry Mead but they are temporarily out of stock.
In general the table Meads have similar flavors to Sauvignon Blanc—grassy, cat-pee, with simple clean flavors. The Mead featured a grassy, honey nose with a very perfumed palate. The finish was very clean and simple. It somewhat reminded me of Drambuie on too many rocks (not surprising since honey is a main ingredient in Drambuie). The Honey wine had a beautiful golden color with honey and cat-pee aromas. It has a fuller body and is rounder and sweeter than the Mead with a dry finish.
The Sweet Mead had a beautiful sweet honey and floral nose with a full bodied mouth feel and a slightly waxy finish. It would go well with a dry fruit tart or custard dessert.
In general, I would say that Mead is a nice treat now and again, but I wouldn’t want to drink much all at once… the hangover would be deadly.
Let me tell you that they have a great gift shop. There are all things bee there, including a glass hive where MJ and Madeline spend a good time looking for the Queen Bee. I respect Munro’s as their honey is unlike many honeys you buy in the grocery store. It is fragrant and floral and has all the trademark honey characteristics without tasting sugary sweet.
Now for the Mead. I must admit that this is my first time tasting Mead, but considering Munro’s have won many medals, I think this was a good place to start. I picked up three bottles for tasting, Mead, Honey Wine Mead, and Sweet Mead. The first two are slightly off dry table wines while the Sweet Mead was definitely a dessert style wine. Munro’s also make a Dry Mead but they are temporarily out of stock.
In general the table Meads have similar flavors to Sauvignon Blanc—grassy, cat-pee, with simple clean flavors. The Mead featured a grassy, honey nose with a very perfumed palate. The finish was very clean and simple. It somewhat reminded me of Drambuie on too many rocks (not surprising since honey is a main ingredient in Drambuie). The Honey wine had a beautiful golden color with honey and cat-pee aromas. It has a fuller body and is rounder and sweeter than the Mead with a dry finish.
The Sweet Mead had a beautiful sweet honey and floral nose with a full bodied mouth feel and a slightly waxy finish. It would go well with a dry fruit tart or custard dessert.
In general, I would say that Mead is a nice treat now and again, but I wouldn’t want to drink much all at once… the hangover would be deadly.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Ontario Wine Week
On Tuesday I was in Toronto at the Wine Council of Ontario’s trade luncheon where they announced the 2008 VQA Restaurant Award of Excellence winners. In addition to releasing the names of the award winning restaurants, the event featured a tapas style luncheon put on by four Chefs pairing Ontario wines with local foods. Mike Robbins from the Kettle Creek Inn paired a 2006 Fume Blanc from Peninsula Ridge and a 2006 Riesling from Chateau de Charmes with Smoked Manatoulin Island trout cakes presented on organic greens with a tarragon cream. The smokiness of the fume blanc paired well with the trout cakes while the Riesling featured refreshing lime and limestone notes and went miraculously well with the organic greens and the tarragon cream.
The second course was created by Roberto Fracchioni from the Milcroft Inn. Roberto produced a lemon thyme crusted Creemore Springs Organic Artic Char with fresh asparagus. The two wines that complimented this dish were he 2006 Dean’s List Chardonnay from Niagara College Teaching Winery and 2006 Signature Series Sur Lie Chardonnay from Peller Estates. The NCTW Chardonnay had a beautiful aroma of popcorn seedlings but it was out of balance and featured too much oak for my liking. On the other hand, the Peller Chardonnay was beautifully balanced with lychee and pear flavors.
Chef Mike Matthews and Brad Long from Veritas restaurant in Toronto prepared braised Kerr Farms short ribs. You may know Brad Long from his work on Food TV’s Restaurant Makeover. I was pleased to see that Chatham Kent’s own Bob Kerr is really making a name for his meats and vegetables in Toronto. Now keeping with the local ingredient theme I would have chose Smith & Wilson’s Watercress Creek Cabernet Franc to go with this dish, but instead they chose two brilliant reds from Niagara. The 2005 Fielding Meritage and the 2006 Red by Thirty Bench winery are both stunning wines and paired well with the braised ribs.
For dessert Chef Nathan Isberg from Czehoski restaurant in Toronto created a strawberry Napoleon with honey pasty cream that was delicious. They sourced their strawberries from Fosterholm farms around the GTA. With the weather this year the strawberries weren’t quite ripe, but Nathan marinated them in maple syrup to bring out the flavor. The dish was paired with 2005 Dan Aykroyd Winery Signature reserve Vidal Icewine and the Peller Estates Signature series Ice Cuvee sparkling wine. The Peller cuvee was brilliant with tight bubbles and just the right hint of sweetness to pair with the Napoleon.
I must comment on how lucky we are in Southwestern Ontario with our extended growing season. Asparagus is just now in full swing in the GTA while we have been enjoying it for over a month now and the season is almost over. According to my local grower, our strawberry crop is in full swing and we are having a bumper crop while in the GTA they aren’t ready yet.
The event ended with a tasting with about 30 Niagara wineries and Pelee Island Winery participating. There were some stunning Rieslings and beautiful Gamay from 13th Street winery. Pelee Island held its own showcasing their Select Chardonnay, Reserve Pinot Noir, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. If you haven’t tried the Pelee Cabernet Sauvignon, make a point of it because it is really good.
Oh, by the way the reason I was at this luncheon was because Stargazers was awarded a Gold award of Excellence for our wine list.
The second course was created by Roberto Fracchioni from the Milcroft Inn. Roberto produced a lemon thyme crusted Creemore Springs Organic Artic Char with fresh asparagus. The two wines that complimented this dish were he 2006 Dean’s List Chardonnay from Niagara College Teaching Winery and 2006 Signature Series Sur Lie Chardonnay from Peller Estates. The NCTW Chardonnay had a beautiful aroma of popcorn seedlings but it was out of balance and featured too much oak for my liking. On the other hand, the Peller Chardonnay was beautifully balanced with lychee and pear flavors.
Chef Mike Matthews and Brad Long from Veritas restaurant in Toronto prepared braised Kerr Farms short ribs. You may know Brad Long from his work on Food TV’s Restaurant Makeover. I was pleased to see that Chatham Kent’s own Bob Kerr is really making a name for his meats and vegetables in Toronto. Now keeping with the local ingredient theme I would have chose Smith & Wilson’s Watercress Creek Cabernet Franc to go with this dish, but instead they chose two brilliant reds from Niagara. The 2005 Fielding Meritage and the 2006 Red by Thirty Bench winery are both stunning wines and paired well with the braised ribs.
For dessert Chef Nathan Isberg from Czehoski restaurant in Toronto created a strawberry Napoleon with honey pasty cream that was delicious. They sourced their strawberries from Fosterholm farms around the GTA. With the weather this year the strawberries weren’t quite ripe, but Nathan marinated them in maple syrup to bring out the flavor. The dish was paired with 2005 Dan Aykroyd Winery Signature reserve Vidal Icewine and the Peller Estates Signature series Ice Cuvee sparkling wine. The Peller cuvee was brilliant with tight bubbles and just the right hint of sweetness to pair with the Napoleon.
I must comment on how lucky we are in Southwestern Ontario with our extended growing season. Asparagus is just now in full swing in the GTA while we have been enjoying it for over a month now and the season is almost over. According to my local grower, our strawberry crop is in full swing and we are having a bumper crop while in the GTA they aren’t ready yet.
The event ended with a tasting with about 30 Niagara wineries and Pelee Island Winery participating. There were some stunning Rieslings and beautiful Gamay from 13th Street winery. Pelee Island held its own showcasing their Select Chardonnay, Reserve Pinot Noir, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. If you haven’t tried the Pelee Cabernet Sauvignon, make a point of it because it is really good.
Oh, by the way the reason I was at this luncheon was because Stargazers was awarded a Gold award of Excellence for our wine list.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Pelee's Blanc de Blanc
Continuing on my quest to taste and write about all the local award winning wines from the 2008 ACWC, Stephanie and I opened up Pelee Island’s 2007 Blanc de Blanc. As I understand this wine, it is Pelee’s value wine selling for about $9 at the LCBO (it is also the biggest selling white wine at the LCBO). The wine is a blend of Vidal and Seyal Blanc, but the Vidal really shines through. There are very pleasant flavors of peaches and pineapple with just a hint of steeliness to add complexity. There is a hint of residual sweetness and the acidity is in check. This is another solid table wine that is best suited to cocktail parties and lazing around the pool. Just as a side note, I made some madras curry pork with cucumber raita and some fresh picked asparagus. The sweetness in the wine stood up to the spiciness of the curry.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Smith's Vidal & Muscedere Pinot Noir
Award Winning Wines:
This weekend Stephanie and I opened up a couple of the wines that won awards at this Year’s All Canadian Wine Championship. The first wine we opened was the silver medal winning 2006 Smith’s Vidal from Smith & Wilson. It was a well balanced, easy drinking summer sipper loaded with grapefruit and pineapple aromas. Enjoy it on its own or with light seafood dishes (pickerel with a pineapple salsa would be a good match).
The second wine was the double gold medal winning 2006 Pinot Noir from Muscedere. It was a light bodied wine that tasted youthful and tight at first. It wasn’t until it was matched with food--- a grilled pork loin with sweet potato roesti and dried cherry demi glace—that the true spirit of the wine emerged. Raspberry and cherry aromas started to jump out of the young tannins revealing a beautiful balance between the fruit and acidity. Muscedere only made 50 cases of this wine, and at $20 retail, this is definitely one to pick up a case to drink in a year or two.
This weekend Stephanie and I opened up a couple of the wines that won awards at this Year’s All Canadian Wine Championship. The first wine we opened was the silver medal winning 2006 Smith’s Vidal from Smith & Wilson. It was a well balanced, easy drinking summer sipper loaded with grapefruit and pineapple aromas. Enjoy it on its own or with light seafood dishes (pickerel with a pineapple salsa would be a good match).
The second wine was the double gold medal winning 2006 Pinot Noir from Muscedere. It was a light bodied wine that tasted youthful and tight at first. It wasn’t until it was matched with food--- a grilled pork loin with sweet potato roesti and dried cherry demi glace—that the true spirit of the wine emerged. Raspberry and cherry aromas started to jump out of the young tannins revealing a beautiful balance between the fruit and acidity. Muscedere only made 50 cases of this wine, and at $20 retail, this is definitely one to pick up a case to drink in a year or two.
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