Cuvee 2008
So this past weekend I was down in Niagara for the 20th Annual Cuvee festival. It is a charity event Wine Council of Ontario to benefit the Niagara Community Foundation. On the Friday night there was a Gala held at the Fallsview Casino that included a tasting of a number of wines from Niagara and a few from Prince Edward County and Lake Erie North Shore, as well as an awards ceremony.
21 wines were awarded medals from different wine styles. The wines, submitted by 55 wineries from across the province, were judged by the winemakers themselves giving the Cuvee Gala an “Academy Awards” feel to it (the wine industry recognizing itself). The big winner of the night was Creekside Estate Winery who pulled home four different awards, but I think the surprise of the night was when the award for best Cabernet Sauvignon went to Pelee Island for their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. This wine is the only wine recognized with an award that was not from the Niagara Peninsula. I was please to Congratulate Winemaker Martin Janz after the awards presentation and enjoy a glass of the Cabernet with him. The wine is drinking very well right now with luscious red fruit, hints of mint and leather and a touch of blood orange citrus. The wine is well structured with strong but integrated tannins. It is a very well made wine and very deserving of the Cuvee award. Congratulations to Martin and all the folks at Pelee Island Winery. Below is a list of the other winners of the night.
Best Red Wine: Thirty Bench Winemakers Benchmark Red 2005
Limited Edition Red: Creekside Estates Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
White Wine: Cave Springs Gewurztraminer 2006
Limited Edition White: Featherstone Estate Bottled Gewurztraminer 2007
LCBO General List Red: Hillebrand Artist Series Meritage 2005
LCBO General List White: Hillebrand Trius Riesling 2006
Sparkling Wine: Peller Estates Signature Series Ice Cuvee Rose NV
Sweet Wine: Reif Vidal Icewine 2005
Limited Edition Sweet Wine: Cattail Creek Barrel Fermented Vidal Icewine 2006
Meritage: Creekside Reserve Meritage 2004
Cabernet Sauvignon: Pelee Island Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2005
Cabernet Franc: Cave Springs Cabernet Franc Estate 2005
Merlot: Hernder Winery Merlot 2004
Syrah/Shiraz: Creekside Broken Press Shiraz 2005
Red Assemblage: Mike Weir Cabernet Shiraz 2005
Riesling: Thirty Bench Small Lot Riesling “Triangle Vineyard” 2006
Sauvignon Blanc: Jackson-Triggs Niagara Grand Reserve White Meritage 2006
Chardonnay: Niagara College Teaching Winery Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2006
White Assemblage: Hillebrand Trius White 2006
Gold Award: Henry of Pelham Reserve Riesling 2006
Gold Award: Stonechurch Riesling Dry 2006
On the subject of Pelee Island, I opened up their Premium Select Chardonnay 2006. This is another impressive wine. It has a creamy, almost caramel and tropical fruit nose. It is a pleasantly warm and luscious with good green apple acidity. I can imagine sitting down with a nice plate of brie and smoked salmon and being in heaven. I am really impressed with what Pelee Island is doing with their wines. It seems like as soon as you pay $14.95 or above for one of their wines the quality and value increases tremendously.
About Me
- Michael Hunter
- Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada
- my wife Stephanie and I own a restaurant on the shores of the thames river in Chatham-Kent called Stargazers on the thames. I am the leading restaurant authority on Lake Erie North Shore wines as my wine list have been given awards of excellence from the Wine Spectator magazine as well as Gold Awards of Excellence from the wine council of Ontario. Here I will share with you what I have tasted recently and my thoughts on wine.
2 comments:
I notice the new "night raiders" in the plastic bottle didn't make the list...nasty drinking, but it makes a damn fine linguini with clams :-)
In response to the comment about Night Raiders: It is not an ontario wine and would not be even considered, i'm sure. Night Raiders is made from imported and domestic wines and is more of a value brand. For 7.50 a bottle, it's not bad. Especially the cabernet. Either way, it has now been discontinued.
I wouldn't dismiss a wine for being in a plastic bottle, Research has shown that wine ages as well in a plastic bottle as it does in glass, plastic is lighter (10 lbs lighter per case), reducing the transportation cost and is more easily recycled than traditional glass bottles.
Post a Comment