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.

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.

Smith’s Vidal:

Stephanie and I sat down for dinner tonight and opened up a bottle of Smith & Wilson’s Smith’s Vidal 2006. This wine brought home a silver medal at the All Canadian Wine Championships a few weeks ago. The wine has developed very well over the last year into a beautifully wine. The nectarine aromas fill the glass with a very well balanced acidity to compliment the fruit. We enjoyed it over a plate of chicken curry that went very well. The stone fruit really molded with the curry to create a harmonious union.

The other night we enjoyed another medal winning wine. Last year Aleksander’s cassis brought home the best in category medal from the ACWC and we opened up our last bottle of it on the weekend. I remember drinking it last summer and being blown away by it, but now I must say that I was disappointed with the way the wine has developed. It has lots of acidity left and you can tell it is black current, but it has lost its balance. It was harsh and acidic. This leaves me to speculate that fruit wines are not meant to age the same way grape wines do, but of course the only way to prove this is to sit some down and try them a year or two from now. The question is, Can I wait?