Beringer "Founders' Estate" Merlot 2004

Established in 1876, Beringer is the oldest continuous winery in Napa, according to their literature. Their wines, for the most part, almost define New World products - fruit forward, full bodied and ripe.

The "Founders' Estate" Merlot is no exception. Rich, jammy notes of plums and raisins are balanced with a very light leathery tone. The mouthfeel is very dry, with chewy tannins and low acidity. It's tastes of ripe summer fruit.

This is a very nice wine with food, but it's excellent all by itself (though unfortunately, it's not vegan). Enjoy!

Cheers,
Dave

Barnivore - your source for vegan booze

I'm going to be sharing my research on vegan wine with Barnivore, the Toronto-based directory to vegetarian and vegan wine, beer, and liquor. It's an excellent resource if you want your drink free of fish bladders, egg whites, bovine hooves, milk or blood - any of which are used by some producers as "fining" agents, to remove unwanted tannins or other proteins from their drinks.

Cheers,
Dave

Long Dog Vineyard and Winery

We had some trouble finding out the exact location of Long Dog Winery, named for the pair of longhaired daschunds, Bella and Fanny, who rule the property. We had almost decided not to go, but during supper at the Merill Inn Restaurant, Inn owner Edward Shubert was shocked to hear that we might miss it. He insisted that we take the time to visit before we left the next morning, and he was absolutely right.

The tasting room doesn't open until noon, but with a quick phone call we easily set up a 10:00 a.m. appointment. Greeted by co-owner Victoria Rose (she owns it with her husband, winemaker James Lahti and with Toronto lawyer Steven Rapkin), we settled in a pretty barnboard tasting room with a prominent but tasteful daschund motif. After a day of torrential rains, the vineyards were mud, and James was covered to his knees in his terroir.

But the wines! With one exception, we fell in love with them all. Delicate, subtle, complex are accurate descriptions for each one. We also had the privilege of tasting the 2007 Chardonnay and 2007 Pinot Noir from their barrels - both promise great things, especially the Chard.

By the way, while one of the early Pinot Noir vintages (no longer available) was fined with egg white, Long Dog no longer fines any of its wines. They are suitable for vegans.

Long Dog Pinot Gris 2006
While its very light on the nose, with only hints of citrus, veg and green pepper, the Gris really comes through on the palette: rich melon tastes and subtle, rounded citrus flavours. The finish could be longer, and the winery agrees - they're recommending another month in the bottle.

Long Dog Pinot Gris 2007
Left on the skins a couple of extra days this one has a very light and pretty pink hue. But its steely aromas and melon and pineapple flavours are already providing a long, long, and complex finish. Beautiful!

Long Dog Chardonnay "Bella" 2006
Very lightly oaked, the aromas show pineapple and a bare hint of toast. Flavours include toasty almond and green apple, with some medium acid up front, replaced by a long toasty finish. This is a winner, dry, complex and lightly oaked. We bought a case for ZenKitchen dinners.

Long Dog Tumbling Stone VQA 2007
This blend, comprised of 50-50 Gamay and Pinot Noir, offers sweet red fruit and light smoke aromas. In the mouth, it's crisp with sour cherry and some green apple. A it too tart for me, it would nonetheless be a good food wine.

Long Dog Pinot Noir Barrel Select VQA 2006
A complex aroma of warm red fruit and alcohol, this has a dry, mouthwatering feel. Medium tannins, approaching high, and very mild vanilla notes on the finish.

County Premium Cider

Finally, for today at least, we moved down the road to one of Prince Edward County's best-loved beverage manufacturers: County Premium Cider. I won't go into details (they all tasted a lot like apple), but we loved the Waupoos Premium Cider and plan to bring it to a future ZenKitchen dinner. It's really, very appley.

The Cider company also offers a couple of interesting wines:

County Indian Point Apple Wine, made from Northern Spy. It's, well, kind of like dry, flat cider.

County Premium Cider Pinot Noir 2006
Made from grapes grown in the nearby Roberto Lorenzoni vineyard and oaked for 8 months in French barrels, this is an OK Pinot. Very high tannins and a long tannic finish, it may round out in the future.

County Premium Cider Prince Edward County Ice Cider
Made from a blend of Russet, Ida Red and Northern Spy apples, it tastes of cinnamon and apples - like apple pie in a glass! Lovely, and it may well make its way to the ZenKitchen list, too.

Waupoos Estates Winery

Following a brief interlude wandering Picton's main street (called, I think, Main Street), we took off to the west end for Waupoos Estates.

This is a pretty, little building suffering under a heavy rain that set in as we arrived. We were greeted by a young fellow who set up our first glass while we gazed out the windows to the vineyard. I have to say, though, that this was the end of our idyllic visit. Almost immediately, Ed, the owner/curmudgeon, noticed that I was taking notes and decided he'd better involve himself. His grumpy demeanour only distracted from his product.

Despite this, we made it through a few vintages, and even found one or two we liked.

Waupoos Pinot Gris 2007
The overripe-melon, apple and mineral aromas held a lot of promise, but the mouthfeel was overwhelmed by the acidity and the medium sour finish.

Waupoos Seyval Blanc 2005
Hard to find any aromas at all in this, it had a green apple flavour.

Waupoos Unoaked Chardonnay 2006
Light pear and apple aromas; sour apple taste.

(Can you tell I was maybe a little distracted?)

Waupoos Geisenheim 2006
Finally, a County Geisenheim worth drinking. Clean melon, apple and mineral aromas, with a lot of sweet apple and melon flavours. The wine is quite dry, with just enough hint of citrus.

Waupoos Pearl Noir 2007
Actually a blend of Baco Noir and Gamay, it has heavy tobacco, chocolate and sweet red fruit aromas, with a secondary aroma of coffee. And the taste? Just like a chocolate-covered espresso bean. A good coffee-cherry finish. Very complex and interesting, this should mellow out in the bottle.

Waupoos Honeysuckle 2006
A blend of Chardonnay, Vidal and Seyval (the owner adamantly refused to tell me the per centages, in case I leaked them on the Internet or something), it has a light mineral and melon aroma and a taste of grapefruit and peach with a long tart finish. His secret is safe.

Waupoos Baco Noir 2007
A simpler version of the Pearl Noir, this still has the dark coffee and leather aromas, along with some dark red cherries. It tastes lightly of chocolate and coffee, without the boldness of the Pearl Noir.

Waupoos Winter White 2006
100% Vidal, harvested after the berries have frozen, Waupoos is unable to call this an Icewine because it was picked before they achieved their appellation status. Still, that's what it is. With a nice honey, floral and apple aroma set, it has a surprising if slight tart mouthfeel and lots of honeyed apple flavour. A very nice take on a not-to-be-called Icewine.

Black Prince Winery

After a nice lunch in Bloomfield, we continued down the highway to the Black Prince Winery. Regretfully decorated with medieval symbols - suits of armour, crests, fake swords and the like - the tasting room provides an outlet for local artisans, some good, some less so.

Black Prince also allows a few other wineries - start-ups who can't manage their own tasting rooms yet - to sell their wines out of the tasting room. This is a noble and princely gesture and - sorry, I've been taken a bit overwhelmed by the place.

One such winery is Bella Vigne. Their founder works at Black Prince, though he's apparently heading out on his own soon. He's experimenting with some interesting if not necessarily great varieties. Black Prince also sells some Harwood Estates wines. Here's the tasting record:

Bella Vigne Geisenheim 2006
A nice, complex nose of melon, pineapple, and mineral, the only taste is a strong sour apple. So far, I'm not impressed with the Geisenheims I've tried.

Bella Vigne Leon Millot/Foch 2007
Another obscure grape, this time tempered by Marechal Foch. Candied red fruit and leather on the nose, but sour, sour grapes in the mouth. Now I know why it's obscure.

Harwood Estates Gewurztraminer 2007
Typical Gewurz aromas of lychee, citrus and honey. The taste is slightly bitter, with little acidity or sugar. The bitterness takes over the long finish.

Harwood Estates Pinot Gris VQA 2007
Minerality, grapefruity and a grassy quality on the nose, with much the same present in the flavours. Medium acid, it has a long citric finish. Not bad at all.

Black Prince Unoaked Chardonnay 2007
This has a nice set of aromas: melon, and ripe summer fruit. The melon, along with some residual sugar, continue in the tasting, along with a secondary flavour of citrus. Medium acid, it has a medium citric finish.

Black Prince Black Series Cabernet Franc VQA 2007
This award winner has plummy, leather and black pepper notes, with some sour cherry and leather in the mouth. But I found the long finish, focused on the sourness, a bit too much.

Black Prince Vidal Icewine VQA 2006
We realized too late that this vintage is pretty much sold out. I bought the second to last bottle. It has some nice sweet spice and peach aromas, followed by flavours of honey and sweet summer fruit. Their best product.

By Chadsey's Cairns

Down the road to By Chadsey's Cairns, one of the original wineries in the area. It's a small but very pretty winery with rich clay loam. Co-owner Richard (his wife is the winemaker), was busy with some customers making a number of purchases, giving us time to fuss the dog and sit on the porch overlooking the vines. Life is good.

By Chadsey's Cairns Riesling 2007
The Riesling has a very light, watery colour but has good peach, pear and citrus aromas. Dry in the mouth, the peach, mineral and grapefruit flavour are well-balanced, leading to a long citrus finish. This will be one to try again after it's had some months in the bottle.

By Chadsey's Cairns Gewurztraminer 2007
Also surprisingly light and watery to the eye, it has a light, floral and sweet spice aroma. But the citrus and peach flavours even it out, and it has a medium citrus finish. Not great, but pleasant.

By Chadsey's Cairns Gamay Noir 2007
The aromas of leather, ripe red fruit and sour cherries don't all come through in the tasting. Sour cherries and tobacco dominate the flavours, and the long finish.

By Chadsey's Cairns Pinot Noir 2006
The tobacco and sweet red fruit are repeated in the mouth. There are good tannins here, even if it's a bit on the tart side. There's a long tart cherry finish. Unfined (and therefore suitable to vegans), this wine is offered in very convenient half bottles.

By Chadsey's Cairns Merlot-Cabernet Franc 2006
This blend comes from a partnership with Lailey Winery in Niagara, which provided the Merlot that makes up 55% of the wine. The remaining 45% Cab Franc is Estate. According to Richard, their attempt at growing Merlot - natural, given the soil - failed due to the severe cold. Plumy, jammy, with some leather, this blend really works. The tannins are high but smooth and the acidity low. Extra dry, it has a too-short tannic finish.

By Chadsey's Cairns Chardonnay 2006
Another blend, this time with Lailey Chard (65%) and Estate Chard (35%). A complex nose of citrus, peach, per and minerals doesn't quite make it to the taste, though the citrus and pear do. The finish is short. The wine is fined with egg whites.

Sandbanks Estate

Sandbanks Estate Winery has an excellent location right on the highway. The only problem with this, of course, is that it tends to be a bit crowded with tourists who aren't bothering with wineries off the beaten path.

Still, the tasting room is well staffed and we didn't have to wait long. Our one significant complaint: the lack of a proper bathroom - they sent us out to a portable toilet in the parking lot.

Sandbanks Estate Pinot Grigio VQA 2007
The Pinot Grigio offers aromas of melon and pear with a good minerality. The melon continues in the mouth, along with green apple and some residual sugar.

Sandbanks Estate Riesling VQA 2007
Steely, with citrus and petrol notes, this Riesling has a mouthwatering green apple flavour that persists to a long finish. More time in the bottle may bring out a lovely wine.

Sandbanks Estate Dunes Vidal VQA 2007
This shows lots of tropical fruit and peach aromas and tastes of pineapple, grapefruit and sweet spice. Off-dry, it has a medium grapefruit finish, and makes a pretty good light summer wine. We bought a bottle.

Sandbanks Estate Rosé 2007
Made with Geisenheim - a hybrid so obscure even Oz doesn't list it - and a very tiny amount of Cabernet Franc for colour, this offers strawberry peach and citrus aromas and flavours. The long citric finish counters the candy-like taste, but not enough.

Sandbanks Estate Cabernet Franc VQA 2006
This has lots of tobacco and ripe red fruit, and is unsurprisingly high in tannins. It tastes initially of rich, ripe cherries and secondly of strawberries. But the finish is all tobacco, chocolate and coffee. A good, complex Cab Franc for those who like big, bold wines.

Sandbanks Estate Baco Noir VQA 2007
I had a hard time getting a handle on this one. Dark fruit and cassis, yes,
but with something else that I eventually identified as a big hit of alcohol. It tastes of very sour cherries and has a tannic mouthfeel with a long sour finish. I didn't like it.

Sandbanks Estate Marechal Foch Reserve VQA 2006
With strawberry aromas and a taste of sour cherries and tobacco, this Foch has medium tannins and a short finish.

Sandbanks Estate Winter Harvest Vidal 2005
Pale straw yellow, this light dessert wine has honey, mild citrus and strawberry aromas. With a rich peach flavour and short finish, it would definitely go well with a fruit-based dessert.

The Grange, or Trumpour's Mill

Following an excellent breakfast of berries, yogurt, scrambled eggs and toast, provided by our B&B host Peter, we headed down to the other end of the peninsula to a winery we inexplicably missed yesterday: The Grange.

Now, I have one wee bone to pick with this place. While it's called The Grange, after the Granger father and daughter who founded it, all of their wines are called "Trumpour's Mill", after the Trumpour family who owned the farmland before the winery. So, every wine is The Grange: Trumpour's Mill or Trumpour's Mill by The Grange Winery or some other combination. Guys, pick a name, please?

That minor peeve out of the way, this is certainly one of the prettiest wineries and tasting rooms we visited. The parking area is slotted between the vineyards, so it's easy to see why The Grange is proud of its incredible terroir: the soil is as much limestone rock as dirt, every farmer's nightmare. Unless he or she is raising grapes, of course.

And the wines show it. We were overwhelmed with the selection and quality, and a quick chat with Operations Manager Mike Pettleson confirmed that the winery uses only bentonite for fining; all Grange products are vegan.

Trumpour's Mill Sauvignon Blanc 2006
Citrus, grapefruit, vegetal and asparagus on the nose, this is a classic New World Sauv. The asparagus and grapefruit persist in the mouth, where a medium-high acidity makes it crisp and mouthwatering. Very nice! I bought two bottles for personal consumption.

Trumpour's Mill Riesling 2007
I was going to skip this Riesling, because I hadn't yet had a good one in The County. But the senior customer service rep ordered me to try it, and she was right. With an immediate floral perfume, there are good secondary characteristics of vegetal and citrus. The veg and citrus continue in the taste. The winery calls this off-dry with a 0.5 sugar level, but the citrus made it seem dry to me. We liked this one so much, we bought a case for lucky ZenKitchen diners.

Trumpour's Mill Pinot Gris 2006
With a surprising deep golden hue, the result of a "later" harvesting and being left to sit on the skins a while, this Gris tastes of sweet summer fruit, cinammon and honey. Off-dry, it still managed a tart mouthfeel, with some grapefruit and vegetal notes and a little residual sugar.

Trumpour's Mill Chardonnay Reserve 2004
This light bodied oaked Chard offers the expected vanilla and peach aromas, continuing on into the mouth. But it's a dry vanilla, and there's some grapefruit in the long finish. Unusual, but well worth trying.

Trumpour's Mill Gamay Noir 2006
The aromas offer plum, tobacco and sweet red fruit and the strong tobacco flavour is followed by red fruit in the mouth. With medium tannins and medium acidity, this light bodied, cherry coloured Gamay is well rounded, ending with a long sour cherry finish.

Trumpour's Mill Assemblage 2005
Blended from Gamay (80%), Cab Franc and Zweigelt (the server thought each of the latter split the difference), the sweet cherry and leather aromas are overtaken by the very tannic mouthfeel. There's a long citrus finish.

Trumpour's Mill Cabernet Merlot 2006
Here's a well-rounded, complex blend. The aromas of red fruit and leather lead to flavours of tart cherries, tobacco and vegetal, with a medium sour cherry finish. Excellent for BBQs and winter stews, we bought a bottle for further appreciation.

Eating, sleeping, and one more wine

Finally, on to our B&B and dinner. We stayed at the lovely Bayside Bed & Breakfast, aptly named as it fronts a perfect stretch of shore, where you can swim off the dock in the company of labs Sam and Chaser. Host Peter Jamieson is welcoming, warm and informative, and makes great French toast. pjamieson@reach.net or (613) 476-8931.

Dinner was at Harvest, a beautiful three year old Picton restaurant founded by Karin and Michael Potters, former Toronto restaurateurs and chef. They focus on local and seasonal products and a French-style cuisine.

We both had wonderful meals (though we ate too much of the hearty whole-grain bread). And we drank a half-litre of:

The Grange "Trumpour's Mill" Pinot Noir VQA 2006
Dark Cherry, tobacco aromas lead to a complex palette of dark fruit, cassis, and leather. With a long tannic finish, it perfectly complimented my meal of mushrooms and mixed grains.

And that's the end of Day 1 in The County!

Norman Hardie Winery

Back down the road and we're at the Norman Hardie Winery. Owner and winemaker Norman Hardie worked a few vintages in Burgundy, in addition to his time in Niagara. His experience shows - wines that are complex yet subtle. He was away when we dropped by, but we spoke with Johannes Norman, the Manager of Operations, who told us that Norman tries to "leave his wines alone", meaning that he doesn't complicate the natural flavours through fining or other processes. That's good news for our vegan diners - no egg whites in Norman Hardie wines.

By the way, many for the wines are made from Niagara grapes, where Hardie manages a number of vineyards.

In addition to the five wines we tasted, ... drew a sample of the 2007 Pinot Noir from the barrel. It will be bottled in a few weeks, and this wine has it all going on. Looking forward to it!

Norman Hardie Winery Chardonnnay sans barriques 2006
This unoaked chard is spicy and vegetal while light on fruit flavours. The tart mouthfeel has lots of sweet spice, though, and a long tart finish.

Norman Hardie Winery Riesling 2007
Like every other 2007 Riesling I tried today, I found a good set of aromas (gasoline, green apples) but a less complex palette - grapefruit dominated. It's a little spritzy, too, which I liked. Highly acidic, it has a long sharp finish.

Norman Hardie Winery Chardonnay 2006
Oaked in French barrels, there's a lot of vanilla and sweet spice along with the tropical fruit. The vanilla persists in the mouth, along with secondary characteristics of melon and citrus.

Norman Hardie Winery Pinot Noir 2006
Like the upcoming 2007, the 2006 vintage has a complex sour cherry and vegetal aroma. The mouthfeel is highly tannic with a lot of acid and green pepper flavours. The tannins stay to the lengthy finish. Very nice, it could use a little more time in the bottle.

Rosehall Run

One minute down the country road and we're at Rosehall Run, a pair of modern buildings with a tasting room on the second floor of the nearest. Caroline had met owner and winemaker Dan Sullivan at the Ontario Wine Fair the year before, and he made a point of coming out to greet us.

Even better, Dan took us on a private tour of his new facility, which is not quite finished. He has a series of stainless steel fermenting tanks on the ground floor, along with what he described as "the biggest walk-in fridge you've ever seen". Below ground, rows of French oak barrels hold the Chardonnays of the future (he makes unoaked Chards, too). Dan drew tastes of two of his upcoming wines (always a true privilege to sample from the barrel!). It would be unfair to describe a wine before its time - suffice to say that there are some good things coming from Rosehall Run.


I asked Dan how he fines his wines. Fining is a technique in which a winemaker pours in a substance that certain unwanted proteins cling to. The substance falls to the bottom of the tank, where it, and the proteins, can be easily removed. Common fining products include egg whites and and a fish bladder derivative called isinglass - both of which make some wines unsuitable for vegans. There are non-animal alternatives, such as bentonite, a type of clay.

Dan said that he tries not to fine at all, but has been known to use bentonite in some of his Pinot Noirs. He has also used egg whites to clarify his Chardonnays. He said that bentonite and egg whites don't simply replace each other. Some proteins are best removed by the clay, others are better removed by egg white. Dan's a former chemist, so I'll trust his word!

Rosehall Run Unoaked Chardonnay 2006
The Chardonnay is brought in from the Beamsville Bench and blended with some Muscat. It's highly perfumed, with lots of ripe summer fruit. I also caught a hint of butter from the malo-lactic process. The palette is surprisingly crisp, with the summer fruit tempered by grapefruit flavours and a good acidity. The wine has a disappointingly short finish, but I wouldn't mind trying again.

Rosehall Run Pinot Noir 2006
Raspberries, smoke, sour cherries - this lovely, light-bodied Pinot has it all. The aromas come through on the palette, too, and there's a long tart finish. Perfect for our wild mushroom dishes, we bought a case for ZenKitchen diners to enjoy.

I tasted a couple of others, but, immersed in conversation with Dan, I took crappy notes. Sorry!

Carmela Estates

Having spent a long morning and part of the afternoon in our research, Caroline and I were both feeling a bit peckish. So we were glad to find that our next winery, Carmela Estates, has a café attached. While it lacked any vegetarian menu items (and seemed to put "crispy pancetta" on every second dish), the kitchen was happy to make some adjustments for us and we ate a simple lunch of salad and pizza.

I made a mistake here, though. Feeling a little tired, I took advantage of the offer to have a tasting flight delivered to the table. I was halfway through when the food arrived, and the scent of freshly sautéed onions overwhelmed the aromas of the wines. I had to turn my back on the food - looking more than a little ridiculous to the other diners, I'm sure - in order to finish my tasting notes.

The other disadvantagesof tasting at the table instead of at the tasting bar, is that I missed the usual in-depth descriptions of the wines: where the grapes were grown, the winemaker's philosophy and method. Lesson learned - taste first, eat later.

And the wines? I didn't find much to love here, with the flavours often too flat and lacking complexity.

Carmela Estates Riesling 2006
The classic Riesling nose of mineral, petrol and green apple is let down a bit by the extremely tart mouthfeel, where the green apple takes over. Highly acidic, it has a the long sour finish.

Carmela Estates Pinot Gris 2007
Fruit-forward, with pineapple and sweet spice dominating, this Pinot Gris has a nice melon-citrus taste. But the presence of some residual sugar and a short finish make it a bit light and sweet for my tastes.

Carmela Estates Gewurztraminer 2007
I had hopes for this wine based on the complex aromas of pear, peach, and grapefruit. But the dryness lacking in the Pinot Gris was here instead, providing a tart green apple mouthfeel.

Carmela Estates Cabernet Franc Estate 2007
With aromas of dark fruit, leather and black pepper, this Franc fulfills its promise on the palette. Highly tannic, the leather persists along with chocolate and coffee flavours. The coffee sticks around for a long finish that can only be described as robust. Hard to pair with food right now, some time in the bottle should mellow out the rougher flavours and produce a very nice, balance wine in the next couple of years.

Closson Chase Vineyards

Closson Chase, one of The County's premier wineries, was founded by a group of film and TV veterans. They were smart in hiring a very good viticulturalist, Deborah Paskus. She wisely disciplines herself to two varieties, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir - and she does them very well.

The company also turned a lovely old barn into a lovelier new winery and tasting room, where we sampled:

Closson Chase CCV Sans Chene Chardonnay 2007
Lots of tropical fruit and green apple, the low acidity and hint of residual sugar marred an otherwise nice Chard.

Closson Chase 2006 Chardonnay VQA
The fruit here comes from the Beamsville Bench in Niagara, and is resplendent in honeydew, honey and vanilla. The vanilla dominates the taste, along with ripe tropical fruit and sweet spice. Too much oak for my taste, it will give a lot of pleasure to those who enjoy their Chardonnay rich and ripe.

Closson Chase CCV Pinot Noir 2006
I believe the technical word is "yummy". A complex nose of sour cherries and earthiness, it comes through on the palette. Medium acid, medium tannin and a too-brief sour cherry finish. A winner. We took a bottle home.

Closson Chase Pinot Noir Assemblage
Blended from two different vintages (2005 and 2006), this lovely Pinot also offered the earthy, cherry goodness of the straight-up 2006. So what did the 2005 contribute? A longer more complex finish - just what the bottle needed.

So why did we buy the 2006 instead of the Assemblage? Price. At $35, the 2006 was already much more than we usually pay for a bottle of wine. The $45 Assemblage was a little better, but not that much better.

Sugarbush Winery

Following such a successful start, we headed down the road to our next destination. But we got sidetracked, a little, by a sign for a winery not on our list. Sugarbush is a new start-up, only two years old and operated out of the basement of its hardworking owners. Generally, we sympathize with someone so bold as to enter one of the world's most challenging industries, and happily gave their products a try. The Sugarbush wines aren't quite at the point yet that we'd serve them to our clients, but there are certainly some worth drinking. That said, Caroline and I both noted a predominant sulphur aroma for every wine.

Sugarbush Gamay VQA 2007
While the initial nose was of yeast and sulphite, aromas of plum and red cherry are also present. Very sour on the palette, there's some nice tobacco, too.

Sugarbush Almost Red 2007
This aptly named rosé is 90% Cabernet Franc, 10% Chardonnay. Unfortunately, it was served right out of a bar fridge and the low temp put a chill on the aromas and tastes. Eventually, I found some raspberry and sour cherry on this light but innocuous product.

Sugarbush Gewurztraminer 2007
The winner among the lot, this Gewurz shows lots of fruit and sweet spice. Sweet apple, pear and peach round out the flavours, with the pear dominating the finish. Off-dry, it shows a lot of promise. So much so, we purchased a bottle for future consideration.

Sugarbush Riesling 2007
Light grapefruit and mineral aromas entice, but the tastes are overly dominated by the citric acidity, which extends into the long grapefruit finish. It might be nice with soda.

Sugarbush The Other Red 2006
Interesting for the fact that it is 100% Zweigelt, picked at the nearby Robert Thomas Vineyards. Oz Clarke tells me (don't you always travel with a volume of Oz Clarke?) that Zweigelt is Austria's most planted red grape, capable of high yields and an interesting peppery wine. Rather than pepper, this Zweigelt gives me sweet red fruit and a hint of leather. With medium tannins and high acidity, it's a mouthwatering curiosity that would be easily toned down by food, and bears keeping an eye on.

Huff Estates

We arrived at Huff Estates - the largest and best established winery in the appellation - a little later than planned (damn you Google maps!), but happily so, because the brief, hourly, tour had just begun. We caught up to find the group looking at a room full of French oak barriques, filled mostly with the 2007 Pinot Noir and 2007 Chardonnay. A series of racks to one side held bottles of sparkling wine with their funny pop-bottle caps - these will be removed following the riddling stage, when the real corks will be introduced. The sparkler is expected to be Huff's future claim to fame: our tour guide told us that samples had been sent to a wine tester in France, who was unable, based on bubble count (!), chemical analysis and taste, to tell the Huff product from Champagne. A tale worth telling, as long the product doesn't let the story down...

We were led upstairs to the primary fermentation area, the made-in-Quebec stainless steel tanks carefully controlling pressure and temperature. Then, back to the tasting room - my favourite part of any tour. (As an aside, I'd be willing to visit a lot more museums if they ended the tour at a tasting room. Curators, take note!)

Here's what we found:

Huff Estates VQA Pinot Gris 2007
Light bodied, with aromas of melon, tropical fruit and grapefruit, if has a tart, mouthwatering crispness that's balanced with that tropical fruit coming back in the second taste. That citrus finish doesn't let go, and that's a good thing. The wine is made from 100% Huff Estate grapes. And we liked it, so much, that we bought a case to serve to our diners in the future.Huff Estates

VQA Lighthall Chardonnay 2006
This is an interesting blend of oaked and unoaked Chardonnays. There's still a hint of vanilla and menthol from the French barrels, along with some sweet spice. The taste is of butter, citrus and green apple. It's light bodied, dry and highly acidic. A nice summer patio wine, especially for those who like the Chards a little less oaky.

Huff Estates VQA Merlot 2007
The dark ruby colour gives a hint of the expected aromas, and they're certainly present: dark cherries, tobacco, black pepper and cassis. But the wine is let down by its taste - overwhelming sour cherry and a long sour finish. Give this baby a couple of years to grow up, and it may round out nicely.

Huff Estates South Bay Chardonnay 2006
This typical Chardonnay is oaked and the aromas and taste match exactly, with lots of vanilla and apple. It has a long, slightly tart apple finish, which nicely balances the oak.

Huff Estates VQA Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
This well-aged Cab smells great - tobacco, dark cherries and even plum. On the palette, its VERY tannic and has a lot of acidity, with a mix of dark and sour cherries and even a hint of chocolate. Extra dry, it has a long tannic finish. It's rich and challenging even for a lover of full-bodied reds.

Prince Edward County - Day 1

Canada's newest wine appellation is on a pennisula (I think it's a peninsula - Grade 7 geography was a LONG time ago.) stretching across the Bay of Quinte just west, and a bit south, of Kingston to Trenton. A mere two hours from my home in Ottawa (Google Maps says three, but what does it know?), Caroline and I drove down on a cloudy, cool day.Prince Edward County, or The County as it's known locally, is renowned for its abundant farm land, picturesque villages full of pottery studios, bookstores and antique shops, and the beautiful warm water playground afforded by the Bay.
Oh, and there's some wine here, too.
An even dozen wineries, in fact, taking advantage of the protective waters of the Bay and the limestone and clay soil - reputed to be a close match to Bordeaux's famed terroir.

When researching our trip, I had difficulty finding a comprehensive, non-advertorial guide to The County's wineries or, in fact, their wines. Over the next dozen entries, I hope to offer a starter's guide to the wines of Prince Edward County, from the perspective of my own limited palette. Perhaps, if others do the same, future visitors will have some idea of what to expect, and where to expect it.

Cheers,
Dave

Enough teasers, let's have a drink!

LINDEMAN'S BIN 85 PINOT GRIGIO
LCBO 668947
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 12.00
12.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : 1
Made in: South Australia, AustraliaBy: Southcorp Wines

LUNGAROTTI PINOT GRIGIO
LCBO 19018
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 14.50
12.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : 1
Made in: Umbria, Italy by: Cantine Dr. G. Lungarotti & Co

Pinot Grigio has become one of the most popular white wine varieties among consumers. In Italy, it's best known from the North-Eastern region of Fruili-Venizia Gulia.

Not having tasted much of it myself, I decided to buy a couple, one Old World, one New World, just to compare. The Italian I bought is from the region of Umbria, best known for its Sangiovese, not Pinot Grigio - an interesting comparison.

And what a difference! The Italian Grigio smells like melon and citrus, and has a crisp, tart mouthfeel, tasting of green apples and lemons. Its long, citrus finish is slightly bitter but clean. A lovely summer wine!

The Australian, on the other hand, is much less distinctive. It noses apricot, apple and a slight vegetal scent, but falls flat in the mouth, barely registering its acidity and offering a bit of residual sugar in its short finish instead. Not a winner, in my opinion.

The story so far...

I've always enjoyed wine, along with beer, whisky, vodka, shochu, various liqueurs, saké, and pretty much whatever else was available. But in the past year, I've developed a more professional interest in wine, leading to some formal wine education (woohoo!) and a lot of tastings (woohoo double!!).

Life changed - a lot - when Caroline and I created our new business, ZenKitchen. You can get all the details about how that happened from Caroline's blog, but here are the Cole's notes: Caroline wanted a change of careers, went to chef school in NYC, graduated, and ZenKitchen was born. We do small function catering, monthly gourmet vegan dinners and cooking classes, all focused on vegetarian, local and healthy foods.

It didn't take long to realize that with good food goes good wine, and we needed to learn how to provide good options for our patrons, including wines that would go with our unique foods.

A good friend of ours, Marc, introduced us to the National Capital Sommelier Guild, an amazing group of people with wine expertise varying from highly sophisticated to, well, me. Getting to know Guild folk, in turn, led us to the Algonquin College Sommelier Program. That's where I am now, midway through a two year, part-time course toward a Sommelier Certificate. We sit in a college classroom with our glasses lined up in front of us, do a little learning, a little tasting, a little learning, a little tasting. Life is good.

In the mean time, I attend a lot of blind tastings, go to wine fairs, read wine books (there are a LOT of wine books!) and visit wineries. I've learned to love some varieties I had never tried before, I've learned to trust my palate, and I've learned that there's one wine company in the world hated, and I mean hated, by oenophiles everywhere. But I'm saving that story for later...

Cheers,
Dave

Cheers!

Welcome to BigNose, a journal of wine learning, wine tasting, and wine appreciation.

While I've always enjoyed a nice glass of plonk, I've become a serious drinker, um, taster, of wines over the past year.

Coming up: a brief history of my vine affair and visits to Prince Edward County and Mendocino. Yum!