Cave Spring Cellars

The Village of Jordan is a quiet little grouping of houses along a winding country road. It's a bit of a surprise, then, when you suddenly enter the commercial district that's grown up around the Cave Springs winery - shops, restaurants, and a large parking lot, all developed to serve visitors to one of Niagara's premier wine areas.

In fact, attached to the same building as Cave Spring is one of the best Niagara hotels: Inn on the Twenty. It's renowned for well-presented rooms and a superb restaurant and wine list.

I arrived at the winery's tasting room (built over top the winery itself) just as the doors opened at 10:00 a.m. That's my favourite time to taste - my palette is fresh and awake, and I don't have to compete with wine tour buses or limos, especially right now while the Niagara Wine Festival is on.

Cave Spring's tasting room is large, with a long bar and displays of bottles, clothing, books and wine-related merchandise. A full complement of staff are available to serve tasters.

While I was there mainly to try the Cabernet Franc that my class had sampled, I certainly wasn't about to miss the opportunity to try other products. Here goes:

Cave Spring Riesling Estate 2006
This wine is made from fruit from one of the oldest vineyards in Canada, 135 acres near Beamsville. I was told that the vineyard is heavily thinned each year, with 30-35% of the clusters dropped.

A very pale, almost watery yellow in colour, this has good green apple, herbaceous and very light fruit notes. In the mouth it's very tart, and light-bodied, with some mild apple flavour. Extra-dry, it has a long, tart apple finish. The fruit could be stronger given the acidity. I believe it's ready to drink now and won't improve with age.

Cave Spring Sauvignon Blanc Estate 2006
20% of the juice is fermented in oak, the remainder in stainless steel. Like the Riesling, it has a very pale yellow colour, with a nose of vegetal, green apple and grapefruit notes. It's very light bodied, with a minerally, green apple flavour and is XD. The fruit, alcohol and acid balance nicely. With a medium-length tart finish, this should be good to age 2-3 years.

Cave Spring Chardonnay Musqué Estate 2007
Musqué is a variant of the Chardonnay grape that's been officially recognized in French classifications. Known for its intense floral bouquet, it's being grown by a few vineyards in Niagara, include Malivoire and Cave Springs. This Chard is made in stainless steel and no malolactic process is used.
A pale, watery yellow, it has steely, light apple notes with dried pineapple secondary aromas. It's medium bodied, with a medium acidity and smooth mouthfeel. Tasting of peaches, pears and green apples, it has a long fruit finish. The balance is excellent, and one would expect it to age well for 5-7 years. However, Musqué is known to lose its fruit-flavours over time, so this may be best opened soon.

Cave Spring Cabernet Franc 2006
This vintage ripened late, and was allowed to hang until November. It had a Brix of 24.4 when it was picked. It was aged in older oak barrels, and is 14.4 % alcohol by volume.
This has a deep cherry colour with brick hues. It smells of candied cherries, alcohol cigar box and black pepper.
In the mouth, it was lightly tart, with lots of round tannins. Flavour of chocolate, coffee and tobacco finish with cherries and tannins. The balance is very good, the soft tannins and fruit forward flavours working well together. It should age well, too, 5 plus years. I bought two bottles to take home.

Cave Spring Cabernet Merlot 2002
The tasting manager surprised me with this one, which wasn't on the menu. Blended from $0% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, with ha an opaque cherry colour. Rich coffee and cherries on the nose, with a hint of black pepper. The well rounded tannins and medium acidity lead to a sour cherry flavour and full body. The finish is long, cherries and high tannins. It has an OK balance, with the tannins overpowering the flavours to some extent. It could age up to 2 more years.