Niagara Wine Festival (Colaneri Estate Winery)

This is my third visit to Colaneri Estate Winery, as I wanted to make sure I was giving it a fair chance.  We didn't have a great experience on our first visit, but when I stopped by with some friends a few months later, there had been some improvements.  For example, the construction on the villa was far enough along that they could set up a separate tasting area for festival events.  That visit also gave us the chance to speak with one of the owners, who told us more about her family, the winery,  and its unique series of wine labels, each representing one of her relatives. 

Keep in mind, Colaneri is one of the highest priced wineries in the region, with prices very similar to Tawse, which, I must admit, I find a little nervy, since it implies the wines are of equal quality.  This festival gave me the opportunity for a direct comparison, since Colaneri was serving its 2010 Cabernet Franc, and I am very familiar with the Tawse equivalent.  A unique feature of this wine is that it is produced using the apassimento method, meaning that, in this case, 30% of the grapes have been dried before pressing, resulting in a higher concentration of sugar and flavours.  I have heard various opinions as to whether or not this is a luxury, since the time and labour intensive process results in lower yields, all of which raise the price of the wine.  Others insist that good grapes in the correct climate shouldn't need artificially aged, explaining why the process is popular in northern, as opposed to southern Italy.  Anyway, if you have any knowledge of the topic, I'd appreciate your comments. 

This is one of the nicest smelling wines I've ever tried.  The easy to find nose begins with bell and roasted peppers, and possibly dried tomatoes.  As the wine aerates, cedar, eucalyptus and cocoa are all detectable.  Unfortunately, the taste does not live up to the beautiful complexity of the smell.  It is quite dry, and even a little chalky, possibly suggesting its youth.  (Keep in mind this was the release date for this wine.)  Chris noted he could taste the alcohol, but only barely.  The mouthfeel is also somewhat thin for a cab, even a franc.  It did pair nicely with the accompanying lasagna though, and earned an rating of 85 from us both, making it the best wine of the day, but falling short of the expectations set by both Tawse and Peller for this varietal.

Niagara Wine Festival (Coyote's Run Estate Winery)

Our next stop on the Discovery Pass tour was Coyote's Run Estate Winery, which came highly recommended from our friend Kelly.  The winery is a short drive north from the base of the escarpment, which puts it a few minutes out of the way from the easiest wine route to follow.  The landscape is very much a farm, but a neat and tidy one, with a pre-fabricated shed providing retail space on the cottage looking side and production, out of sight, on the other barn like side.

Inside, the retail space is quite tight, but manages to sqeeze in a small tasting bar, adequate shelving to display the current offerings, and a table set up for the festival.  The smell of yeast from the facility next door fills the air, which, at least for a winery, is quite charming.  The property compensates for the lack of space indoors by providing two outdoor sitting areas, both with nice views of the vineyards and surrounding countryside.

We tried the 2011 Pinot Gris / Pinot Blanc paired with slow roasted pork with apple jelly, tomato chutney and rosemary.  As you would expect, it is a mild wine.  The nose is very hard to find, especially in a building that smells like yeast anyway, but eventually I could detect some minerality and a hint of melon.  The flavour is very mild, clean and crisp.  It has a slightly longer finish and better structure than the white we'd tasted earlier in the day.  It accented the food nicely, but was slightly overpowered by it.  (It would have been perfect if it was the Niagara Roasted Pork festival!)  We didn't dislike the wine, and rated it an 83, but realistically for its $15.95 price tag, an Ontario sauvignon blanc would fit all the same purposes.

Niagara Wine Festival (Pillitteri / Bad Company)

You would think that I would have more time for wine tours and blogging during summer vacation, but apparently I needed my regular schedule of the school year to resume before I could get back into the swing of things.  This weekend is the first of two for the annual Niagara Wine Festival.  Last year, Chris and I checked out the festivities at the festival's hub, Montebello Park in St. Catharines, but we were sadly dissapointed by the predominantly trashy atmosphere and the remarkably inefficient ticket system for sampling wine.  This year we skipped the park altogether, opting for a $30 Discovery Pass and visiting three of the participating wineries.  Click here to see what this route has to offer, and note that you can buy a passport at any of those wineries, a fact that isn't entirely clear on the web site.

Usually when we plan a route, we pick a theme by visiting, say, three wineries serving the same varietal or three wineries all serving dessert.  For these two weekends, though, we're focusing on wineries we've never been to before and we're continually surprised at just how many of those there still are.  Pillitteri Estates Winery has been on our "to visit" list for quite some time due to its reputation for icewine, but it's just never fit into our touring theme before.  We have noticed that the parking lot is always busy, partially due to its prime location on Niagara Stone Road.  There are three different entrances and each gives a very different overall impression.  One opens to the casually elegant primary tasting bar, the next into an impressive showcase of awards and a hostess to direct you around, and the third into a country market / wine store.  Unfortunately, we entered through that last one which instantly reminded me of my distaste for Riverview Cellars.  After a brief walk around, though, the careful merchandising and professional staff convinced me that this setup was genuinely "shabby-chic" instead of just shabby. 

One thing still confused me; the wines on display in both retail areas ranged from $10 - $189 per bottle, but without the variety in between that such a range would imply.  Producing 100,000 cases per year, Pillitteri is neither a cottage industry like Maleta nor a mass producer like Magnotta.  It's interesting portfolio of wines suggest that it likes to experiment, but produce only what it is best at, and only then in large quantities.  It also takes the risk of extensively aging its Family Reserve label, its current offering a 2002 vintage.  (Honestly, though, when I think of what $189 would buy me in a French or Californian blend, I'm going to be hesitant to risk that much on what is, at least to me, still an unknown.) 

Moving onto the festival activities, Pillitteri offered two different options for Discovery Pass holders: the advertised gourmet grilled cheese with a choice of its mid-range red or white, or a sample of both the red and white from its Bad Company label with an antipasto plate.  (I can't recall any other wineries offering such a choice.)  We chose the latter of these as it was indoors, warmer and less crowded than the former!  Bad Company is Pillitteri's entry level wine, at $10 / bottle and with no vintage year indicated.  The upstairs tasting room was devoted to promoting this brand, with a fun, interactive photo area.  The servings were generous for a festival, and there were tables with seating to relax, enjoy and discuss. 

The Bad Company white is a blend of riesling and gewurztraminer.  It has a weak nose of lemon with a hint of mold.  It's taste is a very light, clean flavour of yellow grapefruit, but with a rather short, flat finish.  Although it is described as off-dry, I would put it on the dryer end of that.  However, the wine did provide a very nice background for all of the various flavours in the antipasto, and its hint of sourness disappeared with the food.  Chris and I agreed on a rating of 82 for this wine.

The red counterpart is a blend of pinot noir and merlot with a pleasant nose of very ripe, still dirty strawberries right off the bush.  Its mouth feel is pretty thin, but very smooth, or as Chris said, "nothing complex, but nothing offensive either."  The pinot noir is more evident than the merlot, and the flavour suggests sweet, ripe tomatoes and, again, strawberries.  It's finish is more pronounced and a little longer than its sister's.  Again, this wine nicely offset the accompanying food, earning a rating from both of us of 83. 

Although these wines wouldn't really fit into our usual style, I have been to several events that serve a generic red and white, perhaps with a bottle of each on every table, and these two are better, and likely less expensive, than several I've had in that context.  I also figure that if that's what Pillitteri can do for $10, I'm certainly interested in trying some of its higher end offerings.

Art of Wine & Food





(Left to Right) 2011 Private Reserve Riesling,

2010 Private Reserve Cabernet Franc, and

2011 Vidal Late Harvest.

The Art of Wine & Food is one of Peller Estates many tasting experiences.  Lucky for us, a friend of ours is a Peller Wine Club member so there was no charge for four of us, myself, Carrie, Kelly and Chris, to attend.  At our scheduled time, we were escorted upstairs to an area arranged as a large, but private dining room.  There were four others seated across from us and each place was set with three samples of wine and three accompanying accouterments.  Our host from Peller sat at the head of the table and walked us through the various taste combinations, asking and answering questions as we went, which altogether created the feeling of an informal, but very educational seminar.  Her message was twofold.  First, you don't have to adhere to traditional wine pairings if they don't suit your tastes, but second, some pairings are always better than others.  To prove her point, she had us drink these three pairings first as intended, and then mismatched, as explained in the following chart.

	Riesling	Cab Franc	Late Harvest Vidal
charred corn garden chilie & mango salsa	These flavours blended, taking the heat off of the chilie flavour.	This combo ruined the wine, making it sour and highlighting its alcohol.	These two flavours really fought it out, neither blending with nor improving each other.
smoked pastrami	The pastrami completely overpowered the wine, enhancing the black pepper crust on the pastrami.	These flavours blended, dulling the impact of the black pepper crust on the pastrami while augmenting its smokiness.	(didn't try)
peach walnut biscotti	This wasn't a bad combination, focusing more on the peach flavour of the biscotti.	(didn't try)	The wine nicely brought out the walnut flavour in the biscotti.

Throughout the experience, the host offered up these other pairing tips, all new to me:

• Spicy foods require low alcohol, fruity wines.  High alcohol wines will augment the spice.  Alternatively, serve a sparkling wine as the bubbles will cut through the spice.
• Acidic foods need acidic wines, because acidity neutralizes acidity.  For example, serve spaghetti with either chianti or pinot grigio.
• North Americans drink our whites too cold and our reds too warm.  Take the white out of the fridge for at least 15 minutes, and put the red in for the same.
• When tasting dessert wine, keep the first sip in your mouth for at least 5 seconds to acclimatize your taste buds.  Otherwise, it will taste extra-sweet.

Peller Icewine

It seems I'm getting more particular with icewine.  The last 3 bottles I opened, all bought during last January's icewine festival, didn't quite live up to my memories of them.  Since I'm pretty sure that 6 months isn't sufficient time for icewine to turn, I think my expectations, specifically about an icewine's complexity and structure, are increasing.  Since I was going to be at Peller Estates anyway for The Art of Wine & Food, and since I knew that its 2010 vintages were already winning awards, I tasted all 4 icewines in its current lineup to effectively reset my palate.

Two of these really stood out compared to their respective competition, primarily because, despite their high sugar content, they still resembled the grapes from which they were made.  This is typical for vidal icewines, as their regular harvest counterparts predominantly feature sweet, fruity flavours which intensify as the sugar concentrates while the grapes freeze.  However, there are lots of yummy flavours in a riesling or in a cabernet franc that somehow get lost in icewine production.  Riesling grapes turn into some sort of lemon syrup and cab franc grapes become strawberry sundae topping, and the more distinguishing features of the grapes get lost.

Not true for Peller's 2007 Riesling Icewine, now my standard for the category and earning a preliminary rating of 92-94 using my new wine rating rubric. Don't just trust me though; it also won gold medals in 7 different countries, plus a few silvers elsewhere.  My first impression of the scent was, "It smells like riesling!"  Yes, it has lots of aromas and flavours - lemon, apricot, nectarine and maybe pear - but it's all held together by a background of petrol and minerality that riesling lovers expect.  I'm looking forward to sharing this one sooner rather than later, and will watch out for future vintages. 

Similarly, Peller's 2010 Cabernet Franc Icewine has also started winning awards, despite a relatively recent release date.  Still enthralled with the riesling I'd just tasted, my first words about this one were "It smells like cab franc, [pause to drink] and it tastes like cab franc too!"  So in addition to the usual strawberry and rhubarb characteristics, and even the less-common spiciness, an elegant aroma and flavour of leather adds a complexity that offsets the strawberry, making the whole concoction altogether less like syrup and more like wine.  Like its riesling counterpart, this wine also had a long lingering finish, and will likely also score a 92 or higher.

Hinterbrook Winery

Last weekend, Chris, Kerri and I headed to Hinterbrook Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Now, if you read my blog regularly, you may have noticed that everyone in my life is named Kerri.  To clarify, this was not Carrie from work who has appeared on Newlywined a few times, nor was it Chris' sister Kerri, who is way too pregnant to be doing wine tours just now.  This is childhood-best-friend turned maid-of-honour Kerri who lives in BC but was home for a visit.

Anyhow, a few months ago, the Wagjag deal of the day was a $25 passport of tastings at five wineries for two people.  Of the five wineries, Hinterbrook is the only one I haven't reviewed here before.  It's quite close to Palantine Hills, and, like its neighbour, also houses some 1812 war relics, so I imagine the vineyards in that neighbourhood were once strategically important, despite being closer to the lake than to the river.  The winery property is interesting, as you drive through the vineyard and around the estate's residence, both quite elegant and stately, before arriving at the wine store, essentially a big shed.  Our host for the visit, Rick, was very passionate and knowledgeable about Hinterbrook's products, reminding me of Maleta.  Like Maleta, Hinterbrook also focuses on a limited number of quality wines that aren't available in the LCBO.

The first wine we tasted was the 2011 Pinot Grigio, not a wine I would usually drink and not a cool climate grape partial to Ontario.  It features a surprising aroma and taste of banana, reminding me of the regular harvest vidal we'd tried last winter at Magnotta, only not so sickly sweet or candy like.  (The winery's tasting notes do mention candy floss though!)  It definitely makes for easy drinking, so for the $14 price tag we bought a bottle that will ultimately become boat wine.

The next wine we tasted was the 2011 Franc Blanc, Hinterbrook's specialty that no one else bottles.  (I meant to ask, but I assume the process is patented because it doesn't sound difficult and the result is yummy.)  They start with cab franc (red) grapes but remove the skins immediately after pressing, before fermentation.  The result is a peachy-coloured wine  that smells and tastes like a white but feels like a red.  A big part of its appeal is that it plays with your expectations.  For example, you wouldn't anticipate this big of a mouthfeel, a slightly chewy texture, the medium-long finish, or such substantial legs on a wine this colour. Similarly, I found the scent and taste both hard to describe because I had nothing to go on, but since we bought two bottles, I've since had a couple of glasses at home "to clarify".  The nose is not particularly big and changes dramatically as the wine warms up out of the fridge.  A vigorous swirl will reveal a chalky or musky smell reminiscent of lavender and dew.  As it gets warmer, but still well below room temperature, candy floss is also detectable.  The various citrus flavours, plus a banana undertone, marry well and are hard to identify separately, sort of like Five Alive.  (I do find it odd that banana and candy floss ended up in two of their wines made from very different grapes; what's going on in their soil?)  Overall, I'm impressed with the complexity of this wine for what is basically a novelty wine.  It's like boat wine, but more sophisticated.

Before leaving, we also tasted Hinterbrook's Deeply Red and its Merlot, but I'll save those reviews for another day.

The Farmer's Feast

We recently celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary at the Hillebrand Winery Restaurant, which we highly recommend.  In addition to the delectable food and well matched wine, Hillebrand provides an elegant atmosphere without being stuffy or pretentious.  Its various creative and well-designed seating arrangements can accommodate romantic tables for two or large corporate events at the same time with no interference from each other.  Our patio table at dusk overlooked the vineyards until the sun set and the nearby fountains and barrels lit up.  The level of service was absolutely top-notch.  Knowing the purpose of our visit, we were greeted with an anniversary card and a complementary glass of sparkling rose brut.  The servers were both affable and professional, knew their menu and wines well and truly augmented the overall experience.  Of course, this isn't TripAdvisor, so I should probably get onto the food and the wine.

We opted for the Farmer's Feast, a five course tasting menu with accompanying wine pairings.  I must admit, I was a little hesitant, as nearly every course featured an ingredient that I don't normally love, and certainly would not tend to order: beets, mushrooms, duck, and lobster.  At the same time, though, I knew that award winning chef Frank Dodd would probably work wonders with these ingredients so this was the time to experiment.

Amuse

Course 2

Course 1

Amuse - From left to right, beet macaroon, candied beet and beet-burger.  Accompanied by Sparkling Rose Brut, to be reviewed this week on Zippy Sauce.

Course 1 - Mushroom and truffle broth over Ontario mushrooms and mushroom and goat cheese ravioli, paired with Trius 2011 (lightly oaked) Chardonnay.  Interesting combination as the wine took away much of the broth's saltiness.

Course 2 - From front to back, honeyed duck breast, duck sausage on sweet potato ravioli and duck neck croquette, with Showcase 2009 Pinot Noir.  The breast and the sausage were rich and sweet but the croquette was too bitter, almost metallic tasting for my liking.  The wine was a good pair, but I have had better 2009 Ontario pinot noirs at the same price point of $30 per bottle.

Course 3?

Course 4 sides

Course 3? - Once contained lobster carpaccio with apple cucumber sorbet and tempura zucchini blossom that was too pretty and tasty to wait for a photo!  This course offered the best pairing of the evening, as the Artist Series Limited Edition 2011 Sauvingon Blanc brought out absolutely all of the flavours.

Course 4 sides - From left to right, candied carrots, the best gnocchi I've ever eaten, and bok choy with corn.

Course 4

Dessert

 Course 4 - Thirty-five day dry-aged Wellington County beef ribeye with buttermilk onion rings and Trius Red 2010, a blend predominantly featuring merlot.  Chris would have gnawed on the bone if it were socially acceptable!

 Dessert - From left to right, strawberry consomme, strawberry strudel and strawberry sorbet, paired with 2008 Cabernet Franc Icewine, one of the best I've had and comparable to Jackson-Triggs.  Of the three desserts, the strudel played the best off of the wine.

New Vintage Festival (Vineland Estates)

The New Vintage Festival is a similar structure to the Icewine Festival in January; for $30, you get 6 tastings at any of the participating wineries.  Because June was a hectic month, Chris and I split a passport, and spent one Sunday afternoon touring  Vineland Estates, returning to Hillebrand Estates and shopping once again at Tawse Winery.  Although Chris and I had never toured Vineland, we knew it was our friend Carrie's favourite stop on the wine route and now we can see why.

The winery entrance takes you through the combined wine boutique / gift shop which is definitely on the higher end, not to mention eclectic end, of those we've visited.  It's a fun one to just wander around, and when you're done, head up to the market area in the loft.  There you'll find an impressive assortment of fresh local cheeses and meats, including bresaola.  That's a big deal, as this is the only store in Ontario I've found that regularly keeps it on hand, and I've been looking for 3 years!  The market's shelves also offer an array of high quality oils and vinegars.

The festival tasting was set up in the production facility.  We tasted two chardonnays, the 2011 Unoaked Chardonnay and the 2008 Chardonnay Musque, which is also unoaked.  I previously didn't know that chardonnay musque is actually a different kind of grape; I thought it had something to do with the wine making process.  A toasted pita crisp with warmed strawberry-rhubarb compote and Guernsey Girl cheese accompanied the wines.  We both liked the musque better than the regular chardonnay, but we're unsure if this is due to the grape or the age.  Either way, Chris found it fruitier, and I found is bigger bodied.  Although these were not our favourite two Ontario wines, (or even Ontario chards,) we will be back to shop at the market and to dine at its world class restaurant, so I'm sure we'll sample many more of Vineland's wines.

As an unexpected bonus, the server took us through the winery's barrel cellar, giving us a lesson about the kinds of oak used for aging wine.  He explained that Vineland prefers French over American Oak.  Apparently, oak trees in more northern climates grow slower, resulting in a tighter wood grain, and ultimately having a smoother influence on the wine, often imparting a vanilla like flavour.  He suggested that we should look for that flavour in Vineland's reds.  He also explained that the odd shaped structure surrounding the barrel cellar is actually a sewer casing; apparently the family that owns the winery is in that line of business, so knew it would provide the optimal temperature and humidity for both the barrels, and for the other treasures stored there.  Once you walk to the back of the cellar, past all of the barrels, you can see Vineland's wine library, a selection of its wines dating back at least to the early 1990s.  There may have been older ones but we were asked not to pick up any of the bottles as both vibration and body heat can damage the wine.  As you can see from the dust on the bottles, it looks like guests have been respecting that rule for a long time!

Extra Stop: Riverview Cellars Winery

During our sauvingon blanc tour, Chris and I stopped in at Riverview Cellars Winery as it was on the way.  Unfortunately, this was not one of our better wine route experiences.

The Wine

The 2009 Bianco is a 50/50 blend of riesling and gewurztraminer, which is exactly what it smells and tastes like.  Part lemon and apple, part passion fruit and mango, the two wines just didn't marry in the blend.  To be fair, it retails for only $13.95, and with a sugar rating of 2, definitely qualifies as boat wine.  On a side note, I'm annoyed by the winery's labelling.  The Bianco bottle features a picture of a cat, with a story about the cat on the back.  Wanting to know more about the two component wines, I went into the boutique, looking for the riesling and gewurz bottles.  While the riesling bottle was reasonably descriptive, the gewurz featured a picture of a robin's nest with, you guessed it, a story about said robin's nest.

The Food

The winery's assigned spice was cilantro, something I can never get enough of.  It was prepared in a sour cream blend used to top a taco flavoured soup.  The soup was yummy, and brought out the spicy gewurz features of the wine.  I frequently get a chicken tortilla soup from Supperworks, and will definitely match it to a light gewurz next time.

The Staff

Again, we were not impressed.  Upon entering, we were greeted by someone behind the tasting bar with food in her mouth.  Then, after waiting a few minutes at the serving area set up on the porch for the festival, the server walked through and served a group of four in front of us.

The Setting

Not surprisingly, Riverview sits across from and offers a view of the Niagara River.  The exterior offers quaint country charm and the interior, at first, is suitably elegant.  Through the tasting bar, though, the gift shop hints at desperation.  In all the wineries we've toured, never once have I wished I could buy cheesies before leaving.  To each their own, I suppose.

More about Maleta

This is a follow up to Wine & Herb day 2 (Riesling)

Maleta was a little hard to find, and even a little hard to spot from the road, and its exterior doesn't look like much. When we entered the property's small cottage-turned-retail-space, though, we were greeted with a very genuine "Welcome to our winery" which set the tone for the rest of the visit. As I've mentioned before, sometimes small wineries don't take full advantage of passport events, being more concerned with cost minimization than capitalizing on the opportunities walking through their doors. Maleta certainly avoided this mistake; the hostess (who, from what she said, is the spouse of either the winemaker or the owner,) explained to us that the food pairing would take a few minutes to prepare, so offered us a glass of the 2009 Rose Reserve made from a blend of gamay and merlot. I didn't take many notes on this one, as it wasn't the 'main event,' - and I was thirsty! I do remember thinking cranberry, and that unlike many roses, this one isn't candy, or 'boat wine' as I now call it. However, the winery's website has very descriptive tasting notes (copied below) that really ring true of my two tasting experiences.

Wine	2009 Rosé Reserve	2008 RIESLING (MEDIUM-DRY)
Price	$15.95 (750 mL)	$16.95 (750 mL)
% Alcohol	12.0% alc.	11.5 % alc
Sight, Smell & Taste	This wine shows a very pretty salmon pink. A delicate nose of red berries with just a hint of wet leaves – it’s really amazingly complex for a rosé. Light and fruity in the mouth, flavours exhibit strawberry and cherry fruit with a hint of red licorice. It finishes dry with lingering cranberry notes. A very refreshing wine with enough structure for light protein dishes such as roast chicken or veal scaloppine and makes a special companion for onion tart.	Pale gold with subtle green highlights, the colour is still showing youth. The nose is delicate with green apple, lime and just enough of Riesling’s petrolly pungency to make it more interesting. The mouthfeel is gentle and elegant with a round smoothness and flavours of green apple, lemon and lime.The finish delivers some zippy acidity and plenty of length. This is an all round sipper for easy drinking on its own or served with sole almondine, seafood risotto or creamy pasta.
Aging Potential	Perfect for your valentine, or enjoy it with Easter ham and summer picnics. Drink by the end of 2012.	There is no need to wait, drink now, although the wine will cellar well into 2013.

The hostess' passion for her products really set this visit apart from the others. She spoke enthusiastically about their new branding efforts to distinguish their three wine categories; the Grape Brain label is intended to be approachable for easy drinking, the View label lends itself to fine dining and the Meritage wears its own label to set it apart as the winery's signature product. She also pointed out the winery's tendency to age its bottles before releasing them, so when you buy them they're ready to fully enjoy. Finally, she shared with us the story of how, upon learning that her assigned herb was pineapple-sage, she had to Google it to find out what it was, then find recipes that included it, then learn how to make marmalade, then select a wine to match it all. She made it sound like a labour of love. The result was excellent, and highlighted both the riesling and the pineapple-sage while other wineries hid their assigned spice in a dish that best showed off their wine. All in all, Maleta's efforts paid off as I will return, taste, and buy several of their wines in the future, once we've made more room in our bar.

Extra Stop: Ice House Winery

Carrie and I stopped at the Ice House Winery mid way through our riesling tour for a few reasons; it was on the way, it only makes ice wine and its assigned spice was arugula.  I love arugula, but would tend to pair it with pinot noir, which, of course, if you only produce icewine, you just don't have.  The Ice House used the arugula (apparently) in a pasta salad containing multiple fresh spices but the arugula didn't stand out at all in the recipe.

The wine offering, a generous shot of the 2006 Vidal, certainly brought out the fresh spices, and the wine itself took on a peppery background after the food.  On its own, though, its predominant flavours were peach up front and caramel through the finish all on a backdrop of raisin.  It's body is heavier than most of those I've reviewed here, successfully adding to the toasty or smoky flavour that brings it all together.  I suspect this is the result of oak barrel aging, but I'm not sure. 

Here's the problem; for $70 per bottle, there are better icewines out there, beginning with the vidal I bought at Reif the week before for $47.05, or my standby from Inniskillin for $60.15, also available in a sparkling for $10 more.  To be fair, none of these is oaked or aged.  A new friend recently introduced me to Peller's 2010 oaked vidal, which although still lighter in colour and flavour, and a full four years younger, compares at $60.10.  Inniskilllin has held back some of its 2006 oaked vidal, which it now sells for $79.95 per bottle, so I suppose the Ice House isn't too far off the mark after all.  It seems I have just experienced first hand the market crowding and margin squeezing that has begun to plague the Ontario icewine industry.

Two More Sauvignon Blancs

Strewn Winery

Since Strewn wine labels are very sleek and sophisticated, I expected an ultra modern winery with lots of steel, glass and dark wood but was greeted instead by a salmon-coloured, Asian looking building with well manicured gardens and lawn.  Inside, a greeter directed us to one of two tasting rooms, which was set up to accommodate large groups of Wine & Herb tourists simultaneously. 

Strewn's assigned herb was mint, which it used in a vinaigrette dressing for a mixed green salad with asparagus and feta cheese.  Given the winery's on site cooking school and restaurant, it is not surprising that the salad was delicious, and since they gave out the recipe, we'll be making it again in the future.  Unfortunately, Strewn's 2008 Sauvignon Blanc did not stand up to the salad, despite its bigger, mildewy nose and golden colour.  The taste was crisp, but quite thin, and the mild taste of nectarine / tropical fruit got lost under the intense mint flavour of the vinaigrette.  I am interested in returning to this winery at some point, though, to try both its restaurant and its separate "terroir" tasting room which only offers tasting flights of its premium wines.

Niagara College Teaching Winery

This was a much better experience than my first visit to NC Teaching Winery.  We were able to sit outside on the patio overlooking the vineyards that blend into the side of the escarpment to enjoy the best pairing of the day: 2009 Sauvignon Blanc and "five spice Ontario pork loin with mango chili salsa".  Compared to the other bottle we purchased that day from Stonechurch, this one, for $15.95,  has a bigger nose, mostly of mildew, and a bigger body.  It's slightly sour, less dry and has a very consistent flavour of sour apple with a light minerality throughout.  It's acidity tickles the sides of the tongue, almost as if it were carbonated.  What impressed us about the pairing wasn't just how the wine and the spices played off each other, but also that the wine brought out the flavours in the pork itself.  I should also note that wine accessories appear to be less expensive at NC than at other boutiques; we bought an epicvac wine saver set for $17 that we'd seen at other wineries for $25.

Wine & Herb day 4 (Sauvignon Blanc)

Although we toured 4 different wineries on the last day of the Wine & Herb event, we enjoyed Stonechurch Vineyards so much that it gets its own blog entry.  We had no prior expectations for this winery and chose to visit only because we were tasting all the sauvignon blancs that were on offer in the passport that day.  It's somewhat off the beaten path, meaning its not on Lakeshore Road, Niagara Stone Road or Niagara Parkway, but we enjoyed the drive past fields, orchards and farmhouses before arriving just in time to see a group departing on a guided wagon-pull tour of the vineyards.

 

Along the entrance way, its hard not to notice how carefully tended are the numerous brightly coloured gardens.  Attention has been paid to many details of the decor, and it successfully strikes the elusive balance of eclectic without being tacky, quaint but elegant, authentic shabby-chic.  Inside there are three distinct areas, the first of which is the spacious wine bar.  Its retail products are more unique than other winery boutiques, offering an extensive array of Brickstone condiments and various entertaining utensils, including two different sets of "amuse bouche" spoons.  (That impressed me!) 

We headed through the boutique to the extension off the back, essentially a barn, which had been tastefully decorated for a private event but which was temporarily housing the Wine & Herb tasting.  Here we tried the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc paired with a tabbouleh salad featuring quinoa, fresh parsley and cucumber.  The wine first presents a soft whiff of freshly cut, dewy grass.  Its following taste is very clean, dry and smooth, and Chris and I both noticed a slight taste of lime ("tropical fruit" in the winery's online tasting notes).  The wine accented the parsley and the cucumber beautifully, and would be an excellent accompaniment to several mild Mediterranean dishes.  Since I have just such a recipe in my cue just now, we picked up a bottle for $12.95 and agreed that our next two stops of the day would have a lot to live up to.

Wine & Herb Day 3 (Chardonnay)

I'd never really liked Chardonnay until quite recently, when Flat Rock convinced me to give it another chance. I know other times I've said that chardonnay confuses me. On our third day of Wine and Herb touring, though, I started to understand why; chardonnay is very diverse, so much so that it's sometimes hard to find similarities between different wines made from the same type of grape. That was certainly the case when we visited Palatine Hills Estate Winery, Lailey Vineyard, and Marynissan Estate Wines, even though these 3 chardonnays themselves only represent a small subset of what's available in the region.  Actually, each winery really stood out in one regard or another.

Best Food - Marynissan Estates Wines

Marrynissan served its 2008 BFBA Chardonnary.  BFBA stands for barrel-fermented, barrel-aged, meaning this chardonnay is oaked, explaining its big nose of toasted vanilla.  Unfortunately, that didn't flow through to the palate.  Although very smooth, the lemony flavour seemed sour in light of the sweet smell.  We did find though, that the food pairing of spicy gazpacho featuring sweet basil eliminated the sourness, improving the wine's flavour while highlighting the winery's featured spice.  Chris absolutely loved the gazpacho, but we found when we sat down to write our tasting notes two minutes later, that was the only flavour we could recall, hence the rather short description of the wine.

Best Pairing - Palatine Hills Estate Winery

Palatine gets points for creativity and effort.  It combined its assigned spice, anise, with a hot caramel sauce, which it used as a topping over Hewitt's Cannonballs ice cream, a special flavour to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.  (The wine boutique also has war relics found on its property on display.)  It then topped the whole concoction with tiny blackballs, further highlighting the black licorice flavour of the anise.  The wine to accompany this was the 2008 Neufeld Vineyard Chardonnay, which I noticed has a rather spicy (but clean) nose for a chardonnay.  This wine was oaked longer than that of Marynissan, which might be what I was smelling.  Chardonnay is often described as buttery, something I've never fully understood, but I did start to notice a creamy sensation  which the ice cream accentuated.  I also remarked that the body felt somehow thick, with a toasty or smoky background flavour.  This wine is not at all dry.  We did not taste the citrus that the bottle's tasting notes promised, but this could be because the anise, blackballs and caramel focused our attention on the wine's creaminess and mild spiciness. 

Best Chardonnay wine - Lailey Vineyard

Like the last time we visited Lailey, it used the festival to introduce a new release, its 2011 Unoaked Chardonnay.  It's smell was barely noticeable, but Chris indicated a light passion fruit note.  The label describes flavours of honeydew and stone fruit, which I interpreted as melon and perhaps nectarine.  Its lightly creamy texture was really the only thing distinguishing it as a chardonnay.  Being fermented and aged in steel, its flavour and finish are both very clean.  We have two chardonnays in inventory just now, one fully oaked and one lightly oaked.  If there was more room in the bar, this would make a nice contribution, and has solidified Lailey as one of our go-tos on both the wine route and in the LCBO.