2 Pinot Noirs (Day 3 of Wine & Chocolate)

On the last weekend in February Chris and I toured 4 wineries, 2 serving pinot noir and 2 serving merlot.  The pinots were offered at Reif Estate Winery and Lailey Vineyard.  From the chart below, you can see that Chris and I didn't agree on much that day!

	Wine	Staff	Atmosphere	Chocolate	Passport Value
Chris' Choice	LV	LV	LV	LV	even
Jan's Choice	REW	LV	REW	LV	even

THE WINES & THE CHOCOLATES

Reif served its 2008 pinot noir alongside a dark chocolate square topped with caramelized pine nuts.  There was a definite smell of yeast to this wine, which permeated the taste as well.  The predominant flavour of strawberry-rhubarb ended with a hint of black pepper on the back of the tongue.  The flavour was very consistent from the first taste to the mellow finish that faded quite evenly.  Chris felt this indicated that the wine had passed it's prime.  Although I initially liked the added flavour of the pine nuts and the not-too-dark chocolate, once my square was gone the wine tasted bitter and broken.

Lailey served its brand new 2010 pinot noir with a dark chocolate covered juniper berry.  Its nose was more complex; notes of raspberry accompanied the yeasty smell.  Raspberry also dominated the palate, and Chris noticed an underlying spiciness.  The structure of this wine was much more defined than Reif's, attributable to its young age.  Both the chocolate, which was not at all sugary, and the juniper berry complimented this wine nicely, and even the chewiness of the berry added something to the experience. 

By the end of the day, all we could really conclude was that these 2 wines were different enough that we didn't feel we'd gained a good understanding of pinot noir yet.  Note that neither of these wines are available at the LCBO, although you can get the 2009 Lailey there for $25 per bottle.  At the wineries themselves, Lailey's 2010 is $25.20 and Reif's 2008 is $15.15.  Chris will use this as evidence that he was right about Lailey's superiority, but it just further convinces me of Reif's value for money.  I am fairly inclined to try the Lailey 2009 though!

THE STAFF & THE ATMOSPHERE

With a property littered by wine-making relics of bygone eras and an interior of dark stained oak hardwood, Reif emits old world charm.  It also houses multiple rooms for simultaneous events.  Unfortunately, the room set aside for the wine and chocolate festival was staffed by a rather young, rather rude girl who was more interested in chatting with another couple of patrons than with us.

Conversely, Lailey's unpaved parking lot leads to its one room tasting bar of an unremarkable modern style.  However, Chris struck up quite the conversation with the friendly staff who told us all about the winery's history, products and upcoming events.  Although the property was not much to look at, I did really like the outdoor mounted display map of the vineyards.