F'ing Winery Tour (Fielding Estate)

Seriously. That is the actual name of this annual event co-hosted by Fielding Estate, Featherstone Estate and Flat Rock Cellars, three F-named wineries all in the Niagara Escarpment regional appellation. A $10 passport buys you two wine tastings at all three of the wineries, each accompanied by a crostini topped with a local cheese and well paired example of Killer Condiments.



We had driven by our first stop, Fielding Estate Winery, several times en route to East Dell Estates, but had never stopped in. Situated right on the Beamsville Bench, Fielding's sleek facility almost looks like a modern Swiss ski lodge built on the side of a mountain. After the long driveway, you turn behind the building and enter the second story from the back, to be greeted with panoramic windows overlooking the sloping vineyards. This first room features the regular tasting bar and the very well organized wine boutique. The other half of the building houses the 2 story casks surrounded by a catwalk, where the passport tastings were held.

The crostinis at this stop were topped with Ermite Bleu cheese and Killer Condiments' maple-caramelized onions. The first wine, a sparkling riesling, really picked up the maple, and brought out the smoky flavour of the onions. It also stood up surprisingly well to the blue (albeit mild) cheese. I wouldn't usually think to serve a sparkling wine with an appetizer, but this one would certainly work.  On it's own, the wine struck a nice balance between the sweet riesling grapes and the dry bubbles, with no obvious taste of alcohol. Its nose was weak, but its palate carried a refreshing taste of citrus.

The second wine, Fielding's 2009 Red Conception is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.  I have stayed away from blends on this blog because I was worried the tastes would confuse me and I wouldn't learn anything useful.  However, as soon as I tried this one, I immediately tasted the advantage.  Until now, to get away from the harsh woody flavours of cabernet sauvignon, I have been favouring milder reds like cab franc and pinot noir;  the blended approach allows you to keep the cabernet sauvignon flavour but tone it down with the merlot.  The nose on this wine was decidedly weak, and we had to swirl a lot to get a decent whiff of what we think was cedar.  The aromas, like the flavours, were very muted.  This wine also picked up the maple flavour and nicely complimented the Ermite Bleu, but was slightly overpowered by the strong taste of the onions.