F'ing Winery Tour (Flat Rock Cellars)

Our third and final stop of the day took us further east on the Twenty Mile Bench to Flat Rock Cellars.  Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, the rain was coming down much harder, and it was getting cold, so we couldn't really enjoy the property or its usually breathtaking views.  I might be way off with this one, but it seemed to me that the combination of the blossoming trees, the hexagonal shaped buildings and Flat Rock's stylized logo work together to suggest an east Asian inspiration.  Anyhow, it was raining too hard to consider this further so we rushed into the glass enclosed, six-sided tasting bar to complete our tour.

At the passport station, the server offered us the 2010 Pinot Noir with a crostini topped by a brie-like cheese called Soeur Angele and Killer Condiments Muskoka Cranberry Compote.  The predominant aroma of the wine was of yeast, and perhaps a hint of ash.  The yeast carried through to the taste and was joined by a not-too-tangy cranberry flavour which complimented the crostini nicely by bringing out the kick of sweet hot pepper in the compote.  The light to medium body of this pinot suggests it would be good either with food or on its own.  Chris really struggled with this wine, was unable to identify the nose, and thought he tasted strawberries, but I suspect his palate was just done for the day!


Finally, we tasted the 2008 Chardonnay.  On the nose, I clearly detected mildew, but I may be wrong, as the winery advertises it as petrol / minerality.  Chris described the scent as clean, suggesting Pine Sol or furniture polish.  (At this point I asked if I should be the one driving!)  I find the taste of chardonnay hard to describe in general, but Chris commented on the consistent, buttery texture and hint of lemon flavour.  A unique feature of this wine is that it is stored in oak barrels for only 70% of its fermentation, then is finished in steel.  This accounts for the wine's sharp, clean finish.

Now, I mentioned in my review of Featherstone that our wine storage is currently full so we couldn't buy anything.  However, Flat Rock uses screw tops instead of corks, so the bottles don't need stored on their sides.  This became our justification for buying one bottle each of the wines we'd tried, as well as a 2010 bottle of Flat Rock's premium brand pinot noir, Gravity.