Wine & Herb day 1 (Gewurztraminer)

The Wine & Herb festival is a lot like February's Wine & Chocolate festival in that for the passport price you can visit each of 28 wineries once over the four weekends in May to taste one of their wines paired to their assigned herb.  This passport is more expensive ($43 + HST), probably because it's a lot easier to attract people to wine country when there's no snow on the ground, but also because it includes Friday evenings as part of the weekend.  Because there's much more variety in herbs than there is in chocolate, there's also a much wider variety of wines being offered amongst the different wineries, with several more white choices available than in the winter.  For day one, we stopped at three wineries all serving gewurztraminer, using the previous night's wine as a comparison.

Stop 1: Hillebrand Winery

THE WINE - The 2010 Artist Series Limited Edition Gewurztraminer had an airy, floral bouquet, followed through with a taste of rose petal and lychee.  It would be very drinkable on its own, or with mildly to moderately spiced food, but would not stand up to spicer Indian or Thai food.  At only 13% alcohol, the first taste was a bit sour, but not for long.

THE FOOD - The chef from the winery's on-site restaurant prepared a creamy carrot and leek soup containing several spices, including its assigned coriander.  The creaminess instantly coated our tongues, permanently taking away the wine's initial sourness.  The combination and interplay of the wine and the food was similar to what we tried the night before, but with more delicate flavours and spices.

WINERY'S BEST FEATURE - The entire property is beautifully constructed and landscaped, and I love tulips, but on this visit, it was the new loft tasting bar that really impressed us, both for its interesting assortment of decanters and for its very knowledgeable staff.

Stop 2: Jackson Triggs Winery

THE WINE - The 2009 Black Series Gewurztraminer is exemplary, in that it offers a little bit of everything that a gewurz should have: a mild nose of yeast with subdued flavours of lychee and rose petal contrasted with light spice and citrus (possibly grapefruit).  It's very light bodied, and despite its 14% alcohol content, offers no sour shock at the start.  I do wish it was a little dryer on the finish, but that's just my personal preference.

THE FOOD - I commend Jackson Triggs for taking on a difficult, not to mention expensive herb, but found that its saffron aioli tasted more like mayo than saffron.  This was used to dip naan-bread pizza topped with partially dried tomatoes.  These were all interesting flavours, but didn't come together the way I think they intended, so the effect of the pair was lost on me.

WINERY'S BEST FEATURE - Although Jackson Triggs looks quite industrial from the front, the tasting bar at the back offers a relaxing patio overlooking the rear vineyards.  They also host a vineyard concert series in the summer that we're sure to return for.

 Stop 3: Konzelmann Estate Winery

THE WINE - The 2010 Late Harvest Gewurztraminer was Chris' favourite wine of the day, but I'm not sure how it classifies itself as late harvest, as it rates only a 2 on the sugar scale and really isn't a dessert wine.  In colour and body, it was comparable to what we'd tried the night before, but better tasting with little sourness and a creamier texture.

THE FOOD - Konzelmann's assigned spice was lavender, which it baked with honey into biscotti.  Although unimpressive on its own, the biscotti worked nicely with the wine, the lavender bringing out the wine's natural spiciness and the honey rounding out all of the flavours.

WINERY'S BEST FEATURE - The vineyards sit right on the lakeshore, offering a pituresque view of lake Ontario and the Toronto skyline.