Legends Estates Winery

We're really trying to include wineries we haven't yet visited into our tours.  Legends Estates Winery attracted Chris' attention during last month's icewine festival, not for its wine, per say, but for its food choice: pulled beef brisket in yorkshire pudding nests.  Instead of serving icewine, Legends used it to cook the onions for the beef, and instead showed off two different wines: an '07 chardonnay and an '07 petit verdot.  We started with the chardonnay while waiting for the food.  My initial impression of the smell was buttered microwave popcorn just before it burns.  Chris remarked that it smelled 'hot,' meaning it cleared his sinuses.  At 14% alcohol, it also tastes 'hot' and incredibly oaky.  The buttered popcorn also carried through to the taste.  I really didn't enjoy this wine until I tried it with the beef.  The oily texture of the yorkshires matched the meaty body of the wine, taking away the alcohol heat.  The wine also played well off of the icewine-soaked cooked onions.  I just probably wouldn't drink it on its own. 

The petit verdot, Legends "big red," was a new varietal for us.  It's usually blended in Bordeaux style wines but is sometimes bottled on its own.  Legends is one of only two wineries in Ontario that attempt this one as it needs a longer growing season than the province's signature varietals: riesling, chardonnay, pinor noir and cabernet franc.  Legends' lakefront location, though, gives it a few weeks longer than its competitors.  (As I type, I can hear our friends at Zippy Sauce cringing, "If it doesn't grow well in Ontario, then don't grow it in Ontario.")  It was difficult to take notes on this one because we weren't really sure what we were looking for.  Some of the things scribbled in my notes include: big nose, nicely dry, no wood, cab-like tastes without the body, smooth, and little tannin.

After tasting it, I understood why it is usually used in a blend.  It would add great aroma and forward flavours to a more subtle, better structured wine.  However, since I don't blend my own wine, this isn't one I'll be buying.  That being said, the women in the boutique were very friendly and knowledgeable, and Legends does have a wide array of interesting wines, all aged longer than usual before release.  Although these two weren't our favourites, the overall experience makes it worth another visit.

Malivoire (finally!)

It seems that I am regularly asked, "what do you think of Malivoire?", "have you tried Malivoire?", and "haven't you been to Malivoire yet?"; It's not that we've been avoiding it; its various festival offerings just haven't fit in with any of our touring themes yet. Actually, our visit was no exception to that, as during the icewine festival it featured its 2010 M2 Small Lot Chardonnay, but we were determined to go there anyway.  On approach, the winery is not much to look at, but the slope of those vineyards promised some good bench-flavoured minerality so I remained optimistic. As we approached the boutique, though, I started to understand the decor theme. Instead of dressing up the corrugated metal dome that houses the entire operation, Malivoire has embraced industrial or heavy-metal decor with various bold accessories.

The retail area / tasting bar is small but efficient, albeit a little too dark. We headed past it to the events room which is elaborately decorated with a brightly coloured, vibrant mural. The air was filled with the inviting smell of the thyme in the butternut squash soup we were about to taste. The chef explained the science behind his pairing choices; using a strategy of complimentary flavours, he matched the sweetness of the wine to the butternut squash, and the wine's acidity to the soup's secret ingredient - apple.

Interestingly, we didn't agree at all with the tasting notes for this wine from Malivoire's website. Although it describes "an opulent nose of pear, citrus and floral aromas," we struggled to find the nose, eventually noting yeast and / or mildew, and, when aggressively swirled, bubblegum and / or passion fruit. The site goes on to describe that "the palate is full flavoured yet fresh with acidity," and we agree. I think the full flavour comes from the 12% of the grapes that were oaked, resulting in a buttered popcorn background flavour. At the time we were unable to identify the other flavours but now agree with the winery's description of orchard fruit.  Although quite easy-to-drink, this is a wine drinker's wine. Chris actually insisted, for once, that we buy 2 bottles. (It's usually me sneaking things into our basket!). Our rating: 87.5.