MALIVOIRE - MOIRA VINEYARD CHARDONNAY 2005

This was arguably the best wine we tasted during our trip to the Niagara Peninsula wine region. The Moira vineyard is Malivoire's oldest, and is meticulously maintained in order to produce a superior wine. Much care and craftsmanship goes into this wine and it shows. On the nose are prominent notes of apple, pear, brie, and honey. Flavours of apricot, maple syrup, and vanilla. To say this wine is smooth is an understatement.

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Visit to Ontario's Niagara Peninsula wine region

Last weekend Julia and I took a trip to the famed Niagara wine region, due east of London. We visited wineries in the western side of the region, near the towns of Winona, Grimsby and Beamsville. First up was Puddicombe Estate Winery. The farm & winery boasts that it was established way back in 1797, however it was originally a cattle farm. It did not begin growing fruit until the early 1900s, and began growing wine grapes in 1940. They currently produce both fruit and traditional wines. We sampled a variety of both, and I have to admit that we were underwhelmed overall. I sampled the Riesling, supposedly a strength of the Niagara region, and found it to be very acidic and lacking in complexity. The Merlot Reserve was decent, so I decided to buy a bottle (although had it not been our first winery of the tour I probably wouldn't have). We also sampled a cranberry wine, something we had never tried before, and found it to simply taste like unsweetened juice. It would be novel to have it with turkey at Thanksgiving.

Next up was Peninsula Ridge Estates. It has a fantastic old house up on a hill that operates a restaurant, but since we did not have reservations we could not eat there. The wine tasting was a typical line up, including a Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. I was really impressed by the silky Fume Blanc 2006.

Peninsula Ridge Estates vineyard

The Restaurant at Peninsula Ridge

After grabbing some lunch at a nearby cafe, we next visited Angels Gate Winery. The property features a very attractive "mission" style building perched up on a hill overlooking the shoreline. The estate is relatively new; its first vines were planted in 1995. They offered a wide variety of wines, and best of all the tastings were free! The wines were OK but nothing stood out as outstanding. I picked up a bottle of Cabernet Merlot that seemed promising.

Angels Gate Winery

Virtually across the road is Thirty Bench Wine Makers. It had been recommended to us by the proprietor of the cafe we had stopped at for lunch. We were greeted personally at the door and were given an overview of the vineyard and their wine making process. A lot of care goes into making Thirty Bench wine. We were told that the grapes are all hand picked in small batches, for instance one row of vines may be deemed ready to pick while the next row waits a few more days. They offered us a tasting hosted by one of their wine experts, but unfortunately due to time constraints we couldn't stay. Instead we sampled a couple of their featured wines: the Beamsville Bench Riesling and the Benchmark Red Blend. Both were excellent and were definitely some of the best wine we had tasted during our tour. I really want to visit Thirty Bench again so that we can try the longer tasting.

Last of not least was Malivoire Wine Company. Above their tasting room is where their storage tanks are located, so while you are sampling you can look up through glass windows to see where their wine is made. One wine that really stood out was the 2005 Moira Vineyard Chardonnay. The Moira vineyard is Malivoire's oldest, planted back in 1995.

Malivoire Wine Company vineyard

Overall, the Niagara whites were superior to the reds, and this was confirmed by many of the winery representatives. I found the reds to lack boldness; they seemed weak. However, we sampled many delicious whites such as the Moira Chardonnay from Malivoire and the Beamsville Bench Riesling from Thirty Bench.

We left the Niagara Peninsula with nine bottles of wine. Keep watching this blog for my tasting notes as we eventually try each one.

HENRY OF PELHAM - RIESLING 2006

It has been a while since our last post, as we have recently moved from Vancouver to London, Ontario. Naturally, things have been quite busy, and we haven't had the luxury of leisurely wine tastings.

Now that we are in Ontario, it is time to sample some of the local varieties. The Niagara Peninsula is the major wine appellation here, and is where Henry of Pelham Family Estate is located. Its sub-appellation is called Short Hills Bench.

We sampled a bottle of Riesling to have with some tortellini - probably not a great pairing, but what the heck. It had grapefruit, citrus, and quince on the nose, and the taste had strong flavours of granny smith apple. It was a very nice introduction to Ontario wine, and I can't wait for more.

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MOUTON CADET 2005

Mouton Cadet is the product of Baron Philippe de Rothschild. It is not good enough to be called Chateau Mouton Rothschild, so they called it Mouton Cadet (cadet meaning younger son in French). It is a Bordeaux AOC with grapes from Saint-Estephe and Haut-Medoc, plus other regions.

We ordered a bottle at Morton's - The Steakhouse, and it went perfectly with our porterhouses and rib eyes. A luscious, deep red hue, and a perfect balance of fruit and tannins. It is a blend of 65% merlot, 20% cabernet sauvignon, and 15% cabernet franc.

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Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival 2008

Last night Jules and I attended the Tasting Room event of the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival. As the cliche goes, I was like a kid in a candy store. There were dozens of wineries pouring hundreds of wines, and it wasn't just the common stuff either. There were was a selection of champagne, bordeaux, port, and myriad reserves. It was very crowded, so at times we had to get a bit pushy to get in front of the booths, but over all I was able to taste virtually everything I wanted. Having never been to this event before, I had hoped to take some tasting notes on some of the wines. Soon after arriving, I realized that this would be impossible, firstly because I had forgot a freakin' pen, but also because of the physical difficulty of juggling a wine glass, note pad, pen, festival program, and handouts. I did see a few others taking notes, but it looked very awkward. Maybe next time...
The regional theme this year was Italy, and it seemed this was the most represented country. Because it was the most crowded area on the floor we did not sample as many as we would have liked. I admit I am less familiar with Italian growing regions and grape varietals, however I do enjoy Italian wine. Here are some highlights:

• Prunotto Barbaresco 2004 & Bric Turot Barbaresco 2004 - according to their representatives, 2004 was an exceptional vintage for their Barbaresco wines. It showed; both the Barbaresco and Bric Turot Barbaresco were delicious, with high acidity, and pronounced fruit flavours
• Antinori Tignanello Toscana 2005 & Cervaro Della Sala 2004 - Julia and I agreed that the Cervaro Della Sala was our favourite white of the tasting room. And the Tignanello - hey, it's a classic.
• Ruffino Lumina Pinot Grigio 2006 - a refreshing, simple pinot grigio that offers good value.

And then there was the rest of the world. I was able to browse a downloaded version of the program ahead of time, and wrote down some wines that I wanted to try. Quite a few were French.

• Taittinger Champagne NV (FR) - of the half dozen or so champagnes we tried, including G.H. Mumm and Pommery, this was my favourite
• Chateau Haut Vigneau 2005 (FR) - a fine bordeaux, with pronounced tannins and a long finish
• Perrin Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-Du-Pape Rouge 2005 (FR) - I love Perrin Reserve Red Cotes Du Rhone, so I had to try their Chateauneuf.
• Perrin Coudoulet de Beaucastel Red 2005 (FR) - another fine Cotes du Rhone from the Perrin family, who, through recent acquisitions, produce dozens of other wines.
• Louis Latour Pinot Noir (FR)
• Ogier Caves des Papes Châteauneuf-Du-Pape, Clos De L’Oratoire 2005 (FR) - tried it just because of the great label
  
• Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate Estate Sunrock Shiraz 2005 (CA) - I have a bottle of this on my rack but had never tried it before. Now I'm glad I bought it.
  
• Santa Rita Pehuen Carmenere 2004 (CL) - a special treat, since this wine was designated for industry tastings only. I distinctly remember hints of mint and burnt rubber
• Santa Rita Floresta Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (CL) - at first I thought this was a chardonnay because of its boldness. Very pronounced citrus
• Dr H Thanisch Berncasteler Doctor Riesling Auslese 2005 (DE) - very sweet and flavourful dessert wine
  

COTES DU RHONE PERRIN RESERVE 2005

Wow. This wine completely blew me away. What terrific balance and fragile complexity. It has an earthy aroma with hints of cloves and cranberries. Flavours of cocoa and plum with a slight spiciness and excellent tannins. Thanks to Mary Alice for a wonderful bottle.

Perrin Reserve consists of Cinseault, Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre grapes. They are grown in the vinyards of Grand Prébois owned by the Perrin family in Orange, France.

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BODEGA ACHAVAL FERRER MALBEC 2005

To me, Malbec is synonymous with Argentinian wine, as they produce lots of this delicious varietal. Julia and I received a bottle of Achaval Ferrer from Jan for Christmas (thank you Jan!).

The first thing that came to mind when I tasted it was "round." It has a very round mouth feel; it is well balanced with nice tannins and a bit of tartness. Julia noticed hints of blackberry, and a flavour that she first thought was plastic, but after reading another review, was more accurately described as tarry. But in a good way.





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