PENFOLDS KOONUNGA HILL SHIRAZ CABERNET 2006

It has been a long while since I last posted a review. Not that I haven't drank any, it's just been in situations when I didn't have the time and/or patients to take any notes. Recently I was at a local steakhouse for my birthday and happened to order a bottle of Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet. I liked it so much I decided to buy a bottle from the liquor store and perform a proper tasting. As an aside, I really wish restaurants in Canada would not charge so much for wine. I recall paying about $35 at the steakhouse versus about $17 in the liquor store. Obscene!

I really liked the balance of this wine - the spiciness of the Shiraz against the warmth of the Cabernet. The oak was detectable yet subtle, so as not to overpower the wine. As with many Aussie reds this one had big, bold fruit, with hints of raspberry on the nose. The high alcohol level (13.5%) was also quite detectable even after breathing for several minutes. It pairs really well with beef - no wonder it's available at the steakhouse.

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MALIVOIRE - GEWURZTRAMINER 2006

Fragrant, perfumey bouquet with strong notes of pear, honey, lavender. Nice colour of golden straw. I always think of my Dad's advice about Gerwurz: it goes really well with Asian food because it can stand up nicely. It can, however, overpower other food that you typically accompany with a white wine. Tonight we had salmon and a tomato and bocconcini salad, and I think this wine was a bit too flavourful. A nice Gewurztraminer, but probably mismatched with our dinner.

This was another wine from our first tour of the Niagara wine region. Last weekend we visited the peninsula again and discovered some new wineries. I will write them up soon.

PENINSULA RIDGE 2006 FUME BLANC

The second of two bottles we picked up from Peninsula Ridge Estate Winery. This one was even better than I remembered it being at the tasting bar. It reminded me a lot of the Malivoire Chardonnay I tried a couple of months back - lots of honey, vanilla, apricot, and citrus. It was silky smooth and absolutely delicious. Niagara's whites absolutely shine!

Until now I had no idea that Fume Blanc is actually Sauvignon Blanc. Apparently, the term Fume Blanc was made popular by Robert Mondavi when he began producing a dry Sauvignon Blanc that was different to the sweeter SBs that he had previously produced. I always thought it was just another type of grape.

My parents are coming to visit in a couple of weeks, and we are hoping to take another trip to the Niagara Peninsula region. I'm not sure which wineries we will visit this time. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

PENINSULA RIDGE ARCANUM 2001

Another wine from our recent trip to the Niagara Peninsula region. This red is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Syrah. Extremely dark in colour, and somewhat thin legs. Notes of cedar on the nose. The palate is light on tannins, with strong berry flavour. I expected a fuller body, but it still stood up well to my steak dinner.






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ANGELS GATE CABERNET MERLOT 2004

Had this a few nights ago along with beef stir fry. We picked up this bottle during our wine tour of the Niagara Peninsula two weekends ago, and I must say I liked it a lot better than the sample I had at the winery. It was very mellow, with just the right boldness that I look for in this type of red. It had a resiny nose, and a nice brownish tinge in the class that indicated some aging. Hints of saddle leather (don't you love it?) and plum. Very satisfying.

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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.