I bought this bottle during the intermission of the Philosopher Kings concert at Jackson-Triggs because it was the wine I had sipped on throughout the show. A week later I opened it with some trepidation – worried that I might have had “good-time-wine syndrome” when I bought it: you know the feeling, you have a good time drinking a wine due to your surroundings or the company you were with and the next time you try it you wonder, “did I really like this wine?” – the wine just doesn’t taste the same, in fact it tastes like … well, I’m sure you have your own term. Fortunately, that was not the case, it still had the lemon, grapefruit, nectarine, mineral and hint of cat’s pee on the nose that I had grown to love sitting in my chair at the amphitheatre. A tart lemon start, grapefruit tang n the middle and lime zip at the end in the mouth. Refreshing on yet another summer afternoon … and just for good measure I had the Philosopher Kings playing on the stereo.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Colio Estate Wines 2006 Late Harvest Vidal - $11.95
“Late Harvest”, what is it? It can be one of two things: 1) the second pressing of icewine grapes or 2) grapes harvested later than usual harvest time – here in Ontario that’s after September and October. Colio waited, and waited and waited and finally in late January 2007 they said enough … temps never got to icewine making range (-8 to –10) but these grapes did see some frost, some freezing and even picked up a little botrytis along the way before being plucked from the vine. The nose is very icewine-esque: apples, pears, peaches, apricots, honey and some lilac; while those yummy flavours from the nose follow through on the palate but with much less sweetness than you’d expect from something that smells this sweet; ranking only about a 6 on the sugar code, compared to an icewine’s 20+. The finish is appley with hints of cinnamon, vanilla and/or butterscotch depending on which way your palate leans.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Smith and Wilson 2005 Double Barrel - $14.00
Last year’s version (2004) turned into my spring “pizza wine” – a quaffer with no pretense and went well with my Domino’s pepperoni-extra sauce. This time round Smith and Wilson have added some extra umph to this wine because my pizza would now need more meat to match up with the wines heft. A blend of 75% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot (done in stainless steel) with the addition of 15% Cabernet Sauvignon oaked for 10 months in Hungarian and American oak. The nose is blackberry, black cherry, currants, nutmeg, pepper, some spice and a touch of oak; followed by a palate of cedar, vanilla, cinnamon and oak for seasoning, black fruit and tart strawberry for fruit. Looks like I’ll be adding some ground beef, sausage and bacon onto that pizza next time.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Creekside Estates Winery 2006 Butler’s Grant Vineyard Riesling - $15.95
Last year (2005) was Creekside’s first effort making a “Butler’s Grant” single vineyard Riesling, and by the label you can see it was from the Butler’s Grant Vineyard. Like with most things this winemaking team of Craig MacDonald and Rob Powers touches of late, they turned yet another wine into liquid gold. Lighting has struck again in 2006 with this version. Good crisp acidity is the backbone, surrounded by peachy-minerality and some sweet honeydew flavours. Another great Riesling that’ll stand the test of time, and a few years in the cellar; though it drinks wonderfully well right now.
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