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.

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