Snow, snow go away come again another day ... from what I hear more snow is coming this week - and so in honour of more snow I give you this beauty. Now go listen to the Podcast, or, if you choose the more boring route, you can just read the tasting notes below (the Podcast is always more fun):The smells are reminiscent of fresh strawberries and raspberries, while the taste delivers strawberries in spades. Light, refreshing and a barely noticeable 4 makes this a wine the whole family will love.
Welcome to “To chill or not to chill”: the game where you take two bottles of the same wine and serve one chilled and the other at room temperature then compare the aromas and flavours. In this case it’s a Gamay Noir (known in other parts as ‘the Beaujolais grape’) and the chill is about 2 hours. First off, it’s good to know that this Gamay has been aged in French oak for about 2 years, which should give it a little heft and structure. The unchilled version has black raspberry, black cherry, strawberry and cinnamon on the nose with a taste of cedar, blackberries, cassis, a touch of nutmeg and cinnamon with a tart strawberry finish. Chilled, the nose turns all red fruit with lots of cherry; the taste changes to black cherry, tart plum, hint of spice with a sweet smooth finish. You’ll notice that the fruitiness factor on the chilled version is multiplied greatly. So pick your poison: black fruit (room temp) or red fruit (chilled) it’s your choice, but both ways make for a excellent wine.
Ontario wine from the 2003 vintage is pretty lackluster in general. It was the fault of the season, not the winemakers, they did the best they could do with a fair crop. I’m not saying it was/is a bad year, it just wasn’t a good year – and many of the 2003 were drink now kinda wines; as one winemaker said to me, “Drink the 2003’s now and while you wait on your ‘02s.” During the 2007 icewine festival Angels Gate bucked the icewine trend and poured a flight of their Cabernet Sauvignons. This 2003 seemed to stand out from the crowd, surprisingly better than its ’02 and ’04 counterparts. After careful analysis back at the OntarioWineReview lab here is what I determined about this wine. A nose loaded with oak, smoke, black currant, black cherry and cedar. In fact cedar seems to dominate this wine: beginning, middle and end. The mouth shows more oak, some cherry, and over time some green pepper emerged … but again there is was, cedar. The way I figure it Angels Gate heavily wooded the wine to extract some flavours out of it. After a while I felt like I was drinking liquid wood and was lucky not to get splinters in my tongue. This is not a put down of the wine, nor an insinuation that it is poorly made wine, Angels Gate winemaker, Natalie Spytkowsky, did the best she could with a bad crop – and it would be interesting to see what happens if we give this wine another 3 years to settle. I’ll get back to you. For now it’s pretty good considering the year – pick up a bottle and decide for yourself. Available at the winery only.
Summer is officially over – so it’s only my luck that I should now find the rose of the year. This lovely pink blend is made up of Pinot Noir (45%), Gamay Noir (38%), Cabernet Franc (9%) and Gewurztraminer (8%); (I am told the Gewerzt was added in to bring the colour to roses status). And calling it pink is a misnomer because the wine appears to be more pinky-orange or a rusty-orange; but let’s not get all hung up on the colour, it’s the smell and taste that should get you. First, the nose is strawberry, cherry, raspberry, apples, peaches, rose petals and some cinnamon. Then, of course, there’s the taste. A citrus tang hits you upon its entry into the mouth, with a wonderful bit of mid-weight sweetness on the finish. There’s the taste of delicious red ripe fruit, carried along nicely through the mouth by some red licorice and/or cotton candy (this is depending on your taste buds0 and remains lingering about in the throat. There’s also some good acidity to the wine, that helps balance it off nicely, and keeps it hanging around in the mouth for a nice period of time. Delicious doesn’t quite sum it up – I’d like to find a better word but it’ll have to do for now. Pick some up for the holidays, as gifts, or get some for yourself for next summer – you just can’t go wrong with this beauty. Available at the winery and the LCBO.
There aren’t many really good semi-sweet Chardonnays out there, but Angels Gate has made a delightful stab at it. Blending the standard Chardonnay with the more aromatic Chardonnay Musque they end up with this semi-sweet sipper (or off-dry if you prefer). A nose of floral, peach, lime, pineapple and mango is followed by the cockle-warming taste of white peach and pineapple on a short finish. Quite enjoyable and tasty …what a treat when out on the patio these (hopefully) warm late-summer, early-autumn, days. Makes a great alternative to straight dry-Chardonnay, or even your typical Riesling. Their website proclaims "devilishly good wine" - with this one I would agree. Available at the winery only.
