Coffin Ridge 2009 Sparkling Pear - $18.80

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Coffin Ridge 2009 Sparkling Pear
Price: $18.80 – Rating: ****

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Kawartha Country Wines 2008 Shiro Plum - $9.80

4I tried this wine at the Archibald Fruit Wine and Food Festival and I would have to say I was very impressed, even if I have no idea what a Shiro plum is.

The Tasting Notes: According to John Rufa, owner and winemaker at Kawartha Country, the Shiro has a very bitter skin but a really sweet middle – and that’s exactly what he’s going for in this wine a sweet mid-palate with a tart finish – and he’s accomplished it nicely. Price: $9.80 – Rating ****

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Downey’s Estate Winery Strawberry Rhubarb unfiltered - $12.95

I’m not sure when I bought this, I’d have to check my records, but the Downey’s Estate Winery non-vintage unfiltered strawberry-rhubarb fruit wine is fantastic. What’s more to say about a fruit wine that tastes exactly like what it claims on the label. Smells are exactly what you’d get from a strawberry-rhubarb pie baking in the oven whafting out into the living room. The taste is pure strawberry with a touch of rhubarb and good sweetness (5). The wine is left unfiltered so you do get a few of those floaty bits but then in a strawberry-rhubarb pie you’d have to contend with stringy bits stuff from the rhubarb – I’ll take floaty over stringy any day. The 14.4 percent alcohol brings the heat, especially on the nose, but a good chill softens this warming effect and makes this one palatable and delicious; and it’s got a taste that just lingers and lingers - I’m still digging out strawberry pockets from the crevasses in my mouth. Worth the drive to Brampton for this baby.

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Scotch Block Country Winery Sweet Scarlet - $14.95

Some fruit wineries call their sweet wines “ice-wine-style” wines, others call them “dessert wines” or even “fortified/port-style” wines; but what ever they call these sweet beauties they do make dessert-time fun. I’ve also noticed of late that many fruit wineries are trying to find that magic-matching of fruits; and although some seem a little out there, others truly hit the mark. Scotch Block, located in Milton, has come up with something truly unique and wonderfully tasty. Sweet Scarlet is a cranberry-strawberry fusion in the sweet wine category. There’s no mistaking the smells and tastes, but it’s interesting to see how they combine. If you just let this wine sit in the glass the unmistakable smell of strawberry hits the nose; swirl the glass around and cranberry becomes the dominant smell. In the mouth it’s a similar sensation, with sweet strawberry in the mouth, finishing with the tartness of cranberry, and I could swear there’s some cinnamon that sneaks its way into the mid-palate. It is because of the cranberry finish that this wine does not come off as being overly sweet. Ice cold is the best way to serve this wonderful dessert wine … great on its own or, believe it or not, with a stick of red licorice.

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Rush Creek Wines Decadence - $10.50

Let’s start off the new year with something interesting and unique (though in the fruit wine world it is taking off like gangbusters): fruit wine and chocolate. This wine is a slam-dunk for your sniffer as chocolate wafts right out of the glass, grabs you by the lapel and gives your whole body a shake. As the wine warms up the strawberries start to assert themselves, but never more than the chocolate which seems to last and last and last. There is no secret that this wine is made with strawberry wine and cocoa – so that is why those two smells are there. You’d expect a wine that smells this way to be super-sweet, but you’d be wrong. In the glass it looks strawberry in colour and tastes chocolaty in the mouth right up to the finish where tart, almost sour, strawberry kicks back, leaving you with a drier than expected finish … but wait Decadence isn’t finish with you yet. As the finish lingers on, the sour-strawberry dissipates and the sweet chocolate returns. Making for a pleasurable drinking experience. Not a wine you could have a full glass of, but a fun and interesting half-glass-way to end off a relaxing evening with friends. Available at the winery only.

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Battle of the ‘Boise: Southbrook vs. Downey’s (Framboise challenge) – $14.95 each

At this year’s Toronto Wine and Cheese Show (2006), best sweet fruit wine was won by Downey’s Estate Winery Framboise. “That’s because we didn’t enter ours,” says winemaker Steve Byfield, of the perennial winner in the category, Southbrook Winery; while over at Downey’s those are fightin’ words. We take the battle out of the bottle and into the glass to see who’s Framboise is better. Six tasters weigh in to help me make the decision:

Downey’s Estate Winery Framboise - $14.95 … 14.9% (375ml)
Less sweet than the Southbrook version with higher alcohol, which some tasters claimed was right upfront on both the taste and nose: “the alcohol was very prominent to the wine, it’s the first thing that hit me”. This Framboise is lighter, both in colour and consistency than it’s Southbrook counterpart. Some tasters comments were: “it tastes more like the real thing, like fresh raspberries” and was more “pleasantly pungent”, “truer to the smell of raspberries”. Overall, Downey’s Framboise is lighter in colour, thinner on the palate with more alcohol – but true to what you’d expect a raspberry wine would be like. Final analysis: very good and tasty.

Southbrook Framboise - $14.95 … 14.5% (375 ml)
Definitely sweeter than the Downey’s version, richer in the mouth and a deep red in colour. Southbrook’s Framboise was described as “thicker, almost syrupy”; “definitely a dessert wine”; “I could see pouring this over ice cream, pie, or even cooking with it”. Other comments made were “smooth”, “viscous” and “perfumey”. The lowdown on this wine: fresh raspberries with a sprinkling of sugar on top, and it was consistently ranked sweeter then it’s Downey’s rival.

The final result was 3 – 3 … no clear-cut winner this time round, a sure sign that personal taste always wins. Those who enjoy sweet liked the Southbrook, while those who enjoy lighter flavoured wines enjoyed Downey’s. The good news is that nobody disliked either wine, the panel thought they were both excellent and very enjoyable. I guess it is now up to you to decide … then weigh in with your opinion.

Southbrook Framboise available at the LCBO and the winery - Downey's Framboise available at the winery only.

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Muskoka Lakes Winery 2001 Cranberry – Vintner’s Reserve - $14.95

Last week I found myself up north in Bala, Ontario, at Muskoka Lakes Winery – a winery based (mostly) on cranberries, not surprising considering it’s locale in the “Cranberry Capital of Canada”. I tried plenty of cranberry-based wines (white cranberry, cranberry blueberry and a cranberry sparkling cooler) and some blueberry wines as well (stainless steel and oak-aged versions) … and if you will remember I hailed their Red Maple (cranberry with a touch of maple syrup) as one of my favourite wines of the 2006 Wine and Cheese Show (Newsletter 28). Now, I’ve got another interesting wine from this winery to share with you.

Who would have thought that fruit wine could age, beyond a couple of years, and get better. But cranberries have similar properties to grapes, which includes tannins; but unlike grapes they are not temperamental about the weather, they will ripen properly each and every year. This allows Muskoka Lakes the opportunity to make the “same” wine year after year (even if they do vintage date the bottle). Which now brings me to this week’s bottle of choice. In speaking with the store employee (thank you Corrie) – it was determined that cranberry wine is better when aged 3 to 4 years (maybe even 5 to 6 years, winemaker said they have another year or two in them – the science isn’t exact at this moment). This wine is from the 2001 harvest (hence 4 years old: from harvest [2001] to shelf [2002] is about a year) and lacks the mouth-puckering tartness of the 2004 or 2005 versions (currently on the shelves). The nose is sweet cranberry and cherry; the taste is smooth and easy with just a hint of the cranberries-tart taste, incredibly smooth, with soften cherry and cranberry on the palate. A much easier and infinitely more pleasant drink for summer sipping, without the lip smacking scrunched up face you’ll make from the tarter versions. The moral of this tale is to buy some and stick it in the cellar for a few years. The good news is that the 2001 is still available in limited quantities up at the winery (or can be ordered over the internet) as the “Vintner’s Reserve 2001 Cranberry” – so you can taste where the ’04 and ‘05’s are headed.

Go up to Bala, enjoy the day by the lake or on the water … but for heaven sake get to the Muskoka Lakes Winery and taste the difference a few years can make … you be the judge on what you like better. (For those who like tart tart tart cranberry taste – the 2004 or 2005 cranberry will definitely do the trick. Available at the winery only.

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