Berserkers,
It’s tough to live up to the ballin’ $200 sweet wines I posted about recently but I had to come back down to planet Earth sometime and by coincidence I have in fact landed in both Niagara, Ontario, Canada and good ol’ sunny California. Well, really the LCBO tasting bars around the city but it’s been darn cold up here in Toronto, Canada so I thought I’d drink in some Cali sunshine as well as some other things:
TWOMEY CELLARS 2010 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir – I’d never heard of this producer before ever and saw this and decided to try it as I haven’t had a Cali Pinot Noir in a while. Great choice because this was superb.
Dark ruby in the glass, lovely soft nose of cherries, flowers and licorice. In the mouth, delicate but still Cali big flavors of sour red cherries, licorice and and rose petals. The licorice note was soft yet still very distinct – so much so that it made me realize that the “cherry cola” flavor AFWE Pinot lovers complain about may actually be that combination of cherry and licorice. Personally, I love it when done well.
Also, a very important note about the texture – despite being very young, the tannins were pretty much imperceptible which made for a gorgeous light-bodied mouthfeel despite a relatively high 14% ABV. Nicely done. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and I will pick some up myself.
GLORIA FERRER 2001 Carneros Cuvée – I was extremely worried about this one after seeing on the bottle that it was disgorged after 10 years of resting on its lees. While I enjoy some biscuity flavor in sparkling wine, I hate it when it overwhelms a wine and turns it into yeast soda and many times this happens after only just 1 or 2 years on its lees.
Fortunately, no worries here despite the long time on its lees. In fact, this was surprisingly fruity and refreshing despite the obviously stronger yeast biscuit flavor thanks to some incredible balance. Light gold in the glass, superb mousse in the body as you might expect, and crisp well-balanced fruit flavors of green apple and lemon drop with a nice big biscuit flavor holding everything together that doesn’t overwhelm the wine.
This is really a great find. Not too heavy like some French Champagnes, not too high acidity, not too sweet and not too biscuity. Sounds and more importantly tastes just about right to me.
VIGNALTA 2008 Colli Eugenie Fior D’Arancio Alpiane – I met fellow board member Jay Shampur for dessert at Splendido and shared this bottle with him and the staff. It’s an Italian Passito wine made from dried Fior D’Arancio aka Orange Muscat grapes. You may recall my post on the Ben Ryé Passito which was pure liquid apricot gold. This is just like that if you switch the apricot for sweet blood orange flavors.
Orange-gold in the glass, full-bodied, and a soft luscious texture on the tongue. Heady aromas of ripe oranges and spun sugar that is surprisingly similar to much more alcoholic Grand Marnier. In the mouth, long-lasting flavors of sweet blood orange, honey, and caramel with some nice strong lemony acidity in the backbone and a touch of lavender. Chef Victor greeted us and tried a bit and declared it absolutely delicious. Completely agreed. As the Ben Ryé was to apricot, so is this to blood orange. As I have often said, one dimension can still be very good if that single dimension is done extremely well as it is here. RECOMMENDED
ROSEWOOD 2013 Harvest Gold Mead – This is a local Mead from a Niagara region winery that specializes in Pinot Noir and Riesling but is also a beekeeping ground and thus also specializes in Mead and beeswax making. This is their off-dry Mead which is one of their specialties.
This is a hard wine to review because it all really depends on whether or not you enjoy the taste of honey and if you do, how much of it do you enjoy diluted. For example, if you dilute some in your hot tea vs. whether or not you spread it on toast or crackers or have it with your fried chicken.
The nose is all wildflower honey with a touch of ginger. In the mouth, a tingly flavor I can only liken to botrytis glycerin is front and center with sweet flavors of honey, butter and a touch of mint that is unusual but nice which I suspect is a product of the entire Meadmaking process. There’s also some fruity green apple acidity on the finish as well which is another pleasant surprise.
Overall this was delicious but, again, your interest in it will depend on just how highly you enjoy honey and the thought of it as the basis for an alcoholic beverage. I know there’s definitely a market for Mead in both England and Canada though this is a lot less sweet than Mead wine I’ve tasted from England. RECOMMENDED
PILLITTERI 2007 Sticky Beak Icewine – I co-hosted the iYellow Wine Club’s icewine tour this past Saturday and this was one of the three standout icewines I had over the day. This very unique icewine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Shiraz, and Sangiovese icewines. For all intents and purposes, a Bordeaux style blend with some added Sangiovese if you will except in icewine form.
I gotta say, this was a pretty darn lucious icewine. Most icewine is, of course, but this one was rich in texture and aroma as well as sweet. Rich dark purple red in the glass with heady aromas of strawberry pie. Full-bodied with sweet flavors of strawberries and blackberries with undertones of caramel and chocolate that are somewhat close to recioto though not fully there. Honeyed sweetness but just enough acidity to keep it from being cloying. Be aware that we are not talking Riesling icewine levels here. A superb icewine. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
INNISKILLIN 2012 Vidal Icewine – Aside from being the historical forefather of all icewine in Ontario, Canada, this particular icewine also happens to be by far the best Vidal icewine made in the region and the standard by which all others are appropriately judged. This vintage is no different.
A rich golden color in the glass, lovely aromas of honey, canned peaches and apricots, and honey flowers. In the mouth, medium full-bodied which is a touch lighter than its usual very full body but as always still with super concentrated lucious flavors of apricot, honey and peaches and a nice backbone of lemon-lime acidity.
One important note to mention here – the icewine was tasted in a custom Riedel icewine glass that made such an impression on me that I bought two of them by splitting a gift pack with a club member who wanted the icewine but not the glasses. We here on the board know how important glassware is and in fairness the Riedel icewine glass does force the icewine to the back of the tongue and increase the sensation of acidity which definitely helps.
I could see how from a normal glass a normal drinker might find this icewine far too sweet and cloying. In fact, I poured mine into a regular ISO tasting glass to see (Inniskillin never serves icewine in these for the very reasons mentioned above) and indeed the glass made the icewine seem far sweeter than it actually is. Unfortunately, the average buyer probably doesn’t have specially designed icewine glasses. In spite of this, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
INNISKILLIN 2012 Cabernet Franc Icewine – This high-quality red icewine trades off a little of the panache and the “oomph” of the Vidal icewine for much more elegance. A beautiful crimson red in the glass. On the nose, soft aromas of strawberries and spun sugar. In the mouth, soft tastes of sweet strawberries and a touch of honey. That’s it. Very elegant in texture and flavor, but also noticeably less acidic, complex and hedonistic than the Vidal even in the special icewine glass. Still, very good and noticeably less sweet than the Vidal. It’s like the Vidal is the WWF/IPOB icewine and the Cab Franc is the AFWE icewine. RECOMMENDED
