Hi Berserkers,
I’ve posted a few one-off tasting notes for exceptional wines that were too good to wait for a roundup for which included many great Ports and Icewines from Niagara, but here is my first roundup of 2012. No theme or pattern here, just a general grab bag with a little of everything for everybody including fruit wine, icewine, Alsace, Sauternes and an Auslese. There’s even a dry wine or two in there. Here we go:
COYOTE’S RUN 2006 RIESLING ICEWINE – A rare bottle of their 2006 vintage, this is perfect Riesling icewine. Heady petrol and candied lemon peel fill the nose. Light straw gold color, full body Bright tastes of lemon-lime, pineapple, green apple with a nice round sweetness and a super racy acidity. Excellent craftsmanship.
Of particular note is the fact that there is absolutely no oxidization at all that would mute the acidity. I usually find icewines of this vintage or older start losing their acidity and then their fruit as they slowly mature and maderize, but this tastes like it was bottled only two years ago. This is very likely due to the use of screwcap over cork and has really made me a believer in them. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
JACKSON-TRIGGS 2007 VIDAL ICEWINE – Golden color, medium-full body, nose of caramel and mango. Sweet taste of ripe peaches and mangos with a little hit of acidity on the finish followed by lingering burnt sugar caramel. This is basically peach bruleé in a bottle. A classic but also very basic Niagara Vidal icewine. I advise drinking now as I am slightly skeptical of its aging potential.
ALTOCEDRO 2008 RESERVE MALBEC – A dry Malbec from Argentina. Very clean tasting, lots of tannin in the nose, tastes of hard red fruit (i.e. plum, cherries) but has a surprising bit of vegetable cocktail in the finish, almost like a V-8 but very subtle in that falvor. That surprised me in a good way. Full-bodied and a high 15% ABV but extremely well integrated, no heat taste at all. This is definitely a churrasco wine! RECOMMENDED
QUADY 2010 ESSENCIA – An orange muscat wine from the famous aNDREW Quady winery of California specializing in dessert wines. Last year, I had the 08 vintage and summarized IT as a beautiful tastingwine with a bit too much alcohol. So how is this newest vintage?
This vintage has a beautiful candied orange peel nose and a lighter orange color that the 08. Tastes of candied orange with a touch of vanilla and a bit of heat on the end but nowhere near as noticeable as the 08. Clean and refreshing. Short finish. I still wish it had just a touch less ABV (it has been lightly fortified to 15%) but this is still really good stuff.
DOWNEY’S CRANBERRY ICE – An iced fruit wine made from Ontario cranberries. Nose of cranberries and petrol, just like a German Riesling, which was a pleasant surprise. Bright ruby red color, medium-full body, and a super concentrated sweet taste of cranberries with a slight touch of mint. Low ABV of just 8.1% but it does come through ever so slightly in the finish. It’s tough for a cranberry-based wine to come across as anything more than alcoholic cranberry cocktail, and so this wine should be commended for the slight touch of complexity it has to it.
CHATEAU GUIRAUD 2004 SAUTERNES – Lemon gold color, nose of glycerin, candied lemon peel, and a bit of toasted wheat. Nice sweet taste of apricot, cloves, ginger and a rather large amount of glycerin from the botrytis.
My research shows this is considered a lesser vintage for this chateau and there’s a good reason for it – there is very little acidity , enough to just barely balance things out and keep the wine from becoming too sticky but only just barely. This is a good Sauternes but certainly not a fantastic one. Still, for a price of $24 a half-bottle, a very good QPR Sauternes. Certainly there is much better out there for a slight increase in price.
ROSEWOOD ESTATES 2009 SUSSRESERVE RIESLING – A nice Niagara Riesling wine done in a German style. Off-dry taste of pineapple and lemon lime with bright acidity. Basically a good Niagara mimicking of a Kabinett.
JEAN GEILER 2009 PINOT GRIS – I was expecting a dry Alsace Pinot Gris based on the LCBO labelling and instead what I got instead was a medium sweet Pinot Gris with a ton of melon flavour and mellow smokiness and a touch of honey. Definitely off dry and makes me wonder what the LCBO labeler was smoking. I really liked this.
LA FACE CACHEE DE LA POMME 2009 NEIGE ICE CIDER – Along wth Domaine Pinnacle, La Face Cacheé de la Pomme is one of the two first producers of Quebec ice cider. This has been long overdue to be picked up by the LCBO here in Ontario and they finally have.
This cider has a pleasant nose of apples and a sweet taste of honey baked apples. You know exactly what you’re getting here. A very nice ice cider that should be drunk young.
SELBACH-OSLER 2006 RIESLING AUSLESE – Looking back on my tasting notes, I was a bit surprised to realize that this is actually my first ever German Auslese. It’s got a straw gold color, light body,and extremely mellow nose of honeydew, pineapple and a faint whiff of light yet deep lingering petrol.
In the mouth, sweet taste of honeydew, pineapple, and lime syrup. A touch of acidity but not as much as I’ve had in Spatleses before. I’m curious if German Ausleses in general follow this pattern of trading in the acidity for deeper richness and complexity. This is a incredibly mellow wine that should really be sipped slowly and savored.
DOMAINE RIEFLE 2007 BONHEUR EXCEPTIONNEL ALSACE GRAND CRU STEINERT PINOT GRIS – An excellent off-dry Pinot Gris wine from Alsace. Lush flavors of ripe honeydew melon and rip Phillipine mango with a touch of golden sweet pineapple with a long smoky finish that really lingers in the back of the throat long after you’ve swallowed. This paired very well with an Italian Caprese salad, chicken lasagna and oven-braised bbq-style baby back ribs. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED