A Parade of World Class Wines at Taste Ontario

And so it begins!

The fall wine trade shows are underway, kickstarting, for us, with Taste Ontario, an annual wine tasting of — you guessed it — Ontario’s wineries.

Ontario has four wine appellations: Prince Edward County, Niagara on the Lake, Niagara Escarpment & Twenty Valley, and Lake Erie North Shore & Pelee Island.

There are also emerging wine regions in eastern Erie, around the Long Point/Turkey Point/Simcoe area, Oak Ridges Moraine, with its lush farm land, also now has VQA quality vineyards, the Georgian Bay area is seeing wineries are popping up, and finally, Northumberland Hills, near Prince Edward County, is also home to a few small wineries.

The trade portion for Taste Ontario was in the afternoon with a public tasting in the evening.  If you didn’t get a chance to go, we highly recommend spending a day visiting any one of these regions.  Wine Country Ontario has a nifty wine route planner to help you design your trip, or we can also create a customized trip for you.

Can’t get away anytime soon, but still want to try some great Ontario wines?  Here’s a list of our show highlights, but we’d love to hear your, so leave them in the comments below!

Best in Show Red

Lailey Vineyard Syrah, VQA Niagara River, 2010
$27 laileyvineyard.com
We don’t always think Ontario does all that well with Syrah, but this is a classic, sophisticated, Northern Rhône styled example.  Deep purple in colour, this has a peppery, cassis and stone/chalk nose with a bit of dark earth.  On the palate flavours of blackberry, rosemary, black pepper spice and deli meat.  Great tannic structure and balanced acidity suggests this could cellar away quite nicely for up to a decade.

Best in Show White

Rosehall Run Pinot Gris Cuvée County, VQA Prince Edward County, 2011
$21.95 rosehallrun.com 
A beautifully delicate wine with a nose of ripe peach, lemon-lime, and a chalky-minerality.  On the palate, it’s dry and focused with pretty flavours of ripe peach and nectarine, bosc pear, white flowers and stoney minerality. Great acidity make this a perfect pairing for soft cheeses, or roast pork loin. Delicious.

Best Sparkling

Huff Estates Cuvée Peter F. Huff Sparkling, VQA Prince Edward County, 2008
$39.95 Vintages 198754
This traditional method bubbly has spent three years on its lees to offer flavours of vanilla shortbread, green apple and a subtle flinty/earthy note. Rich mousse & mid weight, this is very classy indeed.

Sleeper Hit

Burning Kiln Winery Cab Frank, Lake Erie North Shore, 2011
$24.95 burningkilnwinery.com
Burning Kiln is a new winery near Turkey Point, that opened to the public in 2011.  Once a tobacco farm that’s been replanted with wine vines, the grapes are dried in the old kilns used to dry tobacco — hence the name of the winery.  The Cab Frank, named after the tobacco farmer and current property manager, is made in the appassimento style of 100% dried grapes.  Purple-ruby with a nose of plum, smoke and spice , on the palate it’s full bodied with grippy tannin and flavours of purple plum, cassis, sweet baking spice, campfire smoke and — perhaps appropriately — tobacco leaf.

Top Prince Edward County

Norman Hardie Unfiltered Pinot Noir, VQA Niagara Peninsula, 2009
$39 Vintages 208702
Trying this at the show, Norm said he calls this “a Pinot for Cab lovers.” Full and rich, this is a gorgeous wine with succulent flavours of juicy red raspberry, bright red cherry, baking spice and earthy minerality.  Well-integrated tannins are firm, but well managed.  This would be a welcome edition to our Thanksgiving table.

Top Niagara

Southbrook Vineyards “Triomphe” Chardonnay, VQA Niagara on the Lake, 2010
100% barrel- fermented Chardonnay with a great backbone of acidity to balance out the oak. Lovely and elegant, with a fresh nose of ripe mango, vanilla and a touch of herbaciousness.  Thanks to the warm 2010 vintage, on the palate it’s soft and round with pineapple, mango, ripe red apple and vanilla but vibrant acidity keeps things from getting heavy.