Riding The Barrel Over The Falls

"I'm not a motherf*@cker! I have never F@#cked a mother my entire life! Yeah she was 42 but she didnt have any kids!"

Such was the ravings of the surly old englishman sitting beside me barside at the Football Factory as I was taking in Spurs humiliating defeat at Craven Cottage in their 4th round derby FA Cup tie. Oddly enough he'd go on to swoon over Adele and wax poetic about rollerskating to Whitney Houston in UK rollerdiscos back in 1986. Hard to believe from such rusty urban confines, I was merely an hour away from a majestic tour through romantic wine country. Its easy to forget about the world outside Toronto's urban sprawl but while summertime sees countless thousands sit for hours in traffic to escape to cottage country, far too many forget that we have our very own Napa Valley at our doorstep.

It remains one of my greatest pet peeves, that while Niagara wines are making waves worldwide (including winning some major competitions), most of us here in Ontario treat our treasured wine country like the ugly step child. It baffles me to no end that most restaurant consumers will gladly splash $150 for an average bottle of Red Burgundy while spectacular Niagara pinots are often available at half that price. Naturally much of this stems from the painful memories many of us have our first Niagara wine experiences. But that god awful bottle of Jackson Triggs you picked up at a Wine Rack half a dozen years back is not at all a reflection of the growing roster of talented producers unleashing worldclass juice for those lucky of us to get over our inferiority complex.

The vinyards at De Sousa in January

I left behind the ruffians from FA Cup matchday and hopped into a car bound for wine country. My good friend Naomi Laurie studied winemaking in Niagara and was my tour guide for the days tastings. Newly certified as a Court of Master Sommelier and friends with many of the best wine people in the Niagara region, there was no one better to take the lead and we were on course for the best Niagara has to offer.

We began our day in our mutually favourite appelation in the region, The Beamsville Bench. It was remarkable to drive along into the rolling vinyards and note 3 of my favorite producers, Hidden Bench, 30 Bench, and Rosewood, all located within a 6-iron's reach of eachother. Truly this is some special terrain and highlights the need to refine our simplistic AVA system here in the region. We'd later spend some time grabbing wine chemistry text books from an aspiring wine maker whose current project was just that, to redefine more accurately the Niagara appelations using a massive accumulation of data he's been compiling.

2007 La Brunante 

We began the day in the finest of style at Hidden Bench. One of the regions most highly touted wineries was a perfect way to kickstart the pallette. Naomi began with their Fume Blanc which does a much finer cool climate tribute to the Loire Valley than Mondavi ever managed with coining the term in California. I started with their rare 2009 Viognier, which sadly lacked that floral attack that typically balances so well against the acidity in the best examples of this grape. I could see why they keep it to themselves. We moved on to the pinots. 2008 Estate Pinot Noir and the 2007 Locust Lane Pino Noir. Surprisingly enough, the younger and cheaper Estate bottle outshined its single vinyard cousin by miles. When one considers how much better the 2007 vintage was compared to the 2008 vintage it is an even more staggering feat. Yet this perhaps highlights a theory that here in Ontario, where the terroir and vinyard sizes differ greatly from Burgundy, blending "estate" wines from many vinyards produces better product than what can be achieved with single vinyard growths. Regardless, the public's affinity for single vinyard "status" allows those in the "know" to grab much better value on "Estate" series wines. We finished the day with their two meritage blends, the 2008 Terroir Cache and the 2007 La Brunante. Both prove to be bold and fantastic, though side by side, the superiority of the premium La Brunante shines through. The superior vintage certainly plays a part with any Ontario wine that features Cabernet Sauvignon (why do we still grow it here?), but I believe the blend also plays a part, with Cabernet Sauv taking a backseat in the La Brunante behind Merlot, Cab Franc and Malbec (all three of which grow MUCH better here in Ontario...especially cab franc...my obsession).

2008 Tawse Cabernet Franc

Our next stop along the path was to Tawse, which is quickly becoming my favourite Ontario producer. While their spectacular winery trumpets the big money behind the operation, their commitment to quality in EVERY bottle reflects that there is passion to back up that investment. While again I have often trumpeted the need in Ontario to show more FOCUS on a few grapes, Tawse remains an anomaly that produces a vast array of grapes and somehow does all of them well. I began with a perfect reminder of this with their Robyn's Block Chardonnay. A Big, beautiful and buttery masterpiece. And I say this as someone who prefers unoaked chardonnays or the subtle treatments of classic white burgundy. It reminds me of David Ramey's line, which again, though nothing like my style of chardonnay, remains stunning nonetheless. We move along to the rieslings, which run on both styles of the grape, both dry and fruit forward. For me though its the reds I've been salivating over and we begin with the spot on 2008 Cherry Avenue Pinot Noir. The stewed fruit dances atop the divinely earthy bottom end in a perfect representation of this most elusive animal, the pinot noir. We move on to the David's Block Merlot, another rock solid meal in a glass. We finish with the wine that first ignited my love of this estate, their Cabernet Franc. Over the years I've come to believe that not only is Cabernet Franc the ultimate food wine, but that it could very well be Ontario's flagship down the road, as we already do it better here than they do in its birthplace in the Loire Valley. The Tawse is amongst the best their is. Velvety smooth, it coats the mouth with its enourmous girth, only to give way to a deliciously balanced vegetal side that makes it so flexible in food pairings. I dont leave without some home stock of this guy.

After two heavyweights, we decide on the need to try some value wines, and thus began the Andrzej Lipinksy portion of our tour. Andrzej is one of Niagara's storied winemakers, whose journey has seen him making waves at Vineland, De Sousa, Organized Crime, Megalomaniac, Fielding, Foreign Affair and most recently at Colaneri. He is one of the pioneering forces behind producing Amarone style wines known as appassimento here in Ontario. Naomi has worked closely with Andrzej over the years and we dedicate the remainder of our day searching out his wines.

The De Sousa Estate

This takes us to the De Sousa Wine Cellars, which is a delightful value estate with a unique history. Originally committed to making Portugese grapes and styles here in Ontario, they were for many years the only Ontario port that ACTUALLY tasted like port. The family was eventually bought out by Diamond and the focus has shifted slightly, but you can see the Portugese heritage throughout the property. We were dissapointed to taste their current port offering, which had indeed shifted back to tasting like fortified Ontario Cab instead of true Port. The excitement cranked up when we found a few bottles of Andrzej era Cabernet Franc from 2006 that had been recently found in some hidden crate in the warehouse. Priced for clearence I grabbed a pair for $10 apiece.

Next was famed Appassimento flagship, Foreign Affair, where Andrzej made the style arrive here in Niagara. While the wines are no doubt delicious, they simply price themselves out of desirability. Which is too bad because this style of wine lends itself very well here. The only truly dissapointing wine was the Sauvignon Blanc which was actually quite swampy (surprising in our cool climate region) and flat. While their roster of wines were otherwise exceptional, I couldnt help but feel each one would be better at half the price. The appassimento styled Cabernet Franc, even though it had been opened for days, was still a masterpiece of picture perfect cab franc esconced in a chocolate robe. Yet at $110, I just couldnt see myself buying in. Further, the vintages bottled that were post Andrzej were noticably less stunning than those bottled by him.

Colaneri Estate Winery

We finished our day with a mad rush to Andrzej's current home pitch, Colaneri. Located just across the way from another of my favorite producers, Chateau Des Charmes, the estate here is a stunning take on an old world estate. Out back are the old tobacco kiln's (wisely bought up as ginseng has taken up so many thousands of tobacco acres) in which they dry out the grapes for Lipinky's signature style. The tasting room overlooks the fermenting tanks and barrel rooms in the confines of what feels like a mideval castle. What we soon disover is that Colaneri continues to represent a stunning winemaking lineage, but at prices that are far more fan friendly. The 2009 Gewurtzraminer, made with 50% dried fruit, is simply remarkable. Unlike any gewurtz I've ever had it was delightful and unique. While Josko Gravner's been making headlines with his unique styles in Italy, right here in Ontario Andrzej Lipinky has made an identical achievement and at $25 a bottle, this one is available for the everyman. The 2009 Pinot Grigio is a similarly unique achievement, though lady patio seekers who yearn to sip watery grigio's all summer long be warned...this isnt your Santa Margherita. While the appassimento styled reds arent available yet in bottle, their traditional offerings display a craft and quality in the fruit, that shows once dried fruit is ready, there are heroes in the making. From the cab franc to the merlot, to the surprisingly upstart syrah, this is a winery ready to explode.

Inside Colaneri

We finished our day nerding out over wine texts and hours of passionate discourse on the future of Niagara wine. Big things are clearly here at our doorstep. What began with Clos Jordanne's internationally acclaimed 2005 chardonnay, continued through the best ever 2007 vintage and is poised to grow with the eventual arrivals of the even better 2010 vintage, is a very serious evolution in our ugly step child. With producers and winemakers growing exponentially, and a rise in public awareness it is high time to get over your prejudice and take a barrel ride over the falls.