Thursday, July 21, 2011

Report from … 52 Wines from 1 Fantastic Place - May 18, 2011

I think Kim Mitchell put it best when he said, "I am a Yellow Party", that was right after he attended an iYellow event.  It was also the same event where Bran Van 3000 said, "There ain't no party like an iYellow party, cause and iYellow party don't stop."

Alright, ya caught me, I'm making this whole thing up, except for the party, that the iYellow Wine Club did sponsor and held the event for the 2nd year in a row at the Toronto Board of Trade in downtown Toronto.  They invited the 26 winery members of the Niagara-on-the-Lake group to each pour two wines ... they called the event "52 wines - 1 Fantastic place" (or was that just the tag line?).

There really ain't much else to say except give you a run down on some of the wines that were at the event; but before I do that I should take a moment to thank Miss Angie Aiello herself (no relation to Danny) for inviting me to sit in with her during one of her little wine talks to a small group of wine lovers - and of course for inviting me to the event itself.  As for my top 5 wines of the evening, you can find them below, along with a link to the full review on my website: www.ontariowinereview.com ...


1) Pondview 2009 Bella Terra Cabernet Franc (**** 1/2+) a fabulous France form a rather tough year, proves this grape really does belong in Ontario - you just have to know how to handle it in the vineyard.

2) Coyote's Run 2009 Red Paw Pinot Noir (**** 1/2) - the Coyote runs in a different pack when it comes to showing off their grapes in different soil types.

3) Colaneri 2009 Corposo (**** 1/2) - this ripasso style offering really brings out the inner-Italian in this new NOTL winery, not only does it feel that way but it tastes that way too.


4) Chateau des Charmes 2007 Old Vines Cabernet Merlot (****+) - shows that it's not just the newer wineries showing the way, this old guard still puts excellent wines into bottle year-in and year-out.

5) Cattail Creek 2009 Riesling (****+) - this Riesling really shows what the grape can do in the right hands, they've been growing it in NOTL since 1974, so you just know they're doing it right.

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