Today we got to tour the three Great Estates of Niagara (Jackson-Triggs, Inniskillin, and Le Clos Jordanne) and a number of their vineyards ... below is the pictorial story of the day's events.
 |
Boarding the bus for the day trip around the Great Estates of Niagara
properties, producers and vineyards |
 |
And witness the grapes hanging before harvest (pictured: Chardonnay) -
which would happen very soon - as you shall see |
 |
| and Pinot Gris |
 |
| and the Pinot Gris is exceptionally 'gris' this year |
 |
Our next stop is the Brae Burn Vineyard -
where harvest is in full swing |
 |
Stacey Mulholland does her best Vanna White impression
showing off the wine |
 |
While chef David Penney prepares the oysters to match -
yup, oysters in the vineyard at 11am - life's pretty good! |
 |
And Inniskillin winemaker, Bruce Nicholson, checks grape data
(at least we assume he is checking on grape data this time of year) |
 |
Bruce Nicholson gets us together to talk about his picking regime:
"I wanna pick when I want to pick, not when the weather tells me" |
 |
A look at the Viognier grapes of 2013 -
Inniskillin uses only the grapes from this 2 acre plot |
 |
- Viognier grapes #2 -
Bruce looks for 23 brix to get the
characteristics he wants in the wine |
 |
| Debi Pratt listens in over the vines |
 |
| A look out over the vineyard to the Inniskillin winery in the distance ... our next stop |
 |
Where we are greeted by Errol at the weigh station, where we are shown
how grapes are brought in and measured for brix levels with a large
refractometer (accurate to .1 degrees) |
 |
| And here is my gratuitous dog shot, Errol's dog Penny, who kept to himself in the shade |
 |
| Next stop was the cellar at Inniskillin |
 |
| where we'll have a mainly Pinot Gris tasting |
 |
the 2009 Legacy Pinot Gris (aged 3 months new French oak)
tall with Icewine-esque flavours without the sweetness -
this was a library wine showing that Pinot Gris can age,
under the right circumstances (****) |
 |
It wouldn't be a trip to Inniskillin without Icewine being on the menu -
here is the new 2012 Cabernet Franc Icewine (****) |
 |
Now it's off to the Delaine Vineyard where Jackson-Triggs winemaker,
Marco Piccoli, met us to discuss two of J-T's flagship wines |
 |
| The Delaine 2012 Fume Blanc |
 |
| Marco, as it turns out, is a huge fan of Sauvignon Blanc |
 |
| I told you harvest was happening |
 |
| and where once Marco stood, the harvester came thru |
 |
| and deposited it's load of Sauvignon Blanc |
 |
| The stars of the Delaine vineyard ... |
 |
| are these Syrah grapes - and they make this ... |
 |
Marco on Syrah: "hang Syrah as long as possible because we don't want to
harvest green Syrah ... it's not an easy varietal"
The wines made from the Delaine Vineyard are
Chardonnay / Pinot Noir / Cabernet-Merlot / Gewurztraminer / Syrah / and Fume Blanc |
 |
From there we head to Jackson-Triggs winery where we'll have the pleasure
of dining on the Amphitheatre stage |
 |
There were plenty of wines served, but the highlight is always
Sparkling wine, Jackson-Triggs makes these three |
 |
| "One of the greatest wines coming out of the region is sparkling" - Marco (Sept. 2013) |
 |
One of our own, Michael Vaughan, wine writer of some acclaim and
of some age (70) celebrates on the stage and with a cake ...
thanks to Debi Pratt and The Great Estates |
 |
| A view from the Amphitheatre stage |
 |
The day's last stop, Le Clos Jordanne Vineyard, the warmest of the vineyards
in the Clos line-up and the first to be picked |
 |
| Where we met up with Le Clos' new winemaker Sebastian Jacquey |
 |
While there we were given Le Clos Jordanne outback-style hats ...
here Frank Baldock shows the proper way to wear it |
 |
| While Alan McGinty shows the wrong way |
 |
| We tried 3 wines, all Pinot Noirs, and all a sneak peak of the new vintage |
 |
| And the 2011 Claystone Vineyard |
The day ended with those sips and then it was back onto the bus and back to whence we came ... a big thank you goes out to the Great Estates of Niagara for a wonderful day in the vineyard.
No comments:
Post a Comment