Report from ... World Chardonnay Day Tasting - May 22, 2014

Due to conflicts on my schedule I could not make the World Chardonnay Tasting held at Allen's on the Danforth ... I asked fellow writer and friend Dean Tudor to go in my stead, for those who don't know Dean, he is "food and wine writer of reference tools since 1969. Professor Emeritus of Journalism, Ryerson University, Toronto, and professional wine writer. www.deantudor.com" - here is his take and reaction from the day:

The Date and Time:  Thursday, May 22, 2014 2Pm to 5PM
The Event:  World Chardonnay Day
The Venue:  Allen's (patio)
The Target Audience:  wine trade
The Availability/Catalogue:  domestic wines from the wineries, imports via agency licensee programmes.
The Quote/Background:  this is a sort of preview of the Rebirth of Cool Climate Chardonnay – one world, one grape, one weekend (July 18-20, 2014). Tickets are available at coolchardonnay.org; the event is in Niagara. 55 winemakers will be present, as well as chefs and food.

The Wines:

**** BEST -- Four Stars (91+ in Quality/Price Rating terms):
-Southbrook Whimsy! “Damy” Chardonnay 2011 VQA Niagara biodynamic
-Speck Family Reserve Chardonnay 2010 VQA Niagara
-Jean Leon Vinya Gigi Chardonnay 2012 Spain
-Sumaridge Chardonnay 2011 South Africa [my fave]
-Creation Wine Estate Chardonnay 2012 South Africa
-Flat Rock Chardonnay Rusty Shed 2011 VQA Niagara
-13th Street Sandstone Vineyard Chardonnay 2010 VQA Niagara
-Napa Cambria Chardonnay 2012 Katherine's Vineyard Santa Maria Valley California
-Murphy-Goode Chardonnay 2012 Santa Barbara
-Cave Spring CSV Chardonnay 2011 VQA Niagara
-Cave Spring Estate Chardonnay 2012 VQA Niagara
-Chateau des Charmes Chardonnay 2012 Paul Bosc Vineyard VQA Niagara

***1/2 BETTER -- Three and a Half Stars (88 – 90 in Quality/Price Rating terms):
-Trivento Golden Reserve Chardonnay 2012 Mendoza
-Concha y Toro Marques de Casa Concha Chardonnay 2012 Chile
-Laroche Chablis St. Martin [Chardonnay]
-Southbrook Triomphe Chardonnay Organic 2012 VQA Niagara
-Southbrook Poetica Chardonnay Biodynamic 2011 VQA Niagara
-Sperling Vineyards Estate Bottled Chardonnay 2012 VQA Okanagan
-Flat Rock Estate Chardonnay 2010 VQA Niagara
-Catena Chardonnay Mendoza
-Catena Alta Chardonnay Mendoza
-13th Street June's Vineyard Chardonnay 2012 VQA Niagara
-Torres Milmanda Chardonnay 2011 Spain
-Jean Leon 3055 Chardonnay 2013 Spain
-Torres Gran Vina Sol [Chardonnay] 2012 Spain
-Gerard Bertrand Domaine de l'Aigle Chardonnay 2011 Limoux
-Normal Hardie County Chardonnay 2012 VQA PEC
-Normal Hardie Niagara Chardonnay 2012 VQA Niagara
-Clos du Bois Calcaire Chardonnay 2011 California
-PlumpJack “Adaptation” Chardonnay 2011 California
-Malivoire Small Lot Chardonnay 2012 VQA Niagara
-Malivoire Mottiar Chardonnay 2011 VQA Niagara
-Bachelder Chardonnay 2011 VQA Niagara
-Bachelder Chardonnay 2012 VQA Niagara

*** GOOD -- Three Stars (85 – 87 in Quality/Price Rating terms):
-Grant Burge Summers Chardonnay 2012 Australia
-The Dreaming Tree Chardonnay 2012 California
-Robert Mondavi Private Selection Chardonnay 2010
-Robert Mondavi Chardonnay 2012
-Kim Crawford Unoaked Chardonnay 2013 New Zealand
-Flat Rock Chardonnay Unplugged 2012 VQA Niagara
-Malivoire Moira Vineyard Chardonnay 2010 VQA Niagara
-Chateau des Charmes Chardonnay Musque 2012 VQA Niagara

The rest of the picture ...
The Food: nothing for awhile, then crackers and finally some salmon canapes.

The Downside: for awhile, there was no list of wines. There were also additions and withdrawals, for “cool” also means “laid back”.

The Upside: There were 21 domestic and 21 imported wines (mostly New World) poured

The Contact Person: trish@coolchardonnay.org

The Event’s Marketing Effectiveness and Execution (numerical grade): 87

To see the original visit Dean's website.

For more wine reviews and related articles go to www.ontariowinereview.com, while there sign up for Michael's free bi-weekly newsletter.

Report from ... The New Sip and Sizzle, Niagara-on-the-Lake (Part 2) - May 11, 2014

We're back on the Sip and Sizzle trail with 6 more wineries visited ...

One of our favourite spring events to attend in Niagara was put on by the Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake, it was the Wine and Herb festival that happened every year in the month of May ... but I guess the event was getting a little stale and tired and so the wineries have decided to shake things up a bit.  After the long and arduous winter we endured Niagara-on-the-Lake decided to try in put a sizzle into the chilly spring we seem to be having creating Sip and Sizzle, a BBQ themed wine and food pairing.

These days I am lucky enough to live in St.Catharines ... I say "lucky" because when these events come around (and there are 26 wineries attached) we can spread our touring out over a few weekends, unlike in the olden days when I resided in Toronto and had to hit all 26 in one weekend.

Throughout the month of May we'll be hitting a handful of the wineries and trying their pairing.  We went through the booklet-style "touring pass" and picked out the ones that interested us ... there are some that have grilled fruit and grilled veggies as their main focus that just did not seem to float our BBQ craving boat and those that were sweet also did not cause a stir within us.  In all we will be trying about 17 of the 26 offering, though who knows, maybe we'll pop in somewhere that we have not picked out because the urge struck us on that day.

This Sunday we’re back on the Sip and Sizzle trail and we hit 6 more wineries: Lailey, Reif, Riverview, Coyote’s Run, Ravine, and Niagara College ... here is more of the pictorial evidence and thoughts about the pairings.

Star of the Day ... Lailey Vineyard

Grilled Pork Belly with Wild Leek and Local Honey ...
this was just one tasty bite; it had the right amount of honey,
the Chardonnay paired surprisingly well and really who can resist
pork belly at any time of the year.

Second Place ... Ravine Vineyard

Charcoal Grilled Lamb Spiedini ...
the first item we have had that has actually been grilled outside,
right in front of us - the pairing as good, we just wish there was
more meat on the stick.

We also made a stop in the Ravine Bakery where we came across
Salted Caramel Peanut Chocolate tarts, below that you can see
the edge of fresh fruit pies and on the bottom shelf were glasses
of strawberry shortcake ... 2 of the 3 were delicious.

The Rest of the Day's Winery's ...

For the most part the food and wine pairings were pretty good - but unfortunately this time their was one thing that was simply put, not very palatable, and it happened to be the last of the day.

Coyote's Run

Mesquite Grilled Chicken Chipotle Antijito with an Avocado Drizzle ...
tasty bite with a touch of heat, but it did come off a little soggy
after sitting in the heating tray all day, and the grilled aspect seemed
a little lost; if you like mild heat it's worth getting there early.

Riverview 

12 Hour Smoked Pulled Pork on Brioche ...
last week we talked about bun to meat ratio and this one commits
the cardinal sin of having too much bun - but that could easily
be fixed with a little more sauce to bring it all together.

Reif Estate

PEI Blue Mussels, "Grilled and Chilled" with Dill, Garlic and Shallots ...
a refreshing bit of food here served almost in cold salad format, I have to
admit, I have never thought of serving mussels cold - but it worked.

Niagara College ...

Balsamic Marinated Grilled Ontario Asparagus Wrapped with House Cured Maple Bacon ...
worst taste of the day, bacon is suppose to make everything good but it just
could not bring forth any good flavours in this limp and disappointing offering.

 

Report from ... Ontario Wine Awards – May 09, 2014

The 20th Annual Ontario Wine Awards were held Friday night at the Queen's Landing Inn in Niagara-on-the-Lake hosted by former head of the LCBO Andy Brandt; who had to be one of the unintentionally funny MC I’ve ever experienced.  Between the butchering of words (Pinot "Griss", Cabernet "Frank", "Sara" for Syrah, "Ca-lom-us" for Calamus and "Toss-e" for Tawse) and the total omission of names he did not want to pronounce like Musque and Viognier during the presentation - he seemed uncomfortable giving out the awards, but was good at puns and for a few stories.  All-in-all Brandt was a train-wreck, but at least you knew the room was listening for his next faux-pas and he was the talk of the room over beers and desserts at the after-party (the most talked about host I can remember).  One person commented to me, "He's my favourite MC at [The Ontario Wine Awards] ever, I just never knew what was going to come out of his mouth from one moment to the next.  Obviously pronunciation has gone out the window tonight, it's a free-for-all."  Others could not believe that the once head of the LCBO could not pronounce grape varieties correctly.  Now let's talk about the awards themselves.

Big winners this evening were Chateau des Charmes, winning three Golds for Dry Riesling, Dry White Varietal and Gamay along with 3 other awards for a total of six and the Riesling won for White Wine of the Year.  Angels Gate hauled in 4 medals including three Golds - oaked Chardonnay under $20, Pinot Noir and Merlot - with the Pinot Noir being Red Wine of the Year.  Malivoire and Vineland also took multiple awards, three each.  Tawse took five awards, but no gold.  While Inniskillin swept the icewine golds and tallied up 6 medals along the way, while sister winery Jackson-Triggs took four medals for a total of 10 for the former Vincor group.  But the big winner was the Andrew Peller group of wineries: Trius, Peller and Thirty Bench, taking home 12 medals in total, 8 for Peller alone, including 5 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze..

White Wine of the Year honours went to Chateau des Charmes 2012 ‘Old Vines’ Riesling; while Red Wine of the Year was taken by Angels Gate Winery 2010 Mountainview Pinot Noir.

There were no Golds handed out in the Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc / Pinot Gris, and, surprisingly, in the Cabernet Franc categories. 

Big News of the Night:  Exultet Winery, from Prince Edward County, took home the Gold for Oaked Chardonnay over $20.00 for the fourth year in a row … Gerry Spinosa (owner and winemaker) owns this award!!! It's looking like you'll have to Charlton Heston this award from him (pry it out of his cold dead hands) ... Gerry told me he really likes the one he has in barrel now - can't wait.

Winemaker of the Year went to Brian Schmidt of Vineland, who made one of the best acceptance speeches by a recipient of the award in quite some time referring to wine as “liquid music” which is the art form of the winemaker. Congrats Brian well deserved.

A big congratulation goes out to all the winners.

And the Gold Medal winning wines are …

The rest of the winners, in the silver and bronze categories, can be found at www.ontariowineawards.ca.

Sparkling Wine –

Peller Estates NV Ice Cuvee Rosé

Peller Estates NV Ice Cuvee Classic

Dry Riesling –

Chateau des Charmes 2012 ‘Old Vines’ Riesling, Estate Bottled

*winner of the White Wine of the Year Award

Semi-Dry Riesling –

Trius 2012 Showcase Ghost Creek Riesling

Dry White Varietal –

Chateau des Charmes 2012 Aligote, St. David’s Bench Vineyard

Gewurztraminer –

No Gold Awarded

Pinot Blanc / Pinot Gris –

No Gold Awarded

Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon –

Trius 2012 Showcase Clean Slate Wild Ferment Sauvignon Blanc

Oaked Chardonnay (under $20) -

Angels Gate 2010 Mountainview Chardonnay

Oaked Chardonnay (over $20) -

Exultet Estates 2012 The Blessed Chardonnay*

*Exultet has won in this category 4 years in a row

Unoaked Chardonnay –

Malivoire Wine Company 2013 Musque Spritz

*Malivoire won this award last year with the same wine

Rosé / Blanc de Noir -

Sue-Ann Staff Estate 2012 Rosé

Gamay –

Chateau des Charmes 2012 Gamay Noir, Estate Bottled

Pinot Noir –

Angels Gate 2010 Mountainview Pinot Noir

*winner of the Red Wine of the Year Award
Rosewood Estates 2012 Origin Pinot Noir

Red Hybrid –

Malivoire Wine Company 2012 Old Vines Foch

Cabernet Sauvignon –

Ravine Vineyard Estate 2010 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Franc –

No Gold Awarded

Merlot –

Angels Gate 2012 Merlot

Syrah/Shiraz –

Jackson-Triggs 2011 Delaine Syrah

Meritage and Cabernet/Merlot Blends –

The Foreign Affair 2010 Temptress

Late Harvest –

Peller Estates 2012 Private Reserve Late Harvest Vidal

Vidal Icewine –

Inniskillin 2011 Sparkling Vidal Icewine

Vinifera Icewine –

Inniskillin 2011 Sparkling Cabernet Franc Icewine

New Category …

Appassimento Red Award –

Rennie Estate 2011 G

Blended Red Award –

Inniskillin 2010 Winemaker’s Series Shiraz-Cabernet

Blended White Award –

Vineland Estates 2012 Chenin Blanc

Best Label Design Award –

Niagara College Teaching Winery 2012 Balance Sauvignon Blanc

Winemaker of the Year -

Brian Schmidt – Vineland Estates Winery

Wine Journalism Award -

Rick VanSickle

For more wine reviews and related articles go to www.ontariowinereview.com,

while there sign up for Michael's free bi-weekly newsletter.

Report from ... The New Sip and Sizzle, Niagara-on-the-Lake (Part 1) - May 4, 2014

One of our favourite spring events to attend in Niagara was put on by the Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake, it was the Wine and Herb festival that happened every year in the month of May ... but I guess the event was getting a little stale and tired and so the wineries have decided to shake things up a bit.  After the long and arduous winter we endured Niagara-on-the-Lake decided to try in put a sizzle into the chilly spring we seem to be having creating Sip and Sizzle, a BBQ themed wine and food pairing.

These days I am lucky enough to live in St.Catharines ... I say "lucky" because when these events come around (and there are 26 wineries attached) we can spread our touring out over a few weekends, unlike in the olden days when I resided in Toronto and had to hit all 26 in one weekend.

Throughout the month of May we'll be hitting a handful of the wineries and trying their pairing.  We went through the booklet-style "touring pass" and picked out the ones that interested us ... there are some that have grilled fruit and grilled veggies as their main focus that just did not seem to float our BBQ craving boat and those that were sweet also did not cause a stir within us.  In all we will be trying about 17 of the 26 offering, though who knows, maybe we'll pop in somewhere that we have not picked out because the urge struck us on that day.

On this Sunday we hit 6 wineries: Palatine Hills, Konzelmann, Hinterbrook, Rancourt Winery, Trius and Pondview ... here is the pictorial evidence and some thoughts about the pairings.

Star of the Day ... Konzelmann

Greeted by this sign when you walked in the door at Konzelmann

Pairing was as advertised ... the fear was the meat to bun ratio would be off,
but it wasn't, meat was well grilled and juicy while the onions, and later the
addition of the optional honey-mustard topping made for a delicious bite.

The pairing with the 2012 Shiraz brought everything together nicely.

Second Place ... Palatine Hills

Pairing the smoky puled pork with the chilled Gamay Rose was a nice touch.

Hickory Smoked Pulled Pork with Grilled Tortilla and Garlic Aioli ...
very tasty and you definitely got the smokiness, but it needed a few more
squeezes of that aioli to make it perfect.

The Rest of the Day's Wineries ...

The good news is we did not have a bad bite of food all day ... here are the remaining four winery's offering and what we like and what they were lacking keep them out of the top spot of the day.

Rancourt Winery

Rancourt changed their offering a little to make it more meaty and delicious
ditching the veggy relish and cooking the meat in Vidalia-Onion BBQ sauce, topped
with honey-mustard - the result was a delicious slider that was lean and a touch dry,
but still quite tasty.  The mustard and BBQ sauce did the trick.

In a neat little marketing move they also packaged up their wine, the BBQ sauce
and a bottle of the accompanying wine in a gift pack.

Hinterbrook

Smoked Balsamic Mennonite Sausage topped with Crisped Parmesan Asparagus Spears
prepared by OliV Tapas ... the thing I liked here was the asparagus did not take
over the sausage and actually created a nice pairing - problem is now every time
I want a sausage I'm gonna have a put an parmesan asparagus spear into the mix.
The 2013 Rose turned out to be one of the nicest in a day full of Roses.

Trius / Hillebrand

Simple enough sounding ...

with simple, yet effective, presentation ...

But the result was in need of a little something extra:  the sweetness of the
Icewine Saurkraut needed something to balance it, like a grainy mustard.

Pondview

This was our most talked about pairing of the of the afternoon, but it was for
all the wrong reasons ... the wine was nice, and the meat was tasty enough, though
there needed to be more, but the wow factor here was that amazing Quinoa-Cranberry
Salad, just couldn't get enough of that; but when the star is suppose be be the BBQ'ed
item the side isn't suppose to be the star ... that's like when the bridesmaids look
better than the bride on her wedding day.
On the other hand we need that salad recipe!!!

And that was our first weekend outing folks, I'll post again after the next weekend we're out and about ... for now you can grab tickets to the new Sip and Sizzle at the Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake website, and maybe we'll see you on the tasting trail.

For more wine reviews and related articles go to www.ontariowinereview.com, while there sign up for Michael's free bi-weekly newsletter.