A TIFF Celebration
With Best of Ontario

Michael Vaughan
Friday, September 5, 2008

For the past couple of years I have celebrated the Toronto International Film Festival by featuring the best buys portable wines – as in getting it into the theatre while watching a film. My tastings focused on anything that could be hidden in a popcorn bag from tetra pacs to cans and even pouches. The results although useful, were not all that inspiring. So this year I have decided to celebrate Ontario wines.

The highly lauded 2007s are just starting to surface and many are going to be worth drinking. However, before blindly accepting all the marketing hoopla, I have to warn readers that not all wines turned into Oscar winners. Every year, just like film festivals, have their share of turkeys. In particular, it seems that in 2007 with all the heat and stress, some grapes such as Riesling were not consistently stellar.

For growers, “a good year” means a big crop. Unfortunately, big yields and quality do not always go hand in hand. In fact, the converse is usually true – the bigger the yield, the more diluted the wine's structure and flavours.

Despite it's reputation for being a challenging year, many 2006 whites turned out to be surprisingly good. Why?  Because of low crop yields. It is also important to keep in mind that they were harvested before the flavour-diluting late September rains.  Contrary to what some have suggested, many 2006 Rieslings have outperformed the 2007s.

When it comes to reds, the 2006 was much more challenging. This is especially true of Pinot Noir. I have yet to taste a stellar example that is worth buying. As far as the reds are concerned, 2007 should be much better than 2006. Of course, there are always exceptions.

If you happen to be in the Niagara region, here are a few fine buys you can pick up today. Note that they will also be coming to Vintages stores as of next Friday for the Saturday, September 13th release.

The new Inniskillin 2006 Montague Vineyard Chardonnay (586347) at $17.95 is worthy of a detour. The toasty, well structured VQA Niagara Peninsula Single Vineyard Series has a pleasant, spicy, gently cedary, ripe lemon meringue nose. It's dry and well structured, slightly spicy, medium to medium-full bodied, tangy, ripe lemon fruit and complex, mineral-tinged, baked lemon flavours with a lingering, toasty, high acid, key lime pie finish.  It rated ** out of 3 stars.

Another very tasty item from the Niagara Peninsula  is Mike Weir Estate 2007 Pinot Grigio (43364) at $15.15. It has an attractive honeyed, spicy, melon-driven nose. On the palate it is dry, medium-light bodied but fairly well structured with gently spicy, tangy, melon and yellow grapefruit flavours along with a crisp finish. It rated *+/**.

One of the best buys tasted from Prince Edward county is Huff Estates 2006 South Bay Chardonnay (88955) at $29.95. This 100% estate grown Chardonnay has a medium deepyellow colour and an intense key lime pie and buttered toast nose. It's dry, medium-full bodied and well structured with slightly spicy, key lime pie and buttered toast flavours with a high acid, dried pineapple-tinged finish. It rated **+/***.

In terms of reds, I was pleased to see that Hillebrand winemaker Darryl Brooker has done a fine job with 2006 Trius Red (303800) at $19.95. This blend of 41.5% Merlot, 29.5% Cabernet Franc and 29% Cabernet Sauvignon has a deep purple red colour. The nose is slightly spicy with gently cedary, plummy, crancherry notes along with hints of mocha-chocolate. On the palate it is dry, medium bodied and harmonious with nicely structured, ripe, plumy-cherry flavours and a bright finish. It is very different from the recommended, best buy 2005 edition, which had much less Merlot (11-43-47 vs. the current 41.5-29.5-29). It rated **.

Those wanting to discover what's cooking in Ontario should consider attending Sunday's Feast of Fields at Everdale Organic Farm & Environmental Learning Centre - 6th Line, Hillsburgh, Ontario from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. For direction click here. There are some 11 Ontario wineries attending and it should be interesting to taste them first hand. For more information visit www.feastoffields.org

As for my wine of the week, let me recommend the Best Buy Henry of Pelham 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé (685610) at $14.95. It has a very bright light violet-pink colour and a spicy, fresh, plummy, strawberry nose. It's juicy and dry with attractive, plummy, ripe strawberry flavours and a lingering, crisp, finish. It has a screwcap closure and rated *+/**.

Best buys in tomorrow's Vintages release

Michael Vaughan
Friday, August 29, 2008

From Ontario, the following pair of whites are worth trying:

Mike Weir 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (686972) at $15.95 rated ** out of three stars. This VQA Niagara effort has a very pale straw colour. Intense, spicy, peachy, grapefruit nose with some rhubarb notes. Very dry, bright, medium-light bodied, very tangy, spicy, yellow grapefruit flavours with a lingering, zesty, rhubarb-tinged finish.

Next is Flat Rock Cellars 2006 Seriously Twisted (87783) at $22.95 rated **/**+. This VQA Twenty Mile Bench wine comes in a screwcap bottle. It has medium light yellow colour. Complex, lime-tinged, slightly smoky, baked lemon meringue nose with some cedar notes. Intense, quite well structured, medium-full bodied, baked lemon and lime purée flavours with a long, lingering, gently toasty finish.

French Burgundy can be great and this one is worth it. Joseph Drouhin 2006 Puligny-Montrachet (51383) at $64.95 rated **+/***. It has a medium light yellow colour. Forward, attractive, ripe lemon nose with some hints of vanilla. Dry, medium to medium-full bodied, fairly extracty, harmonious, ripe lemon purée with some slightly peppery, vanilla tinged custard flavours on the lingering finish.

There are two Spanish white standouts. The first is Muga 2007 Barrel-Fermented White (958736) at $15.95 rated **. This barrel fermented blend of 90% Viura and 10% Malvasia was fermented in new French oak with 3 months on the lees. It has a pale straw colour. Very toasty, spicy, ripe Anjou pear purée nose with some slight resiny notes. Dry, crisp, spicy, medium bodied and quite well structured with toasty, lemon and ripe pear purée flavours plus a lingering finish.

The second is Gomez & Rial 2006 Alargo Albarino (82446) at $18.95 rated **. This Albarino (aka Alvarinho) has a very light yellow colour. Slightly spicy, honeyed, ripe lemon-melon nose with hints of nuttiness. Dry, medium-light bodied, harmonious, ripe lemon-melon flavours with a crisp, tangy, lingering finish.

Moving on to the reds, the best buy of the release comes from Argentina. Luigi Bosca 2005 Reserva Malbec (79293) at $15.00 rated **+/***. This Argentinean effort has an intense deep purple colour. Wonderful, complex, slightly spicy, smoke-tinged, ripe plum and dried ripe cherry nose. Dry, medium bodied, fairly extracty, plummy, ripe cherry purée flavours with a lingering, slightly cedary, smoke-tinged, mocha finish. A terrific value.

From South Africa comes Bellingham 2005 Dragon's Lair (68692) at $19.95 rated **+. This blend of 88% Shiraz, 10% Mourvèdre and 2% Viognier has a very deep intense purple colour. Intense, smoky, spicy, plummy, baked cherry nose. Spicy, dry, extracty, medium-full bodied, baked plum and dried black cherry flavours with a long, gently smoky, lingering finish. This wine was aged for 18 months in 50% new wood and 50% second fill French oak barrels. It has 5.69 grams of residual sugar but good total acidity of 6.04.

There are some destination reds from Spain. Starting with Alvaro Palacios 2006 Remondo La Vendimia (674564) at $16.95 rated **. This 50-50 blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha has a deep intense purple colour. Juicy, ripe cherry nose with some cedary notes. Dry, medium bodied, gently juicy, ripe, plummy-cherry flavours with a lingering, spicy, harmonious, vanilla tinged finish. An international, wide-appeal style.

Followed by Emina Prestigio 2005 (67066) at $24.95 rated **/**+. This 100% Tempranillo has been aged for 16 months in oak. Extremely deep intense purple colour. Spicy, cedary, gently juicy, black cherry purée nose. Dry, fairly intense, medium bodied, quite extracty, slightly sweetish, juicy, ripe black cherry flavours with some cedary notes on the lingering finish.