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From bitter to sweet in Ontario
Avoiding the tainted wines

Perhaps it’s the icy cold weather, but I am looking at last Wednesday’s Toronto Star and don’t know whether to laugh or cry. A wine article appears in the food section that tries to minimize the 2001 Ontario ladybug taint issue. Unfortunately, the writer refuses to name the obviously flawed wines. Worse yet, same day Star commentary (page A2) suggests that “you may be better off not knowing” about this problem! The suggestion that “this problem is overblown by the media” is ludicrous. If 20% of the chicken sold at your local supermarket had faulty flavours, you can bet that there would be in-store riots.

For some it seems that it is more important to be politically correct and never offend anyone in a mythical world where all wines are good. Such misguided sentiments have nothing to do with reality. Fortunately for readers, there are still a handful of independent, respected critics who still have the buyer’s interests at heart. 

It is understandable that wineries get upset when they see their wines getting low scores. Unfortunately, today’s infatuation with scores and tasting notes sacrifices actual wine knowledge. Years ago, wine writers were chroniclers - scouting out new vinous horizons and focusing on undiscovered wine regions. In those days, great writers didn’t have to be great tasters.

It was Toronto’s own Andrew Sharp who established comprehensive wine tasting competency tests. He realized that it was not enough to simply say how much you liked a wine; you really had to have detailed working knowledge of all of its components. The ability to consistently assess these parts was paramount to becoming a credible critic - that and being truthful.

Living up to the latter isn’t always easy. In an attempt to do the right thing, wine writer David Lawrason published a list of ladybug-tainted wines from last year’s Canadian Wine Awards. Unfortunately, it was yanked from the Wine Access website after just a few days of public exposure. Surely the consumer has a right to know which Ontario wines have this one-of defect, especially as many come with the VQA guarantee of quality. By making this information public, Lawrason hoped that wine lovers could feel reassured about their 2001 Ontario purchases. He felt that not to divulge the names would be a disservice to the reader.

Unfortunately, the Star article also errs by understating the extent of taint based on this year’s Cuvée preview tastings. As wineries only submit four wines each, most tainted wines were kept out. My concern is that a significant number of problematic wines got through Ontario's regulatory VQA testing panel. While consumers should be free to drink whatever they want (as long as it isn't harmful) and wineries free to sell the wines they wish in their own stores; wines with flawed flavours should not have the VQA sticker. Nor should they be sold by the LCBO. As I broke the ladybug story last August 17^th, it was my hope that the VQA would be pro active and vigorously reassess the 2001s and get the flawed VQA wines off the market. Unfortunately, this does not seem to have happened.

Recommendations

Moving on to a sweeter topic, let me recommend a brand new dessert wine from this month’s Vintages “Gold Rush” focus - Palatine Hills Estate 1998 Vidal Icewine. The ready-to-drink 200 ml bottle sells for $17.95 (equivalent to $33.62 per 375 ml). Look for a honeyed, tropical fruit cocktail nose and sweet, but well-balanced, canned peach and tangy fruit cocktail flavours. This is the LCBO debut for John Neufeld, a Niagara-on-the-Lake grape grower for 31 years. Neufeld’s grapes come from his 95-acre (39 ha) vineyard and winemaker’s Dave Hojnoski effort augurs well for the future.

A number of excellent icewines can still be found on LCBO shelves, including the Toronto Wine & Cheese Show Best of Show gold medal winning Henry of Pelham 2000 Riesling Icewine (cspc 430561) at $54.95 per half bottle, which is now an “Essentials” items. For availability of this and other selections call the LCBO info-line at 1-800-668-5226.

Given the icy whether, sweet fortified wines also provide much-needed comfort. The delicious Graham’s Crusted Port at $29.90 is worth tracking down. Bottled in 1998, its rich, sweet, mouthfilling, plummy, bitter chocolate flavours and slightly peppery finish make me yearn for some blue cheese.

Crusted Port is a very high-quality Ruby, usually blended from a few vintages and aged in wood for two years and then bottled without any fining or filtration. Unlike a Vintage Port, the year does not appear on the label. However, as it matures in the bottle it forms a sediment, or crust, and must be decanted.

Readers should be alerted that 29 brand new Vintages items (originally scheduled for release later this year) have been suddenly parachuted into the February release. To see the list of new unannounced February Vintages items click here

For the statistically inclined, the original February Vintages release of 144 items has 59 (or 41%), which have previously appeared in Vintages over the past two years. National Post readers will be able to access this exclusive information by visiting my website and typing npreader in username and password fields. Finally, details relating to the list of ladybug-afflicted wines appear below.

The Ladybug Taint (LBT) Issue
© Michael Vaughan 2003  

I have struggled with the ladybug taint (LBT) issue for over eight months now. Unfortunately, the phone has recently been ringing off the hook. I am questioned as to which wines might have some ladybug taint by desperate restaurateurs/sommeliers who are trying to ensure that they have taint-free wines on their wine list. Also, I wanted to clarify a situation wherein the reputation of certain wines is needlessly damaged by vintage-specific problems. I have been told, for instance, that some potential buyers have incorrectly suggested the well-made, ladybug-taint-free Malivoire 2000 Chardonnay has a problem. This is not the case. Only the 2001, which was withdrawn from last December’s Vintages release has some LBT. I am anxious that professionals continue to have full confidence in my recommended 2000/1999 editions of this wine. Unfortunately, the sheer lack of information has forced many professionals to buy on rumour or not at all. 

The point of listing the problematic wines is to help professional trade buyers come to grips with this dilemma. To date, I have invited qualified Food & Beverage Testing Institute of Canada supporters to provide me with updates, which I will pass on to concerned parties. Unfortunately, there is no standardized way of determining the exact intensity of this taint.

In order to deal with this problem I have indicated my impression, occasionally with the notes received by other parties. I have arbitrarily rated LBT out of maximum 5 points. While the exact limit of what might be considered tolerable is a function of one’s own palate, I have set a numeric rating of one as what I consider to be the threshold of acceptability. Keep in mind that this problem seems to become more severe as the wine ages. Thus, what may rate .5 LBT today, might become 1.25 in eight months time. Also, keep in mind that in most instances, I have only sampled a single bottle, meaning there might have been other problems present.

While judging at the Canadian Wine Awards I rated both the aromatic presence of LBT as well as its presence on the palate – in other words two scores. Some wines had a high taint on the nose (say 1.5), but a lower perceived taint on the palate (say .5). As palate is the key, I used the palate score and not the score from the bouquet. Also the grape variety makes a difference. The presence of ladybug taint is not as challenging in a Sauvignon Blanc, for instance, than say in a delicate unoaked Chardonnay. In general, I have used the following numeric ratings:

Under 1/2     - very slight presence
Under 1        - slight presence                                               
1 to Under 2 - present and possibly off putting
2 to Under 3 - somewhat off putting
3 to 5            - definitely off putting

The following list in blue of LBT wines was provided by David Lawrason. Only wines rating the CWA Not Recommended or Rejected (i.e. scoring 1 or higher) have been listed. Note that this listing (in blue) was a compilation of all judges’ scores/notes. Thus, the material in blue is from the Canadian Wine Awards, while the material in red are from my tasting notes. I will be adding notes from certified tasters and/or degree holding sommeliers as they become available.

I did not always agree with the panel, especially with some of the reds where the herbaceous notes seem to have been perceived as LBT. I found that every wine in the CWA Not Recommended or Rejected groupings definitely had LBT. In all instances where my LBT score was less than one, the wine was removed from the list. I admit that it is possible that some tasting errors might have resulted from the fatigue attributable to evaluating some 140 wines a day for five consecutive days. Nevertheless, great care was taken to be as accurate as possible.

Any wines, which have subsequently been removed from sale, will be been removed from the list. Updates and other relevant information should be sent to mbv@total.net The wines in red have been added to David Lawrason’s list. The list is alphabetically structured, not by score. Note that David Lawrason’s first two groupings of “Recommended” wines, some of which have received awards, have been excluded, as the presence of LBT was under 1. The list is not definitive, as I have not tasted all the wines from 2001. Additions will logged in green with an asterisk.

Ladybug Affected Wines
(According to David Lawrason)

The following (from the Canadian Wine Awards) were found to have some evidence of ladybug taint. They are grouped in four categories, based on how Wine Access would present them to the public in terms of our recommendation. We will happily re-taste any wines resubmitted by wineries (two bottles), and remove from this list any wines that have been removed from market.  

CWA • Not Recommended

(degree of taint may be deemed acceptable by some)

FBTI 1 to < 3 (from definitely present and possibly off-putting to somewhat off putting)

Synopsis: There are 21 VQA wines on this list – five have been added by Michael Vaughan (in red), four have been shifted down from the Rejected classification and seven have been removed from the original list (the perceived taint was less than one). One of the wines was shifted up into the rejected classification. You may be surprised to discover that some wines from the 2000 vintage from southwestern Ontario have been put on this list due to an apparent ladybug outbreak there in that year.

Cave Spring Cellars 2001 Chardonnay Musque   score: 1.25
Chateau des Charmes 2001 Viognier St. David’s Bench Vineyard   score: 2.5
De Sousa 2001 Riesling Paradise Vineyard   score: 1
De Sousa 2001 Riesling Semi-Dry Paradise Vineyard   score: 1
Dell Estates 2001 Unoaked Chardonnay   score: 1
Henry of Pelham 2001 Baco Noir   score: 1.25
Inniskillin Wines 2001 Pinot Grigio   score: 1.5
Inniskillin Wines 2001 Pinot Noir   score: 2
Inniskillin Wines 2001 Travigne Rose   score: 2
Jackson-Triggs 2001 Gewurztraminer Proprietors Reserve   score: 2
Jackson-Triggs 2001 Riesling Proprietors Reserve   score: 2.5
Magnotta 2001 Incanto    score: 1.5
Niagara College 2001 Riesling   score: 1
Pelee Island 2000 Pinot Noir Reserve   score: 1
Pelee Island 2001 Cabernet Franc   score: 2.75
Peninsula Ridge Estates 2001 Chardonnay   score: 2.5
Peninsula Ridge Estates Winery 2001 Sauvignon Blanc   score: 1
Pillitteri Estates Winery 2001 Gamay Noir   score: 1
Pillitteri Estates Winery 2001 Merlot   score: 1.25
Strewn Estate Winery 2001 Sauvignon Blanc   score: 1
The Malivoire Wine Company 2001 Pinot Noir   score: 1.5

Rejected

FBTI 3 to 5 (definitely off putting)

Synopsis: There are 17 VQA wines on this list. Four have been added by Michael Vaughan, four have been shifted from Rejected to Not Recommended. Only one red has been removed and placed in the under one grouping.

Angels Gate 2001 Riesling Sussereserve   score: 3
Colio 2001 CEV Lily Blanc de Noir Sparkling Wine   score: 3
Colio 2001 CEV Pinot Grigio   score: 3
East Dell Estates 2001 Cuvée Brut   score: 3
G.H. Funk 2001 Riesling   score: 3
Grape Tree 2001 Cabernet Franc Reserve   score: 5
Henry of Pelham 2001 Chardonnay Sur Lie   score: 3
Henry of Pelham 2001 Chardonnay Reserve   score: 3.5
Inniskillin Wines 2001 Riesling   score: 3
Lakeview Cellars 2001 Pinot Blanc   score: 4
Niagara College 2001 Zweigelt   score: 4
Pelee Island 2000 Sauvignon Blanc   score: 4
Pillitteri Estates 2001 Unoaked Chardonnay   score: 3
Stoney Ridge 2001 Baco Noir Old Vines, Kew Vineyard   score: 5
Stoney Ridge 2001 Pinot Noir Bench   score: 4.5
The Malivoire Wine Company 2001 Chardonnay   score: 3
Thomas & Vaughan Vintners 2001 Riesling   score: 4

Check out the
February 2003 InStore Discovery


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