Rating: NNNNN
The number of wineries and samples can easily overwhelm, so any tour of Niagara wine country should start with picking a designated driver and hatching a game plan to visit a small number of producers in a day. One way to focus your attack is to select one varietal or winemaking style, such as Riesling or Cabernet blends. Here are some suggestions for must-taste Niagara wines.
Pinot Noir
WHERE Creekside Estate Winery 2001
WHAT Signature Pinot Noir
PRICE $24.95
WHY This is a wine with impressive concentration and character, from one of Niagara’s pioneering forces for quality Pinot Noir.
INFO www.creeksideestatewinery.com
WHERE Coyote’s Run Estate Winery
WHAT 2003 Pinot Noir
PRICE $18
WHY One of two Pinot Noirs released by new Niagara-on-the-Lake winery Coyote’s Run. Expect lively cherry and berry fruit aromas and appealing pepper and earth flavours.
WHERE Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery
WHAT 2002 Speck Family Reserve Pinot Noir
PRICE $40
WHY A surprising wine with real substance and elegance, this impresses with its smoky concentration, good intensity and rich, mouth-filling flavours. It’s not cheap, but no Pinot Noir of this quality is.
WHERE Lailey Vineyard
WHAT 2003 Pinot Noir
PRICE $25
WHY Lailey Vineyard’s Pinot Noir reveals a cherry/berry-like fragrance and flavour that gains interest from some intriguing resin and caramel notes.
Riesling
WHERE Cave Spring Cellars
WHAT 2004 Off-Dry Riesling
PRICE $12.95
WHY Cave Spring’s Off-Dry Riesling sets the bar for fruity wines in Niagara. The new vintage offers good citrus aromas and tasty grapefruit and lime flavours.
INFO www.cavespringcellars.com
WHERE Flat Rock Cellars
WHAT 2004 Riesling
PRICE $14.95
WHY This attention-getting Riesling presents a compelling purity of fruit on the nose and palate. Made in a very clean and exciting dry style.
WHERE Thirteenth Street Wine Co.
WHAT 2004 Funk Riesling
PRICE $16
WHY This delicious wine’s distinctive fruit-cocktail aroma and fleshy peach flavour can be traced directly to the fruit from Gunther Funk’s carefully cultivated Riesling vines.
INFO www.13thstreetwines.com
WHERE Vineland Estates
WHAT 2004 Dry Riesling
PRICE $10.95
WHY This zesty, flavourful wine is best summed up in one word: electric. A beautiful wine at a great price, Vineland’s Dry Riesling offers solid value and straightforward pleasure.
INFO www.vineland.com
Chardonnay
WHERE Daniel Lenko Estate Winery
WHAT 2002 Signature Chardonnay
PRICE $39.95
WHY A brawny Chardonnay with assertive oak character and a good dose of pineapple, lemon, ginger spice and vanilla flavours.
INFO www.daniellenko.com
WHERE Fielding Estate Winery
WHAT 2004 Chardonnay
PRICE $12.95
WHY This serious unoaked Chardonnay crosses the palate with real focus and finesse, conveying expressive fruit flavours and bright acidity.
WHERE Lailey Vineyard
WHAT 2002 Chardonnay Canadian Oak
PRICE $29
WHY Aging in Canadian oak barrels imparts a distinctive fennel and anise character, adding complexity to the attractive toffee and coconut flavours.
WHERE Peninsula Ridge Estates Winery
WHAT 2003 Reserve Chardonnay
PRICE $24.95
WHY This wine’s rich character is balanced with refreshing acidity that keeps things nicely focused. It builds anticipation for the release of the top-tier 2003 Vintner’s Blend Chardonnay later this year.
INFO www.peninsularidge.com
Cabernet blends
WHERE Henry of Pelham Family Estate
WHAT 2002 Unfiltered Cabernet-Merlot
PRICE $29.95
WHY This rich, supple and spicy red features an appealingly creamy texture. Henry of Pelham’s Cab-Merlot is consistently one of Niagara’s top wines.
WHERE Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate
WHAT 2002 Proprietors’ Grand Reserve Meritage
PRICE $23.95
WHY The flavours of this attention-grabbing red are precisely calibrated, gaining welcome complexity from coffee and milk chocolate notes. There’s a lot of character here for not a lot of money.
INFO www.jacksontriggswinery.com
WHERE Lakeview Cellars
WHAT 2002 Meritage
PRICE $19.95
WHY This Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant blend (with Cabernet Franc and Merlot) shows the strong quality of Niagara’s 2002 harvest in its abundance of cherry and berry fruit flavours.
INFO www.lakeviewcellars.on.ca
WHERE Stratus Vineyards
WHAT 2002 Red
PRICE $38
WHY This vinifera blend combines the usual suspects (Cabernets and Merlot) with rare and exotic varieties. Its concentration and integration add to the wine’s obvious appeal.
INFO www.stratuswines.com
