TasteCamp 2011 Reveals Winning Ontario Wines

This spring a group of wine bloggers, primarily from the Northeastern U.S. and Eastern Canada, descended on the Niagara on the Lake wine region for the third annual TasteCamp. TC gives wine bloggers an intense weekend of wine tasting and education in wine regions that are not usually widely promoted. This year’s group was notably multilingual, as French Canadians joined the usual crowd of native English speakers.

On to the wines. I found a number of the white wines to be of very high quality. I enjoyed many Rieslings, most notably the single vineyard offerings from Thirty Bench. These had lovely minerality and lush tropical fruit flavors, a winning combination that I wholeheartedly recommend.

My wow wines of the trips were the Chardonnays. Being grown in a cold climate, the grapes achieve higher acidity than the same grapes from California, South Africa, or Australia, for example. It was this extra shot of acidity that brightened the classic Chardonnay flavors of apples and citrus and gave the wines a welcome liveliness. I am not the biggest fan of Chard, but these were very special. The offerings of Tawse Winery were most memorable.

Pinot Noir is another go-to grape for the Ontario winemakers, but I must say that many of these wines tasted green to me – did the grapes ripen adequately? To my palate, the answer was no. And yet, there were exceptions. Flat Rock Cellars did present some very pleasing Pinots, along with an interactive tour that included quizzes, and, most sensational, a sparkling wine that was not sabered, but axed! Very Canadian.

But no discussion of Ontario wine would be complete without mentioning their most famous offering: ice wine. Grapes are hand-picked after they have frozen on the vines. The juice that is pressed from these icy berries is thick and full of sugar. Once vinified, they are some of the world’s best dessert wines – and it is traditional to serve them chilled in cordial glasses. We tried dessert wines made from Vidal grapes (a common variety up north), from Riesling, and, most intriguing of all, one ice wine from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, which was a lovely pink-amber color and tasted of strawberries.

In all, TasteCamp 2011 gave us a very good foundation in the joys of Ontario wine. In addition, the Niagara on the Lake area offers lovely rolling countryside and fine dining: our group was most impressed by the succulent lamb shanks that were the entree of our excellent dinner at Treadwell Farm to Table Cuisine. Throw in a visit to the Falls, and you have a perfect weekend wine destination from the northeast.

WBW #43 – My Comfort Wines

Wine is many things at many times—-convivial when shared with friends, romantic when poured with a lover, celebratory when free-flowing at a party. But one of the nicest things that wine can be is a comfort.
When my muscles ache and my mind is spent, there’s a ritual that soothes me body and soul. I turn on the tap to the hottest water and fill the tub (yes, I use bubbles). I light a candle. If I’m really into it, I’ll put on Enya. Then I go into the kitchen and take out a lovely little cordial glass and pour something sweet.
I have a bottle of Taylor Fladgate 10 year old Tawny Port that is my go-to unwinding wine. I fill the glass to the brim and slip into the tub. Aahhh. I’ll stay there for half an hour, and sometimes I’ll call to my husband to bring me a little more. The nutty, caramel flavor and stronger alcohol work like charms for me.
One reason this is so calming is the ritual of sipping. It immediately slows everything down. I savor the liquid in my mouth. I breathe its aroma deeply.
I also like to fill my cordial glasses with ice wine. We picked up a bottle when we were on Niagara-on-the-Lake from Chateau des Charmes. The Vidal grape produces honey-like wine that is satisfyingly mouth-filling. And for my most decadent evenings: Sauternes. The only wine I packed in my suitcase from my trip to Bordeaux was a bottle of Chateau Closiot Sauternes. So perfumed was this wine that it was like drinking flowers. I was transported when I sipped this treasure.