Canadian Wine Guy

I was walking through the local LCBO and Neils Wandler from Pondview was sampling Pondview’s wine so I gave this one a try. I liked it so much I bought three bottles. Golden in color with a nice albeit mild chard nose. On the mid pallet the wine displays some lovely chard fruit along with some nice vanilla notes. Slightly creamy in texture. Medium in length with some firm acidity on the finish. Not too much to be called bitter, just enough to add some character. This is an excellent California style chard and probably one of the best Chards coming out of Ontario that I have tasted to date, even ones costing a whole lot more. Hats off to Pondview. I would give it an 89-90. Yumm. We paired it with pan fried sea scallops and it went perfectly. Grab a bottle or 3 if you can while you can.

From the winery’s web site:
This is a Chardonnay we’re very proud of. It’s our first wine that has won a medal in France. It won a bronze medal at the Chardonnay du Monde international Chardonnay competition in France. Out of 872 Chardonnays from 42 countries, we were the only winery from Ontario to win anything. It was fermented and aged in French, American and Hungarian barrels for 11 months. This full bodied wine has sweet aromas of ripe pineapple, pink grapefruit with a hint of butterscotch. The palate is fresh with green apples and citrus with a long soft finish of vanilla cream.

From Neils:
Awards
2013 Chardonnay du Monde – Bronze
2013 Intervin – Bronze
2013 National Wine Awards of Canada – Bronze

Out of 872 Chardonnays from 42 countries, PondView Estate Winery was the only Ontario winery to win anything at Chardonnay du Monde.

From the LCBO web site:
Pondview Bella Terra Chardonnay 2011 — VINTAGES#: 347922
Spent nine months in 80% French oak … On the nose you’re going to get some buttery, baked apple and vanilla cream notes. On the palate it’s got peach and some butter-poached pear, a little tropical fruit; you’re also going to find mid-palate some vanilla and butterscotch, which is really lovely … On the finish there’s a kind of bitterness – call it the acidity, call it some sort of citrus … [that] balances out all those rich barrel notes and that rich fruitiness … Score – 89. (Michael Pinkus, OntarioWineReview Video, July 19, 2013) $24.95

I had the absolute pleasure of being invited to the Marc Anthony portfolio tasting where this wine was being poured. I enjoyed it so much I bought a case. And then took one of the bottles to my family Christmas gathering. There are some real wine gurus in my family so I choose the wines I take carefully. Dark in color with a lovely nose of dark and red berries. On the mid pallet the wine displays lovely red berries, cherries and some black berries. There’s some nice chocolate notes as well. On the long finish the wine displays firm tannins, typical of Okanagan wines. Right out of the bottle the tannins were a little over powering. The wine is a little young. After about an hour of breathing they had died down nicely leaving some firm tannins, some nice complexity and some nice long dryness. This is a lovely well made wine. I would give it a solid 90. If you have folks that don’t get a chance to try BC wines this is an excellent choice. It rarely comes to the LCBO to order by the 6 bottle case from Marc Anthony for $39.95 delivered to your door. Yummm. Be sure and serve it with a hearty dish to hold up to this wine! If your looking for a smooth easy drinking wine … look elsewhere, wimps need not apply 🙂

From the winery’s web site:
2010 Quatrain A Quatrain is a poem or stanza that is always composed of four lines.

This 2010 hallmark wine is similarly composed of four grape varieties:
Merlot 40%, Syrah 20%, Cabernet Sauvignon 20%, Cabernet Franc 20%.

The grapes were selected from the best blocks within our estates in Osoyoos and Oliver. They were hand harvested, hand sorted, and gravity filled in small lots to French oak fermenters. After extended maceration, the free run wine and a portion of lightly basket pressed wine was aged separately in a selection of 100% French oak barrels for 12 months.

The 2010 Quatrain is an elegant wine, boasting red berry, black cherry, eucalyptus and cedary spice aromas and flavours. Syrah adds a juicy-fleshy texture to this uncommon blend, lending a seamless profile of ripe fruit, dark chocolate and spice to the gutsy structure of the three dominating Bordeaux varietals.

Inky dark in color with a nice nose of dark berries. On the mid pallet the wine displays some lovely dark cherries along with some nice dryness, some tannins and a bit of acidity. This one is still showing it’s fruit well. We paired it with maple coated salmon and it held it’s own but the dryness and complexity of the finish was much more noticeable without food. I would give it an 89 or so. $24.95 at the winery.

Niagara makes some great Cab Francs, and Fielding is one of my favorite wineries doing consistent stuff in the bench. This wine is 68% cab Franc 18% cab Sauv 8% Syrah 6% Petit-Verdot. The back of the bottle says the concept behind this wine was to create a unique blend of premium varietals that integrated together harmoniously. The wine was aged in oak barrels and results in an approachable blend with soft tannins and rich flavors.

Dark in color with a mild varietal cab franc nose. On the mid pallet the wine screams cab franc with lovely cherry coming through. On the medium length finish the wine displays some nice tannins along with some acidity, and a hint of pepper. This is a lovely cab franc, approachable now. It will hold up well to red meats and the like. Fielding have done a great job of making what I would refer to as an everyday red, or an entry level cab franc. I would give it an 88-89. Very nice.

From the LCBO web site:
Fielding Red Conception VQA Blend — LCBO#: 189183
STYLE – Medium-bodied & Fruity
Garnet with brick edges; cassis and cherry aromas with coffee and smoky notes; light cherry and plum fruit with lively acidity and smooth tannins Score – 4 Stars (out of 5). (Rod Phillips, rodphillipsonwine.com, June 22, 2010) $18.95

Release Date:May 28, 2011 Alcohol/Vol 13.0% Made in: Ontario, Canada By: Fielding Estate Winery Sugar Content:5 g/L Sweetness Descriptor:XD – Extra Dry Style: Medium-bodied & Fruity This is a VQA wine

Fielding and Kacaba are two of my favorite wineries down in Niagara. They have been making some consistent quality wines at reasonable prices for a while now. This one, is just another example of that. It’s 52% merlot 48% pinot noir blend. A little darker in color with pinot noir dominating the nose. Some nice softer red berries along with some rustic notes. On the mid pallet the wine matches the nose with some lovely varietal pinot noir notes coming through. Soft red berries, strawberries maybe even a little raspberry along with some nice rustic notes. And that’s were the merlot takes over. The finish is medium in length with some typical Niagara Merlot earthy notes coming through along with some darker berries. There’s some tannins, spice and acidity on the finish that linger nicely. This is a very nice wine especially given the everday price of $15.95. I would give it an 88-89. Not in the LCBO so you will have to take a trip out to the winery. Gee darn 🙂

My regular readers know I am a fan of Sauv blancs as well as a fan of Kacaba. 2012 was the first vintage of this wine. I was excited to see Kacaba doing it and bought a case. Sadly 2013 will be the last year for it, they were wiped out by our nasty winter. On our recent trip down to Niagara we tasted this one. This one is pale in color with a mild grassy nose. On the mid pallet the wine displays some nice mild grassy notes along with some citrus, lemon. On the medium length finish the wine displays citrus notes along with some mild sweetness. It’s a lovely smooth albeit lighter sauv blanc. I would give it an 88 or so. Very food friendly.

From the winery’s web site:
SUSAN SAUVIGNON BLANC 2013
Details: After hand harvesting our Sauvignon Blanc grapes were pressed immediately to minimize skin contact and juice deterioration. This gentle approach permitted the juice to clarify naturally and slowly. After settling, the juice was fermented using selected yeast in stainless steel at cool temperatures retaining fruit flavour and freshness.
Per bottle: $17.95