This month’s feature, The Roost, is a boutique winery located in a place where you may not think of grape growing – The Blue Mountains, near Collingwood. It’s owned by the husband and wife team, Jessica, the winemaker, and Michael, the vineyard manager. They planted their home vineyard in 2013/14 and The Roost opened to the public in 2017. With…
This month we’ll take a journey back in time to see who we should thank for the wine we’ll be enjoying this Christmas season. This idea came from a book by wine writer Oz Clarke that proposes the ancient civilization responsible for the “discovery” of wine. The usual suspects are the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. There is certainly evidence that…
An elegant, full bodied, expression of Syrah from the Chile’s Colchagua Valley (blended with 3% Viognier to give it some aromatic lift). It pays homage to the home of this style, the Côte-Rôtie in the Northern Rhone, where small amounts of Viognier are often co-fermented with Syrah. It has nuanced aromas and flavours of black and red plum, blueberry, blackberry, vanilla, smoked meat, eucalyptus, leather, and black pepper. It works nicely with robust meats and game.
★★★★½ (out of 5)
Vintages $19.95
This wine may be hard to pronounce, but it is great to explore. Its ancestral home is Alsace, but a number of Niagara wineries have this grape in their vineyards. It is often made in an off dry style, but this version is dry with lots of body. In the glass, this wine is quite aromatic showing typical spice, lychee, and rose on the nose. The flavours follow the nose adding in citrus and an attractive Niagara minerality. Serve it with some mild curry or Thai food.
★★★½ (out of 5)
LCBO $13.95 (sale price until November 8)
On our ongoing journey exploring local wineries,let’s take a look at another long time Niagara resident, Vineland Estates. Vineland’s story began in 1979 when Hermann Weis, a German winegrower, planted Riesling on the site. The first winery was established in the original farmhouse in 1983 by Dieter Guttler and he sold the winery to the Weiss family in 1988. In…
La Celia Reserva Malbec/Cabernet Franc 2017
This medium bodied wine is from Mendoza, one of the best areas in Argentina for producing Malbec. What makes it interesting is the introduction of Cabernet Franc that lifts the aromatics by adding some red currant, red cherry, and pleasant herbaceous black currant leaf to the typical Malbec dark fruit. It’s dry with soft tannins and would be a good accompaniment for meats with a pesto pasta side.
★★★½ (out of 5)
Vintages $14.95