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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:11169
 | | 08/18/2005 2:51 AM |
| We visited this winery 16 days ago. The wines:
2004 Dry Riesling, 11.2% alcohol, $12-
Grapefruit nose. Smells like a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Citrus flavor. Nice. 85
2002 White Meritage, 13.5% alcohol, $49-
Nose closed. Tastes like a white Bordeaux. Soft. 85
2002 Chardonnay Reserve, 14% alcohol, $48-
Melon nose. Simple. Disastrous QPR. 82
2001 Pinot Noir Reserve, 12.5% alcohol, $20-
Very musty nose. Sharp. Thin. 72
2000 Meritage, 13.2% alcohol, $125 [B](yes, $125)[/B]- Nice red fruit nose. Some tannin and acvidity to age. I doubt the fruit will last. This was the worst value of this trip and one of the worst values I have ever tasted. 83
2002 Vidal Icewine, 9.5% alcohol, (200ml) $25-
Raisins and honey on the nose and palate. Good acidity for a Vidal. 91
2003 Vidal Ice Wine, 9.5% alcohol, $42-
Raisins and honey on palate and nose. Sweeter than the 2002. Nice balance. 92
2000 Riesling Icewine, 10.4% alcohol, $55-
Dried fruit nose. Delicious. 94
This winery is always a must visit for us for two reasons. The winery restaurant, run by Director/Chef Jan-Willem Stulp, is one of the very best in the region. Their sweet wines are amongst North America's best. Unfortunately, the 2004 Cabernet Franc Icewine is about to be bottled, so we never got to try it. At our last visit, I bought the current vintage of their Cabernet Franc Icewine and served it to forum members with great acclaim. Vineland Estates produced one of the first Cabernet Franc ice wines in the region and I congratulate them for their pioneering efforts with this varietal.
As for their dry wines, I found them relatively disappointing. President Allan Schmidt and winemaker Brian Schmidt have one of the region's premier wineries. I'd guess that it's the beautiful property, excellent restaurant, and top notch sweet wines, along with some superior marketing, that enable them to get such high prices for dry wines that are not much more than average in quality for the region. I find myself wondering who buys that $125 Meritage. That said, each time I visit this winery, I find the dry wines a little better. It remains on our must visit list. | | | |
| ChangeMe
Grape Destemmer
Posts:53
| | 08/18/2005 3:10 AM |
| Going there tomorrow - I know some staff, hopefully they'll give me the good word on the Cab Franc Icewine.
If not... well, that discount will probably still stand when it is ready. | | | |
| ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:11169
| | 08/18/2005 3:14 AM |
| | I hope you plan to have lunch or dinner there. Please post your opinions of the wines. I'd love to hear your opinion of the Meritage. I'm going to write up the dining room tonight. | | | |
| ChangeMe
Grape Destemmer
Posts:53
| | 08/18/2005 4:07 AM |
| Funny you mention dining there - the friend I have at VE is a waitress. As for the Meritage, the last few times I've been there, it wasn't being sampled (both White and Red versions). We'll see this time. Some local hounds swear by the 1995 vintage - it would have long been sold out by the time I got into wine. My assumption is that the price was vaulted (or remained the same) after said acclaim - likely the 1998 too.
2000 wasn't an amazing year in Niagara. Good, but not widely recognized as successful. Maybe they just hoped they could push another pricey Meritage... I'm not sure though. | | | |
| ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:11169
| | 08/18/2005 12:15 PM |
| | A phone call in advance may help. They opened a bottle for us. | | | |
| ChangeMe
Grape Destemmer
Posts:53
| | 08/20/2005 11:44 PM |
| Well, good and bad news.
The good news is that I figured out why they're charging $125 for the Meritage. Vines magazine, the pre-eminent wine mag for Canadian vintners gave the wine 5 stars out of 5 some time back. Vines rarely gives a 5 star rating, sometimes only once a year. (2004's only 5 star wine was Vineland Estate's 2002 Sauvignon Blanc - though it only cost $12.95. 'Twas damn well worth it, though one of my two bottles ended up flawed.)
The bad news is that we arrived at 5:50, just as the bar was getting ready to close. They were nice enough to let us try a couple wines, but it was just whatever they had open - the Chenin Blanc, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Riesling.
The CB04 was refreshing but not necessarily compelling - it was young though, the acidity was very present. The SB03 and PN01 were nothing special at all unfortunately. Apparently their 2002 Pinot Noir Reserve is a VQA release and will see the sales floor once the 2001 finds its way out the door. It's selling at the restaurant for (I think the girl said) $80. Interesting.
The 02 Pinot Gris seemed to be oxidizing slightly - though it was the end of the bottle/night and it'd probably be replaced the next day. The 04 Riesling wasn't bad, but I'll be honest, I've had better examples from Vineland Estates before.
I think shoving all that wine into 5 minutes was a mistake, but it was our fault for spending so much time at the other places. We started off at Vineland Estates but would have had to wait forever to be served by the two staffers. Very crowded bar. Oh well.
Also, I asked about the Cab Franc Icewine, and it's to be bottled VERY soon. I'll get word on that as soon as it's for sale. | | | |
| ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:11169
| | 08/20/2005 11:57 PM |
| | The last one I had, I think it was the 2002, was the best Canadian wine I've ever had, but other wineries are catching up. | | | |
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