Cave Spring 2002 Cabernet-Merlot ... Re-Taste

Click here to read the original review from February 2005
Click here to read the re-taste review from November 2007

(Re-Tasted January 2008) … I have to hand it to Tom Pennachetti of Cave Spring Cellars – he saw my previous Taste It Again review and was horrified to learn that his award winning wine was corked. He immediately contacted me to let me know that he had located another bottle and would I take a second look … to me that proves our wineries stand behind their products … so I took Tom up on his offer, and here’s what I found the second time around:

First, about the wine – it’s a blend of Franc (50%), Sauv (35%) and Merlot (15%) from the outstanding 2002 vintage. Most well made reds from ’02 would last 5 years with ease, and the very well made ones would go 10+. I feel this one could hold on longer as it falls into the very well made category. The nose is black raspberry with some cedar and herb notes, and as it opens in the glass, other dark fruits come around. The mouth shows more complexity than does the nose, heaping on top of the black raspberries with some currants and vanilla – tannins are definitely present upon opening, but soften over the next hour – smoothing this wine out to a luscious mouthfeel. It’s 2005 Cuvee win for best red was well deserved. There’s plenty of time left here, another 3 years wouldn’t hurt it in the least, but it’s drinking wonderfully now.

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Thirteenth Street Winery “Reds”

Click here to read the original review from January 2006

(Re-Tasted December 2007) … Those of you who were lucky enough to pick up this wine (13th Street’s first and only non-VQA wine) grabbed yourself quite a treat. A blend of 50% Cab Sauv and 25% Syrah and Zin … this was a reactionary wine that was made to “get rid” of some juice the boys brought in from California and could not sell. So, instead of letting it sour, they made lemonade (mixed metaphor I know). I bought 7 bottles in the short time it was on the shelf and now I’m down to my last one. Today, the nose is black cherry, plum and milk chocolate while the taste is still as lovely as ever, black cherry and plumy with great red fruit nuances. There is a bit of bite at the end, which is not necessarily tannin derived, I recommend opening and enjoying this one right now or in the next 6 months. What a fabulous experiment this was, though never to be duplicated.

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Chateau des Charmes 1999 Estate Cabernet-Merlot

Click here to read the original review from April 2005

(Re-Tasted August 2007) … The nose has pepper, blueberry, plum and opens with a little forest floor when the bottle was first opened, but this fades after about 30 minutes. There’s still some oak in there along with vanilla, pepper, cedar, blackberry, currants and some tannin kick. Is there much life left in this bottle - time will tell, another two years might be pushing it - but I’m willing to give it a shot. Down she goes again, thank goodness I bought a few extra bottles.

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Willow Springs 2002 Cabernet

Click here to read the original review from November 2005

(Re-Tasted November 2007) … When I originally tried this wine I gave it rave reviews - I loved it, and the fact that it was made at a little known winery just north of Toronto, Stouffville, made it even more impressive. A few years later, well …as they say at NASA “Houston, we have a problem here.” First, we have the plastic cork closure, I have my opinions about these stoppers and they are not good. Many of the wines I've tasted that have aged 4 years or more under this closure have some funky flavors to them. Unfortunately, this one is no different. It has developed medicinal and over-ripe fruit funkyness on the nose - the taste lacks any kind of fruit characteristics whatsoever and instead delivers nothing but wood. This wine was much better young. If you've held it in the hopes of greater rewards, you've waited too long.

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Stratus 2002 Wildass Red

Click here to read the original review from January 2006

(Re-Tasted November 2007) … About 2 years ago I put away some wines in the hopes that they would age gracefully … within that initial case was a bottle of 2002 Stratus Wildass Red, at the time I had decided this was exactly the kind of wine I should test. I poured it into a Spiegelau glass and up came red fruit, lots and lots of red fruit. Smooth and velvety on the tongue, pure cherries – sweet cherries, black cherries, choke cherries, Don Cherry even. If you have some of this wine it’s ready, so ready in fact it hurts to drink it. But I’ll suffer through the rapture. It was nice when I bought it 2+ years ago – it’s even nicer now.

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Stoney Ridge 2004 Pinot Noir

Click here to read the original review from December 2005

(Re-Tasted November 2007) … Two years later, this is still a very good Pinot ... dried cranberries and a touch of cedar on the nose, followed up by cherries and strawberries in the mouth. There's still a hint of tannin and oak in the mouth, but this one’s smooth and enjoyable right from the get go.

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Southbrook 2002 Cabernet - Merlot

Click here to read the original review from February 2006

(Re-Tasted November 2007) ... This wine was a real find a few years back at the LCBO - a really good bargain at $14.95. Today, the wine is going through a transition … the nose has gone heavily woodsy and vegetal (green pepper) – and the taste really follows suit; it's interesting but hardly drinkable at this time. I have another couple of bottles that I'm willing to try at a later date to see if the wine transitions out of this phase or descends further into the abyss.

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Cave Spring 2002 Cabernet-Merlot

Click here to read the original review from February 2005

(Re-Tasted - November 2007) ... A few years back this wine won Best Red at the 2005 Ontario Cuvee Awards. Now, some five years later, it's time to try it again. I was so looking forward to this wine because it showed such promise a few years back. Today, I opened it and poured it into my usual tasting-review glass (an IKEA Svelka red). To my dismay the telltale smells of cork wafted up from the glass even before I put it to my nose ... damp basement. I stirred and swirled in the hopes that maybe it was just my surroundings, but alas my efforts only managed to dissipate it slightly; that stink quickly came back. Just because I am a glutton for punishment, I decided to try it. On the fore-palette, it had some black fruit and cherry smoothness, but by mid-palette that was gone, replaced by a dumbed down version of what was once a beautiful wine. Finally, the finish was completely unpalatable - loaded with taint: moldy, wet nasty basement and old newspaper tastes - it was like chewing on cardboard. I wept silently to myself – what a shame.

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