Henry of Pelham 2005 Reserve Riesling

Click here to read the original review from April 12, 2007 - OWR Newsletter #54

(Re-Tasted November 2009) ... Back to one of my favourite topics, the 2005 Rieslings and their development. I have quite a few bottles of this wine in my cellar (4 more to be exact) so I had really high hopes for it when I bought it ... and I have to say it is coming along nicely, though at first, I have to admit, I was a little nervous. The initial smell was very gassy, and when I say very gassy I mean it was like standing at the pump having just spilled gas on your pants. And then if you can imagine getting into the car with your pants on wet with car-go-juice then you'll figure out what it was like to smell this wine. It took about 15 minutes for that to dissipate, but once it did there was a very pronounced lime-mineral note that emerged. The petrol came screaming through on the tongue in much the same way as it did on the nose, being extremely domineering in the first few minutes, but then it quieted down and giving way to lime rind, mineral/stony nuances and with only hints of gasoline. By the time an hour had passed the wine was warm but quite drinkable ... maybe I should have opened and let sit out for a bit then put in the fridge, next time, and with four bottles to go there will definitely be a next time.

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Vineland Estate Winery 2005 Semi-Dry Rielsing

Click here to read the original review from July 20, 2006 - OWR Newsletter #35

(Re-Tasted November 2009) ... Pop went the cork! And with that another '05 Riesling was opened, I expected to be hit over the head with petrol smells, but this one didn't do that. Sure the aroma of petrol was present, but it was not heavy-handed as it has been in many of the '05 I have tried in the past couple of years; in fact, the most dominant smell was lemon, a very welcome smell in 2005 Rieslings. But this wine really shone in the mouth, here I found a lot of complexity and believe there is still more to come. There was lemon and lemon rind with hints of sweetness across the tongue. There was also some tangerine notes along with petrol hanging out on the finish ... the longer the wine sat open I found some mac apple emerge into mix with the lemon, tangerine and petrol. This wine is still has time to develop and is drinking very nicely right now.

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Thirteenth Street 'Reds' Again, Last Bottle

Click here to read the original reviews from January 2006 - Re-taste January 2008

(Re-Tasted November 2009) ... After all these years I am still in a quandry about this wine, even more so now, especially in light of what is going on in the Ontario industry. Yes, I know, it is a Cellared in Canada wine made from Ontario Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah and Zinfandel from California. Do I mollify myself by saying this is a one-off from the boys at 13th Street, who make incredible VQA wines - in fact I do, but what a one-off it is. No date adorns the bottle, hence I have no idea how old this wine is, but considering my first review is from January of 2006, then it must be at least 3 years old, but the boys at The Street don't have a "blending license" so it must be either a 2003 or a 2005, adding another 1 - 3 years to the bottle. So now that we have accomplished nothing how does this wine taste? Smells needed some coaxing with an aerator revealing some plum and spice with hints of pepper; the palate was still in the very drinkable range of its lifespan offering up plenty of spice and pepper with an array of black fruits that were just beginning to fade. So if you have some of this wine sitting on a shelf, now is the time to drink it. I have to say, reluctantly, this is a very good wine, it shows what kind of wines can be made in this category and that they are not all some form of cheap plonk.

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