Inniskillin 2006 Pinot Noir - Reserve Series

Found April 2013

Here's another happy but surprising find in my cellar.  Not sure how I missed this one the first time through but am I glad I waited on this one, because I would say it's a perfect Pinot experience - but not for those who like em young and fresh, you're gonna have to like the aged character of wine here.  The nose is earthy and smoky with some balsamic-raspberry notes on both the nose and taste; that's how the palate kicks off before segueing into eathy-strawberry with more balsamic.  As it sits in the glass the balsamic continues to intensify all the while throwing in dried fruits and earthy character ... the finish is dry and slightly oaky with little hits of vanilla that appear here and there.  A lovely seven year old Pinot that's a delicious wine right now.  Lost & Found Rating:  Treasure

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Thirty Bench 2007 Red

Click here to read the original review from June 2009

(Re-Tasted March 2013) ... Last night I went back to a 2005 vintage wine and was very impressed, tonight I step up two years to another great Ontario vintage, 2007, to re-taste a wine from 30 Bench.  This mainly Cabernets blend (Franc and Sauvignon make up a whopping 95%) has no intention, and shows no sign, of letting go of its dark fruit aromas and flavours any time soon.  From from first sniff to last sip it still has lots of it.  The nose is black raspberry, blackberry and spiced cherry, while the palate shows off a little more complexity: blueberry, blackberry and spice are the mainstays, followed up by hints of oak, anise and white pepper, there also seems to be a slight mocha note that appears on the finish.  But there is always that dark fruit just waiting in the wings to push all the others aside and assert its dominance.  This wine is still very, very good.

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Vineland Estates 2005 Elevation Cabernet-Merlot

Click here to read the original review from the January 1, 2008 - Weekly Wine Note

(Re-Tasted March 2013) ... This was a beauty of a wine when it was released and now that is it 8 years old its even better.  First let me say how nice it is to open a bottle of 2005 wine and find a real cork stopping up the bottle, I have found so many plastic POS corks in 2005 wines that I was starting to expect those nasty pieces of plastic every time I open a 2005.  Now onto the wine.  I would like to say that the nose was overwhelmingly wonderful, but in truth it was pretty simplistic: spice, dark fruit, cinnamon and oak ... there was also something smoky to it, but that didn't show up till a little later.  Those who focus on the aromas too much are going to miss the best part of this wine though - and that's the palate - which just keeps on giving and giving and getting better and better with each passing 10 minute-block.  It started off slowly: spiced-cassis and blackberry along with vanilla-cinnamon-oak.  Then came a hint of blueberry skin. Wait a little longer in glass, the wine smooths out and you can find some licorice notes ... wait again and smokiness appears, then some chocolate ... but it wasn't just one note at a time, they all seem to meld one into another to a point where the wine was absolutely delicious combining all those flavours into each mouthful.  I do believe this wine has hit its sweet-spot, the question remains, how long will it stay there.

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Hillebrand 2009 Trius Sauvignon Blanc

Click here to read the original review from June 2010

(Re-Tasted March 2013) ... I have to admit that I can't believe I still have bottles of Sauvignon Blanc in my wine cellar - truth be told the Hillebrand Trius 2009 are the only bottles of older Sauv Blanc I have, but I seem to have quite a few.  I know that when it came out it quite possibly could have been one of the best Savvy B's to come out of Ontario - it had great flavour and the acidity was just a powerhouse.  So it is no surprise I bought a bunch to serve, but it does come as a surprise that I have some left.  So the other day I was teaching a class on Sauvignon Blanc and thought it an opportunity to educate on the ageability (or lack thereof) of the grape ... the common held view is the Sauvignon Blanc does not age and should be drunk young and fresh - those were my thoughts too.  Four years from vintage date and 3 years from release is not the time most people think about opening a bottle of Savvy B ... but in this case I was pleasantly surprised.  The nose has changed from fresh and lively to more complex notes of grapefruit zest and pith, peach pit with hints of grassy, a touch of beeswax and some floral notes.  The palate is still rather zippy still retaining that lively acidity while still adding in a light touch of peach, some lemon and grapefruit - but always sitting in the back is that zip and zing of acidity which has managed to keep the electricity in this wine.  I am totally amazed by how well it has stood up, and also thrilled because, as I mentioned early on, I still have quite a few left.  Congratulations to winemaker Darryl Brooker for this lovely last and (so far) lasting contribution to Ontario wines.

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Cave Spring 2006 Riesling “Dolomite”

Click here to read the original review from August 2007 

Taste it Again from January 2010

and another in July 2011

(Re-Tasted February 2013) ... It's almost as if I had planned to re-taste this wine every year and a half, but honestly it was a wine that I bought a lot of at the time of its release and just seem to gravitate towards (I guess every year and a half).  2006 was the first year of the Dolomite Riesling and it was the first time that a mention of the soil (not the vineyard) had appeared on a Cave Spring label.  They attributed the mineral notes on the wine to the soils and the older vines that went into this wine.  Since then they are growing in the same soils but using younger vines for the Dolomite wines ... so this was a real rarity.  Dolomite was made to be a restaurant exclusive along with a drop-into-the-winery-only wine, meaning that the winery was the only place you could buy some to take home.  Here we are some 7 years from vintage date and it is still showing some great aromas and flavours - this Riesling was built with longevity in mind and the milder 2006 vintage helped in that regard too.  I noticed in a previous note I mentioned a hint of petrol, well this bottle showed none of that:  nose of lime, wet stone and apricot, almost sweet in nature.  The palate also hinted at sweetness: apple, lanolin, lime cordial and mineral all mingling on the tongue with some nice acid replay on the finish.  There is an element of a sweet beginning but the wine actually seems to turn it around mid-palate to end dry - like licking a smooth wet rock that was rubbed with lime juice and pith.  This is still a wonderfully delicious, easy to drink wine and as it ages it seems to be developing some interesting characteristics while keeping most of it originals intact.  See you all again in a year in a half when we'll look in on this one again.

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Chateau des Charmes 2004 Paul Bosc Chardonnay

Click here to read the original review from June 2008

(Re-Tasted February 2013) ... We were over at a friend's house for dinner the night I opened this bottle - our friend's a big Chardonnay fan and I thought it would be interesting to open this, my last bottle of 2004 Chardonnay (from any winery).  It's a bottle of the Paul Bosc Vineyard Chardonnay - for those who don't know this is the vineyard directly across the road from the winery itself.  Looking at this wine bottle is like staring at the past, especially if you've bought any bottles from the Chateau in the last little while - the label is completely different ... those of you who have never seen the Chateau's old label will be amazed at it's simplicity and basic design.  But don't let the outside fool you, what's in this bottle is far from basic and simple.  Now, because I was away from home I could not put the wine into a proper glass (my glass-snob comes out again) so I had to try this wine is a few glasses so as to get the nose and taste properly.  The good news is the wine tasted wonderful in whatever I put it in - and it seemed to disappear quickly in everyone's glass.  The nose was very shy at first but did give notes of buttered toffee and baked apple ... on the palate it showed more complexity: butter, caramel, peach cobbler, cinnamon, spice all with a creamy texture until some acidity popped in right at the finish-line to keep it from being too blowsy in the mouth.  The oak also proved to be spot on as it carried the wine without being over-bearing.  A nice job with this Chardonnay ... I liked it back in 2008 and I'm liking it now, though I'm not sure how much longer I would have held it given the opportunity, nine years seems to be a good time.  If you've got some in your cellar might I suggest inviting some Chardonnay loving friends and popping the cork ... you will not be disappointed.

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Coyote's Run 2008 Black Paw Chardonnay

Click here to read the original review from June 2009

(Re-Tasted February 2013) ... I have had more Chardonnay (willingly) in the last few days than I had in all of 2012 … if I am looking to blame someone for this transgression of my ABC philosophy I would probably start with Howard Soon and Sandhill winery out in British Columbia.  But since I don’t live out west it gets hard for me to go knocking on their door and demand I get my hate-on for Chardonnay back, so I must look for something a little closer to home … Which is why I would then have to lay blame firmly at the feet of Coyote’s Run and winemaker Dave Sheppard.   The other day the wife and I consumed two bottles of Chardonnay, one from the aforementioned Sandhill and the other from the Coyote… both were excellent, both from 2010 and both were so different - BC had a very cool vintage while the one in Ontario was quite hot (a reversal of fortune so to speak).  So it was time to look back a little further and see if an even older Coyote Chardonnay could shine, but this time from a cooler vintage … and it did.  The nose on this wine was lemon, vanilla and, as it sat and warmed in the glass a little, butter-pecan.  The palate showed itself right away with vanilla, butter and toffee; from that description one might consider that the wine would come off as sweet, but the wine itself was not overtly so, in fact it had a suppleness in the mouth with nice acidity and a buttered-almond finish.  Fruit also lingered quietly in the background with slight citrus notes, not sour and puckering, more along the lines of soft and subtle.

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