Ridgepoint 2004 Medium Dry Riesling

Click here to read the original review from June 2006

(Re-Tasted July 2012) ... Do you keep hidden gems to yourself or do you share them with the world?  That is the question that plagues us all.  If we go about telling everyone then maybe one day there will be none left for us, if we keep quiet, there is the potential that none will be around when we do want some because they will not be making anymore (out of business).  One of Niagara's overlooked wineries is Ridgepoint, who has quietly has been making wine for a number of years with little to no fanfare.  They were in fact the first to release an Ontario Nebbiolo onto the market, but that was many years ago and there is kind of a 'been there done that' attitude about it (considering others are doing it now too).  On the same day that I opened a rather putrid bottle of Hillebrand 2004 Riesling, I had a back-up in mind, this 2004 (same year as the Hillebrand) Ridegepoint Medium-Dry.  This one proved to have beautiful colouring, hardly showing its age, the nose was lanolin, candied almonds with just the merest hint of petrol to give away it's aged quality.  The taste was lemony with lemonade notes and lemon pulp and lots of peach pit, the sweetness was barely perceptible, probably because the acidity was spot on and there was a beautiful long finish to boot.  A nice bottle that is drinking well right now.

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Ridgepoint 2005 Cabernet Merlot

Click here to read the original review from June 2008

(Re-Tasted July 2012) ... Today I sat down with a friend and tasted through a number of older Ontario vintages ... you can pop over to the Lost and Found Blog to see what we tasted on July 6, 2012.  As it turns out some I had tasted before and others I had not ... this wine falls in the tasted before camp, as you can see from the linked original review above.  This was one of the better wines we opened that day - first it had a natural cork, which is always a good sign (so is a screwcap - plastic is the worst thing to see on an aged bottle).  The first sniff of the wine was loaded with volatile acidity, but we figured this should blow off ... and it did.  The structure of the wine was still very much intact on the palate: dried fruit reigned supreme along with white pepper, spice and some pretty heavy tannins - these dissipated quickly the longer it sat in the glass and within 15 minutes it had turned into a pleasant (enough) drink.  I would say this bottle would hold another 2 years, maybe more, but not quite sure I would risk it.  It's a decent drinker right now.

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Ridgepoint Wines 2004 Meritage

Click here to read the original review from February 6, 2007 Weekly Wine Note

(Re-Tasted April 2010) ... I opened this wine with some trepidation - not sure why, but the year two-thousand-four holds a certain amount of dread for me ... something in my psyche that makes me think twice, except when I am opening a Riesling.  Thankfully, my dread of the vintage was ill-placed after sipping and sipping this wine, as it proved to be a real winner (still).  The nose stayed pretty much constant trhough my hour-and-a-half tasting of it, but the palate swung wildly to and fro.  At first sniff the nose was a little woody and a touch herbaeous (grassy), with a hint of fruit lingering in the background.

The taste was all over the map and yet proved to be very appealing at all stops along the way.  At first it was sour cranberry and woodsy with sourish tannins and ballsy acidity, which really took over and became apparent on the finish; thankfully, some fruit did play a part at the end with cranberry and sour cherry coming along to linger in the mouth.

Twenty minutes on and the nose is getting more woodsy with ever passing minute, but the palate has begun to smooth out and develop woodsy-cherry and vanilla-spice.  Another 20-minutes pass and the cherry-wood  turns to a soft green pepper, while the palate is still fairly smooth with only hints of green pepper beginning to emerge there too.  This wine is about a year or two passed its "peak", but it's still quite drinkable and a good example of a nice middle aged wine (6 years from Vintage date) from a so-so year.

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Ridgepoint Wines 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon

Click here to read the original review from December 2006 - OWR Newsletter #45

(Re-Tasted September 2009) ... This is a double medal winning wine - Gold (All Canadian Wine Championships) and Silver (Ontario Wine Awards) - that signals not bad pedigree for longevity. There is plenty in this wine to make me think it has yet to peak; yet there are other signs that tell me it may be at its plateau and won't get much better. The nose is loaded and complex (so too is the palate) so there are plenty of smells to distinguish: blackberry, oak, licorice, plenty of green pepper, spice, cassis and even a touch of cocoa. The palate also shows complexity: pepper, spice and black currant, there's still good tannin grip on the tongue, but there is also a fair bit of oak tannins here, and green pepper comes through loud and clear unless you decide to decant (I used a Vinturi to smooth it out, little gadget seems to work, though I am still putting it through its paces). Decanting seemed to soften the green-pepper to a dull roar. Finally, there's a nice long finish on this one with hints of gritty-sawdust like tannins left behind on the tongue ... makes me thinl that maybe she hasn't peaked quite yet. As you can tell I am still on the fence about this one, but it is getting close to peak or plateau so now's the time to drink (within a year or 2) - lucky I have one bottle left to test in two years, then I will know for sure. Had I been able to keep the bottle open for 3-hours I think I would have a better handle on it, but alas the bottle was polished off in an hour ... maybe next time.

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Ridegepoint Wines 2002 Cabernet Franc

Click here to read the original review from February 2006 - OWR Newsletter #24

(Re-Tasted August 2008) ... 2002 is the year of the ageable red, that’s why so many of my Taste it Agains focus on wines from that year. Here’s a bottle from Ridgepoint Cabernet Franc that won best of category at the All Canadian Wine Championships the year it was entered (the sticker on the bottle does not give the award year). Now 6 years from vintage date the smell when you first pop the cork is all cedar, after an hour there are some great dried fruit smells that join in, and you might also get the distinct smell of raisins (yes I know they are a dried fruit – but now I’m getting specific). Let’s move on to how it tastes. From the get go there are a plethora of roasted red and green peppers with a touch of cedar essences – these flavour continues all the way through hour-to-hour, the finish is smooth and supple. Still a very nice wine, drink over the next year or two, if you’ve got any left.

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Ridgepoint Wines 2004 Cabernet Merlot

Click here to read the original review from June 2006

(Re-Tasted May 2008) … This review is painful to write. I know Mauro, owner of Ridgepoint, a very friendly and congenial person. I know Arthur Harder, a very good winemaker who has made plenty of award winning wines here in Ontario. But this 2004 Cabernet-Merlot I don’t know, nor do I want to. I remember liking it very much – which is why I set it down for a few years – but unfortunately, it has not stood the test of time. First, there’s the agglomerate cork (crushed up pieces glued together to form a re-constituted cork) … the wine was halfway up this closure. The smell was wet newspaper and cardboardy with just a hint of the former blackberries that used to be a hallmark of this wine. Taste was no better – a funny burnt-cracker-like taste, a bit gluey, flat and unappealing … sorry boys, this one’s corked and the glue has seeped into the wine. Yuck. Might I suggest better quality corks for future vintages, especially those built to last. I seem to have another bottle of this – I’ll take another look/taste and get back to you about it.

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