Tasting note : three wines from Ontario (Niagara and Prince Edward County)

Every time I go on vacation in Ontario, I quickly head to the LCBO to get my hands on some local wines. Since I started writing about wine, about 12 years ago – a column on Canadian wines and spirits for a magazine -, I’ve always been interested in finding out more about the wines produced in this country. And since only a small proportion of wines from the ROC make their way to Quebec, it’s always a treat to get my hands on some cuvées I’ve never tasted before.

On a quick stop by the Vintages store on Rideau Street, in Ottawa, I picked up three bottles :

• 2006 Triomphe Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot by Southbrook Vineyards, Niagara Peninsula
• 2007 County Pinot Noir by Norman Hardie, Prince Edward County
• 2006 Old Vines Chardonnay by Lailey Vineyard, Niagara River

Three very different cuvées, all pointing in different directions. A good thing : there is clearly something for everyone in Ontario wines.

The Southbrook Triomphe, produced by a winery that was recently certified biodynamic, scored very well at dinner with a classic lasagna. Expressive, with ripe fruit, good structure, balance and a smooth mouthfeel, with a touch of spice. Clean and neat, it felt uncluttered and easy going. It just drank itself, and thanks to a reasonable alcohol level (under 13%) that kept it fresh and open, it left us wanting more.

The following evening, the Hardie pinot didn’t fare quite as well, however. After hearing a lot of great things about Prince Edward County – one friend even wrote me that the Niagara was being completely overrun by PEC, a much superior region, according to him – and having tasted the excellent pinots and chardonnays made by Deborah Paskus at Closson Chase (I sampled them for an En Route piece on Canadian wines that will be published in the August issue), I was happy to get the chance to taste more.

The wine, clear and bright red, had some fresh cherry aromas, with some earthy notes, but felt a bit thin, when you moved from aromas to flavors. Now, I’m very pro-Burgundy, and find warm climate pinots often tiring, with their dark colors and jammy, spicy flavors. But this just didn’t have the intensity and amplitude you’d want from a pinot – especially one selling for 35$. Mind you, it didn’t have any striking flaws, either – no green flavors, no rough tannins, no off taste or aromas. It just didn’t show enough of its good things for me.

The last wine tasted was the Lailey chardonnay, which showed a very pleasant nose, with lemon, toasted almonds and toasted bread with a dab of butter and herbs, and maybe a bit of pear. The mouthfeel was expansive, substantial but still fresh, thanks to a nice amount of acidity and a twist of lemon rind giving it just enough bitterness. Flavors matched the aromas, and rolled around smoothly to a fairly long and silky finish. My only regret is that a rather nice mineral component seemed a bit smothered by the toasty and fat elements of the wine. But since everything else about this light-gold colored wine was so great, I’m willing to let bygones be bygones.

After this first stint in Ontario, this week, I’ll be returning a couple of times in the coming weeks, including stops in Prince Edward County and the Niagara region. Expect more notes to come as these trips unfold.

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The exotic taste of Jurançon

Twice, over the last couple of weeks, I tasted a 2005 dry Jurançon called Cuvée Marie, made by Charles Hours (and his daughter Marie, I believe) at Clos Uroulat. What a trip to take in the middle of winter: here is a wine jumping at you with exotic fruit flavors: guava, passionfruit, a touch of grapefruit, and a bit of fresh coconut on top of that. Like a piña colada, without the hard liquor and hangover. And as a bonus, this wine from southwest France, right at the foothills of the Pyrénées, made from 90% Gros Manseng and 10% courbu, had a lovely structure, and a lively acidity that could soften up nicely over the next few years as the wine matures and develops.

The high acidity, while a little sharp for sipping the wine on its own, just now, is terrific when drinking the wine with, say, a dish of monkfish baked with rosemary and served over a freshly-crushed tomato sauce: in such a context, it uplifts the fish, while the ripe fruit wraps around the whole dish to broaden the range of flavors. Quite nice.

The acidity, typical of gros manseng (and petit manseng, which is the third varietal allowed in the appellation, with courbu) is also key to Jurançon’s reputation for producing sweet, dessert wines. Without acidity, sweet wines are just jammy and overly sweet.

This particular character of Jurançon wines is best exemplified by Henri Ramonteu’s Domaine Cauhapé, where he produces the whole range of wines, from the very dry Chant des Vignes to the syrupy, concentrated, ice-wine-like Folie de Janvier. It’s quite a spectacular range, all with good ageing potential and nuances for every type of meal. But not, as I recall, the exuberant tropical-drink folly of Cuvée Marie…