By Rick VanSickle
Over 100 wine professionals gathered last week to celebrate the successes of the past and present of Ontario VQA wines.
The evolution of Ontario’s VQA wines took centre stage at the annual 2024 Brock University Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture (CCOVI) Experts Tasting that featured writers, educators, and retailers who were treated to a curated array of older and newer vintages of VQA wines.
The 32nd annual event’s “Then and Now” theme marked a rare educational opportunity to evaluate and explore same-label VQA wines that were at least five years apart in age and originated from the same winemakers and vineyards in Ontario. CCOVI took over the hosting of the Experts Tasting in 1997 with the aim to help raise the profile of Ontario VQA wines.
“This by-invitation only event brings together media, product consultants, sommeliers, wine educators and aligned industry members who promote VQA wines through education and promotion,” said organizer Barb Tatarnic, CCOVI’s manager of outreach and continuing education. “It allows guests to taste and learn alongside their peers in the industry and with winemakers in attendance.”
This year’s tasting was constructed in the Burgundian format, beginning with rich, deep red wines and progressing to brilliant white wines that showcase the breadth and complexity of ageable Ontario VQA wine, Tatarnic said.
A judging panel from the Ontario wine community was tasked with blind tasting more than 100 wine submissions to approve the nearly 40 wines presented at the Experts Tasting. The day was organized into five tasting flights, with each showcasing a current release alongside a mature vintage of the same label, side by side with a minimum of five years between vintages.
In keeping with the theme, Cave Spring Vineyard’s founding partner and vice-president Angelo Pavan and winemaker and viticulturist Gabriel Demarco alongside Bruce Nicholson (Inniskillin winemaker, retired) and Nick Gizuk winemaker, led a lively discussion on the metamorphosis of Ontario VQA wines.
Their conversation explored past challenges and lessons learned, as well as how they adapted as the industry matured and evolved over the past 30-plus years.
The Experts Tasting also included the presentation of the annual VQA Promoters Awards, now in their 15th year. The awards recognize individuals who work above and beyond to promote VQA wines through education and promotion.
Laura Carr, of Chez Nous Wine Bar, and Robbie Raskin, of Archives Wine & Spirits Merchants, were recognized with Hospitality Awards.
Carr was honoured for her commitment to featuring only 100% VQA wines at her wine bar in Toronto, and Raskin was recognized for creating bottle shops featuring locally crafted wines from small producers not found in the LCBO.
Radio personality Matthew Cauz (above), who hosts the podcast “Matt Talks Wine and Stuff with Interesting People,” was recognized in the media category for his work promoting exceptionalism in the local wine industry.
Sumie Yamakawa, estate retail manager with Inniskillin Estate Winery, was honoured in the retail category as a trailblazer in her field for more than 20 years.
Elena Galey-Pride (with Doug Beattie, above) of Winestains was recognized as promoter-at-large for her longstanding commitment and dedication to marketing, social media, public relations, photography and literary talents in the promotion of the Ontario wine industry.
The Lifetime Achievement award was awarded to Doug Beatty, Ontario VQA wine ambassador with the Wine Marketing Association of Ontario, for his substantial body of work resulting in the growth in the appreciation of Ontario VQA wines.
“Doug is the epitome of what it means to be a VQA promoter,” said Tatarnic, who hosted the awards. “This isn’t a ‘job’ for Doug; his passion for VQA is contagious and, as he explains it, it is an honour to advocate for this amazing industry.”
Here’s what was tasting during the blind tasting portion of the Experts Tasting:
Five (Flights) for Fighting
The theme for this year’s Experts Tasting was looking back at the past while envisioning the future. CCOVI has a large, well-curated cellar of older Ontario wines and many of those wines were pulled for this rare and enthralling blind tasting. The categories were well thought out and each moderator did their homework in presenting their respective flights.
I liked what Niagara College wine professor Peter Rod had to say about the tasting: “Which is more beautiful to behold: a butterfly chrysalis or a mature butterfly,” he wrote following the event. “Wine is like butterflies. I don’t need to be convinced that aging good wines is necessary to bring out their most beautiful, balanced, expressive, and complex side but yesterday’s (June 6) Experts Tasting at Brock University further reinforced the fact. Of the five flights of high-quality Ontario VQA wines, only once was a younger wine the preferred wine (Hidden Bench Chardonnay 2021). In all other cases (Riesling, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc blends, and icewine), the mature wine was the most beguiling and attractive. Of particular note was the 1999 Inniskillin Montague Vineyard Pinot Noir. Such incredible aromatics and a sublime mouthfeel. All that after 25 years! Be prepared to age your good wines and your pleasure will be enhanced ten-fold.”
Peter Rod is right, of course. We drink our Niagara wines far too young. They can age and improve with even a little time in the cellar. This tasting proved it once again. Here were the five flights:
What was I made for?
This flight was presented by Peller Estates winemaker Katie Dickieson, who posed that question to the tasters. Our table, which included two winners of the promoter awards Raskin (Archives Wine and Spirit Merchants owner) and Matthew Cauz (Matt Talks Wine & Stuff with Interesting People), was a bit confused by the title of the flight. We still don’t know the correct answer.
As interesting as it was, with a comparison of older vs newer Bordeaux varieties from the same producer in Niagara, we couldn’t help but answer the question with one word: drinking, they were made to drink! But that was just us.
This was a fascinating chance to taste two Small Lot Cabernet Francs from Thirty Bench — one from 2012 and the other from 2018, and repeated with Two Sisters Eleventh Post (2013, 2018), Peller Estate’s Signature Series Cabernet Franc (2015, 2020) and Icellars Wiyana Wanda (2016, 2020). Such a beautiful flight that put the emphasis on tannins and how they melt over time and allow all that brilliant fruit shine in beautiful harmony.
New or Old … World
Marynissen winemaker Mitchell McCurdy was the moderator for this curious flight that featured six older and newer Pinot Noirs followed by two old/young Syrahs.
The Pinots were from Thirty Bench (2015, 2021), Malivoire (2013, 2021), Hidden Bench (2008, 2021) with the Broken Press Creekside Syrahs (2015, 2020) last in the flight. The two iconic Creekside Syrahs were another example of why tannins matter so much in ageable red wines. The 2020 was puckering and in desperate need of more time in the cellar, while the 2015, with its soft, silky texture was drinking beautifully. The Pinots, for me, seemed to benefit a little less from over-cellaring, and both the Hidden Bench and Malivoire younger Pinots showed better than the older versions of themselves.
Niagara, a metamorphosis not quite done yet
This flight was revelatory, not only for the fact that the oldest wine in the entire tasting — the 1999 Montague Vineyard Pinot Noir from Inniskillin — was the superstar of the entire tasting, but also incredible to taste a trio of Montague along with three iconic Cave Spring CSV Rieslings.
Inniskillin winemaker Nick Gizuk moderated this fascinating flight and enlisted his mentor and predecessor Bruce Nicholson and current Cave Spring winemaker Gabe Demarco and former winemaker Angelo Pavan to help talk about past and current methods of crafting these benchmark wines. Of the Rieslings, my notes point to the oldest CSV from 2000 as the champion over the 2020 and 2010 versions. I suspect that might have something to do with the very hot growing seasons for the two latter wines. That 1999 Montague, though, my word, what a beautiful wine, which, by the way, you can still purchase for $215 at the winery!
Making fetch happen: the RS edition
This flight was moderated by Heather McDougall (sommelier, Sips Toronto) and unabashed champion for the Riesling grape. Obviously, residual sugar was on the agenda here with Rieslings in the flight along with four icewines — two Vidals and two Rieslings.
The icewines, two in particular — the cognac coloured Inniskillin Vidal Gold Icewine from 2001, and the similarly dark Inniskillin Riesling from 2006 — were stunners. So much depth with toffee/caramel, creamy texture, brown honey, dried tropical fruits and length for days. Both wines were mind-blowing and the poster children for why icewines need at least some time to soften and develop the secondary (tertiary) notes that make Canada’s greatest gift to the wine world its deserved reputation.
The other wines in the flight were two Charles Baker Rieslings (2015 vs 2020) and Featherstone’s Black Sheep Riesling (2013 vs 2021). Oddly, I thought the younger CB Riesling bested the more reductive 2015 version, but the 2013 Featherstone showed better than the younger 2021 Riesling. So, go figure.
Chard I stay or Chard I go?
The final flight of the day was moderated by Michael Godel (WineAlign) and featured seven Chardonnays, six from Niagara and one ringer from Beringer in Napa Valley. I’m more than familiar with those big bruisers from California and less likely now to purchase one, but the Beringer Luminus 2022, at $56 it was the second most expensive in the flight (only the Two Sisters 2021 cost more at $58), wasn’t that out of place. Of the rest of the Chardonnays — two from Tawse (2014 and 2021), two from Two Sisters (2016 and 2021), and two from Hidden Bench (2013 and 2021) — my notes favoured both the younger wines from Hidden Bench and Two Sisters over the 2016 version from Two Sisters and the 2013 from Hidden Bench. That surprised me a bit, considering 2021 was a tough vintage for a lot of wineries in Niagara.
I also had a star beside the Tawse 2014 Chardonnay, which also shocked me as 2014 is not a noted vintage for anything really, and I am less likely to keep Chardonnays for longer than a decade as I now have a greater appreciation for freshness (finesse) in Ontario Chards.
In all, a wonderful afternoon with engaged tasters, thoughtful moderators and enthusiastic “options” teams all vying for the coveted VQA swag bags up for grabs and, of course, the glowing admiration of their peers. By our team’s count, the 65 points out of 100 we accumulated from the blind tasting questions was only good enough for second place. As they often say, “if you’re not first you’re last.” No idea who won (other than perennial ringer Ron Giesbrecht was on the winning team), but congrats!
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