Category Archives: Canadian Wines

ANGELS GATE MOUNTVIEW CHARDONNAY, 2008, VQA, Beamsville Bench, Ontario

23 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by in Canadian Wines, White Wines

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Cost: $18.95
Grape Variety: Chardonnay
Category: White Wine
Appellation: VINTAGES
Country: Canada
Region: Beamsville Bench
Format: 750 mL
Producer: Angels Gate Winery
Alcohol: 13.0 %
Description: Make sure you don’t drink this Chard to cold as it will diminish the nose & taste. Generally Chardonnays should be served around 13 C, which would put it between what a Pinot Noir & a Sauvignon Blanc. The colour is medium minus gold with med intensity. The nose shows med+ oak & toast. It’s balanced with good citric notes of lemon, green apple, pink grapefruit and minerality. The taste is dry, good acidity, med+ length, med body & balanced. The taste is similar to nose with the citric flavours dominating with med oak & toast that gives a slight bitterness on the after taste. Drink now, but will age for another 3-4 years. Pair it with calamari ceviche or fried calamari or maybe with a grilled chicken Caesar salad.

Tasted 22 June 2011.

Score: 8.5/10 Value: 8.5/20, Total: 17/20.

Out of 5 stars, I rated this wine: 3.5

LCBO: #116384

STREWN THREE TERROIR, 2006, Niagara Lakeshore VQA

02 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by in Canadian Wines, Red Wines, Top Picks, Price Not Withstanding

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Cost: $28.75
Grape Variety: 48% Cab Sauvignon, 48% Merlot & 4% Cab Franc
Category: Wine
Appellation:
Country: Ontario, Canada
Region: Niagara Lakeshore, Ontario, Canada
Format: 750 mL bottle
Producer: Strewn Inc.
Alcohol: 12.8%
Description: Medium minus garnet to ruby in colour. Med+ intensity. The nose is simply delightful. Med oak with cherry pipe tobacco smoke, dill, black olives, strawberries & oyster mushrooms. The taste is dry, med+ tannins & acidity, balanced, long length & med body. On the palate there’s med oak, Bing cherries, strawberries, raspberry, dill, Macintosh apple, pencil shavings, leather, steamed artichoke & slate. This wine is simply marvelous & I especially like that it’s under 13% alcohol, which is good on it’s own or with tenderloin steak.

This is a top pick & an excellent representation of Niagara wine.

Tasted 1 June 2011.

Score: 9.5/10, Value: 9/10, Total: 18.5/20

Out of 5 stars, I rated this wine: 4.5

LCBO#: 468918

MIKE WEIR WINE, CHARDONNAY (VQA) 2008, Niagara Peninsula

08 Sunday May 2011

Posted by in Canadian Wines, White Wines

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Grape Variety: Chardonnay
Category: White Wine
Appellation: LCBO
Country: Canada
Region: Niagara Peninsula
Format: White Wine
Producer: Mike Weir Wine
Alcohol: 13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Description: “All net profits from the sale of Mike Weir’s estate wines go to his foundation (themikeweirfoundation.com), a charity he founded to help children in need. With its layers of pineapple, green apple, tropical fruit and toasty vanilla notes, this full-bodied, harmonious and long-finishing white will perfectly match a grilled chicken breast or salmon steaks. ” LCBO

These are my personal tasting notes:
Crisp chard with granny apples, lemon & dry apricot on the finish. Med complexity on nose & taste. Drink on it’s own or pair with BBQ pork. Bought it for $1 less, which makes better.

Tasted: March, 2011

Score: 8/10, Value: 8.5/10, Total: 16.5/20

Out of 5 stars, I rated this wine: 3

LCBO#: 26

PELEE ISLAND CHARDONNAY VQA 2009, Ontario

05 Thursday May 2011

Posted by in Best Buys, Canadian Wines, White Wines

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Cost: $10.95
Grape Variety: Chardonnay
Category: White Wine
Appellation: LCBO
Country: Canada
Region: Ontario
Format: 750 mL
Producer: Pelee Island Vineyard Inc.
Alcohol: 13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Description: Not a complexed chard, and it’s non-oaked. It has good flavors of peach, melon, lemon, slight grapefruit & green apples. Non-oak, good acidity & well balanced. Food friendly & easy to drink. Crisp & clean. Went well with escargot & crab Alfredo. You can find this in non-vintage.

Best Buy

Score: 8.5/10, Value: 10/10, Total: 18.5/20

Out of 5 stars, I rated this wine: 3

LCBO#: 136044

Stratus WILDASS WHITE, VQA, 2006, Niagara Peninsula

29 Friday Apr 2011

Posted by in Best Buys, Canadian Wines, Top Picks, Price Not Withstanding, White Wines

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Cost: $19.95
Grape Variety: Chardonnay, Semillion, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer and Riesling
Category: White Wine
Appellation: VINTAGES
Country: Canada
Region: Niagara Peninsula
Format: 750 mL
Producer: Stratus Vineyards
Alcohol: 12.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Description:  Bright gold colour with med+ intensity. Beautiful nose showing lots of dill, Easter Lilly, honeysuckle, wet stone, ginger, orange marmalade & nectarines. The taste is dry with med acidity, med+ length, med alcohol & med minus weight. Dill dominates with Papaya, orange marmalade, nectarine, lemon, ginger, slate & light oak & butteriness. Nice to drink on it’s own or to have with snow crab & drawn butter.

Best Buy

Tasted 28 April 2011.

Score: 9.5/10, Value: 9/10, Total: 18.5/20.

Out of 5 stars, I rated this wine: 4.5

LCBO#85100

Peller Estates ICE CUVÉE CLASSIC, VQA Niagara Peninsula

24 Sunday Apr 2011

Posted by in Canadian Wines, Sparkling Wine, Top Picks, Price Not Withstanding

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Cost: $31.95
Grape Variety: Chardonnay & Pinot Noir
Category: Sparkling
Appellation: LCBO
Country: Canada
Region: Niagara Peninsula
Format: 750 mL
Producer:  Peller Estates
Alcohol: 11.5% Alcohol/Vol.

Description: Made in the traditional “méthode” with vidal ice wine dosage (115ml) added.  Clear medium straw colour with Med+ intensity, small and abundant amount of mousse. On the nose I got apple, yeast, kiwi, orange, apricots and lemon marmalade.  The taste is clean, off-dry, medium body, med+ acidity, balanced with med+ length. On the taste there is a lot of orange, especially in the aftertaste, papaya, ripe green apples, lemon marmalade, kiwi and light minerality. I don’t feel this is a sweet sparkling, but the notes of the orange gives a sweet perception on the palate.  Went very well with cheese, tomato, mushroom and onion omelette. 

Tasted: 23 April 2011

Score: 9/10, Value: 8.5/10, Total: 17.5/20 

Out of 5 stars, I rated this wine 4 

LCBO#53199