Wine & Spirits - April 2020 - 98

FOCUS: ONTARIO
Our blind panels tasted 62 new-release wines from Ontario for this issue. Our critic for Ontario, Tara Q. Thomas, rated 14 as
exceptional (90+) and 8 as Best Buys. Find a complete list of wines tasted and all reviews at wineandspiritsmagazine.com.

S PA RK L I N G

W HITE

125377

91 | 13th Street Winery

$25

2017 Creek Shores Blanc de Blanc (Best
Buy) ^ Jean-Pierre Colas fermented this
chardonnay in stainless steel tanks, then
suppressed malolactic to retain the primary
fruit character and acidity. Made with grapes
harvested at 18.5˚ Brix and bottled with just
five grams per liter of residual sugar, it's
an extreme sparkler-some of our tasters
even found it a little masochistic. Others
(including myself ) found it invigorating,
like a dip in a cold pool, the chill of the
acidity giving the flavors a glassy clarity. It
tastes white-white pear flesh, lemon pith,
chalk-with a pleasant edge of bitterness.
Use it like a knife, to cut through the flesh of
a sweet, fat sautéed scallop. § Esber Beverage
Co., Canton, OH
125375

90 | 13th Street Winery

$32

2017 Creek Shores Gamay Blanc de Noir ^
Long known for its gamay, this is 13th Street's
first sparkling version. And it's fascinating:
It's creamy with soft bubbles that deliver a
ghosting of gamay's earthy red-cherry flavor-a flavor deeper and darker than you
might expect in a sparkling wine. It made
Emily Gutierrez of TAK Room in NYC think
of matching it to the flatbreads turned out of
the wood-burning oven at Gramercy Tavern,
where she used to work: The sweet earthiness
of winter vegetables would make a lovely foil
for the wine. § Esber Beverage Co., Canton, OH
125384

88 | Vieni

$10

Ontario Momenti Extra Dry (Best Buy) ^
A blend of vidal and pinot meunier, this is
lightly sweet, with ripe citrus and pineapple
flavors and a creamy texture. It's not complex, but it's clean, bright and charming.
Give it a chill for brunch. § Not imported.

CHARDONNAY

125364

90 | Henry of Pelham

$30

2018 Short Hills Bench Speck Family
Reserve Chardonnay ^ The Speck family
began planting chardonnay in Ontario's
Short Hills Bench in 1984; they now farm
300 acres, and this wine comes from their
oldest chardonnay vines. Lawrence Buhler
fermented the juice in French oak barrels (40
percent new). The wine has the scent of freshchurned butter, notes of hay and wildflowers
mingling with the creaminess; the flavors
follow suit, kept clean and lifted with breezy
acidity. It's gentle and pretty, a chardonnay
for smoked salmon pasta or asparagus
risotto. § Esber Beverage Co., Canton, OH
125366

89 | Henry of Pelham

$22

2018 Short Hills Bench Estate Chardonnay
(Best Buy) ^ This is immediately attractive in
its floral notes and ripe pear flavors. Then the
oak comes on: what first reads as spice turns
to pie crust and then to outright wood tones.
Either drink it now, focusing on the sunny,
cool fruit up front, or cellar it to let those
flavors meld. § Esber Beverage Co., Canton, OH

MUSCAT
125367

86 | Diamond Estates

$10

Ontario Fresh Beginnings Moscato (Best
Buy) ^ This is a delicate moscato, lightly floral
and lemony, an easy springtime aperitif. §
Esber Beverage Co., Canton, OH

$20

2018 Beamsville Bench Estate Grown
Riesling (Best Buy) ^ The July heat and August
thunderstorms made 2018 a tricky vintage in
WINE & SPIRITS

APRIL 2020

$37

90 | Flat Rock Cellars

$20

87 | Cave Spring

$17

2016 Vinemount Ridge Riesling ^ By day,
Charles Baker heads up sales for Stratus and
its Bordeaux-variety reds. On the weekends,
he pursues what he describes in his Twitter
feed as "truck-munching, chrome-plated,
teeth-shattering riesling." He started in 2005,
working with a small plot of riesling that
Mark Picone, a local chef, planted in 1985.
His 2016 is crisp and elegant, not at all toothshattering, with a light beam of lemon-oil flavor surrounded by pithy extract and acidity. §
Specialty Cellars, Santa Fe Springs, CA
125399
2018 Twenty Mile Bench Riesling ^ This is
rich and ripe, its yellow-peach and tropical
fruit flavors supported by a broad earthiness.
It lasts, cool and sunny at once, radiating
energy. § Vinaccess Int'l, Alameda, CA
125358
2018 Niagara Peninsula Riesling (Best
Buy) ^ Nervy and lean, with petrol scents and
pithy citrus flavors, this would match tempura shrimp. § HB Wine Merchants, Hartly, DE

ROSÉ

88 | North 42 Degrees

125359

98

90 | Charles Baker

125408

RIESLING

93 | Cave Spring

Ontario, further challenged by heavy rain in
October. Yet winemaker Angelo Pavan took
advantage of the intervening sunny days to
coax a firm, full-bodied riesling out of Cave
Spring's estate vineyard, a parcel that climbs
the slope beneath the Niagara Escarpment.
The vines-the oldest planted 40 years ago-
grow in a stony mix of clay, limestone and
sandstone, with some shale, granite and
gneiss in the mix; the wine tastes as if their
roots literally sucked up the stone, it's so
resolutely earthy and firm. Notes of lime zest
and sour lemon add a bracing brightness to
the austere mineral flavors, while the wine's
extract gives it a rich texture and grip. This
is a riesling for the main course-lake trout
wrapped in bacon would be ideal. § HB Wine
Merchants, Hartly, DE
125449

$18

2019 Four Mile Creek Cabernet Sauvignon
Rosé (Best Buy) ^ This is juicy, clean and
fresh, with lots of black-currant flavors and
herbal highlights. It has the weight for roast
chicken. § VDC Brands, Stillwater, MN
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Wine & Spirits - April 2020

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