Terroir – the idea that a specific region makes their wine taste a certain way. It’s basically the idea that everything about a region affects that taste of the finished product. The soil, The weather, and the location all affect how the grapes will grow. Whether you want to break it down by Ontario, Prince Edward County, Four Mile Creek… I could keep going on and on. How specific can you really be when it comes to making wine? Two wineries, Vineland and Flat Rock, have taken the idea of terroir to a whole new level. Flat Rock with Pinot Noir and Vineland with Riesling have taken small blocks of their vineyards and made individual wines from these sections. These wines are almost the ultimate conversation piece for entertaining. One quote that I love from the movie Sideways is “You know, the day you open a ‘61 Cheval Blanc … that’s the special occasion.”. While that quote applies to a specific wine from the movie I like the idea that opening great wine in itself is a special occasion. The best way to enjoy these wines are to buy the complete sets and get some (very) good friends to come over and taste and talk about the wines. The great thing about these wines are when you put them on your table and open it up to debate as to which one your guests prefer. It’s like comparing Mercedes to BMW to Lexus … there is slim to no chance you will have concensus at your table.
These wines are made in extremely limited quantities but are well worth the investment. You can order them online and have them shipped right to your door. The great thing about these wines are that while they are going to cost you more than your regular friday night sipper they are not completely unaffordable, both the Vineland and Flat Rock wines come in at thirty dollars. But trust me, even at these prices these wines are a steal!
Vineland Estates – Expressions in D – Alto/Soprano/Falsetto/Concerto – www.vinelandwineshop.com – $30/bottle – This wine is made from the D field in the St Urban vineyard. The soil in the three sections of the field are all a little different. Alto comes from the West end of the vineyard and the soil is more gravelly. Soprano comes from the middle of the three sections and the soil is more sandy. Falsetto from the east comes from loamy soil. Concerto is an equal blend of all three wines. While all three wines came out differently they are all of superior quality. They are well balanced with sugar and acidity so even if you’re afraid of wines that have a bit of sweetness try visiting these wines anyways.
Flat Rock Cellars – 2011 Block Series – Pond/Summit/Bruce – www.flatrockcellars.com – $30.15/bottle – Flat Rock makes some of the finest Pinot Noir in the province. I always look forward to the release of their Gravity Pinot Noir (which was recently released Nov 23, 2013 in Vintages 001560). It has always been very consistent with a nice balance between great Cherry flavours and subtle earthiness on the finish. The Block series is interesting because the easiest difference to pick up in the three wines are the balance of fruit and earth adjust slightly from bottle to bottle. I had a chance to attend a tasting with Ed Madronich, he explained that this Vineyard is on a slope and it might not seem like a lot but even a half degree of difference in temperature from the lower end of the slope vs. the higher end of the slope will have an impact on how the fruit ripens. What’s even more interesting about tasting these three wines is that on paper the wines are virtually identical.
Another winery that has made their existence based on terroir is the virtual winery Bachelder. Thomas Bachelder is making fantastic Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in three regions that are well known for the quality of these varietals; Oregon, Niagara and Burgundy. I discovered Bachelder earlier this summer when I had a chance to taste their Wismer vineyard Chardonnay. The Wismer Chardonnay is nothing short of fantastic and is still the most expensive wine that I recommended in 2013… and even at the price of $44.95 I still think it’s worth every penny.
Drinking wines from Bachelder gives you a couple of options if you decide to do a Terroir driven even like you can with the Flat Rock and Vineland wines. Whether you decide to track down Chardonnay from Burgundy (Vintages 272005), Niagara (Vintages 302083), or Oregon (Vintages 273334) or to do a cross section of Niagara Wines (Wismer Vineyard 345819, Saunders Vineyard 324103, or Niagara 302083) it is fascinating to see how the same type of grape in the hands of the same winemaker can be different depending on where it is grown. Should you prefer red you have the option to taste Pinot Noir from Oregon (Vintages 333278) and Niagara (Vintages 361816). These wines range in the thirty to forty-five dollar price range but are very much worth the money.
