2019 Henry of Pelham Chardonnay Speck Family Reserve – $29.95 – ****+ – Something has changed with the Chardonnay at Henry of Pelham … and I like it. If I go back to previous reviews of the top end bottles from HoP my refrain is always that the wines are released too early, and the impact from oak was often obtuse. That is not the case in this bottle here – From the challenging 2019 vintage this delivers the most elegant Chardonnay I ever remember tasting from the Speck Brothers. Lovely notes of tangerine and pear notes, there is a wonderfully integrated note of vanilla and spice. Everything happening in this bottle is just so harmonious.
2020 Henry of Pelham Sauvignon Blanc Fumé – $19.95 – ****+ – Ontario Sauvignon Blanc is just begging to spend a little bit of time in oak. There is a nice complexity to this wine, and the fruit flavours are very tropical. Notes of passion fruit, guava, and pink grapefruit ooze out of the glass. This holds fantastic balance with acidity in spite of the crazy hot 2020 summer. Frankly, don’t tell the team at HoP but this wine is a crazy bargain – if your go-to is grabbing a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from California or France this wine punches way out of its weight class dollar for dollar.
