Arterra are a pair of new wines being offered by Jackson-Triggs winemaker Marco Piccoli. These wines are going to fill a hole in the constellation portfolio that has been created by the absence of Le Clos Jordanne. That being said, these are not meant to emulate these wines but be something completely different. These wines are created to give Marco an opportunity to be creative.
The first two wines being offered are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. But that doesn’t mean we won’t see different varietals being offered under the Arterra label in the future. I am anxious to see what the future holds for this label but I am excited to hear that this label will be for sale in Wine Rack locations.
2015 Chardonnay – $29.95 – ****+ – The nose comes off sweet and almost like marshmallow, but there is also apple and spice. If you serve this wine right out of the fridge you will notice apple and citrus, but as it warms up other flavours work their way out of the glass. You will end up with Pineapple, Orange and Granny Smith apple. There is very nice acidity on the finish of this wine. This is an elegant and refined Chardonnay there is a lot of subtlety to everything in your glass. This is a wine that is most definitely enjoyed on its own without food.
2015 Pinot Noir – $29.95 – **** – The nose is rich violet, dried rose petal, and heavy damp soil. It turns out that 20% of the fruit in this wine have been dried in an Appassimento style. The end result is something very interesting. While the aroma is perfumed and intense this sits nice and light on the palate. The fruit flavours are dark cherry and cranberry but there is a bit of smoke that pushes its way through the fruit. The tannin is soft and smooth on the palate.
