Obviously this spring, I haven’t had a chance to spend as much time in Niagara as I normally do – especially when the vineyards come to life. With so much selection it’s hard to spend as much money at each winery as I would like. But one wine that is on my must taste list every year is the Chardonnay from Back 10 Cellars. The quality is always great – but the difference from vintage to vintage is a bit more drastic than some of the other wines in the bulletproof portfolio at Back 10. I just find it exciting to see what Andrew and Christina have cooked up.
Back 10 Cellars 2018 Start from Scratch Chardonnay – $27.95 – ****+ – This wine is as Canadian as it gets – it’s fermented with indigenous yeast, and aged in Canadian oak barrels. The aromas are baking spice and pineapple – on the palate this opens up with fantastic peach purée, golden delicious apple, and vanilla. I have found many of the 2018 Chardonnay’s from Niagara that I’ve been tasting so far (as of June 2020) – but that’s not the case here. The fruit flavours are already on solid feet – and while I do anticipate this evolving nicely over the next two to three years – If you’re as impatient as I am this is ready to rock right now – and something to enjoy during the summer.
