I had a chance to visit the Foreign Affair this summer. If you haven’t been down to the winery you may have seen the Apologetic Red recently released through vintages. That being said there are a few wines that make this worth the visit.
2012 Sauvignon Blanc – **** – $27.95 – There is bright granny smith apple on the nose and lime. The concentration of flavours is very nice in the glass, the flavours have been concentrated by drying fifteen percent of the fruit that went into this bottle. This has a nice creamy texture on the mid palate and a whole bunch of passion fruit and pineapple.
2012 Chardonnay – **** – $26.95 – Ten percent of the fruit was dried in this wine. This is exactly what you could expect from Chardonnay coming from the hot 2012 summer. The nose is Vanilla and Butterscotch layered thickly over roasted pineapple and peach. On the palate this wine has a huge presence with a nice creamy texture and long finish. The concentrated fruit flavours are Pineapple, Apple and Peach with lots of woodsmoke that lingers on the finish.
2011 Riesling – **** – $24.95 – The nose on this is honey and golden delicious apple. Fifteen percent of the fruit was dried for this wine. The concentrated flavours of Apple and Citrus flavours are mated with nicely balanced crisp acidity. This is easy drinking and what I would refer to as a “perogy wine” because all that acid is a perfect match to help cut through all that dough.
2014 Amarosé – **** – $18.95 – Just because summer has come to a close that doesn’t mean you should stop thinking about pink wines. These wines are versatile with food and a perfect match to turkey season as we slide into December. There is a hint of sweetness in this wine but it is matched with nice acidity. Flavours are Cherry and Raspberry. This is soft on the palate, especially compared to every other wine in the Foreign Affair portfolio.
2013 Dream – ****+ – $29.95 – This is one of my favorites from the Foreign Affair. The nose is intense and offers up Blackberry, Black Currant, Raspberry, Red Cherry, Strawberry, Cocoa, and Smoke. The flavours of this wine match the nose. This wine is like velvet on the palate it’s smooth and drinks very easy. This wine is approachable right now, but don’t let the intensity of flavours deceive you the tannin in this wine is still grippy, it’s buried under a lot of flavour but it’s still there. Give this wine another 2-3 years in a cellar if you want to enjoy it in it’s youth and it should start to relax. This should go for 5-8 years with a little patience.
2012 Temptress – ****+ – $44.95 – This is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. There is so much going on with this wine it’s hard to decide where to begin… Let’s start with the fact that there is juicy Blackberry, Black Currant, Plum, and Raspberry. There is nice vanilla and then a whisper of spice under all the fruit. The challenge with a wine like this is how to keep it in the cellar. This does have the potential to develop over the next 3-8 years but it’s very easy to drink now.
