It’s been a little while since I’ve been to Adamo estates – but I think about their wines often. If you haven’t had a chance to visit the winery it’s definitely worth the visit. As someone who frequently visits Niagara and Prince Edward County – it’s hard to imagine planning a day in wine country around a single winery. So, what is happening at Adamo is you have a winery with a large portfolio of high quality wines.
It seems that winemaker Shauna White has carte Blanche to make many small lots of wine. I remember the first time meeting Shauna at I4C seven years ago. She was making wine at Road 13 in the Okanagan. I also remember spending seventy dollars on that bottle when I was able to order it through the LCBO. So when a couple bottles of Chardonnay showed up at my house – I very much looked forward to diving in – and I was not disappointed.
2019 Adamo Sogno Unoaked Chardonnay – $17.25 – **** – Unoaked Chardonnay is difficult for me – I generally find it a little lean and one note. That is not the case with this bottle. The aromas offer up ripe orchard fruit, and there is a nice texture on the mid palate. The mineral note is present on the finish – and definitely the signature for great Ontario unoaked Chardonnay – but it’s been pushed to the background over all the fruit. There is some nice weight and texture as well as this opens up on the mid palate. I would often refer to a wine like this as crowd pleasing – which isn’t meant to put it down – but being blunt wines that please a party are not often memorable. I get the impression that this wine will not only please a party but be a topic for discussion.
2018 Adamo Legacy Chardonnay Willms Vineyard – $26.50 – **** – This is the second Chardonnay I tasted this summer from the Willms vineyard (the other wine was from Thomas Bachelder). This is a massive bottle of Chardonnay – the fruit flavours that climb out of the glass offer a full orchestra of apple, orange, pineapple in rich concentration. There are lovely notes of spice and vanilla – but with remarkable restraint. This opens up on the mid palate with nice weight and texture but perfectly balanced with acidity,. This finishes with a lovely mineral note – which is something that parallels the Bachelder take on fruit from this vineyard.
