A day in Niagara
May. 4th, 2008 07:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chickenfeetI went out for a bike ride this morning. There was a bitterly cold wind and I damn near froze. We then had to decide to what to do with the balance of what looked like it might be a pleasant if coolish day. We settled on "Hunt the Gewurztraminer"; a search for a type of wine which we love but rarely find stellar examples of. Thus, we headed off in the general direction of Niagara with a few notes of people whose G had pleased us on previous tries.
First stop was Featherstone. Paydirt straight away and we left with half a dozen of their gewurz; a lovely wine with a distict rosewater bouquet. Unfortunately that proved to be it as far as gewurz went. However, next stop, Hernder, produced Shiraz. Baco Noir and Morio Muscat at staggeringly low prices so FTW. Strewn proved disappointing so on to relatively newly opened Cattail Creek. Nice people who were serious about their wines and, though we passed on the gewurz, we bought two kinds of Riesling (dry and off dry; the dry with a petrol note similar to some high class Alsace Rieslings) and Chardonnay Musque.
On to perennial favourite Marynissen. On the way we stopped at Stratus. It's all concept, decor and attitude. I don't know if the wines are any good because I'm not prepared to pay $10 for a tasying light (in appropriate Riedel glasses) to find out. Maynissen proved, frankly, a bit of a disappointment though we did score some of the 2001 Cabernet Franc which has apparently been unexpectedly found in the cellar. For my money, the Marynissen 2003 and 2004 wines are disappointing and they didn't make much in the awful 2005 and 2006 vintages. I hope they return to form with the hot 2007 vintage. Last stop was Angel's Gate because their new winemaker used to work at Coldstream Hills, producer of my all time favourite Pinot Noir. He had a hand in the 2006 which was promising given what a totally crap year it was generally. I'll be back to try his 2007 for sure. Best of the wines on offer was a racy 2006 Single Vineyard Riesling so we bought a few bottles of that.
First stop was Featherstone. Paydirt straight away and we left with half a dozen of their gewurz; a lovely wine with a distict rosewater bouquet. Unfortunately that proved to be it as far as gewurz went. However, next stop, Hernder, produced Shiraz. Baco Noir and Morio Muscat at staggeringly low prices so FTW. Strewn proved disappointing so on to relatively newly opened Cattail Creek. Nice people who were serious about their wines and, though we passed on the gewurz, we bought two kinds of Riesling (dry and off dry; the dry with a petrol note similar to some high class Alsace Rieslings) and Chardonnay Musque.
On to perennial favourite Marynissen. On the way we stopped at Stratus. It's all concept, decor and attitude. I don't know if the wines are any good because I'm not prepared to pay $10 for a tasying light (in appropriate Riedel glasses) to find out. Maynissen proved, frankly, a bit of a disappointment though we did score some of the 2001 Cabernet Franc which has apparently been unexpectedly found in the cellar. For my money, the Marynissen 2003 and 2004 wines are disappointing and they didn't make much in the awful 2005 and 2006 vintages. I hope they return to form with the hot 2007 vintage. Last stop was Angel's Gate because their new winemaker used to work at Coldstream Hills, producer of my all time favourite Pinot Noir. He had a hand in the 2006 which was promising given what a totally crap year it was generally. I'll be back to try his 2007 for sure. Best of the wines on offer was a racy 2006 Single Vineyard Riesling so we bought a few bottles of that.
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