Vintages Release: October 15, 2016
Baron de Hoen ‘Réserve’ Pinot Gris 2014
AOC Alsace $15.95 (280149) 13.0% alcohol
Pinot Gris in Alsace is generally more full bodied with an enhanced flavour profile and more texture compared to Pinot Grigio, a Pinot Gris clone grown in Italy. Medium-yellow-hued, it offers aromas of lemon drop candy, floral notes and heady exotic spice. It’s creamy smooth with good weight and a dazzling wash of honey-dipped tropical fruit that’s moderated on the back palate and aftertaste with a dollop of grapefruit pith. Pour with grilled chicken over arugula dressed with creamy Caesar salad dressing. (Vic Harradine)
• Fruit for the following red was hand harvested from 50-year-old vines at 780 m, hand sorted and stainless steel tank fermented at a controlled, cool, 28° C. It rested 14 months in new French oak barrel and was lightly filtered then bottled. The new French oak has been well integrated.
Luigi Bosca Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
Mendoza, Argentina $19.95 (128629) 14.0% alcohol
This is rich and luscious, mid-plus weight with good mouthfeel, persistent purity of fruit and well structured. Aromas of charred toast, grilled herbs and dark berry fruit abound. It dishes up a juicy, balanced wash of ripe red and black cherry garnished with piquant spice and dark, bittersweet chocolate with lively replays on the finish and aftertaste. Pour with rare-grilled, dry-rubbed striploin. Good to go now and on to 2021. (Vic Harradine)
Torres ‘Ibéricos’ Crianza Rioja 2013
DOCa Rioja, Spain $16.95 (381046) 13.5% alcohol
Roasted herbs, cedar and spice box introduce a medium-bodied, well-textured tangy river of pie cherry and red currant robed in mixed spice and racy acidity underpinned by a firm tannin structure. It dishes up more of the same on the lip-smacking aftertaste. Aerate/decant two hours pouring with red pizza, lasagna or backyard burgers. (Vic Harradine)
Vintages Release: Spring 2017
Henry of Pelham ‘Estate’ Chardonnay 2015
VQA Short Hills Bench $19.95 (268342) 13.5% alcohol
Aromas of oak, smoke and baking spice abound on this still-maturing Chardonnay. It’s full bodied with excellent mouthfeel and many months to sleep before its Vintages release, allowing the oak to be fully integrated. There’s plenty of ripe fruit and tang under the oaky bits portending a lovely wine to emerge, much like a spectacular butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. Be patient and wait for spring, your patience will be handsomely rewarded. (Vic Harradine)
Vintages Release: Fall 2017
• Fruit for the following Henry of Pelham, Bordeaux blend—Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Cabernet Franc—was sourced from estate, hand-planted, +30-year-old vines from the Short Hills Bench sub-region in Niagara. Yields were held to less than 2 tonnes per acre, oak-tank fermented for one month with manual punch downs then aged 20 months in French oak barrel, 60% new, 40% previously used once.
Henry of Pelham ‘Speck Family Reserve’ Cabernet-Merlot 2012
VQA Short Hills Bench $39.95 (616433) 14.0% alcohol
Alluring aromas of baking spice, dark chocolate and espresso roast mingle with black, juicy cherry on the nose of this medium-plus weight, generously textured beauty. It bathes the palate well balanced and elegant with juicy, black briary berry and piquant spice robed in excellent tang bolstered by an underpinning of soft tannin structure. Pour now with grilled rack of lamb and/or enjoy further development 2019-2022. (Vic Harradine)