A few years ago, during one of my sommelier schooling classes, it took me a little while to wrap my head around the idea – Canadian Wine? Really? Minnesota needs the UofM to genetically engineer grapes for cold weather climates, and Canada is growing Riesling? Upon closer inspection, it’s not so surprising. I mean, they ripen the world’s best Riesling in Germany – a very cold climate. And at 43 degrees north, today’s wine is on the same latitude as Bordeaux, and just over the Niagra River from New York’s Finger Lakes AVA, where they are growing some spectacular Riesling.
The 2007 Vineland Estates Semi-Dry Riesling [$16.99 at Zipp's] is from the Niagra Peninsula in Ontario. Canadian wine is almost entirely produced in Southern British Columbia and Southern Ontario and the Niagra Peninsula VQA is Canada’s largest Viticultural Area with around 13,500 acres under vine or about 3/4 of the total Canadian crop [The Vintner's Quality Alliance (VQA) is roughly similar to America's AVA system]. In such a cool climate, these areas need the moderating influence of a body of water for wine grapes to ripen properly. Breezes from Lake Ontario keep the Niagra Peninsula cold well into spring, delaying the onset of budding [thus preventing frost kill of any setting fruit]. After the summers have warmed the lake, it keeps the peninsula reasonably tepid well into fall. The cool-climate grapes thrive there - the most planted varieties include Chardonnay, Merlot, Gamay and Cabernet Franc, but it’s Riesling that steals the show.
I’m not sure how Riesling isn’t the most popular white grape in the world [I suppose German labeling doesn't help matters]. Riesling is a grape with such terrific regionality, deftly displaying terroir wherever it goes. The 2007 Vineland Semi-Dry is no exception. This white-gold colored beauty begins with a haunting nose of lime zest, pencil eraser and a whiff of cleaning solvent [this is a good thing, seriously]. The sip is a bit more fruit driven, peaches predominate, but it retains a good amount of that rubbery-gasoline-industrial flavor from the nose with mild sweetness in the form of waxy honeycomb. It has juicy acidity upfront, but it falls off leaving the finish somewhat short. This certainly isn’t your Groβvater‘s Riesling, but it’s complex and interesting – I highly recommend it. Drink it with your favorite Chinese takeout //#jadefountainporklomein.
***I should elaborate that if you’ve never tasted Riesling before, this isn’t the one you should start with. Get a $12-15 German Kabinett Riesling from a producer like JJ Prum, Schloss Schonborn, Dr Loosen, or anything that has been selected by Terry Theise. And my pick for the best cheap mass-market domestic Riesling: Ch. Ste. Michelle, for around $8.
I didn’t know Canada had wine beyond the Ice Wine. Your tasting notes are pretty wild, but I would still like to try some. I agree with your tasting menu suggestion!
[...] it because I’ve never had a wine from Michigan before, and I very much enjoyed the last odd-region Riesling I got from Zipp’s. The 2008 Chateau Grand Traverse ‘Whole Cluster’ Riesling [...]
[...] in Syrah/Shiraz. If it’s not a toxic fault, and people like the taste (I loved it in this Riesling from Ontario), what’s wrong that? The fault, he claims, is caused by an over-agressive [...]