TasteCamp Day 2: up on the Bench Where it's Crisp

The focus of day two of TasteCamp was the Bench. The Bench is a colloquial term used locally to describe the wineries east of St. Catharines that are located along the escarpment. Higher-up, with vines on slopes and deep limestone-rich clay soils it really is a remarkably different growing area than Niagara-on-the-Lake.

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The first stop was Tawse. In its ten years Tawse has made a name for itself as a quality-focused producer. Its big coming out party was winning the Canadian Wine Awards Winery of the Year in 2010 under Paul Pender who was also recently recognised as winemaker of the year in 2010 at the Ontario Wine Awards. Pender is as passionate as he is humble. He's a firm believer that good wine begins in the vineyard and as such he has led Tawse through its organic and biodynamic certifications. The most likely spot you'll probably find him is amongst the vines so it was fitting that he led the group on an abbreviated version of a vineyard tour that he took bloggers on last year. After a tour through the gravity flow facility Pender poured a blind tasting of Tawse's two flagship Chardonnays. One was Robyn's Block from the home Cherry Ave. vineyard and the other the eponymous chardonnay from the Quarry Road vineyard. The Quarry Road Chardonnay is more linear with a tight focused minerality. The Robyn's Block is also an elegant taught chardonnay but it had a roundness and depth of flavour to go along with the pear, citrus and mineral-rich core. The wines taste quite different. Given that the winemaker and winemaking is identical it's a strong argument that terroir matters. But it's also an argument that vine age matters. Entering into its fourth decade Robyn's block is one of the oldest chardonnay plantings in Niagara. If you've followed Tawse for some time you know that Robyn's Block has evolved over time depending on who was making the wine at the time, but the current style with just enough oak to give it structure has been winning critical and consumer praise with elegance.

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Post-Tawse it was a visit to the house that Weis built—Vineland estates Winery. Under the care of the Schmidt family this Twenty Mile bench winery, located high-up on the escarpment on Moyer Rd., has a well deserved reputation for making some world class riesling. Winemaker Brian Schmidt believes that the St. Urban vineyard, where the Hermann Weis planted his Mosel Riesling clone, is a perfect place on the bench for the grape. The choice grape of Germany is a bit strong willed. As Schmidt explained when he was younger he tried tweaks to force the vines to do things he thought would make a better wine. For example, thinning down drastically to concentrate flavours. The vines just ended-up doing as they pleased anyway by doing things like growing bigger berries to compensate for the thinning. Over the years Schmidt has come to terms with fact that he's merely the caretaker for the vines and that the vineyard is truly the winemaker of the St. Urban Riesling. Now riesling is certainly a terroir-driven grape but it still doesn't make itself. One of the key areas where a winemaker shows his or her skill with riesling is in the blend. Schmidt showed this by isolating a 2010 riesling sample from a portion of the St. Urban vineyard called Field D. This sample came from fruit that was left on the vines until mid-October and had some botrytis. Made in an off-dry style it had ripe peach, apricot and tangerine flavours. The ripe flavours were balanced by mouth-watering acidity. Although this wine was brilliant on its own when it was added to the grapefruit, orange blossom, lime and minerality of the blended sample it really was on a whole other level. If you've ever done a blending session of a single variety wine the layering of flavours and complexity you can get simply by blending fruit from different blocks and sites is truly remarkable.

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Next was a trip to Flat Rock and blends were also the name of the game. The Jordan winery has always thought a little differently from passionately embracing the screw cap across its entire line (even changing the VQA rules to do so in the case of its recent sparkling) to being one of the first to promote a crisp, aromatic white blend like its Twisted. It's also taken the attitude that wine doesn't need to be pretentious as proprietor Ed Madronich likes to say. It just needs to be good. Since rain kept us out the vineyard staff did a great job with a retooled itinerary of various activities. One of the most engaging was trying to guess the blend of Twisted by tasting all the individual components. As humbling as blind tasting is guessing the composition of blend is even more. It might seem easy since you know precisely what makes it up but nailing down the proportion of the Riesling, chardonnay and gewüztraminer isn't easy.

The finish of the evening was a TasteCamp tradition—the bring your own bottle dinner. This is a chance for the group to share a special wine and stories with their fellow attendees. This year's was at Treadwell Farm to Table Cuisine. Service was attentive while allowing this large group the freedom to mingle and chat. The standout dish of the meal was a cold mint and pea soup with a perfectly seared scallop. It was done well enough that the caramelisation brought out the natural sweetness of the mollusc but rare enough that it was still tender. The fresh bright flavours the of peas and mint also really complimented the scallop's inherit creaminess and the light briny ocean flavours. Between the food, the conversation and the special bottles from all over the world being shared it really is a one-of-kind experience that any oenophile would be lucky to attend.

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What the truck or you can get Good Food in Wine Country Without all the Pretense?

What do you think of when you think food in wine country? At its best it makes use of the fresh seasonal local crop. It's set amongst the idyllic backdrop of the vines. And naturally it pairs well with the local wine. But does it always need to be rooted in classic French technique, amuse bouches, and tasting menus served on white table cloths?

Adam Hynam-Smith and Tamara Jensen are doing all the former out of a truck without all the latter because sometimes you just want tasty seasonal food without all the formality.

Hynam-Smith, a passionate and adventurous Aussie, has some serious cooking chops. He learned under Michelin-starred Jacques Raymond at his eponymous Melbourne restaurant. He also worked under Cath Claringbold at the well-regarded Mecca. It was there that he developed a love for Middle Eastern and North African flavours that he would expand upon in a trip to Morocco. That lead to traveling and working throughout Europe where he met Canadian Tamara Jensen. After further culinary travels in North America, the Caribbean and South-East Asia the couple settled in St. Catherines unable to resist the beauty and bounty of Niagara. They now run Peapod Cuisine.

From El Gastro

But he's all very modest about his cooking accomplishments and is much more interested in where I learned about the food of the Middle East and North Africa and what I thought of his food than talking about himself.

The idea for El Gastrónomo Vagabundo took shape at a local wine event where after enthusiastically enjoying some of Niagara's best Hynam-Smith talked to Ed Madronich. After an expensive catering quote proposing an uninspired menu, Madronich had Peapod cater Flat Rock's fifth anniversary party. The menu was essentially the essence of El Gastrónomo Vagabundo. The concept was such a hit that Madronich insisted the truck be parked at winery on weekends for the rest of summer.

Things are just getting started for El Gastrónomo Vagabundo serving at Flat Rock for the past two weekends. Staff at the winery's tasting bar enthusiastically invite you to stay for a bite comparing the concept to LA based gourmet taco trucks. The description is mostly correct, if a bit simplistic.

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The location of the truck reminds me of the affectionately named roach coaches (named so because they come out at night) that I came across in Sonoma which feed migrant vineyard workers & savvy tourist looking for break from wine country cuisine. The execution is more like Kolgi where traditional Korean BBQ tastes are delivered via taco and other easily handled Mexican street food. All out of truck which has its menu and location distributed via the Web and Twitter.

Unlike Kolgi the ethnic flavours are more global, reflecting Hynam-Smith training and travels. Thankfully it isn't fusion food because more often than not fusion tends to be a compromise between two ethnic foods that does a disservice to the respective cuisines. There's also a focus placed on local sourcing and minimising the environmental impact.

The set-up is a little strange with liquor laws requiring you to go through the winery and on to green roof patio. But tasting room staff will be happy to lead the way where Jensen and Hynam-Smith will make you feel welcome at picnic tables that overlook the vines and rolling bench landscape.

Given the Middle Eastern theme of the day's menu I thought a garden salad (picked from Hynam-Smith and Flat Rock's gardens) featured sumac for some colour and tart earthy, citrus flavours. It turns out it was beet dust—Aussie's love beets. But Hynam-Smith plans to make use of the sumac trees at Flat Rock to spice items later in the season.

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For me the the highlight was the Fez with lamb seasoned in Ras el hanout. It's sauced in a homemade harissa with a sneaking spice that's hot enough to raise your temperature but not so much that it obliterates the palette. Although the taco is good, it really comes together in bites featuring lemon zest, it's just missing that one elevating touch. When I ask Hynam-Smith about preserved lemons he mentioned that he's making some at home to provide the salty-citrus tang that will get the Fez tasting exactly to his liking. When they're ready I plan to try it again as it should be the missing ingredient that will bring everything together and elevate the layered spicing of the lamb taco.

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Given the hot day and the need for a wine deft enough to go between the different cuisines of the salad, Don Caprese and Fez tacos I ignore the Fez's suggested '08 Gravity Pinot Noir pairing in favour of the mineral and citrus forward '09 Naja's Vineyard Riesling. It gets a little lost in the harissa but the lemon and lime flavours highlight the zest and the acidity cuts through some of the lamb's richness.

Beyond weekends at Flat Rock this summer Hynam-Smith and Jensen hope to take El Gastrónomo Vagabundo to events and private parties. If you're touring the Twenty Mile bench this summer and looking for something different stop at Flat Rock for the duo's evolving menu (which you can get a peak at by following them on Twitter) of seasonal local produce and global cuisines. It's all very much an apt metaphor for the nomadic Aussie whose worldly experience has him exploring and interpreting the flavours of the globe for where he calls home.

From El Gastro