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.

From TasteCamp

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.

From TasteCamp

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.

From TasteCamp

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.

From TasteCamp

They Grow-up So Fast

So while we wait for our next work ticket I took the opportunity to look at the progress of our My Wine vines. I have to say what a difference a week makes. After the last post we had a week of rainy weather. As you can see the early start to the season and the water have the vines growing well. Although you can spot a bit of difference in the shoot height and the density of the canopy, you can definitely see it in the berry size. It's getting tough to see any of the stalk in there!

From My Wine

This week we're in the midst of a heat wave not since seen in these parts since 2005 & 2007 . If you're familiar with Niagara vintages those two are known for hot and dry conditions. Now that probably doesn't benefit our Riesling as much as Bordeaux varieties commonly grown in Niagara like Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot. Hot, dry growing conditions can sometimes lead to a petrol note that's usually associated with more aged Riesling earlier in the wine's life. But if this is any indication we're in good hands should you not care for a hint of fossilised-dino-car-go-juice early in your Riesling's life.

With lush and thick canopy growth like this I have a feeling we're in for a bit of trimming sooner rather than later.

From My Wine

Lookin' Good There, Good Lookin'

Given the early start to cherry season (what's good for tender fruit is generally good for grapes), I thought I would check out our My Wine, My Way vines. Please click the link here to view an album or look below to see a slideshow of how our vines are progressing. Brian Schmidt told me our vines are about six weeks earlier than normal with their vegetative growth (leaves, canes, etc.) and about two weeks ahead of schedule on grape growth progress. Things are definitely looking promising. I'm looking forward to our next ticket, which should be coming soon.

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait:

My Wine's First Ticket

It's our first opportunity to make a decision for My Wine, My Way. We're being asked to crop thin now or in August. If we crop thin now it should increase the possibility of more uniformly ripe grapes come harvest time. So if we want to help our chances of making the best possible wine this year it's really a no-brainer decision. Time to get in the vineyard with the shears and get cutting—not so fast.

Coincidentally I've been taking a general viticulture course this summer and the one thing that's stuck above everything else is the underlying theme that it isn't easy or straightforward growing wine grapes in Niagara. Without getting into too much detail, Niagara has a short, humid, wet (especially at harvest) growing season followed by a harsh winter for a grape growing region. So what does this mean for Vitis vinifera, a plant of desert origins? It means certain varieties can be a struggle to ripen fully here. With little to no tricks or intervention cool climate varieties like Riesling need about 1700 growing degree days to fully ripen. Moderate climate Cabernet Sauvignon requires 1900 and the heat loving Grenache demands 2100. Niagara's weather fluctuates yearly affecting the quality of the growing season but it's a cool climate growing region, which is generally considered to be in the range of 1500-1700 growing degree days. The growing conditions in Niagara also mean grapes are susceptible to potentially crop-ruining fungal diseases and the grapes can become water logged or even burst when nearing harvest time. About 550 mm – 850 mm of precipitation per year is ideal for most Vitis vinifera. Niagara usually hits that target before the end of summer and exceeds it by year's end. If the grapes mange to get through all of that unscathed there's still the potential of vine-killing cold and frost severely damaging the buds in spring. Anywhere with winters below -23°C more than once every 20 years is considered unprofitable for viticulture—completely replanting can put you out of production for 3-5 years. Ideally the coldest winter month should average above -1°C. Plus most Vitis vinifera will die if the temperature falls below -15°C to -25°C (depending on the cold hardiness of the variety and clone). Niagara fails everyone of those criteria. It kind makes me glad that the vines our only our's until the Riesling gets made for the My Wine, My Way project.

So what does all this have to do with the decision to crop thin now or in August? As the My Wine, My Wine site explains, if we crop thin now we essentially lighten the vines' loads. The remaining grapes have to fight less for their share of sun, nutrients and other resources—thus more even ripeness. But unfortunately it's not just the grapes that get more of that good stuff. By lightening the load the canes stretch, grower thicker and you don't make wine out of canes. Unfortunately, these suddenly thicker canes have a tougher time getting ready for winter. As you know from the above anything we can do to help the vines prepare for winter is a good first step towards making a great wine next year.

Also if we crop thin now and (knock on wood) something should happen that puts the vines at risk, it would make it very difficult to produce a good wine in decent quantities. Even though the season started off warmer and earlier than usual, the recent moisture and humidity can be dangerous to this year's young grapes. In fact, just the other day there was a risk of severe thunderstorms and hail. I don't know about you but the risks outweigh the potential reward of grapes at harvest that are slightly more ripe vine-to-vine. Besides I'm sure there are some other upcoming wine making decisions that will allow us to help aid the potential ripeness of the grapes without risking next year's crop.

What's Cooler than an idea who's time has come?

This changes everything. You've heard it before but how many times when referring to the Ontario wine Industry?

Vineland Estates, a producer of some of the best Riesling in Niagara (and Niagara makes cellars packed with Melchiors worth of good examples) has an idea so simple and compelling you would swear Steve Jobs had started a winery. Vineland wants to make a Riesling for you and not only do they want you to help make it, but they want you to make it your way.

For any wine lover who always wanted to know more or get involved in the winemaking process in some capacity My Wine, My Way is your chance. Sure you could take a wine making course at your local community college, buy some local grapes come harvest time and then make and bottle your own wine. But this is more than that.

Talk to any passionate winemaker (Brian Schmidt is amongst the most passionate in Niagara) and he/she will tell you that good wines, especially those that come from one particular site, start in the vineyard. No good grapes means no good wine. This community based project will allow wine lovers to participate in all sorts of decisions that will help shape the colour, taste and aroma of the finished wine. Based on a brief explanation of the task at hand and its possible consequences you'll be asked to make decisions about shoot positioning, crop thinning, the harvest date and more.

Brian Schmidt & Vineland's staff will then apply your decisions for you. There may even be the possibility to apply some of these decisions yourself with some hands-on participation in vineyard should you desire.

But why bother going through the trouble of inviting the public in on the wine making process? I could tell you that the alcoholic beverage market is growing in Canada and wine's share of it is too. I could also tell you that Millennials (18-29 year olds) splurge more of their spending dollars on food and wine than any other group. They are epicureans and their worldly exiperience has their tastes ahead of previous generations. They are constantly connected to the internet, enjoy social media but growing-up with the technology they are both savvy and weary of businesses using them. Still they love being able to opt-in to participate in something genuine, useful, informative, engaging and unique.

But none of the above paragraph is the motivation behind My Wine, My Way. I'll repeat it. None of the above paragraph is the motivation behind My Wine, My Way. When I spoke to Schmidt about the idea behind My Wine, My Way he talked about how he saw it as a unique opportunity to interact with customers on another level and to learn from each other.

You simply have to have one conversion with Schmidt about Niagara wine on Twitter to know he and the staff at Vineland are doing this because they genuinely care about their customers and want to share some of their passion through this unique experience. Brain Schmidt is a tireless champion of Niagara wines promoting the great products of fellow winemakers before his own. He's also a great steward of the wine region taking the time to share his knowledge and passion at every opportunity. I've benefited from this on more than one occasion and always come away impressed, engaged and learning something useful. I believe this is one way he gives back for all the knowlege that he has said he has benefited from via the past and fellow winemakers of the region.

I will most certainly fully take part in My Wine, My Way documenting and adding what I can here. I encourage all Ontario wine lovers to do the same by participating on the website and joining in the conversation on the My Wine Twitter feed . With ideas like this one the present and future of Ontario's wine industry looks bright. This project certainly has potential to spark the passion that I know is driving Ontario's growing wine culture.