A week of Ontario wine…day 4

Day four of tastings found the combination of Thirteenth Street Winery and Huff Estates together at the Fine Wine Reserve. With all of the previous tastings, we had done one winery and then moved on to the second winery but the staff from these two wineries decided to take a tag team approach so that we could try all of the wines in the order they would be served if you were doing a wine dinner for example. In the previous blog entries I had been listing the wines according to price but, in keeping with the manner I tasted these wines, I am going to list the outstanding wines in the order they should be consumed. Enjoy…

13th Street Winery 2006 Cuvee 13 Rose
$25.00 per bottle
This is a 55/45 blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay respectively which is a traditional blend for pink bubbly in France and around the world. The colour on this is this slightly orangey peachy colour and what looks like a million bubbles rising in the glass. There is a faint whiff of citrus in a mostly toasty nose accompanying a very pleasant palate. Bubbly is one of those types of wines that is very hard to distinguish flavours and aromas in but this one has perfect balance, not a lot of acidity, and some decent toasty, almond flavours.

Huff Estates 2007 South Bay Vineyard Chardonnay
$29.95 per bottle
This has a very powerful nose with major pear and apple aromas. There is just a kiss of oak in the palate, the apple and pear translated into the palate but there is also a tropical fruit component to the flavours which is a pleasant surprise. That slight kiss of oak in the front palate translates into a hint of caramel in the finish. Yummy.

Huff Estates 2008 South Bay Vineyard Rose
$16.95 per bottle
A blending of three different red grapes – 60% Cabernet Franc, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot. The aromatics on this wine are stellar – berry fruit and this interesting little kick of citrus which is not typical for an all red grape rose. The palate is great – it is crisp, has perfect acidity and an almost effervescent feel to this bone dry wine with a lingering finish. I have had several vintages of Huff Estate’s Rose in the past and this does not disappoint.

13th Street Winery 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
$28.00 per bottle
There is a small amount of Merlot blended into this wine to give it some extra diversity but it is very hard to detect as the major aromas and flavours are typical Cabernet Sauvignon. The major aromas are tar and cigars – it reminds me of my boyfriend’s cigars on the patio in the summer heat – with some vegetal and berry components to round it out. There is a small hint of kalamata olives in the aromas which translate seamlessly onto the palate which is silky smooth, has a hint of mint and almost barely detectable tannins.

If you want to order any of these wines, feel free to check out their websites for ordering information:

13th Street Winery
http://www.13thstreetwinery.com/index.php?/site/order/
Local Phone: (905) 984-8463
Facsimile: (905) 562-8766

Huff Estates
http://huffestates.ca/en/index.php?option=com_wrapper&task=view&Itemid=232
Telephone: (613) 393-5802
Facsimile: (613) 393-2428