New Wines and Tag Lines

 

Each year I struggle to come up with original descriptors for our wines.  Each varietal is crafted to best express our terroir, therefore they tend to fit a similar style from vintage to vintage.  Tasting notes can sometimes sound like a broken record, so I usually try to make them more story-based.

This year I’ve tried to come up with a phrase or two that might best represent my feelings towards each wine.  Keep in mind that I am usually testing the wines when these ideas spring my mind.  Here are a few samples from my notebook:

2012 Pinot Noir:  Enjoying the many complex layers exhibited by this wine magically erases the emotional scars of growing Pinot Noir.  Maybe it’s the resveratrol.

2014 Pinot Gris:  Drinking this wine can lead to moments of spontaneous joy and irrational behaviour, like agreeing to adopt a third cat.  Drink with caution.

2014 Riesling:  This wine is my wife’s favourite, but sadly alcohol makes her sick.  Although not sick enough to stop wanting more cats.

2012 Syrah:  This wine reminds me why we take the risk to grow Syrah in Ontario.  Two rough winters in a row have shaken my conviction at times.

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon:  This wine makes me envious of people who grow grapes in California. Not because it’s easier to ripen Cab Sauv there and every year is like 2012, but because they get to live in California!

2014 Sauvignon Blanc:  This wine helps cure writer’s block*

*claim pending 

 

For slightly more serious tasting notes click here

Glorious Mud

 

Being stuck in the mud never felt so good.  The usual nuisance of “sinking while pruning” seems a welcome hindrance this year.  My smile widens with each heavy step and I can’t help thinking that “thaw” is a beautiful word.

There are many things that signal spring to my internal body clock: bottling new wines, the smell of melted wax and new cardboard, writers cramp, bud counts, the Masters, muddy paws and baseball.  Together, they form a complex emotional mix of stress (bottling and dead buds) and thrilling relief (tasting the new wines and the promise of golf season).

April 2nd was my own personal vernal equinox this year, as we bottled all of our new wines (830 cases!) without a hitch.  It represents the culmination of three years of work for the 2012 reds and a year for the 2014 whites.  Big thanks to all of my helpers, from the case fillers to the bottle dumpers to the humble stackers.  I’ve said it before, but my biggest advice to someone starting a mini craft winery like ours would be to find a reliable mobile bottling line.  Glenn, Randy and Justin from Hunter Bottling make my life easy on bottling day.  The new truck is amazing!

Those who’ve joined our contact list will receive an email in the coming weeks with details of the new release.  Our goal is to re-open the barn by May 1st and I can’t wait for everyone to try the new wines!

Good to the last drop!