Not a lot of Canadian wine on this site, reflecting the limited selection in Quebec and Canada's modest production volume (my figures show the Canadian industry as 5% the size of Australia's). With this oversight in mind I picked up a pair of Niagara whites on my last trip to Ontario, randomly selecting two 2005 rieslings (on a bit of a riesling kick these days).The 2005 Vineland Estates St. Urban Riesling (Niagara) is fashioned from older plantings of riesling in their St. Urban vineyard. Floral and toasty with some petrol and wet stones on the nose, clean and fresh on the palate. A bit thin, but with an attractive bitter persistency. Nice evolution over the evening, I found to be the more intriguing of the two.
cork. 10% alcohol
Score: 16.5/20
Price: C$19.80 (LCBO)
The 2005 13th Street Riesling (Niagara) was rather simple yeasty, peachy and green appley on the nose, but very nice on the palate - soft, luscious mouthfeel with good acidity and faintly effervescent. Fresh, juicy and satisfying, simple and enjoyable.
cork. 11.5% alcohol
Score: 15.5/20
Price: C$18.00 (LCBO)
Overall, these were polished wines, with the juicier 13th Street seeming to be a great party wine while the Vineland St. Urban seemed a better dinner wine.
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4 comments:
Hi Joe,
Had the pleasure of opening the 1994 St Urban on a recent birthday. Love that stuff -- but I really think those new Vineland labels are horrible, grungy and trendy.
Only one Riesling in my house at the moment. Alsacian.
Here -- 12-year-old Ontarian Riesling
Hi Marcus - that's pretty special - how was the wine (your link below doesn't have any tasting notes)? I agree that Vineland's labels don't seem to match the quality of the wine inside - a very nice find. I have a few Alsace rieslings, but I have ignored Alsace lately in favour of Germany - summer now, a few more Alsatians to come...
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