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Ontario
Winery Destinations
From the Best of Apples to the Finest of Grapes
©
Michael Vaughan 2006
National Post
Weekly Wine & Spirits Columnist
Saturday,
July 15, 2006
LIVE
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and then the next screen will provide details along with the store search.
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The number of bottles in each store is updated nightly. Call
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With over one hundred wineries in Ontario, winery hopping is a most civilized pastime, especially if you have a designated driver. Of course, wine doesn't have to be made from grapes; fruit and even vegetables will do the trick. While some may think that fruit wines are for strictly for neophytes, let me assure you that they can be just what the doctor ordered. If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, then make mine a hardy glass of chilled hard apple cider.
Of course, I don't want just any cider, but our own Ontario homegrown Archibald
Orchards & Estate Winery Hard Cider at $8.95 a bottle.
Crisp, lively and light bodied, the gently sweetish but refreshing, the
fresh ripe apple flavours hit the mark. Delicious anytime, anyplace; it
comes in a Champagne-styled bottle with a plastic cork that you can stick
back into the bottle to preserve the gentle carbonation. It also comes in
Hard Currant and Hard Peach editions, but the plain apple is my favourite.
While you can order a case with free home delivery in Ontario, may I suggest that you venture forth and pay a visit to the small winery complete with its 9-hole Cider House golf course in Bowmanville, just 50 km east of Toronto (see archibaldswinery.com). Here you can taste the full line up of 13 apple-based fruit wines, along with 3 ciders, 3 alcohol-free sparkling ciders and one fruit brew. Sweet is the operative word here because most things on offer have some residual sugar.
The driest at $9.95 is McIntosh Oak Aged with 12.8% alcohol has spicy, lemony, dried apple flavours reminiscent of Devon scrumpy, sans fizz. It stands up and says hello, meaning you might want to give it a taste first before taking the plunge. I would serve it with fresh haddock baked with a sharp cheddar cheese.
If you don't want to get blasted, a safer bet is Archibald's refreshing Apple Raspberry Brew at $2.65 (350 ml), which has a more modest 5.5 % alcohol. It is quite dry and refreshingly tart with spicy, fruity, ripe apple-strawberry-cranberry-beer flavours. A great change of pace.
From here on everything is either slightly or very sweet. Hot off the press is the bright orange-red coloured Apple Strawberry at $11.95 with 10.9% alcohol. Its slightly sweet but refreshing, honeyed ripe apple-strawberry flavours would be great with a Croque-Monsieur (grilled ham and cheese sandwich).
Three weeks ago, Sandy Archibald and her winemaking husband Fred celebrated their ninth year since opening the winery door. Making wine actually started right in the home. Fred's father, the late Dr. John Archibald, was a wine chemist and Director of the Horticultural Research Station in Vineland.
Their specialty sweet dessert wines, which come in half-bottles at
$16.95, are perfect for dessert. Don't miss Spiced
Winter Apple, which has clove, cinnamon, sweet caramel
and honeyed apple pie flavours. Its companion, Archibald
Canadian Maple has sweet, caramelized baked apple
flavours with some maple syrup notes. If you are appled out but have a
hankering for Black Forest Cake, give their Cherries
'n' Chocolate as spin at $18.95 for a 750 ml bottle.
The winery is located at 6275 Liberty Street North in Bowmanville just west of Belleville and is open daily from 8 am - 7 pm (or 6 pm if it is raining). On Sundays, or at least most Sundays, the there is a winemaker's tour at 2 pm. I suggest that you call 906-263-2396 first.
Thirteenth Street Winery
For serious wine fans only, Thirteenth Street Winery is only open
Saturday and Sunday only from 10:30 am to 5 pm. Production is limited to a
miniscule 3,000 cases and up to one dozen wines are available. I recently
spent three hours tasting with co-owner/winemaker/lawyer Ken Douglas (one
of four partners). After the dust, or shall we say spit, had settled, I
was very impressed. First and foremost was a delicious sparkler with ripe,
melon-plum fruit with hints of strawberry, called Cuvée
Thirteen Sparkling 2003. This blend of 80% Pinot Noir
and 20% Chardonnay is available at the winery (100 cases produced) for
only $22.
It you are itching for more, their blockbuster, a special reserve
sparkler G.
H. Funk Vineyards 1999 Blanc de Blancs at $38. This 100%
Chardonnay is very dry - a real Brut - with intense, lingering, ripe lemon
flavours and great mousse.
Charming and much less expensive at $16 is their 2004
Riesling, which has bright, ripe, lemon-melon-lime
flavours with a touch of minerality. The sleeper of the tasting, however,
was the complex, toasty, ripe pear, hazelnut and key lime pie driven 2004
Reserve Chardonnay at $25. It is 100% fermented in
classy new French oak and is the best they have made to date (since 1998)
and can be enjoyed today or held for another year or two.
Founded in 1998, these wines are only available at their boutique (see 13thstreetwines.com), which is located at 3983 13th Street, Jordan Station. If you are looking for a specific wine call first, as quantities are extremely limited, 905-562-9463
A Vintages sale for Bargain Lovers
Today's Vintages sale sees discounts varying from 12% to 33% on 36 whites, 31 reds and 9 spirits. There are a few fine buys including my pick of the week, which is a classy blue agave tequila - one of the finest I have tasted at the LCBO over the past decade! National Post readers click here to see the list of products on sale.
Cesar
Monterrey Tequila Blanco Reserva (622449) is now
$45 down from $54.95. This exquisite effort is refined and flavourful with
slightly viscous, peppery, classy, herbal flavours that show excellent
length. Made exclusively from hand-selected, blue agave, which is
distilled and filtered twice as per the distillery's century old recipe.
2001-2002-2003-2004-2005-2006
Tasting Note Database
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2006
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Contact Michael Vaughan at
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