Niagara’s sister wine region growing up
This past week my spouse and I took a trip to one of Ontario’s other wine regions. Pointing our compass east with a tankful of gas we set off for Prince Edward County, just south of Belleville.
Weather forecasts predicted a rainy Tuesday, so why not make the best of an otherwise uninspiring day?
Visitors be forewarned, perhaps it was just us, but if you visit on a rainy Tuesday, you might want to bring a picnic or at least sandwiches as every winery we visited that promised wood-fired pizza or a food truck was closed down.
We didn’t get it, the wineries were surprisingly busy, and we weren’t the only ones looking for a snack. What made it worse was restaurants in the area (Wellington) were either closed or weren’t serving between lunch and dinner hours.
Back to the wineries, it was amazing to drive through the very quaint region, and it seemed that every small road would lead you to a new small winery. PEC has grown tremendously in the past few years embracing its grape-growing potential and wine tourism.
The soil in the vineyards is pockmarked with stones and rock giving the wines a particular characteristic.
The wineries themselves are an interesting mix, with the almost industrial, very utilitarian Norman Hardie to the polished and tourist friendly Sandbanks. In between you have barns like Closson Chase that have been converted into tasting rooms.
You realize that the winemaking region is still in its infancy, but the annual number of visitors have already made it an important stop.
Stepping up to the tasting bars, I was surprised by how many were using grapes from the Niagara region.
And many had small portfolios, growing only Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Noir.
Clearly, they have a good understanding of the varietals that grow well there. You have to remember that the region is cooler in climate than Niagara and that many cover their vines for the harsh winters.
After visiting just a fraction of the 34 or so wineries and one craft brewery, several wines stood out for me.
Norman Hardie’s Pinot Noirs, the Niagara Peninsula and the county, both unfiltered showed great winemaking but also the differences that soil and region can make.
Both wines are young from the 2014 vintage, showing their vibrancy in their colour and taste.
The county, using only grapes grown in Prince Edward County, is lighter in taste and body yielding fresh and vibrant red fruit with deceptively nice length.
The Niagara-sourced Pinot also has much of the similar profile but is more intense, and the fruit seems riper after the initial tartness.
A real skill to keep both of these wines in the 11 per cent alcohol range yet with complexity.
Our visit to Keint-He winery near the shore of Lake Ontario brought another pair of Pinot Noirs: The 2014 Little Creek Pinot Noir sourced locally, and the 2012 Queenston Road Pinot Noir with grapes from the St. Davids area in Niagara.
The Little Creek is medium bodied and fruity, perfect for a summer evening glass — lots of bright red fruit to keep your mouth watering for a second glass.
Once again the Queenston Road Pinot shows a bit more maturity, it is after all two years older, but also a greater depth on the palate. More cherry fruit and a bit more of the traditional Pinot Noir earthy quality. You will be pleased to pour this for friends even if they have not heard of the winery before.
It’s hard to quantify after a single visit and only a handful of wineries, but Niagara’s little sister region is growing quickly, and there are some stellar wines coming out of the region.
Lest I forget, the whites we tasted, like the Rieslings from Rosehall Run, Norman Hardie, Kein-He and the Pinot Grigio from Sandbanks are also something worth writing about. Maybe next time.