Cuvée Grand Tasting comes back with vintage flavour
Event helps put Niagara on the world map as a fine wine destination
After a five-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cuvée Grand Tasting returned to Niagara better than ever.
It was hosted by Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) and held on the Easter weekend at Holiday Inn & Suites Conference Centre in St. Catharines, featuring dozens of VQA wineries showcasing favourite vintages made by Ontario’s top winemakers.
The selections were paired with gourmet cuisine prepared by celebrated chefs at 10 live cooking stations. Hundreds of avid wine lovers attended dressed in formal wear, giving the event a classy and elegant vibe combined with laughter and good cheer.
There were so many outstanding wines to taste in the company of winemakers and experts from the many Ontario participating wineries present, that my belief Niagara wines can hold their own compared to any other wine region around the world was confirmed.
“What makes Cuvée so unique is that the wines that we are tasting are the winemakers’ favourite wines, not just the wines sold at their retail shops,” said Barb Tatarnic, manager of the event. “The winemakers stand behind these wines and bring their best to Cuvée.”
Wine critic Michael Godel, a partner at winealign.com, said he had missed the event during the pandemic.
“It is really nice that it has come back and it is a pleasant surprise to see that the winemakers have brought some of their best wines,” he said. “I had a few ‘a-ha’ moments and a few epiphanies of wines that I tasted that has been really nice, and I am very happy to be back.”
One of the highlights of the event was the award ceremony, during which Rob Power of Creekside Estate Winery was named recipient of this year’s Cuvée Winemaker of Excellence Award, which recognizes leadership in the wine industry through promotion, provision and support of educational initiatives, research development and innovative approaches.
The award also recognizes mentorship of other winemakers, community engagement that benefits, advances and enriches the VQA wine industry, and excellence in VQA winemaking as demonstrated through domestic and international awards.
“When I moved to Niagara years ago, I became aware of how complex it was making wine and how it takes a village,” said Power. “This feels like a participation award of a positive contribution back to the village, and that has a lot of emotional resonance for me.”
There were excellent sparkling wines full of complexity and fine bubbles that dissolved on the palate, leaving pleasant and lingering flavours behind. Also, many examples of light aromatic white wines, as well as heavier oak-aged whites sure to please everyone’s taste.
There were even a couple of orange wines and, of course, a stellar lineup of reds in many styles made from the different varieties of grapes that grow so well in our region.
There were so many great wines, it would be impossible to mention them all here, but one that stood out to me was the 2020 Reserve Syrah from Kacaba Vineyards & Winery.
This multiple award-winning wine was made in the Northern Rhône French style by combining eight per cent of the white grape Viognier together with the black grape Syrah. The year 2020 was a warm vintage which was excellent for ripening grapes like Syrah, which need a little longer than other red grapes to fully develop on the vine. The barrel-aged wine from estate-grown fruit was aged to perfection, giving the wine a wonderful and complex balance of flavours and soft tannins on the palate.
Funds raised through the event support the Cuvée Legacy Fund, providing Brock University undergraduate and graduate students in oenology and viticulture with scholarships as well as helping to fund research priorities identified by the grape and wine industry.
A resounding “cheers” to all participants and winners, and congratulations to the organizers and wineries that are putting Niagara on the world map as a fine wine destination.