Wine traditions dating back almost 500 years
My wine career began in Niagara in 1987. I was working at the St. Catharines Standard as a junior sports writer. I hated it, covering synchronized swimming for 10-year-0olds. My greatest responsibility was ensuring I had their names spelled correctly. In my early 20s I wanted to pursue a newspaper beat far more exciting. I kept asking editor John Fadore how long I was to be in sports. He said, “Long-term. Just think … one day you’ll have the best seats in the house, watching the Toronto Maple Leafs.”
My heart sunk. “No jobs available in entertainment?” I asked. John laughed and provided to me with the best career advice of my life. “Listen, kid,” he said. “This is what you need to do. Find out what you love. Learn about it. Become an expert in this subject. That’s how you’ll remain longterm as a writer and journalist.”
I took the advice to heart. Thank you to my editor.
I remember driving from Toronto to Niagara and suddenly noticing lush grape vineyards stretching for miles along the QEW. I thought to myself, “That’s it. I absolutely love wine!”
Within the first month of my newly found career as a wine writer, I interviewed three winery owners and makers. One of them was the young, handsome nephew of Edwald Reif. His name was Klaus Reif. Klaus and I were both young adults, full of enthusiasm, passion, and a vision for an exciting future in the Niagara wine industry.
Klaus was certainly not new to wine. The Reif family’s winemaking tradition began nearly half a millennium ago in the small wine Laing town of Neustadt, located in the heart of the Rhine River Valley, Germany. This is where Klaus Reif grew up, playing amongst the vineyards and learning to make wine. In 1977, uncle Ewald Reif, with 12 generations of winemaking in his blood, immigrated to Canada and purchased a plot of land on the banks of the Niagara River.
The next year nephew Klaus visited uncle Ewald in Niagara and feel in love with the region. Klaus returned home to Germany, now with a new found love of the family business. The next year he enrolled in business school and then worked for a government research winery. In 1984 Klaus applied to one of Germany’s most prestigious winemaking schools, the Geisenheim Institute. Two weeks after graduating with degrees in both viticulture and oenology, Klaus moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The year was 1987, the same year I began in the industry, the same year I interviewed him.
We have known each other for 30 years! Amazing really.
I visited Reif, visited Klaus last week and sampled some of his incredible wines. Just seeing him and listening to him speak transported me back in time, to our youth, to our love affair with the Niagara wine region and its flourishing industry.
Reif Estates is no longer a small, quaint winery. It’s magnificent, lush with gardens, international tourists and many award winning wines.
I asked to try some of the wines that we can purchase here in the Kawarthas at the LCBO. I sat up at the tasting bar with winemaker Roberto presenting me with the products.
Roberto Didomenico is no stronger to the world of winemaking. As a young boy he was by his father’s side, acting as winemaking assistant. As an adult he excelled as an amateur winemaker. He now enjoys a fine reputation as an award winning professional winemaker. He is a minimalist, letting the grapes be self expressed with his intervening as little as possible. This philosophy is especially true for Roberto’s reds. His 1995 Meritage named Tesoro (‘my treasure’) took national and international awards both here in Canada and abroad. Roberto opened for me a few wines. Here are my tasting notes with best food matches from our neck of the woods:
The Reif Estate 2016 Riesling VQA, (CSPC 111799), $13.95, has loads of juicy tangerines and lime on the nose. The palate is medium bodied with pink grapefruit flavours, crisp and refreshing acidity, and a hint of honey sweetness.
Upon tasting this wine, Shafiq’s Chicken Korma immediately sprung to mind. The dishes at Taste of India (705-741-0009) are absolutely addictive and can be prepared for take out. The Chicken Korma combines yogurt, cream, coconut, raisins, rose-water, and garnished with fried onions. The gentle sweetness of this dish demands a wine with enough acidity to cut through the richness of cream, but also with matching sweetness. The Reif Riesling is a heavenly partner for this dish served over Palao rice.
Reif Estate River Road Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc VQA, (CSPC 457390), $14.95, is a reasonably priced and tasty red, an equal and harmonious partner to Shafiq’s Lamb Saag. This is a rich and mildly spiced dish with tender lamb, spices, spinach, and fenugreek leaves.
This red has ripe berries on the nose and pa late with medium weight, soft texture, and a hint of residual sweetness. This smidgen of sweetness heightens the berry character. The hint of sweetness also nicely offsets the gentle heat and spice in this rich lamb dish.
Reif Estate 2015 Cabernet/Merlot VQA offers more sophistication without a reasonable price, (CSPC 565713), $14.95. This wine has Blackberries, earth, and tobacco aromas and flavours, medium weight, and a great balance of fruit and structure. You’ll enjoy the long finish. Partner this gem to any of the beef cuts available at Primal Cuts on Lansdowne.
Roberto has a food friendly approach to his winemaking style. A couple of his reds have just a hint of residual sugar. This heightens fruit character, softens tannin, and makes the wine suitable to a plethora of ethic dishes that incorporate sweetness, like Indian, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc.
Located on the Niagara River Parkway, just outside of Niagara-onthe-Lake, Reif Estates is worth visiting this summer, as they vilify and sell more than 45 different wines. Http://Reifwinery.com.