01
Oct
2020
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
Not all reviews make the newsletter, there's just so many good wines and not enough space ... so every three to six months (or so) I clear out the backlog of wines ... here are the reviews that were written but until now have never seen the light of day.
This time there were 80+ wines to review so I broke them down into two sections - this is PART 1
(click on the wine name to link to the full review)
Lake Erie North Shore
Colchester Ridge 2017 Merlot 
Colchester Ridge 2019 Sauvignon Blanc, Walk the Plank
Niagara Escarpment
2027 Cellars 2018 Chardonnay, Wismer Vineyard - Fox Croft Block
Alvento 2017 Boreas
Alvento 2018 Chardonnay
Alvento 2018 East Wind
Alvento 2018 North Wind
Alvento 2018 Riesling
Creekside 2018 Semillon Reserve
Creekside 2019 Sauvignon Blanc, Backyard Block
Featherstone 2019 Sauvignon Blanc
Fielding 2017 Chardonnay, Rock Pile
Fielding 2019 Sauvignon Blanc
Flat Rock Cellars 2017 Riesling, Nadja's Vineyard 
Flat Rock Cellars 2018 Chardonnay, Rusty Shed
Foreign Affair 2019 Sauvignon Blanc
Foreign Affair 2019 Semillon - Sauvignon Blanc
Henry of Pelham 2016 Cabernet-Merlot Estate
Henry of Pelham 2018 Riesling, Speck Family Reserve
Henry of Pelham 2019 Baco Noir
Henry of Pelham 2019 Cabernet-Merlot
Henry of Pelham 2019 Chardonnay
Henry of Pelham 2019 Riesling Estate
Henry of Pelham 2019 Sauvignon Blanc
Henry of Pelham 2019 Sauvignon Blanc Fume
Honsberger 2017 Gamay 
Honsberger 2018 Chardonnay, Schuele Vineyards
Honsberger 2019 Chardonnay Musque
Honsberger 2019 Sauvignon Blanc, Schuele Vineyards
Honsberger 2019 Sauvignon Blanc Sur Lie, Schuele Vineyards
Niagara-on-the-Lake
De Simone Vineyards 2018 Chardonnay
De Simone Vineyards 2018 Merlot
Ferox 2017 Sauvignon Blanc
Jackson-Triggs 2016 Entourage Grand Reserve
Jackson-Triggs 2018 Chardonnay, Grand Reserve
Prince Edward County
Closson Chase 2018 Chardonnay, The Brock
Closson Chase 2019 Pinot Gris, KJ Watson
Del-Gatto 2019 Vidal
Fieldbird 2017 Buzzing Chatter 
Fieldbird 2018 Golden Russet
Fieldbird 2018 Northern Spy
Fieldbird 2018 Perry, Sur Lie
Hubbs Creek 2017 Pinot Noir, unfiltered
Other Regions & Virtual Wineries
Cornerfield Wine 2019 Chardonnay
(See Part 2 - click here)
03
Sep
2020
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
(February 2020) ... MONTEFALCO – I am for the second time doing the Anteprima of Sagrantino, I was waiting to turn my visit into a magazine article, but due to CoVid it will have to wait for 2021. So let’s start here instead, Sagrantino is a tough wine that requires years of age to round out and come into its own. I have been at dinners where producers open wines from past vintages that are just starting to come around and I’ve even tried 18-year-old versions that were beautiful, with acidity that would blow your mind, and tannins that still hung on – a real eye-opening experience as to the age-ability of this grape variety.
The exciting news this year, is that there were more wines to try and not just the Rosso wines, there were the Trebbiano and Grechetto wines (whites) as well. Obviously, the whites are much more ready to go (if not all completely finished), but also there were the Rosso wines (including the Riservas) made with Sagrantino, but also Sangiovese (which makes up to 90% of the blend). Rosso wines are most approachable now (yet still have wonderful age-ability) – it was these wines I found most surprising during my touring of wineries and tasting; for those of you who think Rosso is just a “drink now” wine – think again.
As a rule during these anteprima I do not score unfinished wines (aka: barrel / tank samples), too much can go wrong between barrel and bottle that can compromise or otherwise change the wine … if that happens that score from a barrel sample can come back to bite me, if the finished wine isn’t as I perceived it from barrel – so I have just stopped the practise of giving final scores to these wines.
The wines of this report are broken down into four categories: Grechetto / Trebbiano Spoletino / Rosso / Rosso Riserva … and in keeping with my policy of scoring only “finished” wines I treated everything as “unfinished” and rated them on their future potential on a scale of Good – Better – Best ... and also look for my reports of the tours and tastings I did this year – coming in October.
10 Grechetto Tasted …
Good Potential
Benedetti & Grigi NV Montefalco Grechetto DOC “Adone”
F.lli Pardi 2019 Montefalco Grechetto DOC
Tenuta Colfalco 2019 Montefalco Grechetto DOC
Better Potential
Benedetti & Grigi 2018 Montefalco Grechetto DOC
Best Potential
La Veneranda 2019 Montefalco Grechetto DOC
Scacciadiavoli 2019 Montefalco Grechetto DOC
14 Trebbiano Spoletino Tasted ...
Good Potential
Briziarelli 2018 Trebbiano Spoletino Spoleto DOC “Rosso Matone”
Colle Mora 2018 Trebbiano Spoletino Spoleto DOC
F.lli Pardi 2019 Trebbiano Spoletino Spoleto DOC
Better Potential
Colle Ciocco 2019 Trebbiano Spoletino Spoleto DOC “Tempestivo”
Le Cimate 2018 Trebbiano Spoletino Spoleto DOC
Best Potential
Ninni 2018 Spoleto Trebbiano Spoletino DOC “Poggio del Vescovo”
40 Rosso Tasted ...
Good Potential
Antonelli 2017 Montefalco Rosso DOC
Arnaldo Caprai 2017 Montefalco Rosso DOC
Fattoria Le Mura Saracene – Goretti 2017 Montefalco Rosso DOC
Fattoria Colleallodole Milziade Antano 2016 Montefalco Rosso DOC
Il Torrione 2015 Montefalco Rosso DOC
Perticaia 2016 Montefalco Rosso DOC
Romanelli 2016 Montefalco Rosso DOC
Tenute Lunelli Castelbuono 2017 Montefalco Rosso DOC “Ziggurat”
Better Potential
Adanti 2015 Montefalco Rosso DOC
Colle Ciocco 2016 Montefalco Rosso DOC
Fongoli 2015 Montefalco Rosso DOC “Bicunsio”
Ilaria Cocco 2016 Montefalco Rosso DOC “Camorata”
Tenuta Alzatura-Cecchi 2016 Montefalco Rosso DOC
Vignabaldo Group 2016 Montefalco Rosso DOC “Nido Del Falco”
Best Potential
Montioni 2017 Montefalco Rosso DOC
Tabarrini 2016 Montefalco Rosso DOC “Boccatone”
13 Rosso Riserva Tasted ...
Good Potential
Adanti 2014 Montefalco Rosso Riserva DOC
Dionigi 2014 Montefalco Rosso Riserva DOC
Fongoli 2015 Montefalco Rosso Riserva DOC “Serpullo”
Terre Di San Felice 2017 Montefalco Rosso Riserva DOC
Better Potential
Romanelli 2015 Montefalco Rosso Riserva DOC
Best Potential
Antonelli 2016 Montefalco Rosso Riserva DOC
Arnaldo Caprai 2016 Montefalco Rosso Riserva DOC
