Taste it Again / Lost & Found: Older Ontario Comes to the Table
26 Dec 2014- Details
- Category: Lost & Found / Taste it Again
(October 24, 2014) ... Our "Chardonnay Friend" invited us to dinner and while I did pack a Chard in my kit of wines for tonight (Lailey 2013 CuriosiThree blend - check out the video here) I brought along three older reds from the province as well ... I will come right out and say it was a real mixed bag of results.
Opening a bottle of Stoney Ridge 2006 Pinot Noir Reserve had me worried from the outset ... Very stinky, like hard to get past stinky, but with a little aeration dried cherry started to show along with some white pepper; if I was the consummate professional I probably would have dumped this one shortly after the popping of the cork ... But I also have a very curious nature, which made me take that first sip. Thankfully the palate was a heck of a lot more approachable than the nose with its earthy, sour cranberry, vanilla-spice, and hints of sour cherry balanced off with good acidity on the finish. The best part of the wine was its smoothness and that it showed no sign of that stink on the palate ... But the nose continued to retain an element of it for most of the evening, so as long as you could get past it you were golden.
The next bottle was a total bust. I had high hopes for a bottle of Vineland 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, and had a scary moment where it seemed mildly corked, though the jury was still out, but after 10 minutes we were sure, cork taint never gets better ... Damn it.
Third and final bottle was a Coyote's Run 2007 Cabernet ... Which I had opened recently for another occasion. You can read about that here.
See the original reviews for these wines here:
Stoney Ridge 2006 Pinot Noir Reserve
Vineland 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon - not previously reviewed
Coyote's Run 2007 Cabernet
(October 14, 2014) ... What in the world made me think that a Gamay would last 7 years, I don't know, but I have to say I'm quite pleased with the results of this experiment. Nose offered up the simplicity of black cherry and anise while the palate seemed to retain that black cherry backbone but also creeps in the back door with hints of dried cherry. As the wine sits in glass there develops a pseudo-cherry-coffee note that proves to be quite pleasant. It's not your standard expectation from Gamay, but those who thought it would be crap will be very happy to find life in this wine; I just wouldn't wait too much longer to drink it.
