Taste It Again: Fielding 2007 Red Conception
12 Aug 2014- Details
- Category: Lost & Found / Taste it Again
Click here to read the original review from May 2010
(Re-Tasted July 1, 2014) ... I was at an event recently where the conversation turned to 2007 reds from Ontario. Now '07 was a big year, both crop-wise and weatherwise and the reds were mammoth and powerful. The dominating theory was that in the year winemakers were a little too over zealous with their use of oak, the overwhelming feeling being that '07, being such a hot year, the wines could take it. That said the wines are starting to tire quicker than one would expect and more tertiary flavours are coming to the fore sooner than one would want had winemakers been a little more judicious with their oak usage. An interesting theory and one that should scare the pants off of anyone holding a boatload of Ontario 2007 reds in their cellar.
That night I pulled a bottle of Fielding 2007 Red Conception, a red blend made up of (wait for it): Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Aglianico, Sangiovese and 2% Chardonnay. Now another theory proposed at the event was that any winemaker from a hot climate or who had spent time in a hot climate would fare better than one who had firmly planted roots here in Ontario ... That said I do not know Richie Roberts provenance of winemaking skill or pedigree before he arrived at Fielding, I do know that each year I am more and more impressed with his wines. That preamble leads to this review of his 2007 Red Conception: dried dark fruit nose with anise, cocoa and dried blackberry palate. Not the wine I was expecting but far from the dire prediction I had heard ... As I dig deeper into my '07 red collection (of which I have many) we'll have to keep a back-of-the-mind awareness about the two theories proposed - see if there is any truth of validity to either.
