This is the first sparkling offered from The Grange of Prince Edward County and winemaker Jeff Innes is practically gleeful about it as he skips up to me with a bottle in his hands at the Toronto Gourmet Food and Wine Expo. “It’s my favourite wine I’ve ever made,” he says grinning. This remark flies in the face of the winemaker’s handbook, which states: “All wines are like your children, you do not pick favourites”. This 50/50 blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay spent 14 months on lees in bottle. There’s this slight tinge of pink from the Pinot Noir (Jeff says, “it threw a little colour into the wine”); the smell is lemon and green apple, the taste is clean and refreshing with good acidity and just the merest hint of sweetness, though Jeff says the wine is made dry. Great fruit flavour in this fizz and it fills the mouth and makes you keep sipping. What more could you want from a first effort? Only 200 cases made. Price: $29.95 – Rating: ****