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Here’s the account my our journey to Niagara Wine Country.

We hit the road shortly after work. The trip was rather uneventful other than stopping for dinner at the Panera in Erie. Once across the border, we stopped at the White Oaks to pick up our Cuvee 2004 Passports. After a brief navigational mishap, we finally arrived at the Holiday Inn St. Catherine’s.

When we first planned on coming up to Niagara, we chose this weekend because it was going to be slow; after doing a ton of research online I found out it was Cuvee 2004.

What is Cuvee 2004?
Cuvee is held on the first weekend of March. The Niagara Community Foundation and the Gray Gables School put on the event to celebrate achievements in local wine and raise support for various local charities. Wineries from Ontario submit their wines to the competition and are judged by fellow Ontario winemakers. It starts with a gala tasting with food($175 CDN/person) at the White Oaks, then for rest of the weekend, area wineries hold special tastings and other events for gala attendees and passport holders. (Passport tickets can be purchased for $20 CDN/person, admitting you to all the special events on Saturday and Sunday, but without attending the gala event on Friday night.)

What do you get with this passport ticket?
So much it’s unbelievable! There are 24 wineries listed in the brochure of special Cuvee Weekend events; your passport admits you to all of these. The amazing part is most are free; if there is a fee, it’s generally because you are having a meal and there are very interesting special items paired for Cuvee Passport attendees. Some events are open all weekend long, while others are at certain times and require reservations. Typical events include a vertical tasting of back vintage Pinot Noir, reserve bar tasting for no extra charge, Cuvee flight with the purchase of lunch, or special dinner menus with barrel sampling before dinner.

Is it worth the money?
Yes, yes, yes, yes! I can’t believe what we got for the money. We were never charged for a tasting, even if we tasted things that weren’t included with the passport. I will buy another passport in a heartbeat.

Is it worth going to?
I can’t speak for the gala, but for the passport weekend it was very much worth it. We got moving early (wineries don’t open to tasting till 11 am, so you don’t have to get up too early) and took a later lunch (around 2 pm). It only got very busy at one of the wineries and that was toward the end of our tasting there. The best part was that wineries had bottles open that they normally don’t pour for tastings. These were left over from the gala event (this is one time I’m fine with having people’s leftovers).

Saturday, March 6, 2004
Not fans of the Holiday Inn’s standardized menu, we headed into Niagara-on-the-Lake to get a hearty breakfast. After some random driving we arrived at Lawrenceville Restaurant and were generally pleased by the service and taste. A full breakfast is definitely a must before a long day of wine tasting.

This was our first time in Niagara to visit wineries, so we wanted to stop at Inniskillin. We had recently been to an Inniskillin Icewine tasting in Cleveland, but we really wanted to taste the non-Icewines. With the Cuvee passport they were doing a vertical tasting of a singular vineyard Pinot Noir, vintages 1999, 2000, & 2001. It was interesting to see how similar the 1999 and 2001 were and how the lousy weather made the 2000 not very fruity, and much more earthy and “damp” in flavor. They were good, but nothing special. We went on to try the Riesling and Cabernet Franc. Those were great!! The Riesling was dry with a ton of fruit and the Cabernet Franc Reserve was very complex with a great balance of flavor. It’s a fun place; if you have never been before you have to go, especially if you have never had their Icewine or their other light wines.

From there we headed to Marynissen. This is the oldest traditional grape winery in Niagara. We tried nine different wines here. For the whites, the Riesling and Gewürztraminer were our favorites. On the reds, well, we loved them all. A number of the reds were very young, and we could tell that with some age they will be amazing wines. Marynissen made us realize that in ten years Niagara wines are going to be a major powerhouse. Give the vines some more aging and they will be knocking socks off across the globe.

On to Reif… Passport holders were invited to a tasting of red wines paired with dark chocolate. We started with two of the whites and we found them acceptable but uninteresting. But we had really come for the red wines and chocolate. This is the only winery in Niagara making Zinfandel and one of a few doing Shiraz. The Zin was interesting and good, not amazing, but still fun. The Shiraz was OK, but not as good. We also tried the Meritage and the First Growth Merlot, and these were stunning!

Just up the road from Reif is Lailey. Lailey is a newer winery in the area and everything we tasted was stellar! We were very impressed here. One of the very interesting facts about Lailey is they are one of the few wineries trying to develop Canadian oak barrels. The theory is that Canadian oak will be less “in-your-face” because of the colder climate in which the trees grow; the wood is less porous than American oak. The wood is shipped to a cooper in the US and than made into barrels. It was really cool to try to same year Chardonnay aged in French oak vs. Canadian oak. You could tell the Canadian oak was a bit more spirited than the French, but still subtle, very drinkable and very good (and I personally hate oaked whites). I could go on for hours about the wines here, but I’m not going to. You simply have to experience their wines. (We have brought back a bottle of the Canadian oak and French oak Chardonnay to do a comparison tasting with friends in Cleveland. Sound fun?)

After visiting 4 wineries we figured it was time for some food. We headed into downtown Niagara-on-the-Lake and had a great quick, warm lunch at the Epicurean. It’s cafeteria style dining with gourmet style food. Mike had a great spinach and pancetta pie and I had an artichoke quiche.

While we were at Inniskillin, we had picked up a list of Friday night’s winners from the Cuvee Gala. We noticed that Stoney Ridge Winery had swept the awards, winning Best Red and Best Whhite, along with Best Limited Edition Red. Rather than sticking around the Niagara on the Lake wineries, we took the scenic route westward. After a beautiful drive along the lakefront we ended up in the Vineland area to try Stoney Ridge. Once again, we were not disappointed. It’s easy to understand why they won the awards. We were able to do a vertical tasting of this year’s winning Chardonnay, a delightful and friendly wine with a tiny touch of residual sugar. Overall, the reds were scrumptious. The only wine that was not amazing was the Pinot Noir. The big surprise was Gewürztraminer Icewine, with a pleasant acidity that perfectly balanced out the sugars; this is truly liquid gold.

After Stoney Ridge we drove back to the hotel to rest and change for dinner at Peller Winery. Peller is part of the Adres Wine group, so this is a mass-production winery. They have a huge winery with very impressive, Napa-like grounds. Rather than hang around all night in the tasting room, we headed straight to dinner. We had decided ahead of time that we were going to do the chef’s tasting menu, with each course matched with a wine that had been submitted to the Cuvee competition. This meal was a masterpiece. Each wine was perfectly paired with each course.
Dinner was:

• East Coast Lobster Risotto with a sea salt cracker paired with Andrew Peller Signature Series Chardonnay ‘Sur Lie’ 2001. Lobster risotto and Chardonnay are a typical pairing and this was a wonderful version on that theme.
• Goat Cheese and Sage Ravioli in a yellow pepper truffle bisque paired with Andrew Peller Signature Series Vidal Icewine 2002 Icewine with an appetizer? Yes, it sounds like madness, but in the context of the pairing, it was pure magic. I need to cook like this at home! (Mike says, “Yes, please!”)
• Foie Gras and Wild Mushroom Veloute paired with Founder’s Series Cristalle. Their sparkling wine, Cristalle, has a dosage of Icewine in it, so it’s a sweeter sparkling wine. On its own it’s a good sparkling wine, not a personal favorite, but paired with the mushroom and foie gras soup! Luxury meets luxury and WOW!
• Riesling Granite–A wonderful palate cleanser; more people need to put wine in their shave ice!
• Poached Angus Tenderloin in Red Wine Consomme, Turnip vanilla brandade paired with Andrew Peller Signature Series Cabernet Franc ‘Unfiltered’ 1999. The Cab Franc was a huge flavor bomb that only something like the tenderloin could hold up to. Magnificent!
• Spiced Dark Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Gelato with Pistachios paired with Andrew Peller Signature Series Cabernet Franc Icewine 2002–A great way to finish off the meal, this was the best Cab Franc Icewine I’ve ever tasted.

After this mind-blowing meal, the sommelier then took us downstairs into the barrel gallery for barrel sampling (another perk with the Cuvee passport). We tasted the ‘03 Cabernet Sauvignon and the ‘02 Cabernet Franc; we could tell they were both very young, thin and watery, and needed much more time to develop. These wines will have at least one more year in the barrel and one more year in bottle before they are sold, and even then will need to lie down for a few years to reach their full potential.

What could possibly be even more surprising than the rest of the wonderful evening? The price! The tasting menu with the wine is only $94 CDN per person. Can you beat that pricing anywhere?

Sunday, March 7, 2004
We packed up the car and headed toward Jordan/Vineland area of Niagara. We hunted around for breakfast in the Main Street area of Jordan Village, where we settled on having a non-traditional breakfast at Zooma Zooma, a local coffee shop. Mike had a toasted Genoa salami sandwich that had olive tapenade, roasted yellow peppers and provolone cheese. I had a homemade goat cheese and asparagus strudel that was out of this world. I was even lucky enough to score the recipe!

Downtown Jordan Village is practically owned by Cave Spring. It’s a cute little area with Inn on the Twenty, Cave Spring and a number of small stores. We walked over to Cave Spring for a tasting. The Rieslings were very interesting, especially the CSV Riesling, which was a real find. We tasted two Pinot Noirs; the 2000 Pinot at Inniskillin tasted just like the 2000 Pinot at Cave Spring, all damp and subdued. It really shows how terroir and the weather can really impact the wines of the region. We fell in love with the Gamay Reserve 2002. It’s amazing how 6 months in oak will really add some depth to Gamay. As we were leaving, they gave us a vat tasting of the Rosé 2003 that is going to be released in a few months, and we were shocked at how complex and intriguing it was. We are going back to buy this one! Also, I’m hearing great things about the Shiraz they are going to be releasing in a few months. (Hmmm, how soon can I come back?) I’d highly recommend stopping here for a tasting and then grab lunch next door.

Next up was Willow Heights. For Cuvee they were doing a tasting of back-vintage Pinot Noir, 1994, 1997 and 1998. These vertical tastings have been so much fun. Every time you do one you learn so much more about how weather affects the vintage. We found the 1994 to have been once-excellent but now on the decline, and the 1998 to be damp and funky due again to challenging weather. The 1997, though, was strawberry silky perfection, and a great example of what Pinot Noir can do. After Pinot tasting we tried the Tresette, their Bordeaux blend; this was a real winner. The Chardonnay here was also very good. It’s a fun place, and definitely worth checking out.

We headed down the road to Thomas and Vaughan for a vertical tasting of their Meritage, the house specialty. It was interesting to find the 2000 Meritage had a similar taste profile as the 2000 Pinots we had earlier in the day and Saturday. I can’t wait to see how their Meritages taste after they get some age on the vines. The real winner here was the Marcchal Foch,winner of this year’s Best Hybrid category.

We then drove back toward Niagara-on-the-Lake for lunch at Hillebrand. We received a tasting flight of their signature wines, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc and Cab Franc Ice Wine. For starters, I had the Heart of Romaine Lettuce with anchovy cracker, crisp pancetta and caper dressing paired with sparkling wine; Mike had Quinn Family Farm goose hot smoked breast and braised leg with dried apple chips and cranberry chutney paired with the Gamay Noir. For entrée I had the Tour of Niagara, a sampling of regionally inspired specialties. Today it was trout stuffed with couscous topped with salmon with a caper sauce, beef tenderloin, and corn chicken topped with a sun-dried tomato sauce which I paired with the wine flight from the signature wines. Mike had the braised lamb shank with goat cheese and roasted sweet potato puree, dried cranberry and Cabernet butter with the Cabernet Franc. We finished with a plate of Canadian cheeses and roasted apple Charlotte with brown sugar spiked mascarpone, caramel butterscotch and cranberry ice cream paired with the signature Cab Franc Ice Wine. Lunch was very good and well worth the trip back to the area. The only disappointment was that the two items on the menu I wanted were unavailable, especially the Soft Centered Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cake with toasted Icewine marshmallows and sour cream anglaise. I confess, that’s why we went there for lunch–I really wanted Icewine marshmallows! Well, I guess we’ll just have to go back.

After Hillebrand we headed back home. We had the funniest experience crossing the border, but because I’m being overly paranoid about Ashcroft and Homeland Security I’m not going to post it here, but I will be more than happy to share it offline.

Final thoughts
Looking back at everything we did over the past two days it really makes my head spin (no, it’s not the wine causing my head to spin). I’m truly amazed by how strong the Niagara region is and how it will keep getting better. I’m also amazed by how great Cuvee was. We are already planning on going back next year.

It’s sad that the only Niagara wines you really see outside of the region are the Icewines, because there are so many great wines in this area. I’m really excited about the Rieslings and Bordeaux varietals; these will be the wines that make the Niagara region into the next Napa or Sonoma.

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