Wanted to have another wine tasting with friends, and the opportunity to purchase a 10 year old bottle of Riesling from Flat Rock Cellars seemed like the perfect impetus. We’ve done a few tastings with this group of friends in the past (Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Pinot Noir), and they have always been fun. Am still figuring out the best way to do a tasting like this, will leave my conclusions and lessons at the end.
It turned out that this was the same day as the Flat Rock Cellars Riesling Spree, which meant we tasted 16 different Rieslings in 1 day!
We decided to just focus on Niagara for this tasting, and I tried to represent as many of the sub-appellations as we could. It turns out that the sub-appellations right along Lake Ontario actually tend to be a bit to warm for good Riesling; most of it is concentrated along the benches (Beamsville, Twenty Mile, Short Hills, St. David’s). A few of us already had some Riesling cellared, and so based on what we had on hand, plus some bottles purchased for the tasting, we ended up with 10 bottles, plus some backup. I’ll have the list of wines and my tasting notes at the end.
We started the night simply, with some chips, veggies, charcuterie, and cheese. The first wine of the night was a sparkling Riesling from Vineland Estates, and then we went in order of dry to sweet. The fact that the LCBO lists Residual Sugar (g/l) for all of their wines makes it pretty easy to order them this way, although acidity level can change the perceived sweetness level. Most of the wines were around $18-20, and we enjoyed all of them. We included a Riesling from Alsace to provide a bit of a baseline, and to show what a really dry Riesling is like.
For the main course we had ordered some Thai, for a classic Riesling pairing. The spice was balanced out nicely by the acidity and bit of sweetness in some of the wines.
The Wines
- Vineland Estates – Sekt
Twenty Mile Bench
2017 bone-dry (5 g/l RS) / 8.5% abv
Didn’t take good notes on this one, but quite enjoyed it. - Willm – Reserve
Alsace, France
2018 bone-dry (5 g/l RS) / 12% abv
Very dry, nice minerality, notes of apple. The acidity was much more subdued compared to the Niagara wines. - Back 10 Cellars – The Big Reach
Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula
2017 off-dry (10 g/l RS) / 11% abv
Notes of green apple and citrus. Very balanced acidity, nice fruitiness on the nose, a delightful wine. - Henry of Pelham – Speck Family Reserve
Short Hills Bench, Niagara Peninsula
2018 off-dry (16 g/l RS) / 12% abv
Chose this one as a single-vineyard, somewhat higher-end wine. Was a bit disappointed, it seemed rather subdued. Notes of grapefruit, citrus, peach. A fine wine, but some of the other wines were much more vibrant and fruity. - Ravine Vineyard – Sand & Gravel
St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula
2017 off-dry (21 g/l RS) / 10% abv
This was alive and bursting with fruit, a bit deeper and more full. Lots of zing and flavour, notes of lime, pineapple, honey. Lots of nectarine! - Vineland Estates – Elevation
Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula
med-dry (27 g/l RS) / 10% abv
Another one that I had high hopes for, but was rather light and subdued. Nice notes of lemon, citrus, a bit of honey. - Flat Rock Cellars – Estate
Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula
2009 off-dry (20 g/l RS) / 11% abv
Was excited to try our aged Riesling, and it didn’t disappoint. Still lots of lovely acidity, rich notes of honey, lemon, peach. Subtle notes of beeswax and petrol. A delightful experience. - Cave Spring – Late Harvest
Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula
2017 sweet (97 g/l RS) / 12.5% abv
A great wine to finish the night with. Sweet and rich, with a nice acidity that stopped it from being cloying. Lovely fruit notes of citrus, and peaches.
[…] read a bit about Back 10’s interesting story, and we’d had their Riesling during our Riesling tasting, so I was looking forward to the visit. They had a great setup outside, a small check-in area where […]