• The following 2019 Featherstone Estate Winery Sauvignon Blanc is 100% sauvignon blanc from vines planted sixteen years before fruit for this wine was harvested. It was 20% barrel fermented in neutral Canadian oak barrels—Featherstone was one of the first Ontario wineries to use Canadian oak barrels for their wines.
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Featherstone Estate Winery Sauvignon Blanc 2019
VQA Niagara Peninsula $17.95 (89011) 12.5% alcohol
Gooseberry aromas waft easily from the glass with a supporting cast of grassy notes and ripe pit fruit—peach, yellow plum and hints of mango. It envelops the palate with a balanced-on-a-pin, creamy-smooth mouthful of delectable flavour with quince jelly, tangy lemon curd and wisps of saline minerality to the fore. This is medium bodied with persistent purity of fruit and deft balance extending through the crisp and refreshing finish. Pour on its own or alongside fish, seafood, sushi or crumbled chèvre over a bed of olive-oiled arugula. (Vic Harradine)
• Huge kudos to Featherstone winemaker, David Johnson, recently named ‘2020 Winemaker of the Year’ at the Ontario Wine Awards. The following 2019 Featherstone Estate Winery Rosé is a wonderful example of his vineyard management and winemaking prowess.
“We farm naturally and without the use of insecticides, growing wine in a way that is healthy and completely unique. The result is bright and complex small-lot wines crafted to express the singular nature of our premium site in the Twenty Mile Bench appellation.”
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Featherstone Estate Winery Rosé 2019
VQA Niagara Peninsula $15.95 (117861) 13.0% alcohol
This Rosé is a red blend of 42% cabernet sauvignon/39% cabernet franc/16% gamay noir/3% merlot. Lifted, lively aromas leap from the glass with strawberry and watermelon interwoven with piquant spice and peel marmalade. It blankets the palate with flavour-filled surge of tang-infused cranberry cordial, pie cherry along with sugared and grilled ruby red grapefruit. It’s fresh and lively, balanced and beautiful, flavour packed and simply mouth-watering delicious. You will not taste many Rosé better than this and even fewer with a price-quality balance so tipped in your favour. (Vic Harradine)
• The following 2018 Featherstone Estate Winery ‘Black Sheep’ Riesling is another in a long line of fine examples from Featherstone of how artisanal wines from family-owned and family-managed wineries often trump the massive winery conglomerates in quality and… more importantly, in quality-price balance.
• This is a Vintages Essentials wine always available in a select +200 LCBO retail stores.
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Featherstone Estate Winery ‘Black Sheep’ Riesling 2018
VQA Niagara Peninsula $18.95 (80234) 10.0% alcohol
Aromas of lemon-lime, mineral notes and wisps of white grapefruit provide segue to a tang-laden stream of saline/flinty minerality, Granny Smith apple and lime cordial racing over the palate persisting through the crisp, clean and refreshing finish. This is medium bodied and light on its feet with excellent balance, persistent purity of fruit and oodles of tang and boatloads of charm. A perfect thirst quencher at any time, it also shines with charcuterie and a baguette or a plate of sushi, ceviche or a platter of freshly shucked briny oysters. (Vic Harradine)
• The following 2018 Featherstone Estate Winery Cabernet Franc is a blend of 86% cabernet franc with 14% merlot. Fruit was machine harvested, optically scanned and sorted, cold soaked for five days then fermented with commercial yeast. It went through 100% malolactic conversion and was aged in 100% American oak, 25% new.
• This is a Vintages Essentials wine always available in a select +200 LCBO retail stores.
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Featherstone Estate Winery Cabernet Franc 2018
VQA Niagara Peninsula $19.95 (64618) 12.9% alcohol
The price-quality balance tips well in your favour here. Floral notes, graphite and hints of incense mingle with bramble berry on the nose of this value-packed, medium-bodied, silky-smooth textured, delightful cab franc. It caresses the palate with a deftly balanced and immensely flavourful flow showcasing balance of tang and acidity, soft ripe tannin and delectable flavour with ripe red plum and cherry playing off good tang and a lengthy crisp and mouth-watering finish. Give this a go with comfort food off the grill—gourmet sausage, beer-can chicken or cheese burgers. (Vic Harradine)
• The following two wines from Rocca delle Macie wines are both Vintages Essentials wines always found in select LCBO retail stores.
• The ‘Classico’ on the wine label in the 2018 Rocca delle Macie Chianti Classico below alerts you this wine is from the heartland and original homeland of Chianti with ‘Chianti Classico’ considered the premium growing and winemaking sub-zone of the seven sub-zones in the now, quite large Chianti region in Tuscany.
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Rocca delle Macie ‘Famiglia Zingarelli’ Chianti Classico 2018
DOCG Chianti Classico, Italy $18.95 (741769) 13.5% alcohol
Cedar, floral notes and mixed field berry fruit aromas precede a racy line of red currant and pie cherry palate flavours adorned with savory herbs and a lick of red licorice and hints of mocha. It’s medium-plus bodied with good mouthfeel and a lengthy dry, mouth-watering finish. Give this a go with pasta Bolognese or meat-laden lasagna. (Vic Harradine)
• The following 2018 Rocca delle Macie ‘Riserva Chianti is a Vintages Essentials wine always found in select LCBO retail stores.
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Rocca delle Macie ‘Riserva’ Chianti 2016
DOCG Chianti, Italy $15.95 (111641) 13.5% alcohol
Aromas of cherry/berry fruit and floral notes introduce a medium-bodied, nicely textured stream of lively, tang-laden palate flavour with red currant, ripe black cherry and passionfruit. This is primarily sangiovese with a cup or two of cabernet sauvignon and merlot. It’s medium weight, nicely textured with good red fruit flavour framed with tang and underpinned by wisps of soft tannin. A wash of pie cherry and red currant jelly races over the palate persisting through the finish and adorned with wisps of tannin on the aftertaste. Best poured with pasta in a tomato-based sauce; try spaghetti Bolognese or pasta puttanesca. (Vic Harradine)