by Susan Desjardins

I was visiting a friend near Wellington in Prince Edward County last weekend and discovered the farmhouse in which we stayed was walking distance to a couple of wineries. We wandered down the road and up the drive of Hubbs Creek Vineyard and into the modest winery building housing a small, well-staffed tasting bar, behind which are fermentation tanks, barrel and wine-making premises. John Battista Calvieri, joint owner, winemaker and viticuluralist with brothers Nick and Joe, was front and centre radiating a warm welcome and pride in this family undertaking. Of the 5 wines on the chalkboard, 2 are already sold out. We tasted his 2014 Pinot Gris, 2014 Chardonnay, and 2012 Pinot Noir. Get in your car now, drive to the County, and get some of these amazing wines – Hubbs produces only 800-1000 cases annually.

The Calvieri family has been growing grapes in the County for about 15 years. A few years ago John Battista, an Electron Microscopist with the University of Toronto, won an amateur winemaking award for a wine he crafted from his County grapes. That’s when he and his brothers decided it was time to stop selling their grapes and to start making their own wines. Ask John Battista about the wines and his passion shines through, ‘What I really do here, is out there in the vineyards’. He’s a purist, using only his own estate-grown grapes to produce outstanding wines that show the character of the estate and the region. ‘I go to Italy regularly,’ says John. ‘My family is from there, after all. I like to talk to the winemakers there – the really good ones tell you, you have to focus on your vineyards, your fruit, your winemaking if you truly want to make the best wines.’ Lessons well learned, as you’ll discover when you taste his wines.

While you’re in Wellington, visit Stache on Main, a quaint piano bar by night and gallery by day featuring local artists. It’s owned and run by Gloria Schmed, a native of Brooklyn, New York who came of age during the civil rights movement in the U.S., her Swiss husband Karl, a lithographer, and their daughter Kyla, who was a driving force behind the new venture. Until recently, Gloria was managing the career of her elder daughter, Shakura S’aida, an accomplished blues singer. It’s a relaxing venue with live jazz, radiating the warmth and elegance of its owners. We wandered in on a Monday evening, and by 7:30 p.m., every chair was taken as the local piano player charmed the patrons and the family personally welcomed locals and tourists alike with fine local wines, craft beer and light ‘snack-ity snacks.’ Reviews follow from wines tasted:

 
Hubbs Creek Pinot Gris 2014
VQA Prince Edward County $21.95 12.5% alcohol
Made in the Alsatian style, this dry, light-medium-bodied Gris offers enticing aromas of pear, citrus, melon and mineral. Produced from the fruit of 15-year-old densely planted vines, it’s crisp and bright, showing roundness and purity in the ripe fruit flavours as well as the classic mineral character of County wine. Well structured, vibrant in texture, the clean finish seems never-ending. (Susan Desjardins)

 
Hubbs Creek Pinot Noir 2012
VQA Prince Edward County $31.95 12.0% alcohol
From the wonderfully warm 2012 vintage, this Burgundian-style wine is a great find for Pinot-philes. Its sister wine—the now sold-out ‘Reserve’—won a silver medal in the All-Canada Wine Championships. The nose offers subtle, complex aromas of red berries, Morello cherry, earth, mineral and a whiff of spice. Dry, medium bodied and beautifully silky in texture, the notion of cinnamon toast on the palate is witness to twelve months aging in seasoned French oak. This tightly wrought red displays intensity in the ripe red berry, cherry and currant flavours, and in the well-defined structure of subtle tannin and bright acidity. Finely crafted and elegant, finishing long and dry, you’ll enjoy sipping this Pinot with a mushroom and Brie tart or with grilled steelhead trout. (Susan Desjardins)

 
Hubbs Creek Chardonnay 2014
VQA Prince Edward County $27.95 12.0% alcohol
Fresh from being bottled, this needs a bit of time to settle, try in a month or two. Produced from fruit of seven-year-old vines—20% fermented in seasoned French oak—it offers notes of apple and citrus, hints of pear and toasted nut. It’s dry, medium bodied with tangy and pithy flavours of grapefruit, lemon-lime and green apple to the fore. The texture is zesty, the finish long and dry. Enjoy with halibut and lemon-caper cream sauce or seafood pasta. (Susan Desjardins).