Calamus ‘Cosmic Red’ 2008
VQA Niagara Peninsula $17.95 (258129) 12.4% alcohol
Well made, well paced and well… delicious. Showcasing sweet ripe fruit and substantial texture on the palate, this delivers a showy mélange of dark berry fruit and red cherry adorned by kitchen spice and toasty notes. It’s light-medium bodied and nicely balanced finishing with a lengthy well-balanced surge of red and black currant, mulberry and spice-laden cranberry tart. Sips well on its own and poured well with grilled T-bone, burgers and gourmet sausage. Order by the case for daily home or office delivery from Calamus Estate Winery. (Vic Harradine)
Calamus ‘Cosmic White’ 2009
VQA Niagara Peninsula $14.95 (255893) 12.4% alcohol
This delivers an astounding sweet and tang experience—in a word, yummy. Subtle aromas of apple, mixed spice and floral presage a delightful shower of racy lime sherbet, ripe peach and pear adorned by spice-laden yellow plum. It’s medium weight and nicely textured sporting a lengthy sweet and tang, yin and yang aftertaste setting it up as a gorgeous sipping wine or the perfect partner with spicy Asian dishes. It earned its final ½ star on value. Order by the case for daily home or office delivery from Calamus Estate Winery. (Vic Harradine)
Cattail Creek ‘Estate Bottled’ Pinot Noir 2009
VQA Four Mile Creek $19.45 (257303) 12.5% alcohol
From the heartbreak grape, a heartthrob wine—you’ll fall in love with this. It’s highly perfumed with red cherry, Asian spice, toast and beetroot aromas, perfectly balanced and simply delicious. Lively spice-infused flavours bathe the palate with Montmorency cherry, ripe succulent black plum and racy red currant to the fore. It’s mid weight with good mouth feel and a generous aftertaste that’s lip-smacking good. Lovely sipped on its own and poured perfectly with grilled smoked duck breasts. Order by the case for daily home or office delivery from Cattail Creek. (Vic Harradine)
Tasted the following Fielding ‘Meritage’ last year at this time and gave it 5 stars. I think it shows more depth, a bit more complexity and as much promise as before. My most recent tasting notes follow. Should I have given it 5½ stars?
My first crack at the ‘Chosen Few Red’ and it’s a whopper of a wine. Needing time in the bottle, connoisseurs, collectors and just plain red-wine lovers with a bit of extra cash will certainly want a piece of this.
Fielding Estate Winery ‘Meritage’ 2007
VQA Niagara Peninsula $60.15 13.5% alcohol
Dark, rich and bursting with complexity, this red blend—62% Merlot, 34% Cab Sauv and 4% Cab Franc—is an unfined, unfiltered stunner. Deep rich berry fruit aromas interweave with toasty notes, espresso roast and sweet vanilla wafting from this medium-full bodied, generously textured beauty. Succulent cassis, racy cranberry and sweet ripe mulberry wash in endless waves over the palate. Black pepper and spice-infused chocolate-covered cherries adorn the endless, well-balanced aftertaste. The firm tannin underpinning adds structure and charm Drink 2013 to 2018. Order for daily home or office delivery from Fielding. (Vic Harradine)
Fielding Estate Winery ‘Chosen Few Red’ 2007
VQA Niagara Peninsula $75.15 13.8% alcohol
One of Niagara’s most exciting young winemakers, a spectacular red-wine vintage and meticulous grape and barrel selection coalesced into this b-cubed hedonistic red blend—brash, bold and beautiful. Needing at least 4 more years in bottle, it’s tight now, tasting as juicy, dense and thick as a barrel sample, with added charm. Dark toast, roasted herbs and spice-laden dark berry fruit on the nose, it coats the palate with teeth-staining waves of espresso roast, dark juicy succulent fruit—black currant, Bing cherry and black plum—adorned with fennel and kitchen spice. It’s full bodied, fully flavoured and sports a lingering fruit-filled finish framed by moderating acidity underpinned by firm unresolved tannin. Winemaker, Richie Roberts, suggest cellaring potential to 2020. Order for daily home or office delivery from Fielding . (V. Harradine)