(April 3, 2016) … So what started out as a couple of Chardonnays turned into a mix of red and white night, let’s take a look at how some of these older wines did:
Lailey 2008 Chardonnay Old Vines … This is one of those wines that makes me look at the new project by former Lailey winemaker Derek Barnett (Meldville Wines) with excitement. Here we have an 8 year old Chardonnay that is in perfect working order. Nose is full-on butterscotch, marzipan, and hazelnut; while the palate has all that buttery, spicy, goodness plus acidity to spare. As the wine sat in glass it developed more complexity with spiced-caramel, a little salty-mineral, and some pleasant pralines.
Daniel Lenko 2010 Chardonnay American Oak … Stepping it up two years and we see the influence of American Oak on Ontario old vines Chardonnay. Lots of caramel, vanilla, apple-peach-pear, but for the most part it’s subtle of fruit and big on vanilla-caramel … The palate seems to also follow suit with Werther’s original butterscotch / toffee and vanilla-spice flavours taking over … There seems to be a thick (read creamy) viscous note to the palate but with good acidity which stops it from being to cloying and heavy (something I usually associate with icewine and not Chardonnay).
Flat Rock 2007 Pinot Noir … My first red was the wine that flavoured the stew that morning (opened at 9am) … you just knew I would taste it at that time and then again at 6:30pm when we sat down to dinner – in the proceeding hours the black, sour cherry and smoked-cranberry flavours had oxidized, and while the acidity was still quite good the smoky-earthy notes had started to take over the wine – my advice here is that it is ready to drink so just go for it.
Featherstone 2010 Cabernet Franc … Long a go-to Franc for those who like the grape, this annual value staple from
Featherstone has aged very well. The nose is pretty much where I expect it to be at 6 years of age, with earthy, tobacco, and cassis aromas followed by smoky-tobacco, earthy and spiced sour raspberry/strawberry on a silky smooth palate, adding a touch of white pepper to the finish. Lovely. Dirnking well now and most likely for the next couple of years.
Click on wine name above to see original review.