On the Road with the Grape Guy

Taste Ontario 2025

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

(May 2025) ... Recently, I posted my top wines from Cuvée. A month later, Taste Ontario happened. This is where the Ontario wine producers take over a venue and pour a number of their their wines.

This year, it was held at The Quay in Toronto. While I appreciate the opportunity to taste as many Ontario wines as possible, they secured a venue that was a little confusing. There was a primary room that housed the majority of wines from Lake Erie North Shore, Prince Edward County, and the Bench. But Niagara-on-the-Lake got short-shrifted into a room down a hall and past some sitting area. Plus, not all of them were in there. When I left and boarded my train back home, only then did I realize that anything S and beyond was missing from my tasting notes.

Next year, if the venue remains the same, better signage is a must.

Here is a list of the best wines from Taste Ontario.

THE TOP WINES ...
(with notes)

Divergence Wines NV MV Brut One    
Lincoln Lakeshore - $ 33.00
Chardonnay (42%) and Pinot Noir (58%) from the 2021/2020 vintage - spending 28 months on lees: lovely complexity and acidty and a fantastic finish - lots of biscuits and toasty sensations.  (**** ½) 
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Bachelder 2022 Chardonnay Les Villages Bench
Niagara Escarpment - $ 34.95     
Tropical fruits like pineapple meet pear and nice minerality, here the acidity slaps.  (****+)

Creekside Estate Winery 2022 Iconoclast Syrah
St David's Bench - $ 30.00
20 months in oak helps produce a smoky-raspberry wine with lots of pepper - this one is pure Syrah at its core.  (****+)

Domaine Queylus 2023 Chardonnay Signature
Niagara Peninsula - $ 26.00     
Pretty floral with notes of apple, pear and tropical fruit.  (****+)

Kern & Co. 2018 Rapanaro Vineyard Cabernet Franc
Creek Shores - $ 49.00     
Nice ripeness of fruit from the mediocre 2018 vintage: smooth and silky across the palate, this one hits the sweep spot for good Franc; best of all, it’s ready to drink.  (****+)
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Black Bank Hill 2021 Égalité    
Lincoln Lakeshore - $ 40.00
Equal part Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot / Cabernet Franc - it's from the 2021 vintage, so I expected a light wine. But this one has a surprising fruit driven core. A lovely expression of a wine that had the potential to be so much worse, and yet has turned into something so lovely. It’s an eye-opener as to how good a wine can be in a poor vintage if care is taken – the acidity just takes it up another notch.  (****)

Closson Chase Vineyards 2023 Brock Chardonnay
Niagara River - $ 24.95
Good crispness with plenty of apple and pear.  (****)

Cloudsley Cellars 2021 Pinot Noir, Hanck Vineyard 
Twenty Mile Bench - $ 53.00     
Earthy and fruity, spicy with great, and surprising, licorice notes; finishes pretty and floral.  (****)

Cloudsley Cellars 2023 Chardonnay, Twenty Mile Bench    
Twenty Mile Bench - $ 36.93     
Creamy pineapple puree with apples and spice.  (****)

Creekside Estate Winery 2024 Backyard Block Sauvignon Blanc    
Creek Shores - $ 24.95     
Really zippy and fresh with a lively grapefruit punch.  (****)

Hidden Bench Estate Winery 2022 Chardonnay
Beamsville Bench - $ 31.95     
Creamy but also has a smoky character; you’ll also find peach and pear fruit with a long finish.  (****)

Huff Estates Winery 2023 Huff's Corners Pinot Noir
Prince Edward County - $ 40.00     
70% of the wine spends time in neutral oak, keeping the fruitiness, but also adding texture: earthy, cran-cherry- rhubarb and spicy.  (****)

Inniskillin Winery 2022 Reserve Cabernet Franc    
Niagara Peninsula - $ 19.95     
Lovely fruit forward nature with good smoky content.  (****)

Kern & Co. 2018 Foxcroft Vineyard Chardonnay
Twenty Mile Bench - $ 42.00
Super pretty wine. Spends time in new oak (25%), has great acid punch; drinks well now, but is on the cusp of old; a little creamed corn and peachy on the finish. I’d drink this now-2026.  (****)

Meldville Wines 2023 Sauvignon Blanc
Lincoln Lakeshore - $ 20.00
Vibrant and fresh - lovely and peachy. A good expression of Ontario Savvy B.  (****)

Rosehall Run Vineyards 2022 JCR Chardonnay
Prince Edward County - $ 36.00
Nicely balanced fruit core with apple leading the charge. Spends time in 100% barrel French for a mere 6 months, of which 25% is new - nice finish.  (****)

Rosehall Run Vineyards 2022 JCR Pinot Noir
Prince Edward County - $ 45.00     
Mineral and stony. A solid offering with good acidity, and cranberry-cherry fruit. This one spends 18 months in French oak, of which 25% is new.  (****)

The Grange Of Prince Edward 2023 Estate Series Chardonnay
Prince Edward County - $ 34.10     
Spicy with a lovely mouthfeel: apple, slightly musque-like, and a long finish.  (****)

Trail Estate Winery 2020 Cabernet Franc Twenty Mile Bench - $ 58.00     
19 months in oak, fruit comes from the Foxcroft vineyard in Niagara: spicy, and fruit forward with notes of blueberry, black cherry and black raspberry.  (****)
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THREE-AND-A-HALF PLUS
                        
Bachelder 2022 Pinot Noir Les Villages - Niagara Escarpment ($34.95)         
Black Bank Hill 2022 Cabernet Franc - Lincoln Lakeshore ($50.00)         
Closson Chase Vineyards 2022 South Clos Chardonnay - Prince Edward County ($50.00)         
Divergence Wines 2022 Sauvignon Blanc Brut - Niagara Peninsula ($20.00)         
Domaine Queylus 2020 Mountainview Pinot Noir - Lincoln Lakeshore ($80.00)     
Drea's Wine Co. 2022 Cabernet Franc - Niagara Peninsula ($36.50)

Henry Of Pelham 2023 The Shadow Rock Estate Sauvignon Blanc - Short Hills Bench ($21.61)         
Henry Of Pelham 2023 Three Hills Estate Chardonnay - Short Hills Bench ($20.48)         
Inniskillin Winery 2022 Reserve Chardonnay - Niagara Peninsula ($19.95)         
Inniskillin Winery 2023 Discovery Series Blanc De Franc - Niagara Peninsula ($23.19)         
Redstone Winery 2021 Estate Syrah - Lincoln Lakeshore ($40.95)         
The Grange Of Prince Edward 2023 Estate Series Cabernet Franc - Prince Edward County ($36.36)         
Westcott Vineyards 2022 Block 76 Chardonnay - Vinemount Ridge ($50.00)
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THREE-AND-A-HALF
                    
Broken Stone Winery 2021 Amour Traditional Method Sparkling - Prince Edward County ($44.95)
Icellars Estate Winery 2024 Cervus - Niagara-on-the-Lake ($25.00)
MW Cellars 2023 Pinot Blanc - Niagara-on-the-Lake ($21.00)
MW Cellars 2024 Sauvignon Blanc - Niagara-on-the-Lake ($21.00)

The Bertani Podcast Tie-In Tasting

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

Recently, we sat down with Serena Bonaventura to discuss Veneto wines, and in particular Bertani wines, their history, and their outlook towards their own and the region's future. You can find that discussion here.

But there was another side: a luncheon in the spring, where Serena hosted and talked through six wines from the winery, including their hundred-point Amarone and their new Cru Valpolicella. Those who follow me regularly will know it was not the hundred-point wine that excited me—it was the idea that Valpolicella, a blended wine, would consider the idea of Cru, single vineyard, in the making of their wines. Two of those wines are below.

THE WINES

Bertani 2022 Ognisanti di Novare - Valpolicella Classico Superiore 
(95% Corvina Veronese / 5% Rondinella)
Wine spends one year in used barrels then 6 months in bottle: this is cru Valpolicella, richer red fruit, strawberry, nice spice and hints of pepper with good acidity.  (**** ½)

Bertani 2024 Ripasso Valpantena    
(70% Corvina / 20% Corvinone / 10% Rondinella)
Reddish and blackish fruit inter-weave with red licorice, anise, and herbal, there’s also a subtly spicy, black cherry and peppery finish - nice acidity without going over-board.  (****+)

Bertani 2015 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
(80% Corvina / 20% Rondinella)
Aged 7 years in Slavonian oak … black cherry and licorice along with spices, smoke, and tobacco. Ready now or lay it down.  (****+)

Bertani 2022 Le Miniere di Novare - Valpolicella Classico Superiore    
(70% Corvina / 20% Corvinone / 10% Rondinella)
Super light and subtle cherry; this is easy drinking with sour cherry, and subtle pepper - this could easily be mistaken for Pinot Noir. Made using 20 year old vines, and the vineyard is situated above a mine shaft (Le Miniere), all concrete made and aged: 6-9 months, then 6 months in bottle. This is also Cru Valpolicella; and a very different expression of the wine.  (****+)

Bertani 2023 Sereole Soave Classico
(Garganega)
Classico Soave, named after the plot (Sereola) - fresh and vibrant with good acidity; lemon/lime and floral -  touched lightly by French oak.  (****)

Bertani 2024 Valpolicella Valpantena
(80% Corvina / 20% Rondinella) 
6 months in oak / 3 months in bottle ... lots of red fruit, good acidity, red raspberry, plump strawberry; light in colour, with subtle earthy notes and a hint of balsamic and coffee on the finish. This is an every day wine, but elevated.  (****)