David Lawrason’s Weekly Wine Pick: a Niagara chardonnay that punches above its weight
Ravine Vineyard 2010 Chardonnay
$24.00 | Niagara Peninsula | 91 points
This weekend, 55 wineries from around the world are gathering in Niagara to showcase their “cool climate” chardonnays, a style that’s right in Ontario’s wheelhouse. Burgundy produces the benchmark of this style, with wines that are powerful, complex, firm, cellar-worthy and hopefully not too oaky. Ravine is a relative newcomer on the Niagara scene, making very serious wines from the get-go.
The taste: The hot 2010 vintage produced many soft, unfocused wines with low acid, but this one maintains a sense of firmness and poise. It’s not flashy, but it is very complex, with compact aromas of dried peach, nougat, gentle wood spice and some minerality. The wine is mid-weight and fairly dense, with nicely sustained flavours. All-in-all, it offers more than expected for the money—some bottles of this quality sell for twice the price.
How to drink it: It will be best enjoyed over the next three years, perhaps a bit longer if you like more mature, honeyed and nutty flavours. Don’t over-chill; just 30 minutes in the fridge should do it. It would pair nicely with grilled white meats, whether chicken or fish, especially when served with mushrooms.
Bought a bottle of this on his recommendation. Typical Ontario wine, too much oak and little else. Perfect for the Toronto “me too crowd”.
What the hell is the “me too crowd”? haters gonna hate.
This product was awesome. We went to the vinyard and was blown away with the food & the wine, their bio dynamic method of producing wines and the story behind the wine was pretty awesome too. Support your local economy and your local wine makers. Ontario wines have come a long way, and we need people in our own province to realize what the rest of the world see’s. That we are pretty AWESOME! :) Check out Featherstone as well. Pretty awesome vinyards.