Uncorked Ontario

Summer offical begins tomorrow, June 21, 2009, 1:45 A.M. EDT (summer solstice) but I am celebrating the start of this wonderful season today.

I am siting on my back porch, drinking from a bottle of Muscedere Vineyards Baco Noir Reserve 2007 and it just feels like summer is here already. Forgive me for starting my celebration a day early.

It rained heavy last night and the weatherman promised a rainy day but this is Essex County so never believe what the weather man has to say. Right now it sunny, warm, lot od those big white fuffy clouds in the sky, there is also a nice breeze out of the west. I wish all summer days were like this.

Wanda and I took a little drive around the county to visit a few vineyards. The vines have been pruned and new growth is well underway. At Aleksander Estate Winery we tasted their new Cabernet Franc which will be released soon. It was so good that preordered a case of it.

I am looking forward to the summer of 2009. I took a lot of time off of work and already have a few plans to keep me busy. Also I am looking forward to all of the new wine releases. It is going to be an wonderful summer.

Now is a good time to get out and visit the local wineries. They are not too busy and can spend some extra time with you to answer all of your questions.

Cheers .. to summer 2009!
Gary

A few local wineries celebrated Mother’s day by releasing several new wines.

Mastronardi Estate Winery: Release their 2007 Brianje VQA wine just in time for Mother’s Day! Join them for the launch of our newest Riesling. They say it’s stunningly fruity aromas and sweeter citrus flavours make it their best Riesling to date. It is the perfect Mother’s Day gift, a gift of life, as proceeds from the sale of each bottle is donated to Batten Disease Research, a charity close to the Mastronardi’s hearts. They also gave a long stemmed rose to every mother that visited the winery on Mother’s Day.

Aleksander Estate Winery. AEW Celebrates Mother’ Day & Chardonnay – treat Mom to a taste of their new 2008 Chardonnay paired with yummy treats. A wine tour in the County is a great way to spend time with Mom.

Muscedere Vineyards celebrated Mother’s Day with the release of two wines. A 2007 Baco Noir Reserve and their 2007 Unoaked Chardonnay.

The new wine releases come just in time too. Adding wines to the review site at EssexWineReview.com has slowed down over the past few weeks as I am waiting for more wineries to offer new wines.

Wanda and I didn’t visit any of our local wineries this weekend. Instead, we spend the weekend bottling some of our own wine. We will have a nice supply of riesling, oak chardonnay, and a couple of fruit wines ready for the summer. We are looking forward to trying the new wines and plan on visiting the wineries soon.

Wanda and I headed over to Aleksander Estate Winery yesterday. Twenty four lucky people were able to spend the afternoon with Aleksander’s with winemaker Izabela Muzzin as she took us on a tour of her vineyard. What a great way to spend a spring day.

With a glass of Aleksander’s Merlot in hand we headed out the vineyard. Aleksander’s Winery is located on land that was once the Lake Erie shore. Yes, where highway #3 (Essex Bypass) is now was once under water and part of Lake Erie. The soil at the winery is sandy a drains so well no tiling is needed.
 
Essex County is flat, there are a few hills and valleys but nothing that you really ever notice while driving around the county. Next time you are at Aleksander take note of the location. The winery is located in an area that is on one of the highest grounds above sea level in the county. (Almost 600 feet above Lake Erie).  Because of this they do not need wind mills to create any air inversions that the other local wineries need when the temperatures drop.

It’s time to cut back and prune the old vines at Aleksander’s Estate  Winery.  Izabela and Mark Muzzin explained the process to our group. Getting ready for the grape season this pruning is one of the most  important tasks of the growing season. If you have never seen this before it is amazing how much vine is cut off at this time. It’s a long process as each vine is pruned but Izabela stated that this was one of her favourite times in the vineyard. It’s a peaceful time for her when she is in the vineyard all day long.

We headed back inside the winery for some parallel wine tasting of the 2007 and 2008 Vidal. Isabela talked about how the conditions from each growing season gives the wines a different taste. Aleksander’s 2008 vidal (which hasn’t been bottled yet) is so fruity, and is going to be even better that their 2007(in my opinion).

We also parallel tasted Aleksander’s Cab Franc from 2006 (currently bottled and available at the winery) and yet to be released 2007 and 2008 Cabernet Francs.  The 07 and 08 were good, but still need to age a little in my opinion.
The taste difference from year to year in the reds was not as drastic as noted with the vidal.

We had a wonderful afternoon at Aleksander’s Estate Winery. It’s easy to see why they make such good wines that always seem to win awards. Mark and Izabela Muzzin showed their wine making passion. They love what they do and love to share with other their wine making knowledge.

Aleksander Winery plans to release their Baco on Friday, April 3rd. Stop by the winery from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and enjoy a taste of Baco and some savoury treats.