A few weeks ago I attended the Discover Chardonnay tasting at the Roy Thompson Hall here in Toronto. It was to finish off the International Cool Climate Chardonnay celebration taking place over the weekend in the Niagara wine region. I was so excited about this event. I couldn't make it out to wine country so I just let the wines of the world come to me. I just love chardonnay. I know that there are many people who are very "ABC": anything-but-chardonnay.
Well, I say to those ABCers: "try a cool climate chardonnay!"
I was eager and early
Ontario Represent!
So what's the big deal with cool climate chardonnay? Well, usually when you say "chardonnay", people often imagine a style of wine that's super buttery, oaky with high alcohol. Sometimes, this style of wine can also be quite flabby. This style of wine penetrated the marketplace and gave the grape a bad rap. Bigger ain't always better! This type of wine will often come from a warmer climate where the grapes ripen sometimes too well. The riper the grape, the more sugar it will have. When sugar increases, acid decreases. Acidity is what gives wine it's "zing!"...it's liveliness. Warmer climates sometimes have a harder time maintaining the acidity in their wines because, well, you guessed it - it gets too warm. Don't get me wrong, I've had some wonderful chardonnays from warmer climates. There are some stellar examples in my wine rack. I'm just saying that we need to start looking at the cooler climates of the world to save chardonnay from being alphabetized...no more ABC!
My favourite sound - pop!
What is considered a cool climate? Many factors contribute to creating a climate that is considered cool:
latitude (how far north or south the location is from the equator) altitude (how high up the vineyards are) proximity to large body of water (water acts like thermal regulator)
Cool climate chardonnays really show their sense of "place". They express where they were born and raised. Chardonnays coming from cooler climates are delicate, elegant and have wonderful minerality. They can be extremely refreshing (from that great acidity) and complex.
Candians make great wine!
It was great to see so many Ontario wineries represented. I'm a huge advocate of Canadian wine. Specifically, Ontario wine. We have such wonderful "cool climate" factors for producing examples of yummy mineral-driven chardonnay:
"Thirty Ontario wineries started the International Cool Climate Chardonnay Association – a not-for-profit group devoted to reinstating the dignity of chardonnay." - www.coolchardonnay.org
I'm a lover of Ontario Chardonnay. I'll shout it out loud! I did, however, taste some lovely Chardonnays from other parts of the world. Don't hate me Ontario. My love affair with you will never be overshadowed.
Vie di Romans
This Italian Chardonnay was one my personal highlights of the tasting. It was spectacular. Too bad you can't buy it anywhere yet!
"located within the DOC zone of Friuli Isonzo, in the most easternmost area of northern Italy, close to the Slovenian border. The Adriatic is barely 20 km (1243 miles) to the south, and the first slopes of the Alps about 30 km (1864 miles) to the north."
The second family featured by the Grape Growers of Ontario is the Funk family. What a cool name. I bet they've got the funk...for grapes! Ok ok, bad bad joke. What can I say, I love the music from the 1970s...especially funk! :)
Taking care of the vines
In this video, the Funk family discuss their favourite grape varieties to grow and how each grape variety has it's own unique challenges. It must be such hard work to maintain a vineyard. Not only are you at mercy of the weather but you have to fight off all types of pests and diseases that could potentially ruin your crop. I have such respect for grape growers. It certainly isn't for the faint of heart! I completely agree with the statement that you need good quality grapes to produce good quality wine. I guess you could say that wine making starts in the vineyard!
The Funk family discuss one of the elements that they (as well as other Ontario grape growers) fight with in their vineyard - humidity. Anyone living here in Ontario know that we have lots of humidity. Why is humidity so bad for a vineyard? Too much of it promotes disease and mildew. The vineyard climate has so much to do with the overall health and quality of the grapes which I'll say again, has so much to do with the quality of the finished wine. You can't make good wine from bad grapes!
From the Grape Growers of Ontario website:
Great wine starts in the vineyard.
The Funk Family
Doug Funk, his son Doug Jr, and his brother Randy tend the family vineyards in Niagara, Ontario.
Having grown up on a fruit farm, working in the vineyards with their grandfather and uncles, the Funk family knows that good wine starts with good quality grapes. The Grape Growers of Ontario invite you to meet our growers and watch the vineyards mature throughout the season. In our latest video, the Funks walk you through their Riesling vineyards when they are in mid bloom.
I'm starting to post my wines of the week! This will feature one red and one white. Hopefully I truly will do it every week. :) I'll try to post more of value wines that I taste. You know, the stuff that's great for the $$. On the main page, you should see a link labeled "Wine of the Week". Hopefully you'll enjoy my picks! I'm working on a few other posts as well. One is all about VQA (vee-q-wha?) and the other article is a recap of the Cool Climate Chardonnay tasting that I attended last week. On a side note, I've been dealing with a death in the family so my blogging hasn't been very active but hopefully I'll post something soon.
