A "Tasteful" Couple
By RICK VanSICKLE
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE — It's just not enough anymore to make great wines in Niagara. Wine is a lifestyle and represents only one aspect of healthy living and enjoyment. The other key ingredient is food. And the seamless integration of food and wine is what many wineries in Niagara have decided they want you to experience when you come and visit their wineries.
One winery that has tailored its entire program on the marriage of food and wine is Peller Estates Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake. This gorgeous jewel set among the peaceful vineyards just off the Niagara Parkway, close to the historic town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, is a spectacular example of how the chef and winemaker can come together and create a food and wine experience like no other.
- Imagine shucking oysters in the estates' Sauvignon Blanc vineyards, the very vineyards where the wine comes from and that you will be drinking with the oysters?
- Imagine a menu at the Peller Estates Winery Restaurant that is completely driven and inspired by (and in some cases made with) the wines made at the estate and each course meticulously matched to the best wine possible?
- Imagine a chef and winemaker who meet regularly to plan out menus and inspire each other — a winemaker who offers food suggestions and a chef who offers wine suggestions?
All this and more is happening at Peller. An exploration of food and wine with no borders from a chef, Jason Parsons, and a winemaker, Lawrence Buhler, who just get it and work together to achieve the highest standards imaginable.
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Mark Torrance, director of estate wineries at Peller, calls them "two peas in a pod." Torrance says "food and wine is at our core" and having the chef and winemaker working in unison towards that ultimate goal has made the experience at the winery successful. "The length of time people spend at the winery is growing and growing," he says. Food is so critical at Peller that all involved with the winery made a conscientious decision a few years ago to grow grapes and make wines that were more food friendly. "The freshness of the wines, the acidity in the wines, has drifted up," says Torrance, who adds, the wines were softer four years ago with the generous use of malolactic fermentation (to give wines their softness in the mouth) and made with less mouthwatering acidity. Today the wines are fresh, fruity and just go better with food.
To prove his point, Torrance starts bringing food and wine creations to our table at the gorgeous winery restaurant, with views out into the vineyards. First up is a locally prepared charcuterie plate, with most of the cured meats, jellies and assorted breads prepared on site, which the winemaker matches boldly with the Peller Estates Signature Series Ice Cuvee bubbly. The apricot, honey and apple flavours work brilliantly with the savoury cured meats. "From a consumer's point of view, this is the wine that puts a smile on everyone's face," says Torrance. Next, chef Parsons whips up a Niagara spring onion soup with roasted onion, wild garlic, lamb, Thunder Oak Gouda and horseradish croustade that is paired with the Peller Estate Private Reserve Gewurztraminer 2008. It's a lovely match with the spicy-floral notes of the wine working smarty with an explosion of strong flavours from the soup.
One of the most interesting pairings was Digby scallop and Aux Champs d'Elise foie gras with the Andrew Peller Signature Series 2008 Sauvignon Blanc. The dish consists of roasted scallop, new asparagus, chanterelle and goat cheese risotto and just the most delicate and textured slice of seared foie gras that showed off the barrel-aged Sauvignon Blanc beautifully. A heavenly match, indeed.
Our final dish was the Prairie Bison Rib Eye with cider glazed rapini, hot house grape tomatoes and potato gnocchi served with a 2004 Andrew Peller Signature Series Cabernet Sauvignon. A lovely way to enjoy a beautifully aged wine with a perfectly prepared cut of bison.
Peller Estates is a premiere destination for wine lovers because it does things right. The main facility is a busy hive of activity with tours, one of Niagara's largest tasting rooms and a winery restaurant that offers intimate indoor dining and gorgeous, more casual, dining on the large patio.
The wine program, built and maintained by winemaker Buhler, is crafted always with food in mind. Buhler is always asking: "How do we deliver wines that go with the food."
Peller produces about 30,000 cases of wine annually from the estate vineyards — approximately 20 acres of vines on site and another 240 acres elsewhere in Niagara.
It crafts wines in three different tiers:
- Peller Family Series — about $12 mostly sold at the LCBO and restaurants
- Private Reserve Series — between $17 and $20 sold at the estate and Peller's Vineyard Estate stores throughout Ontario
- Andrew Peller Signature Series — between $30 and $40, best of the best small batch wines made only in the best vintages.
Note: for reviews of some of Peller's top wines, CLICK HERE to go to Rick's Picks.
Another winery that crafts wines with food in mind is Reif Estates, beautifully situated along the Niagara Parkway in Niagara-on-the-Lake. With a solid portfolio of wines from top to bottom, when you think of Reif, you tend to think of the wonderful red wine program that Klaus Reif and winemaker Roberto DiDomenico are responsible for. They are built to go with food and show best when expertly matched to a special dish. And the ultimate in reds at this winery is the First Growth series that is only made in the very best vintages. The third version of this series was released earlier this year from the spectacular 2007 vintage. |
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At the pre-release lunch and tasting of the four First Growth wines, a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Merlot, DiDomenico explained the concept behind his ultra premium wines. "We want to produce wines as big and intense as possible," he said. "We can make world-class reds."
The formula for all the First Growth wines is for low yielding fruit (two tonnes per acre), hand harvested grapes only from estate vineyards and lightly pressed juice straight into oak barrels (U.S., French and Hungarian oak) for two to three years. For DiDomenico, the end result should show the "terroir" of the Reif vineyard and encapsulate the soil and climate from that vineyard in a superior vintage.
We enjoyed the four First Growth wines with a brilliantly matched four-course meal that was served in the barrel room of the estate winery. All four wines are $50, and only 200 cases of each were made (only available at the winery).
- Reif Estate First Growth Pinot Noir 2007 — This was served with a warm salad of peppered pan seared Kristapsons cold-smoked salmon matched amazingly well with the tightly-wound Pinot. The silky-smooth Pinot melted the bites of salmon in the mouth with its pretty and delicate red fruits and juicy acidity. It was a harmonious match with Pacific farmed salmon. DiDomenico stressed during the lunch that acid is key to the structure of his wines. "Our wines tend to more acidic. We embrace acidity. It works best with food as it washes the palate and gets the juices going."
- Reif Estate First Growth Merlot 2007 — At the level of First Growth, DiDomenico wants his Merlot to show a flinty, earthiness along with minerality and velvety tannins. It was matched with a charcuterie plate featuring local cured meats from Niagara's Mario Pingue. The spicy-salty meats and olives were another fabulous match with the earthiness of the Merlot.
- Reif Estate First Growth Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 — A fascinating wine that pair perfectly with a rustic beef stew that was made with a healthy dose of Cabernet-Merlot. Gorgeously tender beef and Cabernet from a great vintage. It doesn't get any better than that.
- Reif Estate First Growth Cabernet-Merlot 2007 — The wine is a 50-50 blend of Cabernet and Merlot that's nicely balanced with blackberry, plum, cassis fruits married to spice, minerals and earth. This was paired with a plate of Ontario cheeses and Niagara raisins that were made from seedless grapes at Reif Estate. Outstanding was the Quebec ermite blue cheese matched with the red blend and was a reminder how wonderful cheese can be as an accompaniment to fine wine.
For a chance to win the "Swing through Niagara-on-the-Lake" contest which includes lunch for two at the Peller Estates Winery Restaurant and a wine and cheese tasting at the Reif Estates Winery along with golf at Peninsula Lakes, accommodations at White Oaks Resort and a Shaw Festival presentation, CLICK HERE
Enjoy! winesniagara@gmail.com
07/10
