And another jigsaw done
Sunday, December 29th: My friend Leonard from Belgium (whom I met eons ago through the late Michael Carlevale) made his annual visit and stayed with us for three nights. He had visited another friend near the Potter Settlement winery in Tweed, Ontario, and brought back a couple of bottles, as well as two bottles of Belgian wines and some Belgian chocolates. At dinner we opened a bottle of On Seven Pursuit Chardonnay 2021 and Potter Settlement Sauvage Mélange Rouge 2021 (an off-shore blend).
Monday, December 30th: Lunched at Jordan House with Sue-Anne Staff and her husband Rob. Chicken wings and Guinness.
Leonard used to import Ontario wine into Antwerp and a major client was Henry of Pelham. So, Paul Speck invited us over to his house for drinks. Leonard bought over his Belgian wines – Clos d’Opleeuw Chardonnay 2014 and Quatre Mains 2022 (a Zweigelt/Gamay blend – which Henry of Pelham used to make.) Paul opened his Henry of Pelham Estate Pinot Noir 2020 and then we all walked over to dinner at Solaia Cucina e Cantine for dinner in St. Catharines. I ordered duck risotto, which was delicious. The wines: Sempre Mio Marsanne 2023 (from Lincoln Lakeshore), 2027 Cellars Chardonnay Grimsby Hillside Vineyard Frontier Block 2022, Icellars Chardonnay 2017, Black Bank Hill Cabernet Franc 2019 and Southbrook Cabernet Sauvignon 2020.
Tuesday, December 31st: Deborah and I decided to have a quiet New Year’s celebration at home. We made a lobster bisque with chunk of lobster and matched it with Henry of Pelham The Goat Lady Chardonnay 2023 (our new house white – I just purchased two cases, taking advantage of a limited time offer and no HST, which worked out to $13.02 a bottle – a real bargain!). At midnight, as the ball dropped, we cracked open a half bottle Phil Dowell’s Millésime Blanc de Blanc.
Wednesday, January 1st: Decided to start 2025 off with a bang, so I opened a bottle of Bouchard Père et Fils Domain de L’Enfant Jésus 2011, which we had with lamb chops. Superb.
Friday, January 3rd: Allison Findlay, winemaker at Niagara College, invited me to a ‘Sparkling Wine Dosage Trial’ at the college, to determine what was the best gram/litre addition of sweetened wine to be added to the Dean’s List 2019 Blanc de Blancs and 2019 Blanc de Noirs. We had five glasses in front of us – a Control with no dosage, followed by four glasses with 2 grams/litre, 4 grams/litre, 6 grams/litre and 10 grams /litre for the Blanc de Blancs (8 grams/lire for the Blanc de Noirs). The consensus as the best addition for the Blanc de Blancs would be 6 grams and for the Blanc de Noirs, 4 grams.
NIagara College sparkling wine dosage trial
Dean’s List 2019 Blanc de Blancs (6 grams/litre dosage)
Bright straw in colour with an active mousse of tiny bubbles; biscuity nose of green apple; medium-bodied, crispy dry, well-structured, well-balanced flavours of apple and lemon; lovely mouth feel, great length. (92)
Dean’s List 2019 Blanc de Noirs (4 grams/litre dosage)
Bright, straw colour; toasty, apple nose; dry, medium-bodied, long on the palate with a red apple flavour rounded with oak spice, finishing on a lemony note. Again, lovely mouth feel. (91)
