Jeff Moote gets the boot as the 2026 Paul Pender Rising Star Award
Monday, June 15th: Andrzej Lipinski invited me to Big Head for a tasting of his newly bottled 2023 wines.
Lipinski Chenin Blanc Sparkling 2023 ($65)
Pale straw in colour; biscuity, reductive nose of apple; medium-bodied, crisply dry, elegant, beautifully balanced, green apple flavour with a honeyed note in mid-palate. (91)
Big Head Pinot Gris 2024 ($22)
Straw colour with a coppery tint; minerally, peach pit nose; full-bodied, dry, richly extracted peach flavour rounded with oak notes. Great length. (90)
Big Head No. 3 White (30% Sauvignon Blanc 2023, 17% Viognier 2024, 17% Chardonnay 2024, 15% Viognier 2023, 13% Pinot Gris 2024, 6% Pinot Gris 2023, 2% Riesling 2023; $25)
Golden straw in colour; yellow plum bouquet; full-bodied, dry, richly extracted peach and melon flavours; beautifully balanced; great length. (90)
Big Head No. 14 Red (50% Cabernet Franc, 10% Syrah, 5% Merlot, 2.5% Petit Verdot, 2.5% Malbec; $29)
Deep purple in colour; expressive nose of plum and blackberry with oak spice; full-bodied dry, richly extracted black fruit flavours; beautifully balanced and firmly structured. (89–91)
Big Head Pinot Noir 2023 ($50)
Ruby colour; cedary, toasty, black raspberry nose; full-bodied, dry, mouth-filling, muscular but juicy; firmly structured, black plum and raspberry flavours. Not your usual Niagara Pinot! (89)
Big Head Syrah 2023 (10% Viognier; $65)
Deep purple in colour; spicy blackberry and white pepper nose with oak notes; full-bodied (15.6% alc.), dry richly extracted black fruit flavours, firmly structured and beautifully balanced. (93)
Big Head Bigger Select Red 2023 (65% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Dornfelder, Alicante Bouchet, 3.5% Syrah, 1.5 Petit Verdot, 0.5% Cabernet Sauvignon; $65)
Dense purple; cedary, vanilla nose of black fruits; full-bodied (15.8% alcohol), dry; juicy, firmly structured; evident but ripe tannins. Great length. (90)
Big Head Merlot Select 2023 ($60)
Dense purple; vanilla, black fruit bouquet; full-bodied (15.4% alcohol), richly extracted blackberry and black plum flavours; firmly structured and beautifully balanced. (92)
Big Head Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 ($70)
Deep purple in colour; cedary, blackcurrant and black plum bouquet with vanilla oak notes; full-bodied, dry, richly extracted, firmly structured juicy black fruit flavours; lovely mouth-feel.(91)
Big Head Select Cabernet Franc 2023 ($100)
Dense purple in colour; cedary, black plum nose with oak spice; full-bodied (15.9% alcohol), dry, richly extracted plum and currant flavours; firmly structured with ripe tannins and a warm alcoholic finish. (90)
Big Head RAW Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 ($80)
Dense purple in colour; floral, blackcurrant and black plum bouquet; full-bodied, dry, richly extracted and mouth-filling, juicy cassis flavour; beautifully balanced; lovely mouth-feel. (92)
Big Head Savagnin 2024 ($34)
Light straw in colour; lovely nutty-floral nose; medium to full-bodied, crisp, elegant kiwi and melon flavours. Great length. (90)
Big Head Family Label Viognier 2024 ($90)
Golden straw colour; honeysuckle and peach on the nose; full-bodied (15.4% alcohol), dry, richly extracted, voluptuous, fleshy, spicy, juicy peach flavour. A beautifully balanced wine. (92)
Big Head Pinot Noir 2014 ($150)
Ruby-crimson in colour; raspberry and vanilla bouquet; medium- to full-bodied, firmly structured, black raspberry flavour, Evident ripe tannins, needs 2–3 years cellaring. (90–92)
Big Head Syrah 2023
Big Head Family Label Syrah 2023 (10% Viognier; 30 months in oak; $200)
Deep purple in colour; blackberry and vanilla nose with a note of white pepper; full-bodied, dry, richly extracted blackberry and mulberry flavours. Firmly structured and beautifully balanced – a seamless wine.
When I tasted this wine on April 1st this year, I wrote: Deep ruby-purple; spicy, vanilla, blackberry bouquet; full-bodied, dry, juicy, powerful; prominent new oak flavours currently masking the rich black fruit flavours. (97 – could be 100 when finally bottled in November.)
Well, this Syrah, with the extra oak ageing (30 months), certainly delivered, and this is the first Ontario wine to which I’ve given 100 points!
Family Label Syrah 2023 (10% Viognier; terracotta; $200)
Deep purple in colour; concentrated bouquet of blackberry and cracked pepper; full-bodied, dry, rich blackberry flavour that fills the mouth and lingers. An amazing wine! in Northern Rhone style. (100)
Tuesday, June 16th: GO-trained into Toronto for the presentation of the Lieutenant Governor’s Awards of Excellence in Ontario Wine.
Non-alcoholic cocktail at George Brown’s Lieutenant Governor’s Wine Awards ceremony
| Thirty Bench | Wild Cask Cabernet Franc | Beamsville Bench VQA | Cabernet Franc |
| Thirty Bench | Small Lot Riesling “Triangle Vineyard” | Beamsville Bench VQA | Riesling Semi-Dry (less than 7 gm/L Sugar) |
| King and Victoria Winery | Cabernet | Creek Shores VQA | Meritage and Cabernet/Merlot blends |
| Niagara College Teaching Winery | 2019 Dean’s List Blanc de Noirs | Four Mile Creek VQA | Sparkling Wine – Traditional method |
| Ravine Vineyard | Riesling Icewine | Four Mile Creek VQA | Icewine – Vinifera |
| Magnotta Winery | Chardonnay Limited Edition VQA | Niagara Peninsula VQA | Oaked Chardonnay: Over $20 |
| Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery | The School House Cabernet-Merlot | Niagara Peninsula VQA | Meritage and Cabernet/Merlot blends |
| Magnotta Winery | Kittling Ridge Vidal Icewine VQA | Niagara Peninsula VQA | Icewine – Vidal |
| Fielding Estate Winery | Cabernet-Syrah | Niagara Peninsula VQA | Other Reds |
| Strewn | Premium Cabernet Sauvignon | Niagara Peninsula VQA | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Peninsula Ridge Estates Winery Ltd | Sauvignon Blanc | Niagara Peninsula VQA | Sauvignon Blanc |
| The Grange of Prince Edward | Estate Series Chardonnay | Prince Edward County VQA | Oaked Chardonnay: Over $20 |
| The Grange of Prince Edward | Estate Series Riesling | Prince Edward County VQA | Riesling Semi-Dry (less than 7 gm/L Sugar) |
Doris Miculan Bradley, organizer of the Ontario Wine Awards for George Brown, with Niagara College’s Lieutenant Governor Award for their Blanc de Noir 2019
Wednesday, June 17th: My friend Julian Hitner drove down from Toronto to taste Niagara Chardonnay. Thomas Bachelder kindly offered us a tasting – and Thomas never does anything by halves. We ended up tasting seven Pinot Noir single vineyard before starting on the 2023 Chardonnays – see reviews from a previous tasting at Bachelder 2023 Release Tasting – and then we tasted three Bachelder Gamay Noir 2024.
Thomas Bachelder and his Pinots
Thursday, June 18th: A dry day. No wine.
Friday, June 19th: Dinner at Meg and Phil’s. I brought a bottle of Big Crush from Australia and Phil opened a bottle of Kew Sparkling wine and Penfolds Koonunga Hill 2024 and Black Bank Hill Cabernet Franc 2023.
Saturday, June 20th: An outdoor concert at Old Lock One Commons in Port Dalhousie, featuring The Revolution Steel Band and InfraRed.
Sunday, June 21st: Father’s Day. Dinner: Barbecued hamburgers and a bottle of Cono Sur Bicicleta Cabernet Sauvignon.
