WHAT: The last five wine vintages in Niagara.
2008 — Wet and cool growing season. Aromatic white wine varieties fared much better than big red wines, especially those made with Bordeaux grapes.
2007 — A perfect vintage for red wines across the board. Some of the finest reds ever produced. White wines are good, as well, but not as crisp as in cooler years and not long-lived.
2006 — A slightly cooler than normal year but wine producers were just happy to have a decent crop with decent wines made after 2005.
2005 — Disaster. A bitterly cold winter killed off half the vines and many wineries couldn’t make a single bottle of wine. Any wine that was produced, however, was very good.
2004 — A hot fall resulted in ripe grapes producing complex white wines and nice Pinot Noir and Gamay for the reds.
By Rick VanSickle
Richie Roberts looks out over his vineyards on a cool, crisp October afternoon. The Merlot’s still hanging on the vine, plump and juicy, but the crop’s thinned back to only a few bunches per vine. 
 The Fielding winemaker takes a single grape and chucks it in his mouth. It’s sweet, ripe and a far cry from the doom and gloom one would expect from a summer and fall that offered little beyond relentless cool temperatures and wet, cloudy skies.
Those who lived through the Niagara growing season know perfectly well it was a season to forget. 
 Despite that, the Merlot at Fielding Estate Winery is looking quite good. A touch of high acidity was the only thing holding it back from the pickers. And the white aromatic grapes, most of them already fermenting, have fared quite well through a dreary growing season.
Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay will provide some good drinking in the years ahead, with high acids a hallmark of the vintage. 
 One of the real bright spots in the 2009 vintage, says Roberts (and Flat Rock Cellars’ owner Ed Madronich and other winemakers and growers agree), is the Pinot Noir.
Roberts takes his thief, a device used to extract wine from barrels in the cellar, and pours samples from two clones of his top Pinots picked from the Jack Rabbit Flats vineyard. The wine in both glasses is dark, dense, fruity, ripe and showing remarkably well after only eight days in the tank. 
 Roberts says the sugar content, measured in “brix,” are topping out at 23. That compares to 21 brix for the 2008 vintage and 23 brix for the excellent 2007 vintage.
Brix is a good indicator for the quality of the finished wine. The higher the sugar content of the grapes, the better the wine. It’s a sign of ripeness, crucial for a successful vintage. 
 Where the 2009 vintage will show signs of trouble is in the big red varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, some Merlot (though some growers report a surprisingly good crop) and the Italian varietals starting to be planted in Niagara.
Only those producers who thinned the crop and practised good vineyard management will make top Bordeaux-style reds. 
 Many winemakers will choose to de-classify some red grapes and blend them into lesser wines (which will raise the quality of those wines). 
 Of course, we won’t see the 2009 wines for a while. Still hitting the shelves are the 2007 reds and 2008 whites, both wonderful vintages with the 2007 reds the best Niagara has ever produced. Here are some new releases from those vintages to enjoy now that are recommended.
Fielding Estate Lot No. 17 Riesling 2008 ($25, web, winery, 4.5 stars) — This is a beautiful Riesling and, with only 200 cases made from a choice, small parcel of vines harvested at Fielding’s Beamsville Bench vineyard, you may want to get some quick. Peach, lime and tangerine linger seamlessly on the nose before erupting on the palate with bursts of peach, lemon-lime zest, grapefruit and just a little honey that cuts across racy acidity.
Fielding Estate Cabernet- Syrah 2007 ($25, web, winery) — Wonderful cassis, blackberry and tar-licorice-earthy aromas. It’s big on the palate with black fruits, Espresso, smoke and anise. A wild blend leading to a long finish on a firm bed of tannins.
Peller Estates Private Reserve Cabernet Franc 2007 ($20, winery, Vineyards Estate Wines, LCBO, 4.5 stars) — Raspberry, blueberry, currants and spice aromas all wrapped up in a toasty oak package. A fruit bomb on the palate bolstered by mocha and savoury notes all nicely balanced.
Peller Estate Private Reserve Merlot 2007($20, winery, Vineyards Estate Wines, LCBO) — Plum, blackberry, chocolate and spice notes on the nose. A really tasty wine in the mouth with earthy-spicy dark fruits that linger on the palate.
Peller Estates Private Reserve Meritage 2007($22, winery, Vineyards Estate Wines, LCBO) — A beautiful nose of red and dark fruits, sweet spices, tar and oak. It’s firm on the palate with mint-tinged fruit, spice and good balance.
Enjoy!
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