Fielding Estate winemaker Richie Roberts, and, by extension, owners Curtis and Heidi Fielding, aren’t afraid to throw down the wine gauntlet and experiment with their portfolio.
It is what has helped establish the tiers of Riesling and Pinot Gris at Fielding. It’s what has driven the fine red wine program, especially in warmer vintages, and the reluctance to make inferior reds in the cooler vintages. Sometimes it just takes a good homegrown boy to make good homegrown wine.
Roberts was raised in Niagara, studied at Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute, spent a summer at Le Clos Jordanne, worked a crush at Hillebrand and was snapped up J.L. Groux to be assistant winemaker at Stratus Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
It was there Roberts learned the fine art of blending and assemblage, from Groux, a meticulous master at blending grapes, oak styles, vineyards and blocks within vineyards.
When Roberts was hired to work at Fielding as the winemaker, all that knowledge has been slowly applied to that Beamsville Bench winery’s wine program. It is a well-thought out program with clearly delineated tiers of wines that represent different styles of single variety wines (and some clever blends) at different price points and simple, yet elegant, label designs.
What Fielding and Richie do so well is identifying what grapes will make the best wines in a particular vintage and what just doesn’t cut it.
In 2009, for example, Fielding only made two red wines — the Fielding Estate Red Conception ($19) and Pinot Noir. Usually in better years the winery makes up to seven red wines, many of them award winners. So to taking those wines out of the portfolio for a year (and often more as in 2008 and 2009) is a risky move, but one I wish more wineries would adopt.
In the off-red vintages, Fielding concentrates on building an exciting white wine portfolio. In the 2010 vintage, Fielding has established a clearly defined tiering of Riesling and Pinot Gris from top to bottom as well as building some interesting fresh white blends.
Add to that a new label for the “Estate” series wines, its popularity at the LCBO (some bottlings are only made now for distribution at the LCBO and are not available at the winery) and growing consumer awareness of this pretty winery on the Beamsville Bench with arguably some of the best views of Lake Ontario in Niagara and you have a winery that has firmly established itself as a successful, friendly and inviting mid-size destination winery.
Walk into Fielding on any day, winter, spring, summer or fall, and you are greeted warmly, often by Curtis, Heidi or Richie, who are never far from the winery, or one of the friendly winery staff. It just feels comfortable enjoying wine from the bright tasting room or on the deck with those magnificent views.
Here are some Fielding “summer” wines recently tasted with Richie:
Fielding Estate Rock Pile Pinot Gris 2010 ($30, only a little left at the winery, 93 points) — In my opinion, the benchmark for Pinot Gris in Niagara. It sells out fast and there were only 110 cases made. Fielding’s successful Gris program now has three tiers: Rock Pile, the estate Pinot Gris, and the entry level Gris. Rock Pile Gris comes from the Jack Rabbit Flats Vineyard from vines at least 25 years or older with 80% of the fruit barrel fermented in neutral oak. This is the best Rock Pile yet. Such an aromatic nose of mango, peach, melon, sweet vanilla oak and a spicy caramel kick. It’s round and textured on the palate with ripe tropical, pear fruit, layers of spice, apple-caramel and a long, long finish. Wow. Tasted twice now.
Fielding Pinot Gris 2010 ($19, LCBO only at the end of July, 88 points) — Made slightly off-dry in a fruity style with tropical, peach and apple aromas. It tastes fresh in the mouth (there is no oak) with ripe fruits and moderate acid.
Fielding Esate Pinot Gris 2010 ($23, winery now, Vintages in August, 90 points) — Also from Jack Rabbit Flats Vineyards but from younger vines. A nose of musk, melon, pear, coconut and some minerality. It’s rich and ripe on the palate with lovely texture, balanced spice and length through the finish. Medium acid, partially barrel fermented fruit.
Fielding Estate Chardonnay 2009 ($23, Vintages in the fall, 88 points) — 100% barrel fermented and barrel aged for nine months. The nose shows vanilla toast, pear, apple and citrus. It’s clean and fresh on the palate with pear-tropical fruits, minerals and subtle oak. Just a nicely balanced Chard.
Fielding Estate Lot 17 Riesling 2010 ($26, winery, 92 points) — Only a measly 100 cases are available of this top single-vineyard Riesling grown on the estate from 17 rows of vines you can see from the tasting room deck. This is a Riesling that is finished with 36 g/l of residual sugar and 9% alcohol with fairly vibrant acidity. The nose kicks off with highly concentrated notes of sweet peach, mango, apple and minerals just starting to emerge. It’s highly extracted and honey-kissed on the palate but balanced out by the acidity. A really nice Mosel-style Riesling for drinking now or up to five years. Wendel Clark would approve (sorry, inside joke).
Note: We also tasted the Fielding Cabernet-Syrah 2008 that won’t be released until the fall in Vintages ($25, 87 points), with good bramble fruit, pepper and smoky-spicy notes, and two other reds that I’m highly anticipating as they age in oak barrels. The 2010 Syrah, with fruit sourced from the Lowrey Vineyard in St. Davids Bench, is a gorgeous wine in development and headed the way the 2007 Fielding Syrah went — to many tooth-staining awards. Roberts also showed me a stunning Cabernet Franc, also from the Lowrey vineyards, that reminded me of some great Cab Francs made in Napa Valley except this one has the vibrancy and tension that Napa doesn’t. Can’t wait!
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And a few other wines I’ve tasting recently:
Calamus White 2010 ($13, winery, 86 points) — A blend of 85% Riesling, 10% Chardonnay and a bit of Gewurztraminer. The nose is a mix of sweet pear, apricot and pineapple. The mouth shows quince, apple and tropical fruits in an off-dry style. A nice little affordable porch sipper.
Calamus Cosmic White 2009 ($15, winery and heading to Vintages in January, 87 points) — A similar blend to the above wine with a melon, citrus, apple and floral nose. It’s made in an off-dry style with apple, peach and sweet notes balanced out by fresh acidity.
Vintage Ink Rite Of Passage Chardonnay 2010 ($17, Aug. 20 Vintages release only, 87 points) — From the Vincor group of companies comes this debut standalone label, a 100% VQA Chardonnay made from a blend of three different Niagara vineyards. The nose shows pear, vanilla, tropical fruits and creamy notes. It’s lightly oaked and reveals creamy pear fruit, nice texture and soft, fruity flavours.
Vintage Ink Mark Of Passion Merlot-Cabernet 2009 ($18, Vintages only on Sept. 10, 86 points) — From the difficult 2009 vintage, this red blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon shows lovely currants, blackberry, cloves, oak, spice and a touch of warm cherries on the nose. It’s a fruit-forward wine, smooth on the palate and built for near-term sipping. Pretty good effort considering the cool vintage.
Enjoy!
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