Delivering a follow-up top assemblage after the sensational 2007 Stratus Red was always going to be a tough challenge.
The 07 version of Stratus’s top red blend, and the wine from which all else made at the Niagara-on-the-Lake winery flows, was the very best Niagara red wine I tasted in 2010. And it keeps getting better as it develops in the cellar. I named it my top Niagara red of 2010, and other critics agreed, some giving it a perfect 5 out 5 stars and scores in the 90s. It is, as they say, a tough act to follow.
The wine was made from the hot and dry vintage of 2007, ideal for the art of assemblage employed at Stratus. It was built with predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, with other varieties, including Gamay, blended in to lift the aromatics and profile. It was (and is) sensational.
So how does winemaker J-L Groux follow that up in a cooler, wetter season like 2008?
First of all, Groux has the choice of each every block and barrel of designated red grapes (30 lots and 400 oak barrels) grown at the estate for the top wine. And he has the luxury of cutting yields to whatever he wants to achieve the ripeness he needs.
And, he believes in a long, extended hang-time for grapes in the vineyard. While many were bringing in icewine grapes in December of 2008, Groux was harvesting the last of the low-hanging Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Dec. 13 was his last pick for Cab.
The yields were cut in half from 2007 and 60% less wine was made for the top wine in 2008. The Cabernet Sauvignon alone was reduced to 1.3 tonnes per acre, a paltry yield, but necessary for the ripeness needed in the cuvee.
The 2008 assemblage ended up being Bordeaux-like in its make up (well, sort of) with Cabernet Franc making up the majority of the blend at 39%, Petit Verdot at 6% and the rest Cab. Sauvignon and Merlot in equal amounts.
As Groux said, “you have to be patient with a vintage like 2008.” Which means drastic thinning, low yields, picking late, managing the high acids, and an extended extraction.
I like what Groux has accomplished. It’s vastly different from the highly extracted, polished 2007 Stratus Red, but it is a remarkable achievement, given the vintage. It’s leaner in style, but wonderful in its complexity and closer aligned to a top cool-climate red assemblage. Here’s my review:
Stratus Red 2008 ($44, 90 points, Vintages Nov. 12, available at a futures price to Stratus wine club members in October and on a reservation basis in November at futures price of $36) — The Stratus Red 2007 is a tough act to follow. But with Stratus’s strict regime of low yields, late picking (up to early December), hand sorting and meticulous blending from specific lots and barrels, the 2008 is a startling good assemblage in a so-so red vintage. Winemaker J-L Groux cut the yield in half compared to 07 and produced 60% less wine for the winery’s top cuvee. It amounts to a more traditional (OK, Cab Franc-dominated isn’t exactly traditional, but the end result is) Bordeaux-style blend with a beautiful nose of cassis, raspberry, red currants, tobacco leaf, cedar and vanilla wood. It is youthful in the mouth with evident tannins (so cellar a bit to round things out) but with succulent fruit, savoury-earthy notes, integrated spices and vanilla through a long finish. Drink now with food or hold in cellar for a few years.
Some other reviews of soon to be or already released Niagara wines:
Stratus Gewurztraminer 2009 (32, winery now, Nov. 26 at Vintages, 91 points) — A wonderful example of this beautiful, spicy white variety. The nose shows sweet grapefruit, cloves, nutmeg, honeysuckle, lychee nut and lemon cream. It’s round and voluptuous on the palate with an oily texture, ripe fruits and gingerbread-clove spices. Best of all, it has retained a healthy core of acidity that shows on the finish, inviting sip after sip.
Flat Rock Cellars Gravity Pinot Noir 2009 ($30, 91 points, Vintages Nov. 12, winery now) — 2009 is proving to be a banner year for Pinot Noir in Niagara. At the top end, such as this Pinot from producer Flat Rock, the wines are exquisite. The Gravity delivers a seductive nose of cherries, plums, earth, cloves and other oak-influenced spices. On the palate it explodes with black cherry-raspberry, currants and sweet plums to go with fine tannins, minerality, toasty spices, and layers of complexity through the finish. Drink now or hold up to five years.
Chateau des Charmes Estate Chardonnay Musque 2009 ($17, winery, 88 points) — It has a highly fragrant white with apple, honeysuckle, pear and spicy aromas, despite it being a unoaked wine. Lovely mouth-feel on the palate with tropical-apple fruits and a note of citrus zing on the finish.
Stoney Ridge Simply White 2009 ($14, 87 points) — A nose of fresh citrus, lime, melon, grapefruit and apple-peach. Wonderful acidity on the palate, with clean and bright citrus and apple flavours to go with a pinch of spice from a little barrel aging. It’s mostly Chardonnay with 8% Sauvignon Blanc added in.
Enjoy!
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