If you were thinking that winemaker Craig McDonald, above, is getting comfortable with his wine portfolio at Trius, now that he has shaped it into one of the most impressive and complete in Ontario, you would be sorely mistaken.
He is just getting started.
Since being lured away from Creekside winery in the summer of 2010 and hired as chief winemaker for the Peller family of wines, including the flagship Peller Estates, Trius, Thirty Bench, and Gretzky wines in Niagara, McDonald has continued to put his stamp on every drop of wine that comes through the winery.
He works closely with his winemaking teams in Ontario and B.C. to shape the company’s wines into distinct and separate products from brand to brand.
Having recently completed the transformation of the Hillebrand brand over to the highly successful Trius range of wines, McDonald has allowed himself some time working on his coveted “Showcase” wines. These are handmade wines produced in small quantities that express the character of the soil and the personality of the vineyard in the best fruit he sources or grows in any given vintage. This is where McDonald can get back to his roots of making personable, small-lot wines with less emphasis on volume and more attention to creativity.
Not only does McDonald search for the best grapes for his Showcase wines, he pushes the boundaries in terms of winemaking tools, using interesting techniques such as wild fermentation and concrete fermenters for many of the wines to give them a one-of-a-kind personality.
With the successful release this summer of the Trius Showcase 5 Blanc de Noirs Sparkling 2009 at both the winery and Vintages, McDonald is unleashing a flurry of sparkling wines under the Trius label.
He says sparkling wine has taken off in Ontario with the winery’s flagship sparkler, the Trius Brut, up nearly 20% since McDonald took the reins from previous winemaker Darryl Brooker.
Consumers will begin seeing a slew of interesting bubbles released over the next 4-6 months, including a Trius Brut Nature (no dosage, meaning no sugar added), a blanc de blancs (100% Chardonnay) made from a blend of three different vintages from fruit sourced at the Oliveira Vineyard, a new Trius Brut Rose and maybe a traditionally-made Riesling sparkler from Ghost Creek Vineyard (trials have begun and McDonald hasn’t quite decided on this).
“It’s the start of a flurry of four or five coming out, one every 4-5 months,” he says.
All that while maintaining the quality of the flagship, Trius Brut, one of Ontario’s best sparkling buys at $25.
With the Trius Showcase lineup beginning to find a steady rhythm, with a slick marketing campaign matching the unique style of wines from top estate and grower fruit, only one other area of the portfolio needs tweaking (for now), in McDonald’s opinion … and that’s Pinot Noir.
“It’s become my focus. Directionally, a real focus for us,” he says.
What that means exactly, we’ll have to wait and see. But one thing is clear: When McDonald gives his full attention to something, good things happen.
Here’s what I tasted and liked with McDonald recently on the terrace of the Trius Winery Restaurant, where Chef Frank Dodd expertly paired McDonald’s wines to his cuisine.
Trius Showcase 5 Blanc de Noirs 2009 ($65, 93 points, previously reviewed, retasted with McDonald) — When I first tasted this, a year ago before it even had a name, I was thoroughly impressed. Retasting it with McDonald recently has only confirmed my initial notes. This is one hell of sparkling wine. It is a blend of 70% Pinot Noir from the Lawrie Vineyard (Four-Mile Creek) and 30% Pinot Meunier. It spent five years on its lees with only a tiny amount of sugar added to the dosage. “There was no playful tinkering with this,” McDonald says. “I wanted to show what five years (on the lees) can do in Niagara.” It has a gorgeous light copper colour and an expressive nose of melba toast, light red fruits, violets, brioche and strawberry cream. It has a lively mousse and an array of complex red fruits with touches of earth and creamy notes that are silky and delicate through the palate. In just a short year in bottle the toasty/bready/yeasty notes are joined by lovely marmalade and citrus rind flavours. Such a beautiful sparkling wine made in a near bone-dry style.
Trius Brut ($28, LCBO, winery, 89 points) — The popular Brut non-vintage is a blend of 60% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 5% Pinot Meunier and is made in the Méthode Classique style. It’s fresh and citrusy on the nose with added green apple and biscuit notes. It’s zesty and lifted on the palate with a firm, lively mousse and apple, lemon and toasty brioche notes.
Trius Sauvignon Blanc 2014 ($14, 88 points) — The nose on this bargain Sauvignon Blanc shows expressive grapefruit, kiwi, hay, gooseberry and some tropical fruits. It’s lively and focused on the palate with juicy citrus, grass and a lovely herbaceous note to go with just a kiss of oak spice. McDonald paired this with grilled asparagus, cured prosciutto, Monforte feta and lemon curd off Chef Frank Dodd’s winery restaurant menu, and it was superb.
Trius Showcase Clean Slate Wild Ferment Sauvignon Blanc 2013 ($32, 91 points) — McDonald calls this a “chaotic wine that chooses its own path” and sometimes things don’t go according to plan. He uses wild fermentation, which is unpredictable, but gives the wine unique flavours. About 20% of the wine is aged in new French oak barrels. Only 200 cases were made of this unique, cerebral wine. The nose shows spiced pear, citrus, lanolin, mango and what McDonald calls “bruised tropical fruit.” It has nice weight and texture on the palate with a melange of ripe and fleshy fruit flavours and lovely spice notes through the finish.
Trius Riesling 2014 ($14, released within a month, 87 points) — A fragrant nose of grapefruit, lime, some peach and honey. The sweetness in this Riesling is balanced with racy acidity to give a playful tug of sweet and tart fruit on the palate. Overall, a refreshing and bright wine that’s clean through the finish.
Trius Showcase Ghost Creek Riesling 2014 ($25, released this summer, 92 points) — McDonald brought the 2006 version of this wine to an old Riesling tasting held at Henry of Pelham a week or so ago and it was gorgeous with age on it. The wine had gained some weight to give it a waxy-lanolin feel and complexity with the earthiness of the Ghost Creek terroir just beginning to emerge. I think it’s fair to say that the Showcase Ghost Creek Riesling deserves to be in the conversation with other top Niagara Rieslings. The 14 version has a gorgeous nose of bright citrus, ginger, a floral note and a mineral component that you don’t find in a lot of Niagara-on-the-Lake Rieslings. It’s rich yet tangy on the palate with citrus rind and grapefruit with complexity and layers of minerals and spice. The wine was finished with 20 g/l of residual sugar, a departure from current vintages, but hides it well with a racy core of acidity. Should age beautifully. We had it with Chef Frank Dodd’s salmon and crab rillettes and it was amazing.
Trius Rose 2014 ($16, 88 points) — When McDonald devised this Gamay-Syrah-based rose, he had Trius Chef Frank Dodd in mind. With its bold nose of herbs, savoury spices, cherry, raspberry, currants and pepper notes that all hold true in the mouth, this is made for myriad foods. Dodd brilliantly matches this with the winery restaurant’s Trius Hero Plate, a splashy charcuterie board with beef pastrami, chicken liver parfait, spicy soppressata, capicola, icewine smoked salmon, smoked comfort cheese, organic hens egg, and pig’s head terrine. All together? A masterpiece.
Trius Showcase Outlier Gewurztraminer 2013 ($25, 91 points) — Another concoction that McDonald has brought to the Showcase tier. The Gewurz fruit is partially barrel fermented with about 5% of the fruit botrytised. “I’m trying to push the style, push it to the limit,” explains McDonald. “I don’t want to play it safe with this wine. It either wins a (wine) competition or it doesn’t. It’s a style choice and this is how we do it here.” The nose shows a riot of aromas from ginger and pink grapefruit to lychee and nutmeg in a highly concentrated style of Gew. It’s complex and has weight on the palate with fleshy fruit and layers of spice notes with enough acid to keep it somewhat in balance. Not sure you will find a more unique Gew in Niagara.
Trius Showcase Pinot Noir Clark Farm Vineyard 2013 ($32, 90 points) — There were some rain issues in 2013 during harvest late in the season for Bordeaux reds but the earlier-ripening Pinot Noir escaped the late downpours. McDonald says Pinot Noir now has his full attention at Trius and this is getting close to the style he wants. He’s backed off the oak a bit and wants to use wild fermentation for the Pinot (this was only partially wild fermented). It has a gorgeous and perfumed nose of cherry, rhubarb and subtle spice notes. It’s silky on the palate with savoury red fruits, earth notes, intricate spice, and rounded, not aggressive, tannins through a long finish.
Trius Red 2013 ($23, 88 points) — Trius sells a boatload of Trius Red. The 2013 version is a blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot and 27% Cabernet Franc. It’s tight at the moment but cassis, currants and smokey cherry-raspberry and spice notes are beginning to shine through on the nose. It has bright fruit, evident tannins with cherry and blackberry fruit and some herbal-spice notes.
Trius Showcase Red Shale Cabernet Franc Clark Farm Vineyard 2012 ($45, 93 points) — Beginning with the 2012 Showcase reds, McDonald has chosen to present his wines all unfiltered. “Every time you filter a wine you filter something out,” says McDonald. He’s also chosen to age this wine in mostly used oak barrels for 18 months. This is the superstar of the vintage for his red wine program. An enthralling Cab Franc with a deep, rich nose of fragrant red fruits, raspberry bush, earth, light spice and a lifted floral-herbal note. It shows succulent red fruits on the palate, chewy tannins, roasted Espresso beans, earthy-savoury notes and integrated spice with bits of anise and licorice. Nothing overdone here, just a smooth and delicious Niagara Cab Franc that has a bright future ahead.
Trius Showcase RHS Merlot Clark Farm Vineyard 2012 ($45, 90 points) — The RHS stands for Right Hand Side of the Clark Vineyard which McDonald feels is perfect for his top Merlot fruit. It has a nose of cassis, currants, red summer berries and toasted spice notes. The tannins are chiseled on the palate and focused with taut/tense structure that shows substantive red fruits, currants, spice and a big mouth of tannins that will need time to fully integrate. It’s highly structured and youthful. Be patient.
Comment here