Canadian Wines From Pelee Island In The Middle Of Lake Erie

Canadian Wines From Pelee Island In The Middle Of Lake Erie – Episode #429

March 24, 2008

Gary Vaynerchuk still thinks that Canada is one of the hot up and coming areas in the world and puts a few wines to the test from a pretty cool area!

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Comments on this episode(264) Leave a comment ›

“Pelee makes some incredible wines – their Merlot and Pinot Noir are bo…” by Robert
“Funny enough, my wife just started a wine blog about Canadian Wines an…” by Ray Slakinski
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Wines tasted in this episode:

2006 Pelee Island Gewurztraminer Reserve
2005 Pelee Island Shiraz
2006 Pelee Island Cabernet Franc

Links mentioned in todays episode.

264 Responses

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March 24, 2008

SoCal
QOTD: the 2002 ChÃ¢teau Belle-Vue a lot of people either like it or hate it I love it
March 24, 2008

stewart l
I recently had a pinot from pelee which was actually quite good, although the qualities of the wine were more like a syrah with lots of pepper.
QOTD- I don’t remember the wine, but sev wines I’ve had recently from Vouvray have changed my outlook on Chenin Blanc, now I love the crispness of these wines
March 24, 2008

Stu
QOTD: Chateau Fontenil 1999. I have never liked Merlot or Merlot dominated wines. The only ones I have had were US and Chile. I loved the Fontenil. I guess old world Merlot is for me.
March 24, 2008

David L
2005 Mugneret Nuits-Saint-Georges “Les Boudots”

This was the last wine served at my wine certification class the other day and the nose just blew me away! Haven’t been drinking Pinot Noir lately and it was refreshing to break that habit.
March 24, 2008

EmZeeGee
I like Eastportorican’s idea!

GV, Add some grain alcohol and Hawiian punch to the bucket and have the CKCâ€™s over for a party !

I’m so new to wine, I can’t say I have developed any pre-conceptions that I needed to disabuse myself of. I used to think I didn’t like reds, but the more wine I drink, the more I like them! In fact, I like reds and whites equally now.

Thank you so much for the show; it has been so helpful to us. We’ll be here on the 1st with our taste-along wine!
March 24, 2008

Lawrence Leichtman
I have trouble answering that as I have had thousands of wines from virtually every region over the last 40 years. I have places and wines I like more than others but that is like restaurants or anything else that involves taste. I guess for me tasting Idaho wines and being surprised that they weren’t made of potatoes in the first place was a revelation and that they were, in fact, quite good. I keep trying new wines and varieties to find what I like and don’t like. I have had wines from some countries that I just didn’t like. Don’t know about Ontario but BC is making some amazing wines.
March 24, 2008

normanzo
QTD: no big surprises lately, but your review of some of Umbria’s Sagrantino wines prompted me to try them –and I was impressed with the intensity of this grape, which as you noted, offers competition for Barolo and Barbaresco in it’s bigness and power.

Also, on Canada: if you go out west Canada, check out a small producer called Laughing Stock Vineyards in BC. I had a bottle of their “Portfolio” red blend and thought it was lovely. It’s got a little Petite Verdot in it, so you might should try it.
March 24, 2008

Scott S.
Gary, QOTD: I had lost my faith in California Pinot Noir until I visted ROCHIOLI Vineyards in the Russian River Valley. Simply put, stopped dead in my tracks. Tom Rochioli and his father are cult status and rightfully so. I suspect you have tried these wines. You need a Brinks truck to buy the single vineyard blocks, that is after the 12 year waiting list. Left me speechless.
March 24, 2008

The Original Marc
QOTD: For the exact reasons you’ve said, I could never let 1 wine change the way I generalize an entire area, producer, varietal, or anything of that sort.
March 24, 2008

Syrahhhhhhhhh
ouch. the Canuks are reeling. Go to the BC wines and I’m sure you’ll see those scores bounce.

Believe it or not, it was some recent Oregon wines that have me finally on board with this state. I must have had the worst luck in the past. Every red I tasted was like cat pee aroma. I gave up. Then I found Domaine Drouhin and Natalie’s Estate and wow! Ok, now I’m getting it.
March 24, 2008

Dominus
QOTD: Oh, oh! Another one. I’m having a NY Finger Lakes Gewurtz (’06 Lamoreaux Landing) at the moment that has enlightened me to try more NY wines.
March 24, 2008

jj
Gary, I hope most of your viewers watch this episode to the end. You are totally right – they cannot judge all Canadian wines from these three. I hope you will do another episode soon with some better wines. Look for VQA wines from the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario and the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia.

I think you are bang on about Portugal being up-and-coming, there is great value especially in the Douro red table wines. Argentina is just exploding in Canada (at least in Alberta where I live). As much as I love Canadian wine and support the industry every chance I get, Canada will never make a huge impact on the world wine industry because 1) we just don’t make enough to export the really good stuff; and 2) the small volume and high cost of production will keep fine Canadian wines out of the mainstream.
March 24, 2008

Sharon
QOTD: Oh, funny you should ask, just went to a tasting of southern Rhone wines and one wine just completely slew me, it really kicked ass, was vastly superior to the other CdRs, awesome, delicious, etc etc: 2005 Domaine de Deurre Vinsobres (Cote du Rhone)… a little producer, grapes are hand-sorted and de-stemmed, and the extra care shows big time!
March 24, 2008

Greg
Thanks for some air time for Cdn wines – even if it shows that this one has some room to improve. Love to have you come to Canada for tour and tasting.

ps – pronounced PEAL-le ( not PEL-lee ) … but that is local knowledge –I would get screwed on may New Jersy names

How can we have the sun for a Shiraz ?????? Riesling in a better blend, or Pinot Noir.

Love the show
Greg (lives behind the winery – it is on the mainland – the grapes are from the island)
March 24, 2008

Chris Barnes
I love the show… but..

I find it kind of odd how you preach about the passion, time, sweat blood and tears of the wine makers, and then show so much disrespect towards their wine that you’d just pour it in to the spit bucket. My retirement goal is to become a wine maker, and I can’t imagine what it would feel like to have someone do that to the product of a year and a half of my work…

Chris
March 24, 2008

Dominus
Down the spitbucket! Can I make a suggestion on what to do with that wine? Buy yourself a ceramic water jug, some Mother Vinegar and start making your own red wine vinegar. That’s my new project since I pour out some reds I won’t finish so now I’ll put the wine to good use.

QOTD: Actually, I had a Steele Chard (I believe you reviewed a week or so ago) on Saturday at the Williamsburg Inn that really impressed me. Of course, I had a Pinot with dinner but their wines by the glass were limited so I tried the Steele. Not too much oak, buttery, a nice CA Chard. Surprise, surprise.

Have fun on Saturday.
March 24, 2008

*/^_^\*
qotd: just had my first beaujolais nouveau….wasn’t that bad actually (heard a lot of negativity)
March 24, 2008

zak
Gary — Fine assault on Canada, reminds me of one of John Candy’s finest films http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109370/
March 24, 2008

Little Jonny H
Nice GV, I’m glad to see you finally branched in to Canada on the show! My first true wine experience occurred in Canada about 4 years ago. I can distinctly remember that (even with a newborn palate) the majority of reds were green tasting. It’s almost like they’re macerated with the stems, or they never achieve full ripeness. I’ve discovered Ohio reds made of classic varietals to follow this same pattern. In a nut shell, I would buy 10 whites to every 1 red from the lower Great Lakes region.

QOTD: Fantinel Pinot Grigio… nothing like the west coast pinot gris or even other Italian PG’s I’ve had. Fantastic body with classic acidity… I think I’ve officially erased any thoughts of disliking a particular varietal. They’re all good in their own way
March 24, 2008

Dale Cruse
This episode might have collectively the lowest rated scores in WLTV history.

And after having met Sasha, I understand where Gary gets his flirtiness from.

QOTD: An Aussie Viognier called “The Innocent” just KILLED!
March 24, 2008

Don R
Loved the show but my favorite thing about it was the reality that not every wine is going knock your socks off and the honesty you have in relaying it to your audience. After seeing a bunch of episodes I can say that you have a thought process that I have only encounterd once or twice in my life. I hope that you are cognizant of the gift you have. Props to you!!!!
March 24, 2008

purplejuicebruce
QOTD… Thats a tough one G.V. and I have to answer with there are many areas in CA. that produce excelent wines besides Napa, Sonoma and Mendacino and I am trying all of them
March 24, 2008

manonthemoon
QOTD: Two part answer. Sineann Champoux Merlot and Sugarloaf Mountain Merlot, both brought the thunder for this new world lover and did not have the wierd funk and oak that a lot of merlots these days usually contain on the tail end.
Also I tried a sauvignon blanc from Patricia Green called Panama Hill and this tasted more like a chenin blanc than anything. It came in at a whopping 16.3 and it changed my idea of what sauvignon can be. To be truthful I don’t think they were going for this type of wine, but once it came around they could not blend it with their traditional sauvignon blanc for obvious reasons.
March 24, 2008

Bryan
Gary while you’re there give us a pinot noir report in Ontario if you can.
March 24, 2008

KyleLikesTies
Wow, 3 bottles into the Jets bucket … Pelee was kicked pretty hard in the arse!

QoTD: The Dr Frank’s GewÃ¼rtz … I had never even considered NY state wine before … and I lived there for 4 years!