Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Welcome enthusiasts to another episode of wine and the bottle where we grab a bottle from the seller and discuss the people, places, factors, and history that led to the creation of that wine. I am your host, Sarah a w set level three certified wine education enthusiast. And today I have a very special line for us to try. It's Vidal. Icewine from the Niagara peninsula. Now, in this case, it's the varietals and the wine making that makes this wine special. We will talk about the producer later, but for now, let's look at the factors behind V doll. Icewine. First of all, the place Niagara peninsula is one of my favorite north American wine regions, smushed between lake Erie and lake Ontario. This roughly 25 mile wide land bridge between Buffalo New York and Hamilton, Ontario produces 90% of Canada's Icewine plus other cool climate varieties like Riesling and Pinot noir grow exceptionally while here to the bodies of water help to moderate the temperature in the winter months.
Speaker 0 00:01:14 And the growing season gets surprisingly warm into the eighties and 90 degree Fahrenheit range. The wines are notoriously bright, flavorful and complex with Zippy acidity and the varied topography much like in the Napa valley allows for microclimates and a range of styles. The style of ice wine is only possible in the Northern most of the north places like Canada and Germany, where vines can still successfully grow and reliably ripen, but the grapes can remain on the vine past standard harvest time. Healthy rot, free grapes are left to hang well into the winter where they freeze on the vine in the frigid temperatures. They are then harvested and pressed in below zero temps. And during pressing the ice crystals are trapped while the remaining juice is a more concentrated solution of polyphenols and sugar, the yeast dynamically during fermentation, as they simply can't convert all of the sugar into alcohol, the resulting wine is lusciously sweet and delicious flavorful, usually with low to medium alcohol because ice wine requires these specific conditions to produce.
Speaker 0 00:02:37 It is rare and coveted and sometimes expensive VI doll is a hybrid grape variety. The offspring of Udemy, Blanca AKA Trebbiano a fetus vinifera species and rayon DOR. Another interest species hybrid V doll is a thick skinned, cold resistant variety, which retains acidity during ripening and develops a high degree of bricks or sugar measurement. Varietal characteristics include pronounced grapefruit and pineapple flavor and a round full almost Chardonnay style body, many American grape species or non Vitus vinifera species have an unappealing flavor described as Foxy or kind of musky animalistic odor, which makes American grape varieties and interspecies hybrids unpopular in wine making. In most cases, the doll is one of a few exceptions as it does not have that Foxy characteristic at all. Okay. I guess it's time to talk about the producer. The wine we are tasting today is from Jackson Triggs in juxtaposition to the boutique wineries.
Speaker 0 00:03:57 I prefer to cover on this podcast, the Jackson Triggs brand was born into a mega Corp, which is why, in my opinion, for this particular wine, the winery isn't as important as the great variety style and location. I'm just not a huge fan of corporatized beverage companies, especially in the wine business. Jackson Triggs was birthed by Alan Jackson and Donald Triggs. In 1993, the pair had already amassed a portfolio of premium wine labels under their VIN Corp Canada company umbrella. Before the Jackson Triggs winery was physically built in Niagara in 2001, the only two wines produced under the label were Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. After the production facility was built, the portfolio expanded and now they produce everything under the sun, including a few interesting options like sparkling Merlow. I had never heard of sparkling Merlow before, but yet another mega Corp had its eye on VIN Corp.
Speaker 0 00:05:12 This other company had just acquired Robert Mondavi and would later absorb other beverage mass producers like Corona and Svedka vodka. Napa valley loyalists will also know this brand as the parent company for mountain Veeder winery and prisoner wine company. Yes, I'm talking about constellation brands. And so constellation absorbed Vencore in 2006, but as these things go, labels are traded as assets between mega Corp's and investment funds all the time. So after 10 years, in 2016 ownership of the Canadian branch constellations wine holdings, including Jackson Triggs transferred to the Ontario teacher's pension fund, at least now it's back in strictly Canadian hands. Okay. Now for the fun part, the wine we've pulled out of the seller today is a 2007 Jackson Triggs proprietors reserved vital ice wine from Niagara peninsula. Overall, this wine consistently receives pretty good critical reviews, averaging 90 points on the a hundred point scale, the oldest vintage still available for standard retail and a wine shop.
Speaker 0 00:06:30 According to wine, searcher.com is the 1987 vintage. And the current release is 2019. Indicating that this wine is ageable as long as it was properly stored. Okay, let's open the bottle. I have a 187 milliliter bottle here, which is a standard bottle size for a dessert wine and shoot. The cork is crumbly. This is going to be a pain to open just a sec. Okay, well, there's bits of cork in the wine, but we can work with this. I'm a little worried though, since it's a 2007 and the cork was dry, it might be oxidized. Let's find out. Hmm. The aromas are medium intensity, and I get a little bit of honeydew melon and like wood resin, eucalyptus and dried apricots, dried pineapple. What I guess dried orange chips would smell like if you dried an orange slice concentrated and kind of cabinetry, it actually has sort of a Brandy vibe going on taking a sip now.
Speaker 0 00:07:46 Oh yeah, definitely oxidized. There's some very obvious burnt caramel and reasoned flavors. That mask pretty much everything else on the palette, except for a little bit of wood resin and eucalyptus. Honestly, it's a little bit overwhelming. The bright acidity is present and it is sticky, sweet and mouth coating, but a little too sweet for my taste. Or maybe it's just the bird caramel that I'm not vibing with because I really do love fresh. So turn, which is another sweet style of wine, but it's much fresher. I'm a big fan of the sweet and salty combo. So I wouldn't necessarily drink this style of wine on its own, but past Cheez-Its place or even a peanut butter sandwich. Uh, I feel like I need to brush my teeth now. The sugar is lingering. Well, thank you so much for joining me today for this class of 2007 Vittol Icewine from Jackson Driggs. See you next week for another deep dive into the cellar. I am Sarah, and this is wine and the bottle.
