Tasting at Lailey

Could I possibly be any more enthusiastic about Lailey? Could I possibly find another superlative to describe how I feel about these wines? Search for all my pieces about Lailey and all the hyperventilating will make sense. These wines fulfill all the criteria for what a great wine should be - typicity (of varietal), singularity (of time and place), and ageability.

I try to schedule my tasting with Derek as my last stop. I generally spend the most time here, as Derek is always very generous with his wines and his knowledge. My last visit was sadly a year ago, to taste the 2008's. I was eager to taste the 2009's now that they were in bottle, as well as to get a first look at the embryonic 2010's, focusing as always on pinot noir and syrah.

2009 Lailey Pinot Noir: floral rose petals and red fruits on the nose, so elegant on the palate; roses follow, spice on the finish; 660 cases production

2009 Lailey Brickyard Pinot Noir: brushy rose petals, elegant, acid lifts on the palate; clearly needs time; perfumed and lean, so delicious; bottled January 24, 130-140 cases production

2009 Lailey Old Vines Pinot Noir: bit reticent now, roses on an elegant palate; high toned acid, spices on the long finish; bottled end of January, only 90 cases production

2009 Lailey Canadian Oak Pinot Noir: oaky initially, giving way to rose petals and cranberries; oak needs to integrate on palate, good concentration and fine structure; a lean wine, but very elegant; 70 cases production

2009 Lailey Lot 48 Pinot Noir: initial whiff of white pepper, very elegant fruit, showing slightly more colour; ends near jammy in fruit on finish, fine acid lifts on finish, needs time for alcohol to settle; 100% from Doug Woody property, made only in 2004 and 2009 vintages, 50% new French oak

2008 Lailey Canadian Oak Pinot Noir: creamy oak, rich in depth, creamy ripe fruit; sweet but so elegant and round on the palate, soft finishing on long ripe strawberries; seductive and very approachable

2008 Lailey Old Vines Pinot Noir: bright lively ruby colour; sweet ripe fruit, almost candied but fresh; lean and elegant palate, fresh and long; absolutely delicious, acid provides great structure

2008 Lailey Syrah: spicy bouquet, high acid, lean and very linear on the finish

2009 Lailey Syrah (cask sample): oak on nose, sweet fruit, shows a degree of jamminess on the palate; rich, round, so balanced, absolutely delicious; 3 weeks from bottling

2010 Lailey Syrah (cask sample): dark in colour, lots of black pepper, dense fruit on palate; crushy, very ripe, spicy on finish; a big wine, very concentrated, will be interesting to see how this develops; put into cask on November 4, will spend about another 12 months in oak

As can be seen, all the wines reflect time, place of origin, and to a lesser degree, oak treatment. 2008 and 2009 were relatively cooler vintages, with 2009 being the slightly more concentrated wine. 2010 is looking like a monster right now, but in the right hands, should remain balanced and elegant.

More than anything, this tasting confirmed what I've been feeling for quite some time - that syrah can be done very well in Niagara. These wines show what I feel are the true characteristics of syrah, a peppery, savoury personality that is completely opposite of what most New World syrah wines are like. This is a wine to keep an eye out for.

DF

Visiting Stratus

In May, I went to Niagara on my first tasting trip of the year. I was eager to taste through some of the 2009's, and get a first impression of the 2010's. I was fighting a head cold, but the palate was functioning sufficiently well. My first stop was at Stratus, to meet up with Charles Baker and taste his riesling. I knew it was going to be a good tasting - what I hadn't counted on was how good Stratus' 2007 red wines were showing, across the board. All ripe but balanced, showing great varietal character yet dense and concentrated, clearly built for aging.

2007 Stratus Sauvignon Blanc: grassy, herbal nose, deep colour; the 100% new oak shows on the creamy palate, very round and weighty; could mistake this for a (good) dry white Bordeaux

2007 Stratus Cabernet Franc: nice dark colour, graphite minerality, round and elegant palate; soft, fine tannins, good length; a beautiful wine

2007 Stratus Red: ripe fruit, round, structured with good balance

2007 Stratus Cabernet Sauvignon: dark, smoky bouquet, round and fruit forward; soft but linear structure

2007 Stratus Petit Verdot: lots of graphite minerality, slightly green, tense and almost hard; acidity provides great structure on the finish; very interesting interpretation of this varietal

2009 Charles Baker Picone Vineyard Riesling: what I came here for; well chilled, absolutely steel on the nose, minerals and all that; so pure and fresh, acid rises so angular on the finish; extraordinarily complex yet with a transparency on the palate that articulates how stunningly beautiful riesling is; long, extracted acidity on the finish

What a great tasting. The CB riesling is magnificent. He's made wine from another vineyard, to be released in a few months - look out for it. Before they run out, as production of the 2009 was almost half of the already miniscule 2008 . . . order a case. I'm so sick of this bullshit about people complaining how Niagara doesn't make real wine. Or even worse, people who get so turned on by a trip to wine country that they claim any $8 plonk is great. When true great wine like CB Picone Riesling is being produced, you have to support it. No excuses.

DF