2007 Niagara Peninsula Reds-Wine Worth Cellaring

The Best Vintage Yet For Ageable Ontario Red Wines

Oct 1, 2009

The 2007 vintage has been raved as the finest yet for Niagara reds and Ontario wine lovers have been anticipating their release since the grapes were picked 2 years ago.

With more and more of the premium reds from the Niagara Peninsula appearing on the market, enthusiasts are rushing to buy them up. Many of these wines are definite candidates for the cellar, which is great news for those Ontarians wishing to keep a selection of local wine for a special occasion down the road.

The vintage was characterized by warm, dry weather, creating a long growing season. Near drought conditions put stress on the vines, causing them to focus more energy on fruit production, resulting in highly concentrated grapes. The roots were forced to dig deep into the soil in search of moisture, where they picked up essential nutrients along the way.

VQA Ontario, the province's wine authority, states, "With the long, warm season, wines made from grapes that benefit from longer ripening times should show particularly well. Look for full-bodied examples of red varieties, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah."

The Bordeaux Varieties Really Shone

Ann Sperling, director of winemaking and vitiuculture at Southbrook Vineyards, concurs with VQA'a statement. She asserts, "... for heat loving varieties, like Cabernet Sauvignon and other red Bordeaux types, in well managed areas, the wines have the potential to be stellar." She estimates that some of Southbrook's Cabernet-Merlot blends can age for at least 10 years and possibly longer.

Paul Pender, winemaker at Tawse Winery, agrees that "the Bordeaux varieties really shone." He boasts that some of Tawse's Cabernet Francs, with their bright acidity and freshness along with ripe fruit flavours, may age well for at least 20 years.

The warm and dry conditions of 2007 also resulted in very concentrated Pinot Noirs with powerful fruit flavours that some Pinot lovers may think as atypical. Thomas Bachelder, of Le Clos Jordanne, describes them as having big fruit with supple flavours and long finishes. He states, "They may be atypical, but they are gloriously atypical." He reckons that some of his Pinot Noirs "will probably go to 2015 to 2018.

Bachelder also states, "One caveat with the 2007 vintage is that with all that luscious fruit, it's harder to see the vineyard variations."

Pender has similar thoughts to Bachelder. He says that the '07 Pinot Noirs are "unique" in that they are bigger than usual, but they don't show terroir. However, he believes that these full-bodied wines with their dark fruit will be "commercially very popular."

Balance and Harmony

The 2007 vintage indeed offers many wines with the potential for long-term cellaring. However, care is needed when choosing a wine for the cellar because, although it may seem like 2007 had the perfect conditions for growing grapes, Sperling cautions that the stressed vines may have produced reds that are unbalanced due to excess tannins, and that wines made from varieties that prefer cooler condtions may show signs of premature ageing.

In an attempt to get the most out of the unusually long growing season, some winemakers may have left the grapes too long on the vine, producing overripe fruit, high alcohol levels, and unbalanced tannins.

"The key to long lived wines is body, ripeness, structure, and balance," says Sperling. "Balance is the harmony between fruit intensity and body, along with quantity and quality of tannins, plus acidity. When all of these elements age consistently, it's the best circumstance for long lived wines."

'07 Vintage Provided Clean Fruit

Thomas Bachelder agrees that wines must have harmony to age successfully. There must be good perfume on the nose, and a big mouthfeel, but the fruit must match the tannins. Bachelder also states, "There must be immediate fruit on the nose as well as the middle palate. If there is a hole in the middle palate then the hole will get bigger as the wine ages."

Pender adds that the '07 vintage provided clean fruit with no rot. This also helps wine age because, "If the grapes are falling apart on the vine, they will fall apart in the bottle."

Pender observes, "beautiful tannins and great acidity," in many '07 reds. He says that good vineyard management, low yields and grapes picked at the right time, along with sound winemaking practices without over-manipulation, could have resulted in wines with the ability to age for at least two decades.

The copyright of the article 2007 Niagara Peninsula Reds-Wine Worth Cellaring in Canadian Wine is owned by Sarah Goddard. Permission to republish 2007 Niagara Peninsula Reds-Wine Worth Cellaring in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.