Sandbanks (non-vintage) "Sleeping Giant" Foch - Baco Noir (Ontario VQA)

The Sandbanks blend of Baco and Foch is a unique red that I enjoy trying every now and then. It is typically well made, dry, and elegant.

Unlike in previous years, this one is non-vintage; I wonder what is up with the non-vintage status of Sandbanks wines of late. I recently found it on sale for $16 as opposed to the usual $19.95.

This comes with a composite natural cork closure, unlike the screw top used on the winery's Marquette. Beautiful dark garnet colour. Nose of dark cherries and a leafy, herbal note. Wonderfully dry and cleansing on the palate with good warmth from the 13% alc./vol. Very clean and well defined, from the palate right into the finish. Great with any meal that calls for a dry red—anything from pasta with tomato sauce to steak.

Sandbanks (non-vintage) Marquette Reserve (Ontario VQA)

This wine is not available at the LCBO, but is available at the Wine Rack outlets. $19.95.

Deep, clear garnet colour with a ruby tint. Big nose of candied black cherries upon pouring, framed with a nice amount of clove and vanillin in the background, but also framing the fruit. Dry, refreshingly tart acidity and good texture; gentle warmth from the 13% alc./vol. There is some astringency in the background; Marquette is more tannic than the old-school hybrids like Baco and Foch.

Warm, cleansing finish. Very food-friendly. I am having it with leftover lamb roast and potatoes, but really, this wine would go well with so many things.

I'm glad to see Marquette growing in presence in Ontario, and am also glad that the VQA regs seemed to readily embrace the variety rather than keeping it out of the club.

Non-vintage "Brunch" Red Field Blend (Ontario VQA)

In these days of rising wine prices, it was interesting to find this blend. Apparently a non-vintage wine, it retails for only $9.95. The LCBO entry for this product identifies it as a blend of Baco Noir, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Gamay...but the rear label of the bottle I have simply states Baco Noir and Cabernet Franc. Maybe it differs from batch to batch.

13% alc./vol. The colour is a nice, deep, dark-scarlet colour with that typical Baco colouration and magenta meniscus. The nose is all Baco—tart raspberries and a savoury hickory note, with a hint of wood chips wafting out of the glass.

Tart on the entry, again displaying the Baco front and centre. Cleansing and dry with an acid-driven structure and a zippy acidity on the mid-palate. Not much tannin here at all, so I'm guessing that the proportion of Cab Franc isn't that much.

The price is right and the quality is fine—though I'm wondering why the producer chose to release this as a non-vintage blend.

2020 Henry of Pelham Old Vines Baco Noir (Ontario VQA)

One of my long-time favourite Ontario reds, crafted in this reserve version by the Kings of Baco at Henry of Pelham.

13.5% alc./vol. Particle-cork closure (surprised that wineries are still using this format...why?).

The wine pours with a beautiful, saturated black/scarlet colour and a neon-magenta meniscus—done as only a hybrid red can do. Lovely to look at. When swirled, that same intense beet-like saturation comes through.

Big American oak on the nose—lots of fresh lumber and vanillin/coconut oak blasts its way out of the glass, along with classic Baco hints of tart blue plums.

Tart, bracing entry; cleansing. Good balance, with acidity leading the way. Oaky on the mid-palate, with diminutive tannins. The finish is warm and expansive. 

Normally, this sells for just a few cents under twenty bucks, but it was on sale for two dollars less recently. 

2019 Henry of Pelham Old Vines Baco Noir (Ontario VQA)

Henry of Pelham has been called the "King of Baco", and rightly so: they planted their first Baco vines in 1984 and have been putting out quality iterations of this varietal wine for decades. Henry of Pelham isn't just another producer of Baco Noir in Ontario: they're really dedicated to this grape variety.

I enjoy the regular bottling, finding it to be well made, well balanced, and stylistically elegant. The Old Vines version is sold in a tall, heavier bottle, and is closed with a natural (albeit particle) cork enclosure. The regular bottling, by contrast, has been closed with a screw cap for the past few years—a sensible, functional choice.

The 2019 Old Vines Baco is 13.5% alc./vol. and sells for about $20 at the LCBO. It pours with a gorgeous, saturated, deep-beet-red/purple colour that turns into a neon magenta at the meniscus—a common feature of the V. riparia hybrid reds. The nose is very oaky right off the bat, showing plummy/blackcurrant fruit and juicy acidity that is eager to carry that same fruit along the palate. On the palate, it is invigoratingly tart, zingy, and refreshing—with good mid-palate heft coming from both the tart berries and the oak overlay. Excellent quality. Following this fruit-and-oak crescendo, the aft-palate character of the wine accentuates the oak, which leaves a pleasant spicy finish.

2016 Magnotta Dry Vidal, Equus Series (Ontario VQA)

Magnotta's Dry Vidal is a consistently good example of what the Vidal grape can do when vinified in a dry table-wine style. I've been following this wine for the past 20 years!

12.5% alc./vol. Medium-straw yellow in the glass. Some fine carbonation along the bottom of the glass. Expansive aromas of citrus (lemon skin, mainly), pine/fir buds, a whiff of petroleum (similar to Riesling), and a hint of floral tropical fruit...most often, I get guava on the nose of these Vidal table wines. The empty glass releases a mild but persistent, sweet piney aroma reminiscent of freshly cut pine.

Electrifyingly crisp acidity; clean, lean and cleansing. Excellent zip. Warming and cleansing on the mid-palate, simultaneously.

A great wine for seafood, but certainly good in any situation that calls for a crisp and dry white wine.

Magnotta Trionfo, Equus Series (Baco - Foch - Pinot Noir; Ontario VQA)

13.2% alc./vol. Intense, saturated dar-garnet colour; not inky, but deep and dense. Lovely bright, lifted black-cherry fruit on the nose; mostly fruit-driven.

Dry, well balanced, and with excellent structure on the mid-palate. A very good blend!

Good mid-palate heft, with Pinot Noir's tannins firming up the whole shebang, and the two hybrids' colour saturation providing lovely dark pigmentation.

$9.95 at the Magnotta retail outlet.