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.

2018 Sandbanks Baco Noir (Ontario VQA)

This wine can be picked up for $15.95 in the Ontario VQA section of the LCBO.

Sandbanks is a winery in Prince Edward County, along the northeastern shore of Lake Ontario. I seldom buy the varietal Baco from Sandbanks—the last time I did, it tasted far too sweet for my taste. That said, I made an exception earlier today and it was a good decision.

Medium-dark, clear garnet in the glass. The wine initially pours with some very fine effervescence along the meniscus; this dissipates with time in the open bottle. Strong aromas of brackish wild black cherry; a typical hint of leafiness and plums, so very characteristic of Ontario Baco. Zippy, clean and lean acidity on the entry, balanced by appropriate residual sugar. Warm and fruity on the mid-palate. A clean and cleansing finish, as one is wont to expect from this varietal wine. Just a hint of smoky, toasted buckwheat and oak on the finish. Thumbs up.

2016 Henry of Pelham Old Vines Baco Noir (Ontario VQA)

After trying this version of Henry of Pelham's Baco last year, I resolved to repeat the experience and to purchase it once again for a detailed tasting.

Henry of Pelham could be called Ontario's "Baco King". Maybe they already have been?

The tall bottle is closed with a high-quality natural cork. The wine pours with a dark, saturated black-cherry/magenta colour. Raspberry and plummy fruit, along with signature riparia notes waft about on the nose. The entry is tart, lively and brisk, as befits Baco—and balanced, firm warmth is noted as the wine travels across the mid-palate. A good structure is also evident here.

This is available as a general-list item at the LCBO, for about $20.

I preferred this Old Vines version to the family reserve.

2016 Inniskillin Baco Noir (Ontario VQA)

This wine initially caught my eye last summer when I spotted it at a Wine Rack store. Baco from Inniskillin? That's a new one. Up to the turn of the millennium, Inniskillin had produced an Old Vines Foch (the very wine that turned me onto red hybrid wines twenty years ago); sadly, production of that wine was discontinued in the early 2000s—a mistake!

This Baco pours with a dense black-cherry colour that fades to medium-deep magenta at the meniscus. The initial aromas are of blue plums with a slight overlay of peppercorns—classic Baco. The entry is very supple with balanced acidity (the mildest of any Baco I've tasted) and a broad warmth from the 13% alc./vol. On the palate, the acidity remains mild but cleansing, as it works its way to the back of the palate. The finish is short and clean.

It's a good Baco that retails on general list at the LCBO now as well (limited availability), for $15.95 CAD.

I still would like to see Inniskillin bring back their Foch!

2016 Sandbanks Foch - Baco Noir "Sleeping Giant" (Ontario VQA)

This blend of Foch and Baco has been one of my go-to reds for well over a year now. Sandbanks Estate Winery is located south of Belleville (eastern Lake Ontario, north shore—basically across the lake from Rochester).

The wine pours with a beautiful, saturated black-cherry/magenta colour. Sweet and herbaceous Vitis riparia aromas are immediately dominant on the nose and are backed up by lively summer raspberry fruit. There's oak here, but it's well integrated and in the background, offering more structural support than overt aromatics—which is fine by me, as the palate benefits from this oak treatment.

Tart but balanced acidity fans out across the palate, offering a refreshing texture and good warmth from the 12.8% alc./vol. The finish is elegant and a touch spicy from the oak, but in a restrained way.

Excellent wine and well worth the price (it varies between $18 and $20 at the LCBO depending on time of year).

One of the best, and a welcome addition to the modern red hybrid winescape.

2015 Henry of Pelham Speck Family Reserve Baco Noir

Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery is Niagara's Baco Noir specialist. Not only are they a consistent producer of quality varietal Baco in the region—they actually produce three distinct releases of the varietal wine, all with slightly different oak aging regimens and fruit sourced from vines of different ages.

In reserve for today's New Year tasting is the Speck Family Reserve. It's the only one that I hadn't tasted up to now. It retails for $25 at Vintages and is available at select stores only.

This wine hails from the winery's original planting of Baco, dating back to 1984. That's interesting, because it means that the vines predate the whole VQA system under which the wine bears a "VQA Ontario" designation. Even though the wine technically hails from the Short Hills Bench appellation, VQA does not deem hybrids worthy of appellation-specific nomenclature—an absurdity, as wine writer David Lawrason rightly pointed out in his write-up on the wine.

The bottle is closed with an elegant, solid, top quality natural cork. The cork showed deep purple-black staining once pulled out, though only where it had been in contact with the wine, indicating a good seal.

The wine poured with a gorgeous, saturated black, cherry-mahogany hue which, in the glass, morphs into a weathered-sumac hue at the meniscus. At 13.5% alc./vol., good tear development can be seen along the inside of the glass (and is even visible in the picture at right).

The nose is deeply oaky, with big, bold, black-cherry fruit and prominent wood vanillins from the American oak. There is lengthy integration of bold oak and fruit. On the palate, lithe, bright acidity leads the way; the texture is dry and cleansing along the mid-palate and energetically lively into the finish. The flavours finish out with beets, red currants, a hint of dried tomatoes and just a tap of oak at the end.

Very well done, but bold and oaky in style. If you prefer less oak, try the winery's Old Vines release.

Happy New Year!