Natalie’s Score: 92/100
A rich, full-bodied Niagara Chardonnay with aromas of toasted almond, golden apple and peach. A layered mid-palate with terrific replays of orchard fruit flavours. Finishes long and smooth. This wine was aged for 12 months in French oak barrels. The 2013 vintage is the inaugural release of this wine. Jim Cuddy, lead singer and guitarist of the Canadian band Blue Rodeo, has partnered with Niagara’s Tawse Winery to create a new wine bran d, Cuddy by Tawse. Cuddy is one of the country’s most iconic musicians: over the past thirty years Blue Rodeo has sold more than four million records, released 14 albums and won eleven JUNO awards. Pair with grilled chicken while enjoying an outdoor concert.
A rich, full-bodied Niagara Chardonnay with aromas of toasted almond, golden apple and peach. A layered mid-palate with terrific replays of orchard fruit flavours. Finishes long and smooth. This wine was aged for 12 months in French oak barrels. The 2013 vintage is the inaugural release of this wine. Jim Cuddy, lead singer and guitarist of the Canadian band Blue Rodeo, has partnered with Niagara’s Tawse Winery to create a new wine bran d, Cuddy by Tawse. Cuddy is one of the country’s most iconic musicians: over the past thirty years Blue Rodeo has sold more than four million records, released 14 albums and won eleven JUNO awards. Pair with grilled chicken while enjoying an outdoor concert. 92/100
Rick Van Sickle reviews our first cider release
Natalie’s Score: 88/100. A full-bodied red with pleasant mocha and dark fruit notes. Pair with hearty meat dishes.
Rick Van Sickle reviews our 2012 Chardonnays and 2013 Pinots
93 points — This is the premier Twenty Mile Bench site for Tawse’s extensive Chardonnay program. The vines, farmed organically and biodynamically, are 32 years old and the wine is barrel fermented with wild yeast and is aged for 12 months in French oak, 20% of which is new. The 2012 version follows the incredible 2011 Robyn’s Block, my white of the year in 2014 and rated 94 points. This is very close to that, though a much different wine from the warmer 2012 vintage. It has a complex and heady nose of creamy Asian pear, elegant barrel spices, baked apple and intermingling minerals. It’s young still, but startinging to reveal it’s beautiful palate of poached pear, toasted barrel spices, vanilla and profound minerality. It has length, finesse and verve through a long, luxurious finish. Simply delicious and well suited for your cellar.
93 points — A first for Tawse, swapping Quarry Road Pinot Noir for Huff Estate’s South Bay Chardonnay in Prince Edward County and applying the same disciplined winemaking techniques as all Tawse Chards: barrel fermented, wild yeast, 12 months in French oak, 25% new. A beauty, with PEC minerality, a river-rock salinity that melds to swirling baked apple, pear and tangerine with soft spice notes on the nose. It’s a lovely and textured Chard on the palate, rich and broad, with a mélange of citrus, pear and apple fruit and perfectly integrated spice and minerals that are delivered on a long-lasting finish. Bravo!
93 points — This Twenty Mile Bench estate Pinot is always my favourite of the extensive red program at Tawse. It’s aged in oak for 18 months in 40% new French barrels. The nose is quite expressive, yet delicate, with cherry, raspberry, violets, subtle earthiness, mushrooms, underbrush and spice. I love the feminineness of this Pinot, even with the red-fruit-laden palate there is still a show of restraint. It is complex and finessed with underlying earth, supple tannins and length through the finish. It’s quite beautiful, delicate, nuanced, layered and tantalizingly teasing
Natalie’s Score: 90/100. A lovely off-dry Niagara Riesling with notes of lemongrass and lime zest. Pair with fresh seafood.