I have had a lot of people asking me recently if this year is going to be a good one for grapes.  The general consensus from people asking the question is that summer has been terrible, and therefore, so will be the wine.  As a winemaker I have never experienced ‘a bad year’, just challenging ones.

Admittedly summer did get off to a slow start.  But with a lot of vineyard canopy work and diligent pest management, The Good Earth vines made it through to August in good health.  Credit there goes to Chris Andrewes, Beamsville uber-farmer.  August is when the serious berry ripening begins around here, and coincidently, that is when summer decided to show up this year.  So for the past 6 weeks, our healthy grapevines have enjoyed  sunny, dry days  to pump loads of  flavours and sugars into the berries, and cool nights to keep the aromatics, colours and fresh acidity in place.

So is it going to be a good year?  The Pinot Noir looks as if it spent the early part of summer on holiday in the tropics, and may even be ripening earlier than usual.  All our berries are accumulating sugar faster than Chef Isa could pour it into one of her world beating deserts.  The new season’s barrels are arriving.  The sun is still shining.  The harvest staff are smiling.  Yeah, it’s going to be a good year.

Some friends of mine got married and held a hand holding ceremony for their families in the Niagara region last month which prompted lots of talk about my University stomping ground. Talk was mostly about food: deep fried pickles, ice cream and other tasty things but this all translated into my friend Nadine asking if I’d like to join her for a Niagara wine excursion.

This wine excursion happened yesterday and it was 12 lovely shades of awesome.
We also had the addition of Andrew Wheeler to our duo which added to the car banter and general shenanigans.

Speaking of the car- it ended up being an Impala vs. the tiny auto that Nadine had requested which resulted in hilarity due to the large size, the V6 engine and Nadine’s sweet Dukes of Hazards-esque moves. (I got to find out that if we were to go careening into something I would just let out an “Ahhh!” vs. something more cool/helpful.)

As someone who is just walking through the wine doorway I was really happy with this jaunt because it gave me an education. It also allowed me to figure out which wines I dig more than others- not to mention I was shocked at how incredible Ontario white wines are. There were very few reds that made my taste bud tingle in any way … and here I thought that I favored reds. I also got to try a few ice wines which was super hip! I had no idea that they were that sweet.

The “coles notes” of the trip are
1-lots of wineries
2-lunch at a European/Canadian diner called “White Eagle”
3-lots of wineries
4-ice cream at Toute Sweet
5-Deep friend pickles at the Merchant Ale House then Bugsy’s

The highlights included the awesome lady at the Organized Crime winery who joked in her sarcastic outspoken way and the diner owner who was very talkative and one hell of a proud granddaddy.

Here are some photos:

These are the faces of happy wine-goers:

At Organized Crime:

This is Andrew taking “big risks” at Organized Crime:

Inside the White Eagle (note the grandkids’ photos on the wall):

At our final winery:

Toute Sweet for delicious ice cream!:

Inside our final destination: Bugsy’s- gotta love the Tiffany lamps:

K

The Farmer’s Market on Thursdays is kind of fun…it’s a bit of the burbs in the city.

$.75 sunflower (from Andrews’ Scenic Acres), blueberries & strawberries (from Warner’s Farm, Beamsville – blueberries are not that sweet), corn AND an apple crumble (from ASA)…..

Getting home should be interesting.

With my doctor’s appointment on Tuesday (and being in Beamsville), Nat and I decided to make good use of the day, so we made a list of things we had to do while “out that way”. First to Stoney Creek on an errand, then grabbing a bite to eat at the Grimsby Welcome Centre, a quick stop at Mom and Dad’s grave site and finally to the Beamsville Medical Centre to see about the old leg. Why not make good use of our time and make a day of it.

Mom and Dad’s grave site was looking a little haggard. So we cleaned up as best we could – forgot to bring the little garden tools – fixed up the edging that’s now becoming iffy, and pulled most of the weeds. After a quick look around at other grave sites, we’ve come up with what we think is a better idea for the edging, and then maybe plant two or three Hostas. Less maintenance and the grounds crew will be able to get around without dinging the edging that’s now getting torn up.

We were only ten minutes at the Medical Centre. The Doc says my leg seems to be okay. It’s healing slowly, but it’s healing. The water on the knee should dissipate with time (lots of it, for me!)

So with that, Nat and I headed into St. Catharines for his favourite kaisers from his favourite bakery, and then onward home.

As we were driving home from Stoney Creek, we stayed on old No. 8 Highway, avoiding the QEW at all costs. Meandering along, Nat and I were amazed at the development that’s sprung up – houses, strip malls, wineries – inbetween the towns of Stoney Creek, Winona, Grimsby and Beamsville. Each and every time we take this drive there seems to be something new that’s built or soon to be developed. There was a time when you drove through quite a few tender fruit fields before hitting the next little town or hamlet – but they all blend into one another, only distinguishable by their town signage.

As we approached the outskirts of Beamsville, I began to recall some of the retail stores, restaurants and business that our family dealt with during our childhood.

- Marv’s Drive-In – one of the cool places for the teenagers to hang out. Just on the outskirts of town, away from prying eyes of parents, where the food was greasy but good and the parking lot was large enough for those bigger model cars and a few hot rods. My best memory of Marv’s is when Gail’s (then) boyfriend, Ken, allowed a couple of us “kids” to come along for a burger and fries. My God, that was such a big deal. I still remember where we sat in the far right corner. Alas, old Marv’s has changed hands so many times, I’m amazed the original old building is still standing. Nothing since Marv’s has been that good or reputable!

- Mountain’s Variety Store – just about the only place in town where we could buy our school supplies without taking that long trip into the big City of St. Catharines. Mr. Mountain was always behind the counter, always willing to help little hands with whatever they were looking for and always greeted accompanying parents by their names! We couldn’t wait to buy our new scribblers, new pencils, markers, pencil cases, binders and reams of paper. Remember opening the scribbler to that fresh brand new page, and you always vowed you’d be neat with the whole year! This was also the only place in town that you could buy those Necco wafers, that I’m still addicted to when I can find them! Well, the old variety store is now a Bible Shop.

- Lay’s Pharmacy - another great store that was probably visited more by our parents, but nevertheless carried neat stuff. I went to school with Billy and his parents were good friends with ours. Both Dads were volunteer firemen and Lodge members, and both Moms involved in other community activities. The building still houses a pharmacy, only bigger to keep up with the newer and growing population.

- Bell Telephone – the building on the corner that use to house the local telephone operators. Back in the day when party lines abounded and everyone truly knew what everyone else was up to!! The only thing I remember about this old building is that big sister, Gail, wandered up to that corner one day as a child and one of the operators called Mom to let her know where she was. The operators and most other villagers were very aware of the growing family down Ontario Street! Now that’s small town!! The old building is long gone and newer retail establishments have taken its place.

- Kresge’s 5 & Dime – a store that stocked all sorts of goodies that any little girl wanted. From jewelry, make-up, toys and household items, it was always an adventure to wander around with Mom, your hand in hers. I’ll confess to something that I’m sure everyone else has done! This is the one and only store that I actually pinched a small piece of jewelry when I was about 4 or 5. I also still remember the clerk or manager – that tall lady with the round glasses and hair in an upswept and tight bun. Long before the days of bar codes and scanners, the goodies were laid out in small little bins with price tags stuck to the back of each item. A store that couldn’t survive the newer and more up-to-date retailers.

- Christie’s Dairy Bar – one of our all-time favourites. The Christie family made the best chocolate milk in the whole world (or at least to us). It was also ‘way cool’ that each of the boys were able to get behind the counter and help themselves! We all knew each other from public or high school. This was also the best restaurant for burgers, fries, onion rings and chocolate milk on your lunch break from Beamsville High, just a five minute walk away. A great hang-out for several generations of teenagers taking a break before, after and sometimes during classes. The old Dairy Bar is now a health food store (egad!!).

There was also (what I believe) an appliance store that also sold 45 records. I do remember buying my first package of 45’s. Yes, you’d get one good one (in a pack of three) with the other two being unknowns, but sometimes you got lucky and they turned out to be hits. My first 45 was by Gordon Lightfoot – Daisy Doo on one side and (Remember Me) I’m The One on the flip side. Still one of my all-time favourite singers and I’ve still got that 45!! The store didn’t sell a whole lot of records, but I was at least able to get a package or two before we moved on to an even smaller town – Campden in the early 1960’s.

As a child riding along in our Dad’s old ‘54 Ford with floor boards you could see the road through, it was embarrassing to pass someone you knew and Dad, with his left elbow resting on the open window and his right hand on the wheel, would wave and holler ‘how ‘ya doin’?” It’s only about 45 years later that I appreciate where he was coming from and even where he was going. Always down No. 8 Highway, always looking around and always proud. I also wonder what he would think about all of the wineries that have now popped up and taken over the tender fruit lands that were prominent 40 years ago. I’d like to think he would at least appreciate that the land was being used for something good and yes, tasty!!

[Full disclosure: I am a Fielding Wine Club Member]

For a winery especially for small boutique wineries, Wine Club members are vital to their existence.  They provide a important stream of revenue, a loyal customer base and act as Ambassadors for the brand.  To reward these loyal club members, a winery will sometimes produce a wine made exclusively for them.  Fielding Estate Winery in Beamsville recently announced that they are producing the “Friends of F.E.W.” – the 2008 Wild Fermentation Chardonnay.  As Richie Roberts, Winemaker explains “The concept behind this project was to create an exceptional wine in extremely limited quantities – a production so limited that we could offer just one or two bottles a year to our most loyal friends. Occasionally in our cellar we have a barrel or two of wines that are so interesting it would be a shame to lose them in a larger blend, so this is an ideal fit for wines that are truly the winemaker’s selection.”

Roberts explains the selection and production process: “Sourced from our oldest vines in the Jack Rabbit Flats Vineyard (Lincoln Lakeshore) and planted twenty years ago, two rows from this block of vines and by reducing the yields to help concentrate the flavour in the remaining clusters on the vines. We hand harvested, sorted, and gently whole cluster pressed the berries, keeping only the light pressings for this wine. The juice was cold settled in stainless steel then racked into two barrels, one new French oak barrel and one older French oak barrel. Underwent a “wild fermentation” in barrel whereby the native yeast on the bloom of the grapes’ skin completed the fermentation. – Malo-lactic fermentation in barrel, following which the two barrels were combined and the older French oak barrel was refilled with the wine, still with the lees in suspension. Regular scheduled battonage (stirring of the lees) as the wine ages in barrel.  The two barrels from the original ferment were both from Mercury, a small Burgundian Cooper – one barrel was new and one was on it’s third fill (old).   After fermentation and MLF the two barrels were kept with their lees and combined together into the older oak barrel and still remain with their lees, with battonage (lees stirring) as needed – more frequently just after fermentation and less frequent as we approach bottling.”

The result is single barrel selected for the first bottling under a new label, “Friends of F.E.W.”.  Only one bottle will be allocated to each wine club member and Roberts will be personally hand-numbering each bottle(about 250 bottles).   The label for  “Friends of F.E.W.” label will be a twist on Fielding’s  new label design which recently won Best Label Design Award at the Ontario Wine Awards.

By the Barrel:

• Alc/vol=13.5%
• RS=3.0g/l
• TA=6.7g/l
• pH=3.75
• MLF=80% approx
• Yield=  2.5 tonnes/acre crop load approx
• Picked by hand and sorted October 19, 2008
• Very gentle long pressing up to just 0.6bar – yield just 475l/tonne.
• Harder press fraction blended into Unoaked Chardonnay later in the year.
• Fermentation =  native yeast – took nearly 7 weeks to dryness and peaked at about 22˚C

The “Friends of F.E.W.” – 2008 Wild Fermentation Chardonnay will be bottled at the beginning of September, and released in November/December for wine club members.

To Order: You must be a “Friends of F.E.W.” member.  Email Kim Doran at kim@fieldingwines.com or  visit http://www.fieldingwines.com/ to sign-up.

We had lunch a few days ago at August restaurant in Beamsville, Ontario. It bills itself as “Ontario Inspired Cuisine” – local, home-grown and proud of it. The idea is good but the execution needs work.

To start, the Focaccia brought to the table was a nice thought and I really wish it had remained that way. Instead we were left with raw (kneadable) bread. I learned that there is such a thing as par-baked bread. That started a comedic lunch that is not representative of Ontario’s wine country.

When I pointed out the bread that I had (rudely) kneaded, proofed and scored, the waiter left it at the table without as much as a word. Next I had lentil soup and seafood gratin. Tasty enough but hard to tell the soup from the gratin. Someone at the table had very fishy, salt-free crab quiche. Wine was brought to the table already opened – in wine country!

Here’s where I think they could really improve.

• train the waiters to respond appropriately to feedback
• train them in wine service (may be an important thing in Niagara)
• train them to know the menu
• keep it simple and cook what you know
• find your identity – not everyone can pull off local, organic, <insert trend here>

August may have been having a bad day and the waiter definitely didn’t mean anything badly but I probably won’t take another chance eating there.

Mock Disaster In Beamsville There was a disaster drill today in the Town of Lincoln. Just before 8:30 am rescue personal started to gather at the fire station on Ontario St. The drill involves a school bus crashing into a tractor-trailer transporting hazardous materials on Mountain Street in Beamsville. The drill is taking place near the Albright Manor senior citizens complex just to the South East area. There will be volunteers of high school age helping fire fighters and paramedics to rescue. St. Mark Catholic School’s parents had a notice sent home with there children giving them a heads up for this event. St. Mark Catholic School will also be holding a school lockdown drill today. More pictures can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/15048682@N08/

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=6191&id=609412435&ref=mf

f/8 1/250 sec 300mm
8×10 – 25 Prints

The Story Behind the Photo

I managed to capture a number of great images from a July 2006 trip from Beamsville. This photograph was taken during a short hike at one of the local wineries. Tucked away in a clearing in the forest behind the winery was a small pond. This beautiful creature had landed next to the water.