Beautiful Chardonnay, very good Pinot

"Beautiful whites", "very good Pinots" were a few of the comments made about Le Clos Jordanne wines at our March 17th wine tasting event. Most of these wines were made in a very wet summer and so accolades to the wine makers who had a difficult harvest to contend with. The Pinots were light in colour but had, in most cases, considerable mouth feel, body, flavour and complexity. The bouquets varied considerably.

Overall, the group was particularly impressed with the Chardonnays. One person commented that he didn't think Ontario could produce Chardonnays as good as these. It was very interesting and also surprising to taste the differences in vineyards separated in distance by only 50 metres with variances in nose, flavours, and minerality! Clearly, terroir is a major factor in Niagara.

Our guest speaker, Sebastien Jacquey, still a newcomer to Canada and to Le Clos, explained the challenges that the winery faces in being an organic winery, especially having to deal with additional diseases and pests from all the orchards in the Niagara peninsula. With all of Sebastien's training and experience in Burgundy, France's loss is clearly Canada's gain. Selastien also brought along an experimental Riesling for the group to taste, one that will never hit the public. Our attendees were very appreciative of the wines and the chance to question the winemaker. Fortunately, Clos Jordanne's production is increasing so there is more product on the market. It's possible to buy some the 2006's as well as the 2007's and lay them down for several years.

So, here is how the Group and guest speaker, Sebastien Jacquey rated these wines. Sebastien did taste them blind. There was total agreement on the Chardonnays because there were only 3 of them but there was also some agreement between Sebastien and the group on the Pinot Noirs. Both had Le Clos Pinot Noir as their top 1 or 2 wines and the Petite Village - a very nice wine on its own - ranked fifth of the five Pinots.

We are very grateful to Thomas Bachelder for providing our reception wine and arranging for Sebastien as our speaker and to Sebastien for being our guest speaker. Once again, another informative and enjoyable evening for the TVC group! Here are the rankings.

Guest Speaker Rankings - Pinot Noirs:
1. Pinot Noir 2006, Le Clos Jordanne Vineyard $40 (wine D as poured)
2. Pinot Noir 2006, Le Grand Clos $70 (wine E)
3. Pinot Noir 2006, La Petite Vineyard $40 (B)
4. Pinot Noir 2006, Village Reserve $40 (A)
5. Pinot Noir 2005, La Petite Vineyard $35 (C)

Group Rankings - Pinot Noir:
1. Pinot Noir 2006, Le Grand Clos $70 (wine E)
2. Pinot Noir 2005, La Petite Vineyard $35 (C)
3. Pinot Noir 2006, Le Clos Jordanne Vineyard $40 (D)
4. Pinot Noir 2006, La Petite Vineyard $40 (B)
5. Pinot Noir 2006, Village Reserve $40 (A)

Group and Speaker Rankings - Chardonnay
1. Chardonnay 2006, Le Clos Jordanne Vineyard $40 (wine G)
2. Chardonnay 2006, Le Grand Clos $65 (H)
3. Chardonnay 2006, Village Reserve $40 (F)