Prince Edward County’s first sparklers are incredible: you’d swear you were drinking champagne
(Image: Jack Dylan)
The first three sparkling wines to come out of Prince Edward County are taut, tender and dance across the palate: they taste more like champagne than any non-French bubbly I’ve ever tasted. The secret is in the dirt. The sunny farming region south of Belleville has almost as high a concentration of limestone in its soil as France’s Champagne district. Limestone is fissured and spongy, which allows vine roots to penetrate deep into the bedrock, and the wine it yields is full of refreshing minerality. The similarities in terroir and climate were so striking that two expat Torontonians, Jonas Newman, a former maître d’ at Scaramouche, and his partner, Vicki Samaras, have opened Hinterland winery, the County’s first dedicated exclusively to bubbly. It’s one of 14 launches in the past year, bringing the total number of wineries to 31. The region once considered laughably marginal is full of undercapitalized but pioneering vintners. Many are eking out fewer than 1,000 cases from small acreages, making their wines scarce (most are unavailable at the LCBO) and expensive. But low yields create better quality wines. Here are some examples of PEC’s finest to seek out on your next, or first, trip.
SPARKLING
The Grange of Prince Edward
2007 Brut $29.95 | Prince Edward County | 90 points
The debut sparkler from the County’s largest winery has great minerality and depth of flavour. A mix of pinot and chardonnay and aged two years, it’s lighter than champagne. There’s good tension and ping, with toasty aromas and a mouth-watering finish. Try with oysters. grangeofprinceedward.com
Hinterland 2007 Les Etoiles
$39.20 | Prince Edward County | 90 points
Out of their converted dairy barn in Hillier, Jonas Newman and Vicki Samaras have crafted a standout pinot noir–based sparkler. Smelling of dried cherry, peach and almond, the pale pink wine is bone dry, with typical County mineral grip and excellent flavour concentration. hinterlandwine.com
Huff Estates 2006 Cuvée Peter F. Huff
$39.95 | Prince Edward County | 91 points
This chardonnay bubbly is a fine follow-up to the winery’s historic 2004—the County’s first sparkling wine. The nose wafts almond, lemon and apple pastry. It’s light bodied and creamy; the finish is slightly sweet, but brisk acidity keeps it in balance. Excellent length. huffestates.ca
You are kidding me right? $30 to $40 for a bottle of bubbly??? I guarantee a $10 bottle of Oz or Cal stuff will put these over-priced bottles to shame!!!
August 10, 2010 at 7:01 am | by Brian B. WolfBrian, you are wrong. Sure $30-$40 is hefty, but the quality really is there. We’ve had the Hinterland and it really was very nice, no Cal or Aus under $30 comes close.
Go visit them, and try for yourself!
August 10, 2010 at 8:58 am | by CDGI agree with David on this. My wife and I were in the County over the long weekend and stopped in at Hinterland. Jonas took about an hour with us and we had a great chat, he showed us around his operation and we sampled the goods.
They were outstanding! We ended up taking home a case it was so good. If you’re in the County, be sure to stop by and have a taste, and support the local boy — he’s from Toronto.
August 10, 2010 at 9:01 am | by Ryan MHave had the Brut from The Grange and it was great!!!
August 10, 2010 at 10:51 am | by Laurie MorissetteThe Brut from the grange is awesome!!! I got it on the third day it was out because I signed up for the news letter. Would recommend taking a trip down to PEC to try the great wines.
August 11, 2010 at 3:17 pm | by Quentiniothe huff sparkling – at $40 – was awesome and a great value, in that it compared really favourably to champagne. i loved it. i wish there was more.
August 11, 2010 at 6:04 pm | by Metal MickyI have to join the choir on this one: the Grange’s sparkling is well worth the $30 odd bucks it will cost you.
February 1, 2011 at 12:24 pm | by Sandbanks Vacationshttp://princeedwardcountywinetours.com