Block Series Wines - They are Back!

BLOCK SERIES WINES:

They ARe BACK !

Instead of slaving and sweating over your oven for hours cooking a turkey this holiday season, you may prefer to prepare another seasonally appropriate protein that your family and friends will enjoy.

Of all protein-based dishes celebrated over the holidays, roast chicken is the most versatile to pair with a wide variety of wines. Red or white, light or full-bodied, wines of many grapes, regions, terroir, and styles will harmonize with roast chicken.

It all depends on the preparation methods and side dishes being served.

Chicken has such a mild flavour. With its delicious juices and crispy skin smothered in full fat gravy, what wine wouldn’t work? Right? The fattiness and saltiness of gravy can even work with Canadian Icewine!

I say, however, that you consider saving your Icewine to serve with your holiday desert.

Pinot Noir is no doubt a safe wine pairing choice for roast chicken. It is a safe choice because the wine occurs as half white and half red. Meant to be slightly chilled and with bright acidity like a white wine, Pinot Noir is light-bodied, dry, crisp, and complex with layers of flavours like a red wine. This French grape has enough delicacy to

complement side dishes like pureed cauliflower or mashed potatoes and all the other trimmings, such as stuffing, carrots, etc. If serving Pinot Noir, refrain from sweet-based dishes like candied carrots. The sweetness will turn Pinot Noir’s refreshing acidity to rancidity.

Ontario’s wine regions are considered cool climatic zones and therefore ideal for producing world class, award winning Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir is the primary grape used in the vinification of Burgundy in Burgundy, France. Ontario’s wine regions are situated between 41-44 degrees latitude (the same Latitude as Burgundy, France). So Ontario’s wine regions possess the same cool climate as Burgundy, the ideal growing conditions for complex, thriving Pinot Noir vines.

Our regions are located near the great lakes of Ontario, Erie and Huron. In each of the regions, the lakes moderate vineyard temperatures. In the winter the lake’s warm breeze keeps vines from freezing. In the summer the lake’s cool breeze keeps grapes from ripening too quickly. A slow ripening allows the

grapes to attain a balance of sugar to acid. Our long cool summers allow the grapes to gain a high acidity level. Cool climate wines, such as Pinot Noir, are considered the best food wines. The reason is that this acidity cleans and refreshes the palate between bites. Said simply, Ontario Pinot Noir vinifi es extremely well.

I have always been a big fan of Flack Rock Cellars Pinot Noirs. I once created a dinner around their 2011 Block Series of Pinot Noirs from 20 Mile Bench. The Block Series release was the result of an experiment that came out of trying to get a better picture of how their maturing vineyard developed and what went into their vineyard

blend of Pinot Noirs. They did this to focus on different parcels of vineyard that show the nuances of clones in relationship to terroir.

This Block series consisted of 3 Pinot Noirs of different clones (DNA) grown within the same vineyard in the same year. So everything was identical except for the DNA of the vines. This was an incredible experiment, showing how DNA plays an important role in the resulting wine’s tastes, fl avours, structure, and even complexity.

This Block series is available for sale from the winery yet again! This series of wine offers the uniqueness and sophistication required for holiday dining.