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Back to My Roots: A Niagara Riesling
Charles Baker Riesling Vinemount Ridge Stratus 2008
I grew up next to Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula region, a source of a wide variety of fruit and, more recently, one of Canada’s premier wine regions, and I recently had the opportunity to retaste a wine from that region when a Canadian friend of mine came by with a bottle of Stratus Riesling.
It was from Picone Vineyard in the Vinemount Ridge subappellation, a glacial moraine that lies above the Niagara Escarpment. The Charles Baker Riesling Vinemount Ridge Stratus 2008 had developed more complexity since I reviewed it in 2010, showing delicate floral notes and a peach element with air. Nonetheless, it was dry and bracing, a product of the cool 2008 growing season in Niagara (88 points, non-blind).
The skewered scallops and shrimp we grilled proved a bit rich for the wine, which was better on its own, but was certainly showing no signs of age.
WineSpectator.com members: Read the original blind-tasting review for Charles Baker Riesling Vinemount Ridge Stratus 2008 (87, $39).
• Plus, get scores and tasting notes for more recently rated white wines from Canada.
