Marynissen 2001 Gamay Noir

(Found – November 2007)

I remember putting this one away at the time of purchase, because Marynissen had been very liberal with their oaking of this wine and I thought it just might hold. When I found it a few months back I thought a "Gamay Noir? Oh boy ... I might be in trouble here." I pulled the cork and waited for the unpleasant gases to spew forth, good news - they did not; so the obvious next step was to pour. A slight browning of the edges was the first thing I noticed – not surprising in a 6 year old wine. Time to put nose to glass and that brought out some stink of epic barnyard proportions. Surprisingly it was only the smell that was off-putting it did not follow through on the taste (what I'll put in my mouth in the name of science) with mainly black fruit and cedar notes on the tongue. I decanted it to see if I could rid it of the stink and lo and behold it mellowed out quite a bit while the flavors were improved too. Lost + Found rating: MINOR TREASURE.

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Pelee Island 2002 Vinesdressers Reserve Pinot Noir

(Found - November 2007)

Pelee is best known for two things: their early drinking, light style of winemaking and their distinctively attractive bird and nature driven labels that speak to the beauty of the island itself (they have plenty of listings at the LCBO). But Pelee does try its hand at reserve wines, called the Vinedressers series. This Pinot Noir from the great 2002 vintage was found on my shelf in early November 2007 - my previous notes (May 2006) claim the wine is going through a “dumb-period” - everything is muted from the fruit to the wood. A year later there is something there but I'm still trying to decide whether its treasure or just so-so. The capsule is sticky and the cork was fully engulfed in red wine - this is usually a bad sign. The nose is loaded with stewed fruit characteristics … on the other hand the mouth is more promising, revealing earthy-tannins along with cranberry, tart strawberry, some cherry and a very slight prunyness. I have a feeling it would've been a treasure had the cork held. Lost + Found rating: TOLERABLE.

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Jackson-Triggs 2001 Cabernet/Shiraz - non-VQA

(Found - October 2007)

I lost track of this white-labeled Jackson-Triggs offering: a non-VQA, cellared in Canada blended affair. I opened it with some trepidation, but to my surprise the wine inside the bottle was still good. Dark fruit, easy drinking, smooth on the palate, there was even some chocolate notes blended in with those black cherries - tasty. Lost + Found rating: TREASURE.

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Kittling Ridge 2001 Merlot

(Found - October 2007)

I have long been a proponent of Ontario Merlots needing time in bottle to really come about. Well, I lost track of this '01 Kittling Ridge offering somewhere in the depths of my racks and, well, after I found it I wished it had remained lost. The color had turned quite brown around the rim and the smells and tastes were prune-juicy in nature. Lost + Found rating: TRASH.

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