Last night’s Ontario Wine Society event at Quince Bistro was fun. It was a walk-around tasting featuring the wines from three excellent Prince Edward County Vineyards and a selection of finger foods from Qunce:
- The Grange of Prince Edward County — with Maggie, one of the winemakers there (and daughter of winemaker Caroline Granger) there to talk about what she was pouring;
- Trail Estate Winery – with Alex Sproll there to tell us about what he was pouring and about the newish winery; and
- Traynor Family Vineyard – with Mike Traynor, winemaker/owner was there to tell us about what he was pouring and how things are going at the very new winery.
Mike Traynor — Winemaker/Owner of Traynor Family Vineyard
All the wines were very good representations of Ontario wines. It was interesting to hear how the past few harsh winters and springtime freezes have impacted the PEC wineries. As a result, many are ending up sourcing at least some of their grapes from other growers — typically in the Niagara region.
So, with the exception of the wines from The Grange, where all their wines are from their estate grown grapes, some of the wines served by Trail Estates and Traynor Family Vineyard were not necessarily made with PEC grapes. (Of course, it’s also worth noting that both of these wineries are still quite new, so it’s no wonder they have to look elsewhere for grapes in order to have wine to sell.)
If I had to pick a favourite from each winery, I’d choose: The Grange’s 2010 Pinot Noir Reserve, Mike Traynor’s 2014 Sauvignon Blanc, and Trail Estate’s 2013 Cab Franc-Cab Sauv blend.