Tawse was a winery I was extremely excited for. They have a large penchant for sustainability, a gravity fed winery, bio-remediation pond, geothermal heating and they use an underground river to keep their barrel cellar at the right temp and humidity. With all that, as long as they make decent wine I'm happy to support them. Thankfully, they made pretty damn decent wines and have a beautiful property to boot. We called ahead to get a tour of the place and they were happy to give us one. A young guy poured us a glass of Rose and took us outside to see the grounds. He was a pretty fun guy, and though we joked a lot, he was stumped by some of our questions. We got on well enough that he went to ask his boss if he wanted to give us the tour. Boss was super busy, but gave us his e-mail to contact him with any unanswered queries. Twas cool. We got to peek inside the winery and it's gravity-fedness, which was awesome, and then relax in their barrel cellar/private room backstage. After the tour, we came back to the offical tasting room to try a swath of booze. It was a good time. As a note of importance, their wines are all made in old-school, burgundian style, because not only is the soil most appropriate for that, but the owner is an absolute burgundy nut.
Riesling-
-sweet riesling, with a grapefruity nose that comes through on the palate as well
-almost seems too sweet, but suddenly ebbs off and balances out in the finish, leaving no syrupy coating or unpalatable sugars in the mouth.
Gewurztraminer-
-strong rosewater nose, indicative of the old-world style of gewurz production
-some detectable spices, including a touch of clove or something I couldn't quite grasp onto enough to give it a name.
Rose-
One of the best roses we had in the Niagara region, being utterly drinkable at the same time as complex and not sweet. I was really happy they gave us this while we walked around the vineyards, because it seemed to suit the day as well. Everything is improved by the proper atmosphere.
Pinot Noir 08'-
-lots of red fruit, cherries and jam. Heavy oak tones of smoke and leather, quite tannic and I think I got a bit of licorice but I could be imagining things.
Cab Franc-slapped me in the face with a green bell pepper. I appreciate that.
Chardonnay-echoes reserve
-Nice medium butter chardonnay with a great long finish and a light toastiness of oak. Great vanilla component.
Meritage-(blend of cab franc, cab sauv, merlot)
-chewy tannins, could sit, even at the advice of the winemaker, who says to age around 5 years before drinking
-really full bodied with lots of dark fruit, even dried dark fruit, punchy with a bit of bitter chocolate as well
-can definitely say with confidence that it will be a great wine in a couple of years.
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