On my recent trip to northern Ontario, I visited WLDGer Tom Noland in Sault Ste Marie and was invited to his place for a lovely dinner. It was good to meet up again after MoCool 2004, from which my fondest memories include sipping the '99 Blumenhof Cynthiana.
Alongside a wonderfully spiced pork tenderloin, grilled veggies and garlic mashed potatoes we had the 2006 Oliver Winery Creekbend Vineyard Chambourcin Rosé from Indiana. Chambourcin is rightly known as one of Eastern America's best-suited red wine grapes for the climate, and as such it regularly produces fine, dark, wines redolent of cherry, game and occasionally charred coffee (the famed torrefazione aromas). That said, the grape does just as well in rosé mode, producing here a rose-pink wine with strawberry and cranberry notes, lovely crisp acidity and a cleansing palate-feel. With 11.8% alc./vol., it's gentle and subtle on the palate and certainly counts among the wines that are meant to be drunk with food - something that most wine geeks prefer anyway. It was a memorable wine and probably my third or fourth Indiana Chambourcin to-date.
Alongside the fresh peaches for dessert, the 2005 20 Bees "Ice Bees" Vidal Icewine from Ontario went superbly. We were swirling the icewine and I was getting apricot nectar on the nose (peaches and apricots seem to be the main features of intensely concentrated late-harvest and icewine iterations of Vidal for me) - and then one of Tom's sons says "mango chutney" - eureka!! A fine palate, he has. When I swirled further and thought about it a bit more, that tiny bit of volatility atop the piercingly concentrated acidity, balanced by requisite residual sugar, made that descriptor just about perfect.
It was a perfect dinner with perfect company. Thanks Tom!
but I am glad you enjoyed the meal and wine. We enjoyed having your company 
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