WTN: 2010 Magnotta Vidal "Equus Series" (Ontario VQA)

Magnotta's Vidal has been a summer favourite of mine for over a decade. This wine, always inexpensive and always top-notch, is a sure go-to when I want something crisp and flavourful. It's just as refreshing served cold, whether grilling on the patio, or enjoying any white-wine-friendly food at the table.

A very reasonable $7.95 at the Magnotta retail outlet. Synthetic (plastic) cork closure; (I would prefer a screwcap). 13.3% alc./vol. '3' on the sweetness scale.

Brilliant, pale light straw colour; almost watery-clear, but for the light-straw glint; lots of tiny C02 bubbles in the glass. Big, forward crisp citrusy nose with lots of pineapple and honeydew on backup: a very attractive, and appetizing, fruity nose. Mild hints of pine needles in the background. Crisp and firm on the fore-palate, with lively acidity, warm 13.3% alcohol (the 2010 vintage was a ripe one), with crisp grapefruity citrus rind / Sauvignon-like green-tomato-stalk hints; raspy and crisp, with noticeable sweetness balancing it all out. A very well balanced Vidal with heft. Warm, crisp, tropical-fruity finish, with a cleansing texture.

Excellent value, and an excellent example of varietal Ontarian Vidal table wine in a medium-dry style.

Vidal makes an excellent table wine and I'm at a loss as to why more of it isn't made. It has been given a designation as a grape for dessert wines only. While not very aromatic, it does have great mouthfeel and a longer finish than many whites. I often use it for blending because of those properties.

Hiya Howie,

I find Vidal's aromatics extremely pleasing. In Ontario it's mainly pineapple, citrus rind (grapefruit and tangerine), apricot and peaches. Very nice.

Many folks prefer Riesling icewine, but I have always liked Vidal more for its big apricot-jam whack on the mid-palate, when done in that style. But as a table wine, it is equally tasty.

I've always thought of it as "our Grüner Veltiner" - ubiquitous, but underrepresented.

It all sounds like a white I might enjoy.