This is the first time I've seen an "Estate Bottled" VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake Sauvignon Blanc from Château des Charmes at the LCBO on general list; the wine itself is a new product for the winery. This bottling features a metal screwcap closure and a deep-punted Bordeaux-shaped clear glass bottle. It costs $17.95 CAD. The back label indicates two harvest dates: September 2nd, 2005 and September 13th, 2005. The grapes were all sourced from the winery's own vineyards in Niagara. Production totalled 4,800 bottles.
12.5% alc./vol. Brilliantly clear, pale straw colour; very bright. Tight, reductive bouquet presenting gooseberry/white-currant, minerally tropical pineapple and lemon zest. Full, crisp, dry entry; good, dry and expansive minerally texture with good warmth and presence on the mid-palate. A lot of matchstick sulfur shows up into the finish, which is otherwise dry and cleansing with invigorating acidity and minerally crispness.
I've long said that despite the challenges it faces in our climate, Sauvignon Blanc does make very good varietal wines here. The style is also much to my favour: it's reliably dry and shows much varietal typicity - although grassy aromas tend to be rare; citrus zest and gooseberry are more common. Ontario Sauvignon is right up there with Austrian GV and dry Vidal as my favourite warm-weather palate invigorators.