We visited this winery 22 days ago and tasted their wines with Chris Fuccillo, the tasting room manager. The wines:

nv Due Sparkling Wine, 12% alcohol, $23, 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir- Citrus, toasty, fruity nose. Fine mousse. light. 82

2003 International Series Pinot Grigio, 12% alcohol, $10- Light pear nose. Light fruit. 78

2002 Riesling Sweet Reserve, 11% alcohol, $15-
Wild grape nose. Soft. Ready. 81

2002 Merlot Reserve, 13% alcohol, $30-
Oak and dark fruit nose. A little young. Smooth. Nice. 85

1999 Cabernet Franc Reserve, 12.7% alcohol, $43-
Green pepper and black olive nose. Berry flavors. Soft. 84

2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, 12.6% alcohol, $18-
Fruit pie nose. Light. 83

2004 Vidal Icewine, 10% alcohol, $35-
Rich honey nose. Rich fruit. Excellent balance. 92

2003 Cabernet Franc/Cabernet Sauvignon Select Late Harvest, $30, made from the second pressing of ice wine grapes- Marmalade nose. Juicy. Nice. 88

If I had to pick a winery to call "average" for our visit to Niagara, this would be it. Clearly showing improvement over our last visit, it still has a ways to go, but like many of the area's wineries, their progress is encouraging.

quote:

Originally posted by Board-O:
and tasted their wines with ... the tasting room manager.

Do they ask what you think? What do you tell them?

Their sparkling riesling icewine is quite excellent as well and I picked up a bottle myself. I would recommend it and the vidal sparkling icewine in the future.

mwagner, almost nobody asks what I think while I'm scribbling down a few notes. If they do, and the wine is poor, I'll say something like, "I'd like to see more fruit" or "this could use a little more acidity to balance the sweetness." I don't tell them it's Robitussin, even it is, but my notes are what accurate reflections of my thoughts.

If the wine is good or very good, I'll tell them even if they don't ask. When I tasted the 2004 Wiemer Dry Riesling, I told Hermann it was the best dry wine I'vev ever had from North America, excepting OR and CA. When I tasted the 2001 Frank Cabernet Sauvignon, I told Willy and Fred it was the best dry red wine I've had from North America, excepting the three West Coast states.

VM, I'm sorry I missed the sparking Riesling ice wine.

I also visited Plitteri this summer. Nice folks. I cracked open a bottle of the Vidal last week, delicious. Great fruit , good balance 91 pts.