These Inniskillin wines were some of the most expensive wines at Saturday's tasting. However, they stood out and all 4 were in the outstanding category for me. The prices for these 375ml bottles are prohibitive though. I scored them all in a range since the pours were small and did not allow for as complete an assessment as I would have liked.

~2001 Oak Aged Vidal Gold Icewine($90)- Golden color. Concentrated nose filled with pear. Delicious notes of apricot and marmalade balanced by good acidity. 90-91.

~2001 Sparkling Icewine($75)- The slight fizz in this bottle gave this dessert wine an interesting twist and balanced much of the sweetness. An intense effort with pear and peach notes. 91-93.

~2001 Cabernet Franc Icewine($116)- Pale red color. A nose of sweet cranberry. Red fruit cocktail and raspberry tart notes prevailed in this sweet wine. Somewhat less intense than the Riesling but very good. 90-92.

~1999 Riesling Silver Icewine($75)- This stood out from the rest for me. It had the most intricate nose. This intense wine had a long finish filled with apricot and apple cider notes. 93-95.

1 Bonus Dessert wine:

~2001 Joseph Phelps Napa Eisrebe($19 per 375ml)- This was the 2nd or 3rd time I have had this wine by Phelps but from different vintages. It had a Sauvignon Blanclike nose. The sweetness was not quite balanced by the acidity but the wine retained a lightness to it. It had nice sweet orchard fruit notes on the finish. Overall a very good value. 88-89.

VM

[This message was edited by Vino Me on Aug 20, 2004 at 11:21 AM.]

Vino Me

Thanks for the notes.

Would it be safe to assume that these Inniskillin's are all from Ontario...opposed to B.C. Inniskillin?

Psychiatrists say that one of four people are mentally ill. Check three friends. If they're okay, you're it.

Most of these Inniskillin ice wines were quite good. My order of preference would be:

1) '01 Oak Aged Vidal Icewine "Gold" (93P)
2) '01 Riesling Icewine "Silver" (90P)
3) '01 Sparkling Icewine (88P)
4) '99 Cab Franc Icewine (87P)

Gorgeous bouquet and great mouthfeel on the "Gold". I though the oak added extra flavors and weight to that bottling versus the others.

I would rather drink a $20 sparkling shiraz than the $115 Cab Franc Icewine, but it was very interesting to taste.

100% agree with VM's notes on the Phelps Eisrebe.

Cheers,

Otis

Tyee,

Yes, they were all from Ontario.

VM

I stand to be corrected, but I think the prices you quote for these wines are pretty much what they cost here, but in CAD$. they are not generally avialable, but I'm pretty sure I saw the sparkling and cab franc at least at the Ottawa airport shop and they were more or less the same price. If true, given the current exchange rate, you're paying an almost 50% premium. Then again, we have no real middleman here, given our provincial wine monopoly, so that may account for it.

It's a man's life in the B.D.A.!

Not going to beat a dead horse, here's the quick and dirty.

Inniskillin:
Gold - 93/94
Silver - 92
Sparkling - 90/91
Franc - 89

Phelps Eisrebe - 88/89

I had several of the 1998, I believe, sparkling ice wines that I bought at San Francisco International Airport DFS that were, to mildly put it, terrible. I like Inniskillin, so I am of the opinion that it was either damaged in transit or (more likely) at the store. I did point this out to DFS, but they "tough luck". I also contacted Innislillin, and I received some nice letters as well as the winemaker's implication that Inniskillin may see to it to replace the wines, but that was it. I am out about $500.00 for the wines ( gifts to people here ), and it would have been nice if Inniskillin did offer a replacement or two, but I guess they don't want to deal with the small fish. I like the wines, but I do think that the sparkling wine may be more storage-sensitive than others ( A Veuve Cliquot I bought at the same time was fine. All the sparkling wines were terrible.) Not madder than hell, but just to point it out.

Thanks for posting your TN for inniskillin. I prefer to keep the icewines for a good 5 years until I drink them. the 1998 is very good now. I enjoy the darker color and the musty smell with some age.

I had a chance to try an older vintage of one of Inniskillins Icewines this weekend. Her is my note:

1998 Oak Aged Vidal Gold Icewine($68)- This was a little more complex than the 2001 version of this wine I had 2 weeks ago. Additional aging may improve this wine even more. Tropical fruit and apricot nose. This concentrated decadent wine had more apricot and pear notes on the finish. The sweetness was well balanced by the acidity. 91.

VM

VM, I'd care for the 98 Vidal as much as the 01. Perhaps because I lean for simpler more fruit dominant dessert wines. However, I'd give the '98 version a 90. I gave the '01 a 93/94.

The 98 Vidal was nice but I was expecting something more. It had a huge nose (we’re taking Bozo here) of tangerines and apricots. It was highly concentrated with pronounced apricot notes along with a sweeter fruit. I do not know if I was expecting a little more complexity or what but I gave it an 89-90. Though nicely balanced, I could not push the rating any higher.

Thanks,
Rob

If you combined the nose of the '98 and the flavor of the '01, you could build yourself a 93-pointer.

Cheers,

Otis

I had the 1998 Oak Aged Vidal Icewine again this week. They were pouring it at Sams and it was being served too warm in my opinion. It came off as much too sweet; but, otherwise had similar notes as before. About an 85-86 this time.

VM

Welcome to Next Year- EAMUS CATULI

Inniskillin is the ice wine with the most advertising and widest distribution, but it is FAR from the best produced in Canada. You rarely see the locals drinking it. The ones you see being served in the area restaurants the most are the Cave Springs Cellars and the Hillebrand Estates, both lines far superior to the Inniskillin. The Vineland Estates and Thirty Bench are also much more complex and balanced than Inniskillin. Without the hype that people buy into, these wines wouldn't sell, at least not based on the quality of the wines.

Just one more sip.

the locals doesn't drink Inni? How do you know this?

I've made four trips to the Niagara wine region in the last three years, staying in the area and eating lunch and dinner at the winery restaurants.

As a matter of fact, many employees at the various wineries complain that people seem to think all Niagara ice wine is like Inniskillin. Inniskillin was not in the top ten wineries producing ice wine, imo, and far, far removed from the top five.

Just one more sip.

I had the opportunity to try another 6 Icewines in the last few weeks. All if them are from Ontario. Here are my notes:

2001 Peller Estates Vidal Icewine Founders Series Limited Edition- 89 points

2000 Paradise Ranch Riesling Icewine- Very nice nose. Sharper acidity than the Inniskillin with delicious tropical fruit notes. 92 points.

2001 Inniskillin Vidal Oak Aged Gold Icewine- Notes consistent with my original post. 90 points.

2001 Inniskillin Riesling Silver Icewine- The best of the most recent Icewines I tried. Just as good as the 1999 which I tried 6 months ago. 94 points.

2001 Jackson Triggs Riesling Icewine- Very aromatic and the better of the 2 from this winery. 90-91 points.

2001 Jackson Triggs Gewurztraminer Icewine- Tropical fruit and sugared pear notes which finished a bit off. 88-89 points.

VM

VM,

Thanks for the updated TN. You didn't get to try some 2002 icewines? supposely its one of the best vintages yet for icewines. I'm planning on loading up on the 2002s.

I haven't tried any 2002's yet; but, I have a 2002 Inniskillin Cabernet Franc Icewine that my wife brought back from Ontario.

VM

quote:

---

I had the opportunity to try another 6 Icewines in the last few weeks. All if them are from Ontario.

---

FYI, Paradise Ranch is in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. They make a very interesting Chardonnay ice wine.

-----------------------------

Cheers.

Whoops. My mistake. Paradise Ranch was from the Okanagan Valley of BC.

VM

Mrs. Slan and I enjoyed this last night. I have to confess that the bottle was a gift and probably not one that I would have bought for myself. Inniskillin is not a favourite icewine producer of mine; I'm generally much more partial to Cave Spring's products. I also feel that riesling make a far superior icewine than vidal, but nevertheless we did enjoy this wine. I simply feel that at C$53 (about US$41), it is not particularly good value. It exhibited notes of citrus and apricot on the nose, with honeyed orange flavours on the medium-bodied palate. Thankfully, none of the syrup-style textures that typify some of the lesser Canadian icewines. A touch short on the finish.

The 2001 Vidal from Inniskillin is not really a good representation of their icewines. The harvest for 2001 was extremely late so most of their vidal grapes had some rot in them, giving them a particularily darker and richer taste. Personally sometimes I like that better because it adds some complexity and different flavors into them. I think we should wait until the 2002 icewines roll out to make judgement. 2002 is one of the best years ever for Canada.

As far as QPR goes... some people think they're way too expensive... but for me... spending $50 for a half bottle is a better bargain in comparison to lets say... a half bottle of Mondavi Reserve Cab.

I had a chance to try the most recent vintages of some Inniskillin and Jackson-Triggs Icewines last month. No formal notes but here are my scores:

2002 Inniskillin Vidal Oak Aged Icewine Gold($67)- 90
2002 Inniskillin Riesling Icewine Silver($67)- 92
2001 Inniskillin Vidal Sparkling Icewine($67)- 92+
2001 Jackson-Triggs Riesling Icewine($49)- 89-91
2002 Jackson-Triggs Gewurztraminer Icewine($48)- 90

VM

2001 Inniskillin Vidal Sparkling Icewine

Otis opened a 375ml bottle of this at his CDP. Perhaps it was the fact that I tried this after about 40 red wines; but, this was the best of the 3 bottles that I have had of this wine. Very crisp, refreshing and tropical. 94 points.

VM