Victor de la Serna wrote:Toro is a great wine region - and the Niagara peninsula too, if you consider ice wines, of course. Not all wines should taste alike. Termes is a simple, entry-level, powerful wine that gives you the fruit and immediate taste of the region, and is good with barbecue and other powerful foods. Termes is not a bad wine by any stretch of the imagination. Another thing is whether you like powerful reds or not. But then if you go to the top-of-the-line Toro wines, with their varying styles, you will find a number of really remarkable ones. Get a few experienced, unbiased tasters and have them taste, say, the 2004s by San Román, Pintia, Numanthia (and Termanthia), Quinta Quietud, Villaester, Pago La Jara, Bienvenida Sitio del Palo and Elías Mora. And then have have them reply to Mr. Bueker's wonderful statement, "Toro is a poor place to plant grapes".
I guess jokey replies evidence a lack of solid argumentation...
All kidding aside, Victor, I think David's comment was meant in fun, not to be taken seriously, as to some extent was mine.
One wonders, though - and perhaps this is something worth worrying about as global warming accelerates - what sort of slippery slope we step onto when we seek to coax great wines out of climates that historically might have been considered unsuitable.
And while you're certainly correct that ice wine makes splendid use of the Niagara setting (which is unusually mild for Canada), my reference was not to Riesling ice wine but to red wines made in marginal conditions from French-hybrid grape varieties. Paul B is being very serious indeed when he declares them great wines and, essentially, noble in their ability to thrive in a situation where mere Syrah and Merlot must fail.
Is the conventional wisdom about great wine thriving in temperate climates incorrect? Is it prudent to push the edges and try making wine in increasingly inappropriate locations? Toro is fine, but what about the Western Sahara?