WTN: Wildass White 2005

Niagara Peninsula
Stratus Vineyards

A blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Semillon and Riesling. There is no indication on the back label as to the proportions. I was unable to find any info on the winery web site.

Light golden in the glass, with green tints.

Honeyed, smoky, spicy and vanilla on the nose.

Medium bodied, toasty, quite rich, smoky, iced fruit cake, very floral/perfumed, vanilla/caramel, heavily oaked with little furit showing through, some acidity toward the end.

A very long smoky and sweet finish.

A highly manipulated novelty wine, where one or two glasses is more than enough. A waste of their time and my money. Avoiid.

Purchased at $19 (Canadian).

[David M. Bueker]

Niagara Peninsula
Stratus Vineyards

A blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Semillon and Riesling.

Hi Bruce,

I had this wine at a restaurant for my birthday. I am going to have to disagree with you on this one. I thought this wine was decent with food. I like the blend although I thought it was mostly chardonnay, which I am usually not crazy about. In this case I liked it. The acidity stood up nicely to the food and the fruit came out more with the food. Oak was really not a problem for me in this wine.

Thanks for the input Tom.

I am wondering if I might have had a slightly off bottle. I bought this wine based on the recommendation of two local wine critics and both spoke of lots of fruit. I am averse to heavily oaked wines, so I wouldn't have bought this if I had thought it would turn out this way.

A highly manipulated novelty wine

You know, Bruce, back in '05 during Niagara Cool, we had a real "kick ass" cheese and wine tasting at Stratus - Howie, Robin, Ed and others were there too. I thought it was an amazingly well prepared event, and we got to try their various expensive blends, both red and white. Stratus White was an idiosyncratic, if powerful white; with some of the cheeses, it went rather well.

That said, after the tasting, I bought some of their Riesling icewine to take with me on holidays. It proved to be one of the least balanced icewines I have ever had.

Short verdict: Stratus makes a big impression with its lofty building and elegance; but the wines are aptly expensive (i.e. "stratus"pherically priced), and may be over the top for some.

Thanks Paul. Live and learn.