WTN: 2010 Magnotta Harvest Moon Vidal (Ontario VQA)

A medium-sweet Vidal, attractively packaged in a deep blue 750 ml bottle. Synthetic cork closure. $9.95 at the Magnotta retail outlet; 12.6% alc./vol.

The Vidal pours with a pretty, semi-unctuous straw hue and brilliant clarity. A beautiful mix of ripe tropical fruits rises out of the glass: pineapple, tangerine, fresh orange juice, Granny Smith apple, and that note of spicy passionfruit that is so typical in sweeter versions of Vidal. Laser-crisp acidity on the entry, well wrapped in a blanket of residual sweetness (7 g/l). Crisp/sweet texture, but the acidity never lets up bringing on the tang - so this wine still works decidedly well at the dinner table. Lots of citrusy tangerine / pink-grapefruit zest in the finish, which again is fleshed out nicely by another dose of residual... A very pleasing wine indeed.

Even though I am partial to dry wine across the entire vinous spectrum, I still find the occasion now and then to enjoy a late-harvest Vidal - one of Ontario's true gems, and with a close heritage to another regional highlight: icewine.

I opened a bottle of home made Vidal made by a friend last week. It as a 2005 vintage, made from juice obtained from Lailey in NOTL. Beautiful amber color, pineapples and tropical fruits on the nose and a full, long finish, just off-dry. 6 years old and still drinking very nicely.

Sounds great Howie. I have not aged any Vidal personally, but I have always had great faith in the grape's abilities. It's one of my favourite varieties for its amazing versatility - everything from bone-dry, zippily crisp table wine, all the way to icewine. The aromatic profile is also really appealing.

attractively packaged in a deep blue 750 ml bottle.

Interesting

Blue bottles act as a warning to me of a naff wine. Pieroth packaged some of their German dross in blue bottles at very inflated prices and in the past blue bottles have been sold more on their packaging than contents. Unfair perhaps, but I'd need a lot of convincing to buy anything in a blue bottle. Thats conditioning for you

Blue bottles act as a warning to me of a naff wine.

Yeah, I tend to be very critical of what I call "kitschy marketing", but in this case, I had faith in the grape

Turned out to be a very decent wine. Too sweet for my usual preference, but interesting all the same.

Vidal is an interesting grape in that the bouquet changes significantly across the sweetness spectrum. Typical characteristics I've found over many years of tasting:

bone-dry - citrus, green apple and mango
off-dry - pineapple, peach, mango, tangerine
medium-sweet - pineapple, passionfruit
sweet - passionfruit, pineapple, raisins

Of course, much of this can be attributed to final fruit ripeness, not merely the r.s. that the winemaker chooses to leave in the finished product.