We started the evening with a refreshing glass of 2016 Cuvee Sputnik which was provided by the winery. Be sure to visit the winery for the intriguing story behind this wine!
Our guest from the winery, Svetana Atcheva led us on a guided tasting of 8 surprising wines.
This tasting offered a cross section of the wineries’ best offering… and a great opportunity for Svetlana to explain their unique approach which focusses on single varietals and a naturalist approach.
The focus of our guided tasting was the difference between the 2012 and 2014 vintages.
The wines were all from the same vineyards so it was a clear display vintage variation in Niagara.
And the differences were stunning with the lightness of the 2014 standing in stark contrast to the weighty 2012 Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc.
We took a small break between each mini-flight to poll the room on favorite vintage in each of the wines. Interestingly, reactions were pretty evenly split between the two very unique vintages.
A lively discussion followed the tasting showing how very engaging these wines from Pearl Morissette truly are.
Unlike our usual format, there were no tasting scores from the event as we felt it would break the flow of the guided tasting. We achieved a good level of group interaction with an informal “vintage” poll between each set of wines while Svetalana was a very passionate and informed speaker. She kept he guests enthralled with her natural storytelling style, keeping the event both informative and fun.
For more information on the wines, click here.