TN: 2018 Pearl Morissette Violette Cabernet Franc, Niagara.

I have heard good things about this Ontario winery so was keen to try this Cab Franc at a recent do downtown. The owner is from Burgundy and works out of an industrial barn. Now I am a keen CF drinker and really enjoyed the Malivoire 2 yrs ago but this wine did not do it for me. Transparent ruby in color, 11.5% alc, the lightest CF I have ever seen. Violets and blueberry on the nose, light-bodied for sure with some smoke, pepper and dill. Very little tannin and lowish acidity. $40 Cdn…ouch.

The restaurant is great but the wine is a bit too natural/wild for my likes.

You gotta give him credit for trying though! They have some good ciders in the area I’m told.

You oughta know about this producer.

It’s interesting because in a cryptic kinda way they released this wine as a dark rosé of sorts at the beginning of last summer. I quite liked it in a juicy, refreshing kind of way. It was $32CAD here and easy to drink in the warm months with a light chill on it. Herbal, red fruit, but I found a nice Blood Orange note on it.

I’d encourage you to take a look at the more serious bottlings of Cab Franc they make, particularly the Cuvee Madeline. It’s aged in old oak and a little less in the esoteric camp and more in the traditionally made wine camp. Last few vintages have been 100% whole cluster, aged in old oak and with decent fruit extraction. This cuvee started at $40CAD here, and on last release was up to $48.

I’ve enjoyed the Cabernet Franc I have had from this producer.

That said i find Niagara red wine very vintage dependent and haven’t had this bottling.

The most interesting winery in NOTL region. Experimental, yes. Do they always hit it out of the park, no. But given the price tag this is well worth following and seeing where the winery is going. The Rieslings are very GG in nature, excellent partners with food. The cab franc is somewhat vintage dependent, but I am NEVER bored with the wines they produce. Do we need another safe, predictable, stuck in a rut winery churning out a populist range of wines every year? If Francoise were in the Loire people would be swooning over these wines and loving the vintage variations.

The added bonus here is the fact that this region and likely the Prince Edward County wines will be winners in the near term global climate change sweepstakes. Summers are warmer and a bit longer than ever, allowing for more phenologic maturity than before. PM is poised to take advantage of the changes.

The restaurant used to be a secret, but no more. I ate there 2 weeks ago and it is still evolving and using hyperlocal ingredients that take advantage of the diversity in the region. Had a course paired with some eastern European vermouth (of all things!) and it was amazing. The real kicker was the bill. Multi-course meal, impeccable preparation, wine paring for myself with each course and my wife had a couple of individual glasses (shared some of my pours) for a grand total of $325.28 CDN…or $247.54 USD. About $123.00 USD per person. All in, no tipping restaurant policy. I can barely get two burgers with all the fixings at Shake Shack in NYC for $123.00.

There are advantages to living here in the hinterlands next to the Great White North!

Dennis, thanks for the pricing info on the resto. I honestly thought it was more $$. Everyone I know who has eaten there has loved it. In comparison, a dinner for 2 with wine pairings at Alo in Toronto - probably the closest to PM’s restaurant in quality and style- will run you $550 with tax and tip.

I agree that Niagara wines will benefit from climate change (hate to describe anything as a “benefit” of climate change), and that PM is probably the most consistently interesting winery in the region.

I like their Dix-Neuvieme Chard. Their natural processes result in wildly variable vintages but they’re always eminently drinkable.

Cab Franc seems to be a good grape in Ontario. Tawse, Stratus in Niagara more main stream and Lacey in PEC was interesting at the winery a couple of years ago.

I’m going to look out for these Morissette wines.

I have also seen a PM Viognier on the shelf downtown,

Not much makes it to the LCBO. They sell a lot to restaurants and directly to consumers via their website. Members of their (free) “Blackball Society” get exclusive offers and also have access to library releases. Last summer I picked up a 6-pack vertical of their Dix-Neuvieme Chardonnay (2009-2014) via the Blackball Society. You can sign up on the website. A bonus is free delivery to the GTA.

They sell out very quickly of most releases. Right now there are only two wines available on their website, and all the Blackball exclusives are also sold out.

Ah yes wine clubs… I blow hot and cold on them the risk is they take over your cellar at least when like mine it’s not very big! (And I did sign up for a few in Okanagan when we were there in the fall).

But I’ll look into it. Thanks for the info.

I know several people here in Toronto who rave about this winery. I tasted the full lineup at a tasting with one of the wine makers giving a talk. Most of their wines were unimpressive. The winemaker whined on incessantly about the ‘Black Balled’ issue: they were denied the privilege of putting the ‘VQA’ (Local quality assurance, like DOC in Italy) sticker on it because the tasting panel didn’t find it varietally correct. I agree with the ruling. The industry is trying to build a brand for the region with the VQA quality assurance program being part of it: Buy a bottle with VQA on it and be assured of a) quality, b) varietally correct character. There is a lot of room within VQA. PM does a lot of things differently. Listening to the wine maker you get the impression they are the ONLY people getting it right and everyone else, including Burgundy has it wrong. The only wine that was reasonably good was the CF (likely Madeleine) but not at the price. I would not encourage anyone to seek out their wine. The restaurant on the other hand gets great reviews from everyone I know who have visited. Pass on the wine; go for a good meal…

Richard, there’s no obligation to buy anything from their Black Ball club. You just get access to some wines that others don’t.

Ross, I’m in the middle with my opinion of PM. I like their Chard quite a bit, but I’m so-so on their Riesling (it varies quite a bit from vintage to vintage) and on their reds. I have a few bottles of Pinot Noir I bought quite some time ago, and a few bottles of the CF Cuvée Madeline. I probably won’t buy any more of the reds.

I hear you Andrew. I’ve tasted their wines a few times, here & there and nothing really stood out. Re: Chardonnay, have you tried the Bachelder Chards? Another that I’ve heard very good things about but haven’t tried yet is Hidden Bench.

I have had limited exposure. One of their Chards was on the list at Ascari, Gail liked it, I was so so. There was also a dinner a while back at Midfieid I think it was , with his wines against Norm Hardies and both of them attending. Fun evening, but the wines did not really compel. I’m intrigued by the apparent idiosyncrasy, but if that’s your thing, don’t be upset if VQA says no. Typicity is important in marketing and standards.

Hidden a Bench generally very good in most categories. Nuit Blanch (white Bordeaux blend) is excellent. Their basic Riesling is great value. The Chards are very good main stream Bench wines, nicely balanced. Of the reds I reallt like the Terroir Cache.

Bachelder Niagara Chards, mostly very good to excellent. He’s back with Clos Jordanne “Grand Clos” (not really the same wine as the former Grand Clos), which is excellent. But I do miss the Claystone Terrace which for me was the best of the original line up , in terms of grip and structure and overall style.

The Pinot Noir I’m not so sure about. I think it needs a little time; some friends were not keen. Very restrained at the moment, light beet and red fruit. Volnay? I’m reserving judgement on it.

Will be interesting to see how this redux venture develops.

The basic Niagara Chard is good value (for Ontario wines). And then there are the Wismer Vnyd Chards and here I have a bit of a hard time keeping up. I’ve had a couple of disappointments, I think from the 2015 vintage, that were ok but not thrilling.

However there was a small release of a “Wismer Wingfield Ouest” 2016 (West) Chard just recently that is excellent.

What I really want to know is where are the Burgundies? We had his Maranges at brunch in Quebec City a few years back that was terrific, but in Ontario I have mostly only seen Bourgogne Blanc (good).

I like the Bachelder Ontario Chards, and I used to like Le Clos Jordanne’s wines (but agree that the Grand Cru wines weren’t worth the premium). I bought one bottle of each of the new LCJ releases but haven’t tried them yet. I’m NOT a fan of beet root in Pinot, so I’ll sit on that one for a year or two. Thanks for the tip.

Thanks Richard, for the info re: Hidden Bench. Re: Wismer, on my most recent visit with him Thomas explained that they (He) is in the process of determining which smaller plots of terroir produce better or different results, much in the way it happened in Burgundy a long, long time ago; hence recent confusions. Things are settling down now. The Wismer Ouest is the best part of the vineyard, and as you seem to have notice - it shows. I agree re: the Niagara Chard as good value. So, I settled pretty much into buying the Wismer Ouest and the Niagara Chard as a routine. As for Clos Jordanne, like Sunny, I liked their wines, especially Claystone but found the value prop lacking due to price. I haven’t tasted enough of the new Jordanne to form an opinion. I DO look forward to trying some Hidden Bench. Had their basic Niagara at a dinner last week and it was quite good at the $25 Cdn price point.