2019 Le Clos Jordanne, Jordan Village, Niagara Peninsula VQA, Ontario, Canada (Alcohol 13%, Residual Sugar 1g) LCBO Vintages and the Le Clos website $24.95 (750ml bottle)
This is a wine that I throughly enjoyed in a special preview tasting last year, and so I was most pleased to sample it again for the LCBO release on the 16th of April. Six months down the line and I find it even more appealing that before.
With the 2019 vintage Le Clos have released a wine under the “Jordan Village” moniker for the first time, with the grapes sourced from select blocks of the Claystone Estate vineyard and Le Grand Clos (both in the Twenty-Mile Bench sub-appellation), and the Talon Ridge Estate vineyard (in the Vinemount Ridge sub-appellation). Winemaker Thomas Bachelder is really pushing for recognition of the Jordan Village designation, so I’m guessing we’ll be hearing much more about it in the coming years.
The 2019 vintage was decidedly cool and long, but there’s no doubt in my mind about the ripeness of the fruit contained within this bottling. Indeed, for me this wine encapsulates the perfect balance between the taut acid/tannin structure one finds with cooler climate Pinot, and the glorious ripe fruit characters, both red and black, one can find if the grapes are able to mature to their maximum phenolic potential without any of the breakdown that often occurs if harvest conditions aren’t ideal. Thankfully conditions, in this case, were cool, sunny, and with blessedly low humidity.
The bouquet is perhaps a little closed at first, but there is no mistaking that cool climate Pinot nose, with simply loads of red/black cherries and wild strawberries accompanied by a gentle toasted wood spice (16 months in French oak). The cherries continue on the palate but I also find the tartness of cranberry/raspberry and a distinct rosewater floral character that I originally missed on the nose. The palate is seriously tense and structured, with what I can only describe as a minerally texture, but will be sure to ease over time, as this is certainly one for the cellar. I’d give it a few years before opening another bottle, delicious as it was.
This is a fine bottle of elegant, terroir-driven Ontario Pinot Noir that is certainly built for the long term, and at this price is an absolute steal.
(Four out of a possible five apples)
Le Clos Jordanne wines are represented in Ontario by Arterra Wines Canada.
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