A sparkling memory

Pop.

The gentle popping of a cork to open a bottle of sparkling wine is a joyful sound. The pop releases effervescent vapors in a delicate swirl around the narrow opening, as if freeing the magical bubbles trapped inside. This particular pop releases a nice memory as well from my visit to De Simone Vineyards in Niagara.

De Simone Vineyards was one of the wineries that Eleacia circled on my Niagara wine map when I visited Southbrook Vineyards in February 2020. The neighbouring winery was just down the street on Niagara Stone Road. Luckily I took her up on her recommendation. That very same day.

The tasting area at De Simone Winery is a large open room, like a warehouse. The minimal decor is all about the grapes: racks of wine barrels displayed on one wall and a wide window overlooking the vineyards on another. A domed pizza oven with shiny glazed tiles sits in one corner (it was not operational when I was there, but I look forward to trying the pizza another time).

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I was greeted by Vince De Simone, the owner, manager and winemaker. This is a family-run business and Vince runs everything. I learned during the tasting his dreams were a long time in the making. He planted the vines (10 acres of the 40 acre property) with his father in 2011. He is hardworking and earnest, and was eager for me to try his wine.

Vince lined up four wine glasses on the wood countertop for my “flight of 4”. When I did not choose the Sparkling Vidal Blanc as one of my options from the tasting menu, he added a fifth glass. “Let’s do the full flight,” he said with a straight face.

I am very glad he added this fifth glass. At home, a year later, this is the sparkling wine I popped opened to sip with my husband and accompany our sushi. This was another recommendation from Vince, “It’s great with sushi.”

The wine is made using the Charmat method like Prosecco. Using this method, the bubbles develop in the tank during the second fermentation when the sugar and yeast are added. Any residual yeast is then filtered out before bottling. This style typically produces a fresh and fruity wine and this one from De Simone certainly fits the profile, with bright aromas of stone fruit and pineapple.* It’s really delicious.

Before opening his winery in 2017 Vince studied winemaking at Niagara College and worked at other wineries in the region. His expression was serious as he tells me about the winemaking techniques he uses, such as hand picking and gentle crushing of the grapes. This dedication has produced some beautiful wines. I also brought home the Vidal Blanc (sadly only one bottle which is long gone). I looked it up online and it’s now sold out – it appears to live up to its description of “customer favourite!”

The sushi we had with the Sparkling Vidal Blanc was from Sakai Japanese and Korean Restaurant. It occurred to me as I was writing this post that Sakai is one of the last restaurants I visited (to sit down for a meal) also about one year ago. It’s a nice memory too. I went for lunch with my Dad. I had sushi while he enjoyed his bento box of crispy tempura and side dishes of bean sprouts and spicy cucumber. He loved the dipping sauce. The servers were friendly (as always at Sakai). We sipped tea from thick earthenware mugs.

Tea is one option to have with sushi. Sparkling wine is another. This pairing of Sakai’s sushi with Vince’s Sparkling Vidal Blanc was very good.

There is no need to get your Prosecco from Italy. There’s wonderful sparkling wine here in Ontario. And you support a local small business. If you pick up sushi in your neighbourhood, you can support two.