Summer sunshine in a bottle

By most accounts, 2020 was not a great year. One bright spot was the nice weather. The relatively warm winter and plenty of summer sunshine was uplifting for my spirits, and more importantly, ideal conditions for plants to flourish. The vegetables from my summer garden are long gone of course but there is one crop to be enjoyed long after the summer rays are gone.

Grapes.

It was a great year for growing grapes in Ontario. Warmer than average temperatures through the entire growing season produced juicy and flavourful grapes.

Winemakers are excited about this 2020 vintage.

Say. No. More.

I have been eagerly watching out for the 2020 wines to be released from Niagara wineries, starting with rosé. These pink hued wines are bottled early in the year. At Featherstone, for example, they bottle their vibrant and fragrant rosé in February.

It’s nice that wineries release these pretty wines as our patio furniture comes out of hibernation. You can drink rosé all year round (and I do!) though it does pair particularly well with warm and breezy days.

I’ve ordered some favourites like the Featherstone Rosé and Back 10 Cellars Rose Coloured Glasses (the 2019 was long sold out) and some new ones to try. Westcott Vineyards, 13th Street Winery and Malivoire Wines each produce multiple rosés so it’s easy to try a medley of these crisp and floral springtime sippers. The colour palette ranges from pale blush to deep vibrant pink. A variety of grapes feature in these Niagara rosés, including Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Gamay. The scrumptious tasting notes are punctuated with fruits like strawberry, raspberry, watermelon, pink grapefruit, honeydew melon and pomegranate. I doubt I can pick up all these nuanced flavours as I sip this bouquet over the spring and summer but it will be fun to try.

There is one taste I will absolutely savour in these beautiful wines. All that summer sunshine stored up in these luscious grapes.