Pearl Morissette Chardonnay 2012 Niagara, Canada

canada chardonnay

Pearl Morissette Chardonnay 2012 Niagara, Canada

pearl morissette chardonnay

This is interesting. It’s a Chardonnay from Canada’s Niagara wine region, made by the talented and slightly controversial Francois Morissette of Pearl Morissette. I’ve reviewed his wines in the past here. He is a thoughtful winegrower who works quite naturally, and has come unstuck with tasting panels for VQA status where the tasters don’t seem to get what he’s trying to do. Yes, these wines aren’t for everyone, but I really like them. And I love the labels with their elegant fonts and embossed paper.

Pearl Morissette Cuvée Dix-Neuvième Chardonnay 2012 Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara, Canada
13.8% alcohol. Slightly lifted nose with lovely ripe apple, pear and peach notes, with fine spiciness and hints of hazelnut. The palate is rich yet fresh with ripe stone fruits and a mineral, spicy core. There’s a richness and ripeness that is more new world than old, but there’s also a nervous tension and an acid core that speaks of the old world. A multidimensional, characterful wine of real appeal. 92/100

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3 Comments on Pearl Morissette Chardonnay 2012 Niagara, CanadaTagged , ,
wine journalist and flavour obsessive

3 thoughts on “Pearl Morissette Chardonnay 2012 Niagara, Canada

  1. Judging by your description, the wine sounds very good, not really odd. Do the VQA tasting panel say what they dont like ?

  2. As I recall the VQA objected to his Riesling, which they claimed was not typical of the area. Some of the controversy stems from questions as to whether defining typicity is within the VQA’s remit. It’s delicious, btw, albeit not typical 🙂

  3. @Gerard: “Some of the controversy stems from questions as to whether defining typicity is within the VQA’s remit.”

    Indeed. The initial function of the VQA panel was to encourage the use of Canadian-grown grapes to produce Canadian wines. Use of imported grapes would result in a tax levy on wines made therefrom. As such things tend to proceed however, the unfortunate use of “Quality” encouraged the powers that be to impose their own notion of what constitutes quality in a wine. Perversely, Pearl Morissette was penalized for following the rules by using Ontario grapes in their Riesling but fermenting to dryness, which ran afowl with the Ontario regulator’s idea that a ‘quality’ Riesling should be obnoxiously sweet.

    The Chardonnay is fantastic, by the way.

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