On my recent trip to Canada, one of my favourite experiences (of many good ones) was visiting Norman Hardie in Prince Edward County. He’s making some brilliant Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and so I was delighted to find out that The Wine Society are bringing in a couple of his wines. They’ve chosen very well: the Prince Edward County Pinot Noir 2011 and the Niagara Chardonnay 2011. These are serious wines, showing real elegance and finesse.
Norman Hardie Pinot Noir 2011 Prince Edward County, Canada
12.5% alcohol. Pale cherry red colour. So expressive, pure and supple with red cherry and herb fruit and complex, fine, spicy notes. Real precision and elegance with a subtle meatiness under the silky cherry fruit. So supple and pure, with haunting perfume and real finesse. 95/100
Norman Hardie Chardonnay 2011 Niagara Peninsula, Canada
12.5% alcohol. Lovely hint of mineral matchstick character on the nose. There’s lovely apple, pear and white peach fruitiness here with some citrus freshness, as well as a hint of almond. Beautiful focus and balance here: it’s very fresh, but has some richer notes, yet avoids being austere. Much more presence and focus than many Niagara Chardonnays. 94/100
Both available from The Wine Society for £20.
A short video selfie of me tasting these wines:
Very collectable indeed but not too easy to find out here in Alberta.
Glad to see you writing up Norman Hardie. Among our fave Chards and Pinots, and fortunately, living in Toronto, we’re close enough to see these wines regularly. Following you through Zite, btw.
The few Prince Edward county wines I have tasted have been surprisingly good. Compared to Niagra, the hype is low and and the wine quality is high. This may be Ontario’s best wine area.
Good call Kent, but the Chardonnay is from Niagara. Guess that means the quality is high but the hype low