Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Report from … Seeing Red at Fielding – February 20, 2010

Now, the title alone would make you think I was angry with Fielding, but nothing could be further from the truth.  The fact is that Fielding was putting on a tasting of their mammoth 2007 reds (5 in total) and man are they something to be tasted.

After attending the Experts Tasting at Brock, I made my way over to Fielding Estate Winery to sample five of their newest reds from the monster ’07 vintage.  Monster is an apt name for the wines on display today – each one seemed bigger, brawnier and bolder than the next.

Fielding was fresh off their Best Syrah win at Cuvee the night before, they were pretty pumped about their most recent victory, they seem to know they have something special in these wines, a few have already begun getting awards and accolades from the wine community.  These are wines to age, so there is absolutely no rush for Fielding to get these wine onto their shelves, in fact, had the Syrah not won it probably wouldn’t have been for sale either (winning wines from Cuvee have to be on sale for those coming in on the weekend).  So now if you are looking for any of these wines you are going to have to beg and plead to get someone to grab you one (or more) from the back.

I was very impressed with the entire line of five wines, nothing received less than four stars (very good).  Below I have reviewed my top two, with the other three reviewed in full on my website.

The 5-Star wines of Fielding …
My favourite two were both blends, one traditional, the other slightly non-traditional.  The traditional wine is the usual Meritage (2007) a blend of 62% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon and only 4% Cabernet Franc (strange for these parts – where Franc is usually one of the more dominant grapes).  Delicious blackberry, cassis, pepper, cinammon, spice, black cherry, chocolate and vanilla.  There’s definitely more that will emerge over the next few years, as long as you have the patience to lie this one down. (*****)

My other favourite was a wine the Fielding folks are calling Chosen FEW (2007), a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah, with only about 150 cases made.  The nose and palate proved to be very complex giving layer upon layer of aromas and flavours: blackberry, smoky notes with smoked meat spice and hints of violets … the deeper you go into this wine the more you’ll find.  Another cellar candidate for sure, give it 3-5 years before opening – or, for now enjoyment, be sure to decant. (*****)

The Fielding Other Three …
2007 Merlot (****) --- 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon (****½) --- 2007 Syrah (****½)

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