Tawse Winery Visit

2 weekends ago, we were in the Beamsville area and after having completed our first visit we decided to head on over to Tawse Winery. Little did we know that this selection would change our lives. Yes, I said "lives". Well, maybe I should elaborate and say "wine" lives, is that better?

I had never been to Tawse before, but had always read and heard great things about them, so, being in the area, it was a natural decision to stop by. From the first view of the winery building as you make that beautiful turn in from the road, past the beautiful garden as you make your way in to the property, and then after you park, the site of the fields and views from the entrance just as you enter the guest house. Simply breath taking.

Once inside the tasting area is nice and big, with ample room at the tatsing bar for many. Now, while looking around the place, we suddenly had 2 glasses presented to us as a welcome. Nice welcome! Bob, from Tawse, greeted us with this years 2010 Sketches of Rose wine. What a refreshing taste. Perfect for anytime drinking. After my first sip I could picture myself on the patio enjoying a perfect summer day.

Now, Bob has got to be one of the most knowledgable people I've met at a winery here in Ontario. I don't want to say just knowledgable but all round enjoyable to be with and to share a glass. He knows these Tawse wines inside and out, and we ended up having one of the most enjoyable times anywhere for wine tasting. So we started off with the Rose, and while we were finising that he was able to ascertain what we liked, as opposed to pushing the gotta sell wines. We ended up having a tour through the Tawse collection that made us believers in what Tawse has done with their grapes.

I wish I'd written down everything we were able to try (hey I'm still new to this), but what we did try and that stuck with us were the following:

2010 Tawse Quarry Road Gewurztraminer - Estate An excellent wine that just hit the tongue and wanted to stay. Truely refreshing and with that spicey hit. A real keeper.

Next was the 2009 Tawse Grower's Blend Pino Noir I really enjoyed this wine. Very dark and deep flavours with cherry and a great feel in the mouth.

The 2008 Tawse David’s Block Merlot – Estate wine was next. We can't say enough about this. What a superb flavour. Deep, rich with a hint of tannin made this the treat of the day.

I really enjoyed the 2009 Tawse Laundry Vineyard Cabernet Franc. I love a good cabernet franc and this met everything I'd come to enjoy in a wine like this. The deep, rich flavour took me over the edge and had us reaching for our wallets.

To finish our trip, we were lucky enough to try two fantastic and completely opposite, ice wines.

First was the 2008 Gewurztraminer Ice Wine.
This was such a beautiful ice wine. Not too sweet, and definetely not syrupy at all. The hints of green apple were a surprise and it gave that tiny bit of tartness to the sweet of the wine.

Now we were able to taste another of their wines but I couldn't find it on the website. It produced a beautiful carmel feel in the mouth, so very enjoyable. I will be asking them and update you as soon as I can.

So, I have to say that I have truly found my new favourite winery in the Beamsville/Jordan area. A real joy, hosted by great people and made in to a great adventure thanks to our guide, Bob. I think it would be a major loss if you were in the area and didn't at least stop by to try a sip or two.

What we bought :

Well we purchased the

2010 Sketches of Rose

2008 Tawse David’s Block Merlot – Estate

and

2009 Tawse Laundry Vineyard Cabernet Franc

Since I visited I was able to locate in my local LCBO their 2007 Tawse Meritage . It is a
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc – Blend that I can not wait to try. It is really in short supply so I grabbed 3 bottles for now.

Once again. Many thanks to Bob for making this an excellent adventure and to Tawse for producing such a great quality of wines. A must visit winery!