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Awards:

SILVER - 2021 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada

Varietals:

57% Pinot Noir, 43% Chardonnay

Winemaking:

The 2013 vintage was a miracle year in Prince Edward County for Burgundian varietals, underlining that the essence of our vineyards are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Cold, late and wet early on, it was a study in stoicism and faith that farming teaches; that the weather would eventually break our way. In the end, it did, and the ugly duckling vintage has taken full flight as a majestic black swan. This wine could not have been made anywhere else on earth.

Tasting Notes:

The careful oak aging and extended time en tirage have created the rich, luxurious sparkling that you would expect from a vintage-dated traditional method from the great houses across the pond.  Spiced baked apple, vanilla and brioche-like toasty notes on the nose give way to elegant mousse wrapped in pear, subtle nuttiness, and a long finish accentuated by the customary County minerality. This is definitely a food wine and will pair before or after dinner with a richer cow's milk cheese, nuts and figs, at dinner with roast duck, or at brunch of ham and gruyere quiche. 

Critical Acclaim:

“A blend of 57% Pinot Noir and 43% Chardonnay made in the traditional (champagne) style, with oak aging of the base wines and extended time en tirage a (full seven years on the lees, longer than most vintage champagnes) have yielded a wine of bright golden colour and very advanced, mature aromatics of exceptional complexity. Wheat bread and hot buttered toast, hazelnuts and almonds, Tarte Tatin and dried fruit, white chocolate and honey flavours mingle together on a very dry frame with riveting acids and excellent length. It’s an idiosyncratic style, but highly compelling. Tasted twice in October 2021 and November 2023” Score 94, John Szabo, WineAlign.com - National Wine Awards of Canada

“This elegant, vintage-dated beauty gives up aromas of green apple, caramel and yeasty notes. It forms a formidable mousse when poured and gives up a delightful stream of fine-bead bubbles in the glass. Flavours of sugared baked apple and poached pear interlaced with racy lemon zest capture the palate on entry and make their way with excellent balance and persistent purity of fruit to the back palate. It finishes with flair and more of the same. This is a stylish sparkling wine to offer guests as a welcoming wine and to continue on to be poured with hors d’oeuvres and light mains.” Score 94, Vic Harradine - winecurrent.com

“Turning to more serious matters, here is a traditionally-made sparkling wine crafted from 57% Pinot Noir and 43% Chardonnay grown in the estate’s Rosehall Vineyard. It spent seven nervous (at least for Sullivan, who wasn’t certain he could pull off this wine from the difficult 2013 vintage in PEC) years en tirage before it started to “reveal itself” in 2019….It shows beautiful colour in the glass with a persistent, elegant mousse. It has a lovely nose of creamy pear, a vein of minerality, cut lemon, baked apple, salinity and a brioche note. It’s immensely pleasurable on the palate with ripe pear, golden apple and zesty citrus with a creamy texture and lovely tension and structure. This is a pristine, layered and minerally-driven sparkling wine with length and a finessed finish. Pair it with a little Stardust from prog-rocker David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars …” Score 94, Rick Vansickle - winesinniagara.com

“With notes of honey-coated hazelnuts, white raspberries and field berries, vanilla cream and soft mineral and tasted notes. On the palate, the wine is slightly weighted and complex with tart white fruit notes and a long finish.” Score 94 Renée Sferrazza, @The_Winepress

“A Pinot Noir (57%) and Chardonnay (43%) traditional methods sparkling that has lovely crisp green apple notes, wonderful minerality and even some tangerine plus a deliciously lovely punch of acidity on the palate.” Rating: *** ½+ Michael Pinkus, OntarioWineReview.com

“Classic two-variety complimentary mix of 57 percent pinot noir and (43) chardonnay for which Dan Sullivan writes “a miracle year in Prince Edward County for Burgundian varietals.” Not to mention 10 years later, much of it on the lees save for these last 2023 months post disgorgement it has been rested in bottle. Oak aging is an important matter, lending a creamy softness and supple texture that lays below the toasty, oxidative and conversely succulent parts of the wine. There is a strumming effect, part acoustic, part electric, harmoniously woven to create an early 1970s ambient groove. ”Oh, yeah, Ooh Ziggy played guitar.” Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2023.” Score 93, Michael Godel - WineAlign

“Bottle age and lees aging create seductive aromas of croissant, apple orchard, honeysuckle, and dried mango. The creamy petillance dances over the palate, trickling flavours of honey, croissant, pear, and cinnamon apples. There’s a charming sweetness wrapped up in County acidity, and a trail of minerality left on a pending finish. This is what I would assume a bottle of Stardust actually tastes like!” Score 93 Leah Spooner, @The_Winepress

“There is a richness and complexity to this wine that is truly rare in Ontario unless you have the patience to cellar it on your own. Winemaker Dan Sullivan fermented the base wine in used puncheons that formerly held JCR Chardonnay. The aromas of brioche, toasted almond, and citrus all ooze out of the glass with weight and gravitas. The way this wine caresses your palate is with intensity and unravels an epic level of complexity. I am certain this has a few more years ahead if you decide to pick up a few bottles and let it continue to develop – but I think this is ready to rock right now.” ***1/2 Andre Proulx, andrewinereview.ca

“An exciting, mature sparkler, bright in the glass, light golden colour with tiny bubbles; toasty, apple nose with buttery notes; medium-bodied, mature, apple, pear and lemon flavours; elegant and long in the mouth, with zesty acidity.” Score 92, Tony Aspler, tonyaspler.com

“Beautiful! This is a crisp, traditional method sparkling wine, made from 57% Pinot Noir and 43% Chardonnay. Aromas of fresh pear, green apple lemon rind, and brioche bread, this wine is bone dry on the palate, with vibrant acidity and fresh, persistent bubbles. Fruit on the palate is tart and fresh, and there is a yeasty, soft note on the lengthy finish. Lovely! Enjoy with almost buttery lobster or pan seared scallops.” 92/100, Jennifer Havers - Nataliemaclean.com (09/22)

Cases Produced: 150

Residual Sugar: 11.2 g/L