We toured Prince Edward County for the first time in June 2010 and literally stumbled across The Old Third winery. It didn’t look like anyone was home. We walked into the deserted barn, saw the tasting room and figured they were around somewhere. After a couple of plaintiff “Hello?”s, Bruno appeared and welcomed us to the winery.
As we stepped into the end of the barn that was converted to the tasting room, it quickly became apparent that this was a small operation – we loved that! We spent nearly an hour there chatting with Bruno about the wine industry, what he and Jens were trying to do differently with their project.
As we were about to leave, Deb asked him if he recommended any other places to visit. He took our map and started marking up little producers that were not listed on the map, and told us why we should visit each one. (We later made it to all but one of the wineries he recommended).
That was the first trigger for the idea that would later become the Uncork Ontario app – a complete listing that didn’t miss any of the “little guys”.
On to the wine then. I’ve been eying these three bottle for some time, wanting to try one, but afraid it would be too early. At the same time I would hate to tragically pass on and know I hadn’t gotten to sample it at different points in time. So tonight, with that logic, we opened one of the bottles, and here’s what we found:
At first, the wine appears so light that one might mistake it for a deep rosé. The nose appeared a bit tight at first, but with a few swirls, an unbelievable medley of tart fruit (think cherry and cranberry) and earthiness emerged. The powerful nose didn’t seem possible from such a light coloured wine, as earthy scents of spice, leather, and maybe mushroom (?) emerged. There’s a lot of the PEC terroir in this wine.
On the palate, lots of fruit and earthiness continue. There’s nothing harsh in the wine, and the finish is long (again surprising) with fruit and mineral elements repeating. There are some mild tannins and a touch of alcohol just before the finish kicks in.
In summary, The Old Third’s Pinot is a wonderful example of the distinctive wines that are available in the different regions of Ontario.
