On a recent visit to Niagara, I was fortunate to spend time with Martin Malivoire of Malivoire winery, a producer of spectacular Pinot Noirs. We arrived at his gravity-flow winery by helicopter along with Magdalena Kaiser-Smit of the Ontario Wine Council. This gave us a terrific overview of the region (though I was glad to be on firm ground again when we landed)
We tasted through a range of his lovely Pinots, both from the estate vineyard and from the coveted Moire Vineyard. You’ll find my reviews of the current and past vintages here.
Then we went on to taste his Gamays: I was floored! Gamay could be the sleeper red for Niagara. It’s loaded with fleshy berry fruit, some tingling spices and pepper and yet doesn’t have any furry tannins, those road bumps when all you want is a river of smooth, silky flavour.
These wines paired beautifully with the barbecued quail and homemade pumpkin soup that we made together (okay, Martin made, I passed him the serving dishes). The leaves on the trees surrounding his home fell quietly as we sipped and savoured. A perfect fall day.
