- Meet our Family
- Winegrowing
- Our Wines
- Plan an Event
- Come Visit Us
1025 York Rd., Niagara-on-the-Lake905.262.4219
2007 Savagnin Icewine, St. David's Bench Vineyard
2007 Savagnin Icewine
St. David's Bench Vineyard | VQA — St David's Bench$75.00 375 ml bottle | $900 case
Paul Bosc's Winemaker's Notes
Icewine is Niagara’s international calling card. It really is a special wine. Savagnin may not be as well known as other Icewines but it will knock your socks off! It’s exotic, luscious and beautifully balanced. Look for notes of lemon, tropical fruit and of course that St. David’s Bench Vineyard minerality to keep the sweetness in check.
Miguel Fontalvo’s vineyard manager’s Notes
Savagnin is a rare vinifera native to the Jura region of France that we’ve been growing in Niagara since 1993. We noticed the grape bunches had particularly strong stems which we thought would keep them on the vine well into winter. We were right! So we made the world’s first Icewine with Savagnin in 2006. We only have 10 rows planted on our St. David’s Bench Vineyard on the West side of the Château so this wine will always be very rare. We are fortunate to be able to work with the St. David’s Bench Vineyard. It’s an incredible site. Because it is so far from the lake and nestled against the Escarpment, we are able to achieve full maturity and ripeness on our grapes due to the long growing season. We do a lot of hand-work in the rows to help the vines concentrate flavours. For example, we select the best bunches on each vine and remove the rest to limit yield. We expose the bunches on the East side of the rows in late August then the West side in September, and we will remove individual berries from the hanging bunches if they are not up to par.
DOWNLOAD TASTING NOTES PDF
Pairing Icewine with food can be a bit tricky but my fail safe approach is to make sure the food is as sweet as the wine. Remember, chocolate is not sweet enough! Try Madagascar Vanilla bean crème brulée. Or, sip it on its own from a chilled glass.
| Cheese: | Celtic Bleu |
| Milk Source: | Cow |
| Producer: | Glengarry Fine Cheese |
| Province: | Ontario |
Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, 2011- Silver
“Savagnin is a white grape found in the France’s sub-alpine Jura region, with enigmatic origins in the traminer family of central Europe. Quiet exoticism is perfectly captured in this gorgeous, pure but restrained Icewine. There are flecks of orange peel, lemon meringue pie, persimmon and guava on the nose. It’s very full bodied and sweet of course, with sugar-coated lime-gauva candy. Certainly it’s sweet, but it’s also very elegant, refined, silky and interesting. The length is outstanding. 94 pts.”
- David Lawrason, The Niagara Grapevine, Holiday 2010
"I was not expecting to find Savagnin being grown on the Niagara peninsula! Much less being made into a Icewine. But Paul Bosc at Château des Charmes does just that. I had originally discovered his fantastic Vidal Icewine and then tasted the Savagnin and was blown away. They have been growing Savagnin since 1993 but 2006 was the first vintage of Icewine. The results are magnificient and can be seen in this 2007. It is full of lemon curd flavors and has crisp acidity an almost custard like texture and a beautifully balanced sweetness."
- Drew Hendricks, M.S., www.drewhendricksms.com, July 26, 2011
| HARVEST DATE | January 20, 2008 |
| ALCOHOL | 9.5% |
| BRIX AT HARVEST | 39.5º |
| PH | 3.30 |
| TOTAL ACIDITY | 7.80 |
| CASES PRODUCED | 340 |
| SUGAR CODE | 22 |
