Tasting Note I came upon this huge, luminous, deep purple-ruby fruit bomb at the new SIPToronto trade event. A famous American wine writer liked to use the term “gobsmacked” when encountering a surprising and unusually lush wine. That was my reaction here. After being stunned by the appearance I was hit with a huge nose of mulberry/blueberry jam, a note of roasted beets I have experienced in some baco. And, yes, a touch of hybrid horsehide. It is full bodied, dense and hints at sweetness (5.7 g/L), but the acid beam is brilliant, the 14% alcohol is balanced, and the tannins are quite mild, again typical of the variety. The length is very good to excellent. This could be enjoyed now lightly chilled around the BBQ, or aged. Either way, at this price, you need to take it for a spin. It can be found in a few LCBO Vintages stores.

Backgrounder First, I must explain why I have put Lake Erie North Shore in brackets above. It is an annoying conceit built into Ontario’s VQA regulation that hybrid wines – which have long been considered second class – cannot use regional appellation names, only the provincial designation. So, the label reads VQA Ontario. This is actually from seven-year-old vines at Sprucewood Shores, one the largest and oldest wineries in the region, beautifully situated on the shoreline of Lake Erie. It is in the second-generation hands of Steve Mitchell, with sister Tanya Mitchell making the wines. She has become well known for small lots of interesting wines from both hybrid and vinifera, occasionally striking gold, as with the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2023 that is also currently available. By the way, Abbey on this label is named for Tanya’s daughter, the third generation Mitchell.