| I am starting to taste a lot of organic wines. But you | | | | acidity. I started with schmalz herring (a fat herring) in |
| won't see many of them in this column for one very | | | | oil. The wine was appley with good acidity. The meal |
| good (actually very bad) reason. Organic wines tend to | | | | itself was a hot-weather, don't turn on the oven |
| cost more than other wines. So when I saw this bottle | | | | ensemble of reheated sweet and sour barbecued |
| I snapped it up. Actually, I'm sort of cheating. The bottle | | | | chicken wings, potatoes, and a good helping of salsa. |
| cost under $10 but it's only 500 milliliters, 2/3 the size of | | | | The wine picked up strength with the wings. It had a lot |
| a regular wine bottle. So I took smaller sips. | | | | of body for a white wine. But it couldn't quite keep up |
| FrogPond Farm is Ontario, Canada's only certified | | | | with a spicy tomato, garlic, pepper, and lime salsa. It |
| organic winery. They don't use insecticides, herbicides, | | | | weakly, or semi-weakly able to put out the moderate |
| synthetic fungicides or chemical fertilizers and even | | | | fire. And there was no lime in the Riesling to |
| their electricity is green. So I thought that it was only | | | | accompany the salsa's lime. |
| fair to give them a chance. And I'm usually happy to | | | | The second meal was fried liver and onions. This time I |
| taste Rieslings. | | | | tasted lime in the wine and there were apple notes as |
| OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste | | | | well. The wine managed to remove some of the livery |
| and review are purchased at the full retail price. | | | | taste of the liver. It was more forceful with green |
| Wine Reviewed: | | | | beans in tomato sauce. |
| Frogpond Farm Organic Riesling, 2006 12.2% alcohol | | | | The final meal consisted of a roasted Atlantic salmon |
| about $9.50 | | | | steak in soy and maple sauce accompanied by rice. |
| Let's start with the marketing materials. Description: | | | | The Riesling displayed bright acidity but was |
| Our Quality Assurance Laboratory has determined | | | | somewhat thin and not a lot of fruit came through. |
| that this wine contains 6 mg/L of free sulphur. Tasting | | | | Dessert was better. With a high-quality vanilla ice |
| Note: Made in an almost Alsatian style, this is a racy | | | | cream bar covered in dark chocolate the wine |
| fresh version of Riesling. Nose is of orange | | | | showed nice acidity and sweetness with some fruit. |
| marmalade, green apple, mineral and lime. Dry, very | | | | I finished the tasting with two cheeses. With a Havarti |
| clean and fresh, with good fruit/mineral replays on the | | | | the wine was too acidic. With an Emmenthaler (Swiss) |
| mid-palate. Needs 2-4+ years, or try it tonight with a | | | | the wine's acidity was balanced and the nuttiness of |
| Cajun catfish, or, if you eschew spice, grilled salmon | | | | the cheese came through. |
| steaks. (VINTAGES panel, Feb. 2009). And now for | | | | Final verdict. I'm just not sure. I usually liked this wine but |
| my review. | | | | given the small bottle, it isn't really a bargain wine. |
| The cork crumbled as I was opening the bottle. I | | | | Honestly, I never would have guessed that it's organic |
| wasn't impressed, I can't remember the last time that | | | | but I think that's the way organic wines are supposed |
| happened. I started by sipping this wine alone. The first | | | | to be. |
| sips were long, moderately sweet with balanced | | | | |