Ontario wineries may very well begin to tap into a neglected market segment

I've been reading around lately on whats happening and have found out that sweet wines were the largest category at the Cuvee Awards, which represent the best wines in Ontario as judged by their winemakers. Apparently most grapes varieties are represented including Syrah and Pinot Noir. This is great news to me because Ontario has an opportunity to be on the forefront to tap into a neglected market segment.
If your an Ontario winery and you feel you got a quality sweet wine you want to show off then consider submitting it to the Lodi wine awards being held in Napa California. Just go to Tim Hanni's blog Swami of Umami for more info, the URL is in the links section here.
There has also been comments regarding the quality of the sweet wines being introduced and currently being made for approval by the VQA.
The V.Q.A. inspects member wineries to ensure that their production practices are in keeping with industry accepted standards. I know because they have asked me if I was an inspector when I have visited them. If a sweet wine is sampled by a taster with a tolerant tasting profile, they will be much more likely to say that any sweet wine is cloying and lacks acidity. They naturally prefer strong tannic wines. A hyper-sensitive or sweet taster would more than likely say the exact opposite. I am not saying this is the case for the people that have said this but it might be. Any winery that is putting out a "white Zinfandel type pop wine" and trying to pass it off as world class wine will be very quickly found out and exposed to their detriment. Most wineries are in it for the long haul and will put out the best quality sweet wine they can produce affordably.
I have some more off dry V.Q.A. wine to review and will be putting out the videos for them in due time.
The opportunity is there for any Ontario winery that can innovate and can produce a world class value added sweet wine.
There is a very good article from the New York Times that gives a good picture of the quality sweet wines from around the world and how they can be matched for the main course of a meal. Click the title of this entry if you want to read it.

Take the Conumer Wine Award Survey

The Consumer Wine awards were set up to allow judges with different sensitivity quotients to judged wines within their taste profile ranging fom Sweet to Tolerant.
This would provide a more accurate ratings system for others that had similar sensitivity quotients.
Tim Hanni and Dr. Virginia Utermohlen MD, and are conducting a survey in conjunction with the Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi and are seeking participants. It will probably take about 20 minutes as this is not a silly cliché-riddled throwaway project.
There is some serious science going on behind the scenes and they want to get consumers who have experienced the confusion, with their wine selections.
For more information click the title of this entry or you can go directly to www.consumerwineawards.com and select the link: Take the NEW 2011 Consumer Survey.

A wine review for Sweet and Hypersensitive tasters. Konzelmann 2006 Pinot Noir Spaet Burgunder

A first attempt a review that is intended for Sweet and Hypersensitive tasters (which is based from the reasearch of Master of Wine Tim Hanni and Dr Virginia Utermohlen).  A quality red wine that is semi dry but is V.Q.A. and  very reasonably priced. Shot with a flip cam, it is far from a work of art but a base from which to build from.

To Sauterne, Chateau D' Yqem and Beyond

Bordeaux Gold a mini-consortium of Sauterne producers are working to change the labelling of the sweet wines of the area, from the straight jacket "dessert wine" term used by the wine industry. They want the wines to reflect the reality of how they are matched with local food. In fact the Sauternais  have sweet wine with spicy foods, fish and roast meats as well as dessert.
In a formal French haute cuisine meal sweet wines are served along side traditional reds (ie first growth Bordeaux.)
Historically Champagne was sweet (6%) along with the great vintages of Montrachet as was Amarone (until the early 1960s).
Wines such as Barsac, Auslese and higher Qmp wines were also considered table wines with Sauternes until World War 2. This began to change when salesman and producers such as Alexis Lichine, Peter Alan Sichel, and Frederick Wildman began writing wine books stating that sugar hides off flavors that might make them tolerable in a sweet wine, but makes a dry version of the same wine undrinkable. This wound up becoming part of orthodox wine dogma.

I've been reading the fire storm of criticism of  Tim Hanni's most recent study with Dr Virginia Utermohlen, MD, Associate Professor at Cornell which indicates that people that are born with a genetic sensory sensitivity in their palate to bitterness  gravitate to sweet wines very easily. If people with this trait go on to "develop their palate" to more "complex" dryer wines then it is because of Psycho-social factors that train their minds to do it. The sensitivity to bitterness is still there when a "big" Cabernet or Barolo is sampled.

After taking the quiz at yumyuk.com again it comes out a sweet taster. Earlier results have also  shown as  hyper sensitive depending on how  the questions were answered but the point is that I am on the other end of the spectrum from tolerant tasters.
All the criticism has been tinged with opinion and anger because they are taking the information and spinning it as some kind of scam which will result in some kind of "trailer park market place" being established with only plonk being available and the great wines of the world being a memory. What nonsense
I have these traits and do not want to restrict myself to only sweet wines because I want to experience the widest range of wines I can find and afford. At the same time I want to come back sometimes and drink an"alcho-pop"  and have it with dinner because I enjoy the taste. If my "maturing  palate "occurs and can find enjoyment in drinking a dryer quality wine because of some psycho-social process  in my mind, so what.
Others for what ever reason may not want or be able to. What is wrong with increasing quality sweet wines and have that as a stepping stone towards the higher end of the Pyramid (the sweet side of it). The answer to that is nothing because producers will not stop making quality tannic reds, there is a market and there always will be.

Addressing a neglected market segment can result in more quality wines of a sweet nature and additional potential profits for producers. Sauterne and Chateau D ' Yqem can be the sweet and Hyper Sensitive tasters "Holy Grail", just as First Growth Bordeaux reds are for Tolerant tasters. It would be really cool if an Ontario winery could see the opportunity to make value added niche market quality sweet wine. How about ice wine or late harvest as the main course wine for starters. Its okay for the Sauternais why not for Ontarians.
If you have doubts contact Tim Hanni and tell him you are from Missouri, he will show you.

To the firestorm

In this video Tim Hanni explains the psycholgical issues that can come into play when we choose a wine

How sweet it is

I was in the mood to try something different so I decided to make a video of matching different wines with something a little more exotic. In this case some Kangaroo was purchased. It was spiced with peppercorns but no salt.
The results were a little but surprising. I didn't give a passing match to any of the wines tried, and found bitterness in every one. The Flat Rock Cellars Riddled Sparkling wine came the closest to a match. Using salt could have balanced the match but I just wanted to see how it would go straight up.
This has demonstrated to me that a sweet wine (white Zinfandel) could have worked since the Flat Rock Cellars was the sweetest of the ones used.
The video was shot with a flip cam and everthing was ad lib so don't expect a polished production. Remember that the failing marks are for the interaction of the wine with the food and not an indictment of the wines themselves.

Further confirmation of the obvious

Another study by Dr Virginia Utermohlen, MD, Associate Professor at Cornell University and Master of Wine Tim Hanni confirms that people like sweet wines only because of physiological factors they possess.
We have been echoing that here too at Wine Dining so this is not surprising.
Click the title of this entry to read the article but please note the comment Tim put on at the bottom of the article. The results infer a different but equal status to sweet wine drinkers not better.

Lift Haus Winery Prince Edward County

A video is now up for Lift Haus Winery in Prince Edward County. You can view it on WineDining channel or the Wine Dining Vlog. The links are to the right of this entry. (you may have to scroll down a bit)