Between the Lines

Today I visited the Family Estate Winery: Between the Lines with Greg Wertsch one half of the pair of brothers who together operate the vineyard and produce the wines.  I love this quote about them from their website:  "Both have had their feet in the vineyard as long as they can remember; little shoes in the Old World and big work boots in the New World."  With the intention of putting their knowledge to use in Niagara, they chose to study European wine regions with climates similar to our own: Germany and Alsace among others - using that knowledge to cultivate cool climate grapes / wines that flourish and reflect our region instead of trying to mimic better known varietals with poor results.  "[we] believe the job in the winery is to release and exhibit the character of the grapes created by the soil, sun and the vineyard manager as he matches the vine to the land."  Greg feels that with a cooler climate, similar to the Rhine region of Germany, Reislings are the future and will become the cornerstone of our Niagara region.  

We tried a number of their wines, and to my delight I was genuinely surprised by my reactions.  My favourite - their Pinot Noir - is stupendous.  I kid you not, one of the best red wines I've tasted since living down in this region, and at around $10 per bottle - I think I'm going to go back and get a case!  Its full, well balanced, clean and not too heavy - entirely drinkable on its own, but the well rounded range of flavours would make it good for pairing with any number of foods.  While not a big drinker of white wine, I did truly enjoy their Reisling.  It was fresh, crisp, very accessible - geared to the every day person, not a wine snob (would go great with fish n chips) - I didn't feel like I had to know anything about wine in order to enjoy it.  And .. the first rosé I've ever really liked!!  Drinking much more like a true red, but very light and refreshing .. I grabbed a few bottles of it for sipping on the summer patio.

I also think their name / branding is brilliant.  They are situated between Line Road 5 and Line Road 6 just off Four Mile Creek Rd. in NOTL hence "Between the Lines" smiles