Charles Baker Picone Vineyard Riesling 2011

Picone Vineyard and Baker have become synonymous with fine Riesling in Niagara. When these forces became one, a new breed of exceptional Riesling producer was born and Baker has been true to what the vineyard delivers each and every vintage since 2005. Picone, owned by Chef Mark Picone, is a remarkable seven-acre vineyard and Baker takes all the Riesling grown there. The vineyard is in the huge Vinemount Ridge sub-appellation, butting up against the Twenty Mile Bench on Moyer Road near Megalomaniac in Vineland. The vineyard benefits from its lofty, breezy perch on top of the Escarpment that keeps the fruit clean, dry and in pristine condition through harvest. The 2011 vintage is remarkable from the first sniff; rich, layered citrus fruit, savoury-herbal notes, a touch of jasmine and ginger, grapefruit, lanolin and that distinct wet stone note. The texture is gorgeous on the palate, broad and mouth-filling. but balanced out by racy-searing acidity. There is a richness to this wine and a fine vein of limestone minerality that melds perfectly to the juicy citrus and funky spice notes. This will evolve for a decade or more. NOTE: When this wine appears at Vintages stores, the vintage 2011 will be printed on the label in pink. Baker is giving some of the proceeds of this wine to Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto to help with their cancer treatment programs. It is a cause that is close to his heart. Score - 93. (Rick VanSickle, winesinniagara.com, Feb. 16, 2014)