{"id":20818,"date":"2014-10-13T12:50:53","date_gmt":"2014-10-13T16:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/?p=20818"},"modified":"2014-11-05T19:50:40","modified_gmt":"2014-11-06T00:50:40","slug":"pinot-noir-wine-prince-edward-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/pinot-noir-wine-prince-edward-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Prince Edward County Pinot Noir: A Ruby Wine Gem"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/z8UPKIHVxPs?rel=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I was determined that our recent weekend get-away to Prince Edward would be all pleasure, no work. For me, that means not visiting wineries and interviewing winemakers.<\/p>\n<p>I just wanted to dine at amazing restaurants, like Blumen, stay at a wonderful inn like The Manse, and take long walks along Sandbanks Park beach.<\/p>\n<p>I did all that, but alas could not resist the siren call of one winery.<\/p>\n<p>I blame Blumen.<\/p>\n<p>We enjoyed a fabulous meal, and a spectacular pinot noir from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/winepicks\/search\/?dosearch=set&amp;text=Exultet&amp;reviewfilter=0&amp;stamp=635488017078730769&amp;jmp=set&amp;#searchresults\"><strong>Exultet Estates<\/strong><\/a>. I got up the next morning determined to find the hidden, off-the-main-strip, little white shed that houses this winery.<\/p>\n<p>After barreling down some narrow dirt roads, and parking in the gravel driveway, we walked around to the back of the shed and saw that it was closed.<\/p>\n<p>Just then, the door opened and winemaker Gerry Spinoza and his nine-year-old son Joseph invited us in. It was just good luck as they had decided not to go to karate class that morning.<\/p>\n<p>The videos tell the rest of this story &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/t-ajUlw28CE?rel=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Joseph-Spinoza.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-21026\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Joseph-Spinoza.jpg\" alt=\"Joseph Spinoza\" width=\"600\" height=\"401\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Joseph-Spinoza.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Joseph-Spinoza-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Joseph-Spinoza-wine.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-21029\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Joseph-Spinoza-wine.jpg\" alt=\"Joseph Spinoza wine\" width=\"130\" height=\"284\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Joseph-Spinoza-wine.jpg 229w, https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Joseph-Spinoza-wine-137x300.jpg 137w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 130px) 100vw, 130px\" \/><\/a><span class=\"Lkb\">The amazing Joseph Spinosa, age 9 (above), who employs his father full-time to make wine at Exultet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Joseph could well make the wine himself, having a complete knowledge of the various wines the winery makes: &#8220;Well, the 2013 vintage of the Pinot Grigio tends to be more Gris in how mouth-filling it is,&#8221; he explained.<\/p>\n<p>&#8230; to swirling and sniffing (his father quickly averted a call to Child Services with: &#8220;He doesn&#8217;t drink&#8221;) &#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&#8230; to letting us know that his first label (right), shared with his older sister Mari, is not ready for release even though I offered to pay double &#8230; perfectionism starts early in this family.<\/p>\n<p>&#8230; to checking his father&#8217;s calculations on the cash register for mistakes (yes Joseph, it is hard to hire good help, even if they are family).<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1xt5lOSCqhk?rel=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Norm Hardie was one of several top-notch buyers of Gerry&#8217;s grapes before he started bottling his own wine under the Exultet Estates label.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Exultet-picture.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-21031\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Exultet-picture.jpg\" alt=\"Exultet picture\" width=\"600\" height=\"218\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Exultet-picture.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Exultet-picture-300x109.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a>Joseph above receiving an award from the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario David Onley. To the right is the pure limestone base in which the vines are planted.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/wine-reviews\/exultet-estates-the-beloved-pinot-noir-2011\/208387\"><strong>Exultet Estates The Beloved Pinot Noir<\/strong><\/a> 2011 was one of five top Prince Edward County Pinot Noirs selected for The Judgement of Prince Edward County, a blind tasting inspired by the 1976 Judgement of Paris that pitted American and French wines against each other.<\/p>\n<p>However, this tasting hosted by the Ontario Wine Society, was all County wines pitted against cool-climate Pinot Noir from around the world, including Carneros, Oregon, New Zealand and Burgundy. Stay tuned for the results!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Exultet-whiteboard.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-21027\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Exultet-whiteboard.jpg\" alt=\"Exultet whiteboard\" width=\"342\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Exultet-whiteboard.jpg 342w, https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Exultet-whiteboard-205x300.jpg 205w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 342px) 100vw, 342px\" \/><\/a>Whiteboard on the winery wall says it all<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was determined that our recent weekend get-away to Prince Edward would be all pleasure, no work. For me, that means not visiting wineries and interviewing winemakers. I just wanted to dine at amazing restaurants, like Blumen, stay at a wonderful inn like The Manse, and take long walks along Sandbanks Park beach. I did all that, but alas could not resist the siren call of one winery. I blame Blumen. We enjoyed a fabulous meal, and a spectacular pinot noir from Exultet Estates. I got up the next morning determined to find the hidden, off-the-main-strip, little white shed that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[113,1105,8,341,107,995,1033,689,695,476,342,1092],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-wines","category-canadian-wine-wine-region","category-events","category-making-wine","category-ontario-wine","category-pinot-grigio-2013","category-pinot-grigio-ontario","category-pinot-noir-canada","category-pinot-noir-wine","category-prince-edward-county-wine","category-winemakers","category-winemaking"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20818"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21037,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20818\/revisions\/21037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}