Gray Ghost Vineyards

Vidal, a French-American hybrid grape variety, is famous in the wine world for its brilliant, tropical, dazzlingly rich and razor sharp incarnation in Canada as Icewine. Inniskillin’s version from the Niagara Peninsula is the gold standard. On its own, harvested at the normal time and made into a dry wine, Vidal has a low profile. Left to hang for another several weeks, however, its potential wow factor jumps up dramatically. As a late harvest wine, this hybrid of Ugni Blanc and one of the Siebel parents of Seyval Blanc unleashes the full force of its personality.

Brilliant golden yellow with orange/amber highlights, this highly perfumed nectar has notes of honey, ginger tea, crème caramel, buttercream frosting, marzipan, and butterscotch pudding. On the palate it is full-bodied and elegant, with a soft prickle of acids giving the sensation of biting into a succulently sweet, fully ripe organically grown peach within hours of its harvest. A soft chewiness compliments the acids to lift and give balance. The finish is medium-long with a hint of pineapple. This would be delicious with peach and banana bread pudding, or a dried apricot, peach, and pecan tart.

Reviewed August 31, 2007 by Catherine Fallis.