behind the label: tawse winery
By Mike Muirhead, Sommelier( ISG, CMS), CSW
Tawse 2009 Grower ' s Blend Pinot Noir, Niagara Peninsula VQA, Canada $ 35.99
Tawse 2010 Quarry Road Pinot Noir, Niagara Peninsula VQA, Canada $ 39.99
Tawse 2010 Laidlaw Pinot Noir, Niagara Peninsula VQA, Canada $ 49.99
There are two great sayings in the wine world. The first is:“ It takes a lot of beer to make good wine,” referring to the long hours and camaraderie that every vintage entails. The other speaks to the competition in the boutique winery market:“ How do you make a small fortune off of a winery? You start with a large one.”
Moray Tawse has rolled his long and lucrative career as a mortgage investor into one of Niagara’ s most successful wineries. There is no other winery that has claimed Wine Access’ s title of Best Canadian Winery three years running. It is notable that when you Google Moray Tawse’ s name, three of the first five hits speak to his personal success, and 10 of the next 11 hits are all about his winery. And for good reason: our lead buyer and Sommelier, Gary Hewitt, has been praising their pure and distinct wines since his first visit in 2008. Tawse Winery has garnered national acclaim for their consistent excellence, and a lot has been credited to their philosophy.
Tawse follows a biodynamic philosophy in their vineyards, taking organic principles to the next level. They follow the biodynamic calendar for plant cycles, vine management, treatment, and picking. From the vineyard, the grapes make their way to Tawse’ s state-ofthe-art gravity-flow winery. The results are best summed up in one taste of the wines that earned over 24 medals, including a record-setting six golds, at the 2011 Wine Access awards.
Another factor that contributes to Tawse’ s phenomenal success is their award-winning winemaker, Paul Pender. Winner of Ontario Wine Awards’ Winemaker of the Year in 2011, Paul started his career as a carpenter before following his passion for winemaking to Niagara. Drawing from this connection to the earth, Paul’ s nurturing hand creates natural wines that have been applauded by many critics.
Tawse’ s wines are precise and complex, and their Pinot Noirs are distinctly driven by a sense of place. They have three different single-vineyard Pinot Noirs, each with their own personality. Quarry Road is pure and lean with fresh acidity, earthiness and red fruits, whereas Laidlaw is big and rich with dark red fruits and smoky mushroom aromas. Grower’ s Blend has great complexity and a broad fruit profile, stretching from red and dark cherry to berry notes. Paul Pender’ s gift is taking a step back to let the character of the vineyards shine through in each of Tawse’ s exquisite wines. �
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