Tawse, Seventeenth Street, Ontario, Canada, 2007

According to winemaker Paul Pender, Tawse only had access to the fruit from this vineyard at the end of Twenty Mile Bench for one year – but what a year it turned out to be. The wine is deeply coloured for Ontario Pinot, with sweet, warm, beguiling but classy raspberry perfumes. Those perfumes backlight the palate too, and the tarry bramble fruits are lifted yet lively, with soft autumn warmth and haunting liquorice-root spice. The acidity is warm and sustaining and the tannins still palpable, though fruit-braided. Gratifying, generous and totally delicious.