Lunch at the Gilead Cafe

As part of the lead up to the 12th Annual Stonefields Dinner put on by Michael Barnstijn every year, the volunteer servers, organizers and special guests always gather at Jamie Kennedy's Gilead Cafe to connect over good food and wine and make any last minute calls on wines for the dinner.

Paired with Marinated Lake Tout with Pumpernickel

• 2012 Tawse Riesling Spark Limestone Ridge 88 Points

  Canada, Ontario, Niagara Peninsula, Twenty Mile Bench VQA

  Very bright and fresh nose with green apple, white flowers and minerals.
  The palate sports razor sharp acidity with lime, green apple, minerals and lime and has a medium finish with moderate complexity.
  This is great as an aperitif.

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• 2009 Jansz Wine Company Pinot Noir 90 Points

  Australia, Tasmania

  100% Pinot Noir, this wine spent 1241 days on its lees prior to disgorgement.
  The nose jumps with ripe red fruits…..strawberries, raspberries, cherry couple with autolytic notes and minerals…this is very pretty and integrated.
  The finish is medium+ in length and complex

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Paired with Squash & Sunchoke Soup

• 2011 Alheit Vineyards Cartology Bushvines 92 Points

  South Africa, Western Cape

  92% Chenin Blanc, 8 % Semillion - 18 barrels made and naturally fermented
  The nose is very open and inviting with aromas of lemon, quince, caramel, hazelnut and marzipan.
  The palate is balanced and integrated showing notes of lemon, honey, hazelnut and marzipan augmented with great minerality. This wine has obviously seen some time in oak but it does not stick out at all and gives an aded weight that is quite pretty.
  The finish is long….very pretty wine.

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Paired with Sunflower Poached Halibut with Beurre Blanc

• 2012 Alheit Vineyards Cartology Bushvines 91 Points

  South Africa, Western Cape

  86% Chenin Blanc, 14% Semillion, 20 Barrels made and naturally fermented
  This was a bit reduced when first opened but it blew off after about 20 minutes.
  Once that wine had opened up, there were ripe citrus notes followed by honey, white flowers, lemon custard and minerals.
  They finish was medium+ in length.

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Paired with Roast Beef, Croquette Potato & Bordelaise Sauce

• 2001 Noon Eclipse 93 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  Drank with winemaker Drew Noon
  2/3 Grenache, 1/3 Shiraz, aged in 300L older American and French hogsheads
  The nose was really integrated and inviting…could immediately tell that this had some age on it.
  Aromas of herbs, plum, cherry compote, spice and eucalyptus.
  The palate so integrated….this is 15.8% alcohol and I could not tell at all. This is bright and elegant with a great balance of ripe, aged dark fruit and great secondary character.
  The finish is medium+. Great wine.

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• 2006 Hidden Bench Syrah/Malbec 90 Points

  Canada, Ontario, Niagara Peninsula, Beamsville Bench VQA

  This was a very interesting wine…..it was very dark…would have thought that it was much younger blind
  The nose showed bright fruit, cherry, pepper, pyrazene, and some medicinal notes.
  The palate is dominated by pepper, tart cherry notes and minerals with a medium length finish.

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Paired with Salad with Cheeses

• 2004 Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 93 Points

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Cape Peninsula, Constantia

  The nose showed flavours of burnt brûlée, marmalade, spice, peach and the smallest hint of what I thought might have been a bit of mouldy fruit….a lingering lactic, almost cheese note lingered as well on the nose.
  The palate was very nice…..flavours of marmalade, orange rind, brûlée, marzipan and honey dominate with good balancing acidity.
  The finish is long, complex and layered.
  The only thing holding this wine back is the small deficiencies on the nose.

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Paired with Pouding Chomeur

• 2006 Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 95 Points

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Cape Peninsula, Constantia

  This was a stunner…..
  Such a lifted nose with pure orange, mint, marmalade, caramel, honey and flowers. I could smell this all day.
  The palate was so pure…..intense flavours of mint, orange, marmalade, burnt brûlée and flowers balanced with great acidity.
  The finish is long, layered and complex….a stunner of a wine.

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Jamie Kennedy's food was spectacular and Drew Noon's 2001 Eclipse was a real revelation for me.