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Canada's Grand Estates
Reif Estate Winery The Reif family tradition of winemaking began nearly half a millennium ago in the small winemaking town of Neustadt, located in the heart of the world renowned Rhine River Valley in Germany. In 1977, this tradition transcended to a new continent, when founder Ewald Reif purchased a plot of land on the fertile banks of the Niagara River. After carefully nurturing the land for six years, the potential of these young vineyards became evident when the doors of Reif Estate winery were officially opened in 1983. By 1983 the Reif Estate Winery had it's own 125 acre vineyard and was an established winery located along the Niagara River. Some of Niagara's oldest vineyard blocks are located on the sub-appellation of the Niagara River. The vineyard plants only vitis vinifera varieties and all Ontario wines are within VQA standards and are made with 100% Ontario grapes. In 1987, Klaus W. Reif took over the reins from his uncle Ewald, as the President and Winemaker at Reif Estate Winery. After having been born into a winemaking family with roots tracing back 12 generations; Klaus' future as a winemaker may have been preordained. He enrolled in the world famous Geisenheim Institute in Germany and graduated with degrees in both Oenology and Viticulture. In 1990, Klaus was joined by Roberto DiDomenico as the newest member of the winemaking team. As a recent graduate of the University of Guelph with a specialized Honours Microbiology degree, Roberto began to work closely with Klaus to further develop the vineyards. Focusing on the thinning and pruning of the vines, the quality of the grapes is improved naturally, thus remaining true to our philosophies that "nature itself makes the wine." Here at Reif Estate our vitis vinifera plantings of Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Merlot are allowed to reach their full potential before harvest. Klaus and Roberto believe that winemaking depends on the quality of the vineyard and that "...today we are growing wine in the vineyard." The vineyard consists of 125 areas located in the Niagara River sub-appellation. New research began in 2009 on Rippasso Wines
Reif Estate Winery has a rich history in Icewine production as a pioneer with the first vintage of Vidal Icewine produced in 1984. Amongst the first vines on their 125 acre estate is a 20 year old vineyard block of Vidal grapes, still used today to produce our internationally acclaimed Icewine Reif has enjoyed international acclaim for their Icewines for over 20 years. In 1987 our Vidal Icewine was named by renowned Wine Critic, Robert Parker Jr., as one of the year’sTop Ten Wines. Award highlights include a Gold Medal at Vin Expo and at the International Wine Awards in 2002 the Best Icewine Trophy. Closer to home our 2002 Vidal Icewine was named Wine of the Year at the Ontario Wine Awards and Best Sweet Wine three times at Cuvée, the Oscars of the wine industry.
Visitor Experience Includes: Sensory Wine Bar: Taste the Terroir | Flight of four wines $15.00 per person Sensory wine bar experiences subject to available seating. Reservations are recommended but not required. Wine Sensory Garden: Legacy Tour and Tasting: The winery is a favourite location for weddings.
The gardens are designed to complement and reflect the heritage of their original
1870's Coach House while featuring plantings representative of the colour,
flavours and aromas of different grape varieties typically used to produce
wines in the region. Klaus Reif's Philosophy: That "great wines start in the vineyard" is the cornerstone of the quality and integrity of Reif Estate wines. This belief, partnered with a commitment to produce predominantly estate bottled wines from our 125 acre vineyard, has provided our winemaker Roberto DiDomenico with the tools to produce world renowned wines. Klaus and Roberto believe that over time a vineyard will express its 'terroir', loosely translated as 'a sense of place'. Many agree that as a vineyard matures its personality (or characteristics) of both climate and soils will be expressed in the wines over time. We believe Reif's terroir is best expressed by the wines produced in the First Growth Collection, with grapes harvested from our oldest vineyard blocks. There is no doubt that today we are growing wine in the vineyard. The winery
currently produces 35,000 cases PURITY. INTEGRITY. TRADITION. Recommended Wines 2007 Vidal Icewine Cuvee Gold - February 19th, 2010 4.5 stars – “Classic icewine made by an impeccable producer
of this style of wine. Peach, apricot, honeycomb aromas. It shows
perfect balance in the mouth with peach-apricot compote followed by honey and
toffee that stays for minutes on the finish.” 2008 Riesling Icewine 2008 Kerner Wine Floral, subtle peach, green apple and lemon aromas are followed by tangerine and honeyed pear on the palate. Lush, fruit flavours are followed by a burst of citrus on the finish, with a hint of sweetness that rounds out the acidity. 2008 Baco Noir Recommended by friends in Ontario. Ripe plum, leather and a hint of pepper make up the aromas of this Baco Shiraz. The palate is layered with sweet plum, pepper and hints of vanilla. Nice acid balance and a medium body leads to a well balance finish.
~ Grand Estates ~
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