I visited Ferox, a relatively new winery in Niagara, with assistant winemaker Cubby Sadoon. It has a very completely totally different, and pretty trendy actually really feel to it, and that’s mirrored inside the packaging of the wines.
Ferox acknowledged as a mannequin in 2015, with Fabian and Stephanie Reis. They’re seventh know-how winemakers with origins in Baden Baden. Fabien initially started discovering out wine in Germany and obtained right here once more to the family enterprise in 2014. Konselman is the family enterprise.
In 2015 he based mostly Ferox as a digital mannequin with a single barrel of Merlot Cabernet made at Reif. They carried on doing this in 2018, and that yr the family who owned this property wanted to maneuver out of the enterprise they normally had been selling a complete lot of grapes to Fabien in order that they offered it to them.
The winery was inbuilt 2021 and there’s a hospitality home. And so they’re engaged on making a 35 cowl seasonal restaurant launching subsequent yr.
That’s an pure and regenerative vineyard. They farm 60 acres and crop between 2.2-2.8 tons an acre. The mantra is: ‘impressed by customized, on no account sure by it’.
THE WINES
Ferox White 2020 Niagara, Canada
Topic mixture of 5 varieties. 44% Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, 20 Chardonnay, 9 Riesling. Tight, juicy, lemony and pithy with keen acidity beneath the focused citrus fruit. Stony, juicy and linear with good purity to the lemony fruit. Finishes taut with delicate pure notes, ending pithy and stony. 90/100 ($25)
Ferox Chardonnay 2022 Niagara, Canada
Stainless steel fermented at low temperature. 8 months on good lees with enzymes added to interrupt them down, and malolactic conversion with a strain that leaves 30% malic acid. That’s herby and tight with some appley notes. Crisp and energetic with keen acidity. Vivid and linear with a stony finish. Very acid pushed with some pithiness on the top. 89/100
Ferox Gewurztraminer 2022 Niagara, Canada
Lovely grapey aromatics with some rose petal. Energetic and tangy with vivid acidity not atypical to this choice, with some good grapey aspect along with some lime. Juicy and precise with good focus to the palate. A bone-dry, up to date, clear Gewurztraminer with some persona. 90/100
Ferox Riesling Dry 2022 Niagara, Canada
They left 6.8 g/l of sugar inside the wine, nonetheless the acidity was 10.5 g/l, which is completely extreme. Protected ought to fermented at low temperature for 3.5 weeks, in search of to up-play the malic acid. Energetic, energetic and pithy with an attention-grabbing core of limey fruit. Zesty and direct with excellent precision and objective. Mouthwatering and dry with extreme acidity. Excellent depth proper right here. 92/100
Ferox Riesling 2022 Niagara, Canada
9.3% alcohol. The excellence proper right here is residual sugar. They stopped the fermentation and bled some off at 3.5 Brix for this wine, after which the remained carried 33.4 g/l sugar with 12 g/l TA, pH 3.1. Juicy and linear with the sweetness together with a foil to the extreme acidity. Vivid and up to date with keen, focused lime fruit. So juicy and linear with good purity to the fruit. 92/100
Ferox Chardonnay Reserve 2021 Niagara, Canada
1000 litres of stainless steel-aged Chardonnay with 950 litres of barrel-fermented (two had been neutral acacia) Chardonnay. That’s modelled on the Côtes de Beaune. Some nutty oak inside the mix proper right here with good crisp pear and apple fruit. Juicy and linear with some hints of honey and aniseed. Modern with a nice acid line. 91/100
Ferox Sauvignon Blanc 2023 (tank sample)
Vivid and grassy with a pure twist to the fruit. Citrussy and alert with keen acidity.
Ferox Rosé 2023 (tank sample)
70% Merlot, 30% Malbec. Modelled on Tavel, that’s full purple pink in coloration. Vivid and actually fruity with some main pear drop fermentation aromas and vivid purple cherry and raspberry fruit with good focus. Very expressive.
Ferox Purple 2021 Niagara, Canada
62% Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot and Cabernet Franc, all in stainless-steel. Supple and up to date with good aromatics: blackberry and cherry, with a method of freshness. The palate is juicy, vivid and focused with good juiciness and some acceptable development. Nonetheless that’s all about vivid fruit with a nice tart finish and good acidity. Crunchy finish. 93/100 ($25, an superior discount, serve it a bit chilled)
Ferox Cabernet Franc 2020 Niagara, Canada
Two years in used oak, then bottled unfiltered. Vivid and crunchy with good focused berry fruits. There’s some cranberry and spice proper right here with some tarry, crunchy aspect. Modern with some spicy depth from the oak, although it stays inside the background. Juicy and vivid with good weight. 91/100
Ferox Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 Niagara, Canada
Extremely efficient, rich and spicy with daring blackberry and blackcurrant fruit with some good successfully built-in oak. Structured nonetheless up to date with vigorous blackcurrant and blackberry fruit, ending with a method of freshness, some bitter cherry and a contact of tar and balsamic character. Potential for enchancment proper right here. 93/100
Ferox Merlot 2020 Niagara, Canada
14.4% alcohol. Ripe and plush nonetheless with good spicy framing and a twist of tar. That’s fruity and successfully balanced with blackberry, cherry and damson notes with some good spicy aspect on the top. Very supple and expressive with a slight chalkiness on the top. Modern and expressive. 93/100
Ferox Black Lion 2020 Niagara, Canada
This isn’t made yearly. They’ve made this in 2016 and 2020. A purple combine. 80% free run, 20% press juice. 2 weeks chilly soak at 1 C, then 4.5 weeks fermentation. Blended after a yr in barrel after which spends one different two years in barrel. Correctly aromatic with sweet black cherries and plums along with some detailed spice and herb notes. The palate reveals company tannins and good spicy aspect, along with supple cherry and plum fruit, with a slight dustiness and some silkiness to the ripe fruit. Very trendy and refined with a protracted, tapering finish. Like an elegant super-Tuscan in trend. 94/100
Ferox Riesling Ice Wine 2023 Niagara, Canada
Picked at 39.7 Brix, then aged in a puncheon after a protracted fermentation. Intense and aromatic with extremely efficient pear, peach and apricot fruit. Vivid and juicy with large depth to the marmalade and apricot palate with some vanilla hints and some honey. Such good acidity proper right here, nonetheless it doesn’t stick out. Really difficult. 94/100
Ferox Dornfelder Ice Wine 2017 Niagara, Canada
Picked in early 2018. They misplaced this to frost nonetheless have replanted 3 acres of the variability for ice wine. Remarkably deep in coloration. Distinctive nostril of baked plum and blackberry with some sweet stewed strawberry. The palate is vivid and vivid with intense acidity and good tarry notes along with rich blackberry and plum. It’s very sweet and viscous with lots of sweetness and some tannin. That’s in distinction to another ice wine I’ve tried, and has a savoury, spicy edge to the fruit. 93/100