Our runners will make their way past Closson Chase where they will be greeted with the first of three water stations. The Closson Chase property was purchased in 1997. At that time the farm grew annual crops but had been a dairy farm for many years prior. The site’s unique qualities, as seen through the eyes of viticulturist Deborah Paskus led the owners to believe it would produce exceptional wines.
Their approach to viticulture begins with crop density, pairing the right varietals to the climate, applying sustainable farming and organic growing. They approach winemaking with minimal interference, indigenous yeasts, gentle handling and long barrel aging.
The highly rated 2009 Closson Chase Vineyard Chardonnay is fermented and aged in barrel for 16 months is a blend of both their north and south vineyards. It speaks to the emerging character of Closson Chase Chardonnays. With fruit forward, the nose shows notes of firm fresh pear, lemon peel and a hint of green apple. Its great acidity is rounded out by softer oak lees with flavours of warmed butter and pastry dough. It is well integrated, with a persistent finish.
This chardonnay has garnered many accolades since its release:
Tony Aspler – 92 points “A triumph of terroir and technique.”
Christopher Waters- 4 stars “…an attractive wine with considerable length.”
John Szabo – 92 points “…strong contender for top chardonnay in the Province.”
David Lawrason – 91 points “very complete… traditional style that is all about complexity, texture and depth.”
Sara D’Amato – 91 points “Sharp as a whip, focused and mineral driven, the oak takes a backseat to the vibrant citrus flavours in this compelling Chardonnay.”
Closson Chase is pleased to welcome our Terroir Run runners and share the fruits of their labours with us!
From the Farm Cooking School Director Cynthia Peters just can’t get enough of “Spring Greens”. From the first buds to the luscious lawns blanketing the rural countryside and villages of Prince Edward County, it’s a true awakening. And for our palette, we begin the passage of “tastes” of seasonal produce from our farm fields. Thanks to Vicki Emlaw of Vicki’s Veggies, green comes early. Cynthia had the opportunity to start enjoying fresh salad greens in late April. With their hooped covers, Vicki’s Veggies were able to produce a wide variety of Asian greens, spinach and arugula. Today, Cynthia helped harvest some fresh asparagus at Honey Wagon Farms and some garlic greens. Herbs are popping up everywhere and her lovage plant is already over a foot tall!
Lucky for our runners, Cynthia has been thinking about the seasonal salad for our Terrior Run lunch. She’ll be turning too what is fresh that weekend. Seasonal greens from the fields of Vicki’s Veggies will be the main attraction, sprinkled with a blend of cheeses from the County’s local artisan cheese factory, Black River Cheese Company. The medley will be dressed with her Apple Maple vinaigrette, made from local apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, shallots and fresh herbs. Topped with a few crunchy pumpkin seeds. A great match with Norman’s amazing wood oven pizza and hand crafted wines.
The Bounty of the County will be front and centre for our runners lunch. Get ready to enjoy a mouthful of Spring. We look forward to seeing you at the finishing line!
A reminder to any of our runners that Vicki’s Veggies has their annual heirloom tomato seedling sale May 19th, 20th, 26th and 27th so stock up on seedlings while you’re in PEC!
Lucky for our runners, they will be getting a true taste of Prince Edward Counties terroir! Each winery we run past will be featuring a wine at the finish line.
We’ll be pouring the ’09 Rosehall Run Vineyards, Estate Grown, Pinot Noir at our post run lunch. IF you’ve ever wondered what California gold tastes like you’re in luck! In California, they take their Pinot Noir very seriously. Winemakers, from around the world, enter their Pinot Noir into a “Shootout”; only the best make it through to the Pinot Noir Summit-hosted by Affairs of the Vine. The Pinot Noir Shootout is precious metal or no medal: gold and silver only. As it has always been in California, everyone hopes to strike gold. This year, Rosehall Run Vineyards lay claim with their 2009 Rosehall Run Vineyards, Estate Grown, Pinot Noir!
Here’s what the judges had to say:
Female: Orange peel, bacon, lavender, smoke, tar, tobacco, : the list goes on. Great complexity in this one! Wow! This wine is delish! Lovely complexity and balance. Good uniformity of flavours. So savory! 91
Male: Dry maple leaves on the nose with a faint hint of smoke. Pure elegance on the palate. Beautiful finish. 91
There were only 280 cases of the Rosehall Run Estate Grown Pinot Noir produced so after lunch we encourage our runners to swing by Rosehall and grab some gold!
2012 Terroir Run - Illustrated by Marc Keelan-Bishop
We love to support local – not only food, wine and beer but artists too! This year – we’ve worked with illustrator Marc Keelan-Bishop to create our Terroir poster and runners passports (every registered runner gets a passport to return to the participating wineries for a complimentary sample of their wines). Marc’s whimsical illustration depicts runners on a wine bottled shape route (wouldn’t it be awesome if it actually was?), passing buy the wineries along the route with the Barley Days Brewery van in tow and the Sandbanks Vacations Tour Bus enroute. Thanks Marc – we love it!
Back by popular demand the good folks at Barley Days Brewery are supporting our run! Their team member Jeremy Keith is going to be driving their delivery van and will be at the end of the running stream ensuring that runners are all doing ok and offering support should anyone need a ride to the finish line. The support doesn’t end there – our runners will be refreshed with their beer during the post race lunch at Norman Hardie Winery!
Twitter
- A taste of terroir at @ClossonChase
http://t.co/x42znTV6 - Spring salads for all our runners by @fromthefarmchef A reminder about @vickisveggies Heirloom Seedling Sale too!
http://t.co/8eXpu9qs - Our good friend From the Farm Cooking School Chef Cynthia Peters has spring in store for our runners!
http://t.co/yUdwmMcp - Illustrating the TERROIR RUN 2012 poster: via @youtube - This is AWESOME! @rosehall_run @normhardie @clossonchase
http://t.co/OJOsaEqi - Woohoo! @hinterlandwine has released their '11 Whitecap and it's delish!
http://t.co/q3pHbIbn - Our runners will get to taste gold! @rosehall_run Pinot Noir gold that is
http://t.co/gSpvMJRn
- A taste of terroir at @ClossonChase
