RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Henry of Pelham 2023 Lost Boys Baco Noir: Not a Wine for Cider House Rules Orphanage: Confessions of a Turkey Gravy Man!

Baco Noir is a French Hybrid grape produced in 1894 and planted in days of yore in Ontario and the Eastern United States. Perhaps a low life or roustabout grape for the unsophisticated decades ago? A “90 Day Fiancé” or a” Below the Deck” type of grape?

Like South African Pinotage it can be dreadful or magnificent. It presents the nose with a smoky and soft fruit nose but once it hits the palate it can be Concordish. Not so with Henry of Pelham. I recall a few years ago I pulled a Henry of Pelham Baco Noir that had been a lost boy in my cellar for some 8 years. It could have been one of the best Ontario red wines I have encountered.

Few wineries can pull off a memorable Baco Noir in Ontario but if any winery can accomplish Baco Noir excellence it is Henry of Pelham which should not be confused with the disaster movie “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3”.

This Baco Noir comes from some of H of P’s oldest vineyards planted in 1984 in crooked rows that follow the contour of the vineyard. The wine was aged in spicy American oak (new and one year old barriques) and finished in more subtle French oak.

Aroma: Dense smoky black cherry and chocolate infused root beer. Secondary notes of blackberry, black raspberry and coconut.

Palate: Smooth and big time fruity without disintegrating into foxy grape juice nor that terrible acidic fizz plaguing so many Ontario Baco’s. The smoothness and fruit camouflages the tannins and acids. But make no mistake this is no sloppy floozy wine. The finish is Tawny Port like meaning long and decadent.

Personality: Is there really any other Ontario Baco Noir other than from my master’s at H of P?

Food Match: Pasta with Putanesca sauce simmered with Tawny Port and using Ontario field tomatoes and garlic. Oh….a stellar match with festive turkey particularly when consumed with cranberry sauce! Perish the thought for me…a gravy man!

Music Match: “Foxy Lady”….Hendrix.

Cellarbility: A difficult question! It’s lack of perceived tannins and acids may indicate drink by 2026-year end but my personal experience hints at a wine that will evolve into 2031. This wine may defy established rules. The beguiling nature of exceptional Ontario Baco Noir.

Price: $40 CDN. YIKES!!! But evaluate this exclamation at the end of this decade.

RKS 2025 Canadian Wine Rating: 93/100. Natalie MacLean 93. Wine Align 89.

(Henry of Pelham Family Estate 2023 Bin 106 Lost Boys Baco Noir, VQA Ontario, Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery, St, Catharines, Ontario, 750 mL, 13%).