Domaine Pinnacle, Serious Cider

I had a fantastic experience last week on the 23^rd here in Calgary. Charles Crawford of Quebec's Domaine Pinnacle was in town to do some meeting and greeting promoting his Iced Ciders that are available in the market here. "Iced Ciders!!!???" you must be thinking, "what the heck?" but please read on as to why you might be pleasantly surprised.

Wine Access was very lucky to have lunch with Mr. Crawford at the always fantastic Rouge restaurant in Calgary. Hosted by Domaine Pinnacle's Alberta agent Crush Imports we were treated to an incredible 3 course meal which paired exceptionally well with my selections. Starting off with a big Lobster Bisque with green peppercorns and a slug of brandy (this is my description-not the restaurants) followed by a seared trout with squash and some fantastic veggies. To top off the meal, I had one of the richest and creamiest crème brulee I've enjoyed in a long time. Pairing with the meal were the Paul Zinck Cremant d'alsace sparkling wine which was bright and lively and remarkably complex for a very reasonable price of around $20 on the shelf. Following the bubbles was the Chateau Ollieux Romanis "prestige" (corbieres) which being red was in danger of overwhelming the trout but was chock full of old world flavours and so very very smooth (for about $22), that I didn't mind it with some of the stronger flavours in the trout. The other guests had seconds that perhaps better complimented the red, but I was not complaining at all.

During the meal, we were regaled with some of the background of Domaine Pinnacle and its very human history. The house on the property goes back to 1859 and Pinnacle accounts for about 30-40% of the Quebec Iced Cider industry. It also takes a whopping 6-8Kg's of apples to make a bottle of Domaine Pinnacle. We very much got a sense that the reason they are so successful is that there is a lot of pride that happens at the winery, they've had some hitches along the way, but they seem to have found a way to consistently produce high quality at a very reasonable price.

Now onto the ciders. We tried 3 products from Domaine Pinnacle that are in the Alberta market. The Sparkling Iced Cider, the Ice Cider-both from the 2007 vintage and a recent addition, the Domaine Pinnacle Crème de Pommes. Starting with the Iced Cider, it's obvious that it is made from apples but the complexity is overwhelming. It's rich and spicy, and I found a lot of apple jelly notes and excellent notes of harvest apple and apple crumble. Which incidentally would be a very tasty match with this. It should be noted that there is a bit of residual sugar but it is very well balanced against the acidity.

Next up was the Sparkling which has a similar blend of apples except the main difference is the bubbles. They were nice and small, and tickled the palate rather than a full blown sparking wine. While technically dryer than the iced cider, the bubbles really increased the aromatics of the cider both on the palate and nose and to my palate served to increase the apparent sweetness, making for a floral and pleasant glass all around. My preference was for the sparkling, and while both were good, I could definitely see myself entertaining with the sparkling more. The Sparkling Iced Cider retails around $25 while the Iced Cider is around $29 both for a 375ml bottle. Both have around 12% alcohol. Smaller or mini sizes are available in some markets if you just want a taste before committing to a whole bottle.

The Crème de Pomme is something a little different and is a cream liquor along the lines of Irish cream. A lot of thought went into this products creation it contains about 15% Iced Cider and the alcohol base is un-aged Calvados (apple brandy from France-it makes sense doesn't it?). I will confess, it isn't my thing but it is certainly sip-worthy and the apple adds a nice brightness to the palate. I would have no problems recommending this to fans of cream liquor or if you need to kick up your coffee sometime. The Crème de Pomme typically retails for around $29 in Canada for a 750ml bottle.

Cheers,

Tom