“ I love the term “cult wine.” Technically, it means a wine that creates its own dedicated following year after year. However, to me, “cult wine” evokes so much more. I see a coven of hooded figures worshipping a bottle in numinous silence. It sounds like a literary exaggeration, but it’s not far from the truth if you’ve ever seen some aficionados really go at a bottle of old Barolo: with every sip their eyes cross, their face turns heavenward, and they concentrate so hard that they appear to be engaged in the act of transubstantiation.
What makes something cultish is the fact that it is made in small quantities that vanish off the shelves without advertisement or effort. While some wineries crassly milk this prestige for every penny (ahem, California), I know a few that keep their prices low notwithstanding their profile. In fact, we have a few cult wineries like this in Ontario. Perhaps my favourite is 13th Street Winery.
13th Street Winery became a cult for a number of reasons. The most obvious is their extraordinary quality, but another good reason was that it was so damn rare. 13th Street was started by four families, and for years they operated it as a side business while the winemakers maintained their day jobs. Who knew that good wine could be such a casual affair? The downside, however, was that actually marketing the wine seemed to be too great a time committment. It wasn’t available at the LCBO. You could buy it at the winery, but it was only open for a couple hours every Saturday. And their website contained less useful information than the assembly instructions for an Ikea bookshelf. Nothing whets desire like playing hard to get.
Additionally, 13th Street made its mark by pioneering some unique wines. While many top Niagara wineries were investing in the mystique of Pinot Noir, 13th Street made Gamay – its signature red grape. Gamay makes a light-hearted, fresh and fruity wine. While some Gamay based wines are superficial (like Nouveau Beaujolais), at its best it has refinement without sacrificing that wonderful quality I call “gulpability”. 13th Street also distinguished itself early by making some of the best sparkling wine in Ontario. Bubbly is a difficult undertaking and few wineries take the risk.
This is an interesting time for those who count themselves in the 13th Street Cult. Although there is still some continuity, the ownership has changed. And the change is bringing a new approach: increased production, a redesigned website (that allows you to order wine online), expanded hours at the winery, a new tasting facility, and more full-time staff. 13th Street is making the leap from gifted amateur to seasoned professional. Without playing hard to get anymore, these wines will have to get by on their good looks alone. Tune in next week for my detailed tasting notes for 13th Street wines.
Matthew Sullivan is a civil litigator in Toronto. He writes a weekly blog entry here on lawandstyle.ca. The Short Cellar column appears in the print edition of Precedent. Matthew can be reached at matthew@lawandstyle.beta-site.ca