Nyarai Cellars, Veritas, 2007, Niagara Peninsula VQA

Conventional wisdom states that Niagara is home to serious emerging wines - Rieslings, Sauvignon Blancs, Pinot Noirs, sparkling and ice wines. Mainly those varietals that thrive in Northern France. Canada has many good things. Its weather is not one of them. Following this logic, if you swear by California Cabernet Sauvignon or Australian Shiraz you should probably veer away from Ontario Bordeaux blends or, god help you, shiraz or cab franc blends. Green and tannic come to mind. But what do you expect? There isn't enough sunshine or a long enough growing season to produce big lush wines in the new-world style. You can't squeeze deep, full-bodied reds from five month snow-drifts. Well, that's not necessarily true. An exceptional wine maker in an exceptionally warm year can shatter conventional wisdom with well placed rabbit-punches.

I tried Veritas from Nyarai Cellars and Steve Byfield - the garagiste who produces these wines - has made me a bigtime believer in what Niagara can do. 2007 was a hot and dry year in Niagara. I am in no way an expert in Ontario reds, but I love this wine and I believe it would satisfy and pique the interest of anyone who likes warm climate Bordeaux blends. There is a lot going on here. It's outstanding. It is also Cabernet Fanc predominant. Amazing. I'm pairing it with fillet of beef.

Fillet of Beef with Sauce Porto and Roasted Shallots (adapted from Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook)

The following recipe produced the best results I've ever had using fillet of beef. Which is saying something. Follow Bourdain closely.

Ingredients:

- 6 peeled whole shallots plus 1 peeled and thinly sliced shallot
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 2 six-eight ounce beef fillets (mine were bacon wrapped - word to the wise, bring the bacon)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon flour
- 3 ounces ruby port
- 1 cup beef stock

1) Pre-heat oven to 325 F. Toss the peeled whole shallots into small roasting or sauce pan. Throw in a tablespoon of butter and cover with foil. Put in the oven and turn every ten minutes or so until brown, soft and slightly limp. But intact. 45 minutes to an hour. Remove and keep warm.

2) Raise oven heat to 375 F. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Heat sauce in large, oven-proof saute pan over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of butter, let it foam, and allow it to subside. Sear the meat on all side. Bourdain recommends making sure sides of fillets are seared as well. Go with it. Trust me. Place pan in the oven. 4 minutes for rare. 7 minutes for mid-rare.

3) Remove beef from saute pan. Add another tablespoon of butter and set flame/stovetop to medium. When hot add sliced shallots. Cook for 4 minutes.

4) Sprinkle in flour and cook for 2 minutes.

5) Stir in port and deglaze, scraping with a wooden spoon. Reduce the wine by half and then add stock. Bring to a boil and reduce by a quarter, until sauce coats the back of the spoon. Adjust the seasoning and strain through a fine strainer in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Whisk in a little butter. (No one said this was cardiovascular friendly - it's brilliant nonetheless.)

6) Having let the fillets rest for six minutes, load fillets atop pomme puree or fingerling potato salad and place roasted shallots with flair and a devil-be-damned attitude. Spoon this sauce over everything. Rhapsodies of joy and satisfaction will ensue very, very shortly.

Tasting and Pairing Notes for the 2007 Nyarai Cellers Veritas...

Steve Byfield's philosophy and wine-making mission is to showcase the purity of the Niagara terroir - the essence of the region. I hope Veritas is something that we can expect with greater consistency from Ontario producers of medium to full-bodied reds. On the nose, deep black Napa Valley fruit, just a touch of raison or fig, something bridging to maple sugar. On the palate, there is some bracing acid - especially following such a lush round nose - but it is very well balanced with flinty minerals, herbs, sour cherry, and just a trace of resinous balsamic. I was very happy with the wine and the match - it's always smart to match a youngish, tannic, full-bodied wine with rare red meat.