94 PTS — Rick VanSickle“The Estate Pinot Noir, has a fresh nose of raspberries, Morello cherries, cran-cherry notes, fresh cut flowers, a touch of reduction and spice. The red berries are a bit riper on the palate with added anise, pine nuts, spice and a long, silky finish that will reward with a bit of aging. Can cellar through 2030. 93 PTS — David Lawrason“Four different clonal/terroir pinots were produced in 2023, creating what I am calling the Trail ‘Trials’. This brings together two clones which were each also bottled separately. It is the more complete of the wines, with more complexity and structure. Very pale cherry colour. The nose is very lifted with redcurrant, sour cherry, barrel toast, tomato jam and herbal notes. It is light bodied, a touch sour edged and warm, with excellent to outstanding length. Tasted February 2026 92 PTS — John Szabo“…A mix of reductive and oxidative character, savoury and fruity, nutty-scorched earth, a real terroir-lovers pinot not designed for wide nor immediate appeal, rather an intellectual effort to unwind and deconstruct into its component parts. This is indeed an edgy wine with acetic acids creeping in, but with air, more attractive floral and delicate red fruit flavours begin to take the fore. It’s the sort of Pinot that you’re obliged to serve in a proper, large-bowled pinot noir glass; I wouldn’t decant if only to be able to observe the transformation of the wine with air in the glass, quite a mesmerizing display of a living wine in motion. Tasted February 2026. Specific blocks of the vineyard were hand harvested and clones were fermented separately. North block clones 115 and 667, were a blend of whole cluster and meticulously hand destemmed fruit. South block clone 667, was fermented whole cluster. Aged in 25% 2nd fill French oak for 10 months, this wine was racked once during barrel aging and once pre-bottling. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. The 2023 growing season was an EPIC season! Filled with plenty of challenges in the summer — lots of rain, high humidity and lots of heat. In September, the season flipped on its head and we were given the most beautiful ripening season. Grapes showed amazing concentration of flavour and great retention of acidity. A finessed Pinot Noir that has layers of complexity. Aromatically, this wine is a blend of bright cranberry, citronella and smoke. The palate has a slight sweetness from the oak with tight tannins that, at the time of bottling, need time to settle. A relatively closed wine upon bottling, but with an intensity that will lend itself to aging. VQA Prince Edward County VQA Cases Produced: 65 Grower: Trail Estate Winery Harvested: September 30 & October 3, 2023 Yields: Approx. 1.0 Tonnes/Acre Brix: 21.2 RS: 3.2g/L Alcohol: 12%
