2023 Pinot Noir
2023 Pinot Noir
Sometimes I feel like my life is not measured in years, but in Pinot vintages. For those curious, one Pinot vintage is roughly equivalent to seven human years, and to that end 2023 might be the year I finally felt my age, in Pinot years.
A great deal of effort went into keeping things on the rails during the tumultuous summer of 2023, but a stabilizing September proved to be the stroke of luck we needed to salvage our early varietals. Many consecutive warm, dry days and subsequent cool nights allowed for an extended ripening window and a rare October harvest for St. David’s Bench Pinot Noir.
The 2023 Pinot would be the first fruit to benefit from the use of a new destemmer, nicknamed “Red October”, which was better equipped to gently remove whole, intact berries from the stems than our less discretionary older model. Sourcing the right destemmer for a winery our size sent me on a journey to many different wine regions, until I happened upon a promising classified ad featuring this specific unit. It was located in Oregon, and upon inquiry the winemaker revealed that she was sad to part with it, but their winery had outgrown its capabilities.
“What it lacks in speed, it makes up for in delicacy,” she said. “Well, hell,” I replied, “that may as well be the Five Rows motto – sold!” And with that, the hunt for Red October was finally over.
My longtime dream of more whole berries in my fermentations was now a reality. The benefits of extracting intact berries versus a more crushed-up maceration are numerous; and it’s one of the reasons that some winemakers even opt for 100% whole cluster fermentations with stems included. I’ve experimented with various levels of whole cluster inclusion in our Pinot fermentations over the years, but feel that anything over 10% isn’t really beneficial. The condition and maturity of the stems is a factor here, but my ideal bin would be 10% whole clusters and the rest destemmed.
Whole berries obviously lead to more intracellular fermentation, which promotes lower temperatures and delayed sugar release. This encourages a slightly stressed fermentation (not a bad thing) and enhanced texture through increased glycerol production. The result can be a partial carbonic maceration which helps preserve the quality of the fruit, delicacy of texture and capacity to age. Whole berry fermentations have also been shown to build savoury characters and complexity, and in some “big” Pinot Noir appellations it can add structure without adding coarseness or bitterness.
It took me a while to dial in the conveyer and roller speeds, but before long the beautiful berries were gently rolling down the chutes into the bins. The fermentations started spontaneously after a five day cold soak, and were noticeably cooler and slower in progression, just as I had hoped. In total, the fruit remained on the skins for seventeen days before gentle pressing, settling and then racking to barrels (17% new oak).
The 2023 Pinot Noir is a product of diligent vineyard strategy, favourable September weather and the willingness to experiment with something new. Aromatically, we are talking Bing cherry, cranberry and red licorice with very subtle mushroom notes almost hidden amongst the vibrant fruit. The refined tannins and smooth overall texture are what separates this wine from previous vintages at the same stage of evolution. Enjoy this wine now or stash it away for the next couple of Pinot years.
2025 Sauvignon Blanc
2025 Sauvignon Blanc
Inauspicious is the word that comes to mind when I recall the start to the 2025 vintage. Conditions were wet and cool that Spring, belying the remainder of the growing season we were about to experience. There would be heat, drought stress and agonizing decisions ahead.
The summer of 2025 proved to be a very dry one in St. David’s, with many potential rain events just passing by to the north or south of our farm. Our position relative to the Niagara Escarpment plays a major role in the precipitation patterns we experience, and that summer it seemed to act as a point of divergence for fronts approaching from the west. There comes a point in drier years (2007, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2020) where vineyard mangers must make the call if and when to irrigate. Is the dry stretch just a blip? Can you afford to let vines stress a little? Will too much water negatively effect the wine? Questions abound.
The decision to irrigate is not one that is made lightly, lest anyone think that it just involves turning on a tap whenever you desire. On our farm it’s a multi-step process that has evolved to feel like a plan of last resort. Likely, the pump and pipes haven’t been used for a few years, so the first step is locating the equipment and extricating it from the overgrowth. When the pump inevitably won’t start, new parts are ordered and you re-consult the Weather Network in an effort to will some rain your way.
Once you are finally set to irrigate, the water level in the creek must be checked and it can only be done on your legally designated day of the week to pull water from the source. With all systems go you fire up the pump and, by the grace of god, it turns over! Joy is short lived, however, as multiple leaks sequentially spring from the long line of pipes evoking the fountains of Bellagio. Maybe it will rain tomorrow, after all.
On August 19th, 2025, on the precipice of vine shutdown, we got the rain we needed. Most importantly, it bought us enough time to fix the leaks and irrigate for the rest of the season. The older Sauvignon Blanc vines within the block were still in decent shape, but the replants and younger vines were in dire need of a drink. From that point on, we were careful not to water to the point of excess, so as to avoid tight clusters, disease pressure and dilution.
The 2025 Sauvignon Blanc was harvested on September 15th at 21.2 degrees Brix, TA 7.20 g/L and pH 3.27. Pressed juice was then cool-fermented over 40 days in a combination of neutral oak (88%) and steel tank (12%). Over time there arose a tantalizing tropical and citrus medley – you pick the fruit and it’s probably in there. It comes across luscious and round on the palate, with a hint of ripe fruit sweetness.
In the end, we probably waited a little too long to irrigate our suffering younger vines in 2025, but the intensity this of wine speaks to the upside of risking minor vine stress in mature, deep-rooted vines to pursue peak flavour concentration.
2023 Syrah
2023 Syrah
Syrah is an enigma to me. If you were to take a poll of wine lovers, it would be far from the most popular Ontario grown Vinifera varietal. Yet mysteriously, year after year, it proves to be a brisk online seller for us and is usually among the first of our wines to sell out. Something is afoot here and I think I’ve got an idea.
I am convinced that there is an underground secret society of Syrah lovers in our midst. I picture them masquerading around wine circles as Gamay enthusiasts to throw people off their scent, but a faint trail of peppery musk betrays this facade. Hiding in plain sight, brilliant! There is an assumed risk in just mentioning this theory, but I feel it’s my duty to shed light on this clandestine group and perhaps make an effort to join their ranks, that is providing they’ll have me. On that note, if I were to disappear sometime this Spring, don’t come looking for me.**
Growing Syrah in a cool climate is an epic, never-ending roller coaster ride filled with twists and turns, peaks and valleys, gradual climbs and steep falls. It’s unpredictable, if anything, and makes you question the limits of your courage. For the record, roller coasters make me sick.
With the lowly yields of the previous vintage fresh in our minds, we crossed our fingers as the first Syrah buds of 2023 sprung to life. The countdown was on to see whether the new trunks we painstakingly established the previous summer were up to the task of supporting vegetative growth.
Early season conditions were ideal and our focus soon shifted to balancing the number of primary shoots on each new trunk. It can be difficult to summon the aggressiveness required when thinning these vigorous canes, especially the year after a light crop, but the alternative is a crowded and unruly canopy, a serious Syrah faux pas.
The rebound season stretched on through the summer months, with more than adequate precipitation to support the now thriving vines. It became apparent that we were dealing with a bumper crop of large-berried clusters, so extra attention was paid to achieving proper fruit exposure and cluster spacing to combat fungal growth. Thankfully, a relatively dry and cool September resulted in clean fruit – for once!
We finally hand-harvested our Syrah on October 27th, a full sixteen days later than the previous vintage. The fruit was destemmed whole berry into two bins. Following a three day cold soak, the bins began to ferment and we were off to the races. The whole berries helped moderate the temperature and extend the fermentation to seven days, with total skin contact time of twelve days. Both bins were gently pressed and then racked to French oak barrels (20% new) for maturation over the next two years.
The 2023 Syrah is aromatically pure, with components of ripe cherry, blackberry, mocha, vanilla and pepper. The palate showcases good balance and very supple tannins, perhaps due to the glycerolic texture derived from the whole berry fermentation. This wine trends toward “drink now” for me, but I will be laying some cases down to explore how it ages over the next decade.
**It occurs to me now that if you are reading these notes you probably are a member of this Syrah Secret Society…my apologies, enjoy your Gamay!
2023 Cabernet Sauvignon
2023 Cabernet Sauvignon
The last few days of a vintage are an interesting time. Every varietal has been harvested, save one, and many new wines are in various stages of evolution. Vineyard and winery crews are running on fumes by this point, but buoyed by the thoughts of the last bins of the season soon being delivered to their crush pads. There is cautious optimism for those early season varietals that have already been vinified and put to bed, and hope that the stately Cabernet Sauvignon still hanging in the field will be worth the wait.
The vintage of 2023 marked the beginning of a notable three year run for both quality and yield in late-ripening Niagara reds. A perfect stretch of September weather helped stifle the mounting disease pressure caused by a humid and wetter than normal summer. It also coincided with the debut of a new Five Rows destemmer, better capable of extracting intact, whole berries from the stems. What could go wrong?
Our ripe and clean Cabernet Sauvignon were hand-harvested on November 3rd and destemmed whole berry into fermenting bins. Picture a one tonne bin filled with solid, thick-skinned berries and not a stem in sight – just beautiful. Now try to picture aggressively plunging a punchdown tool into that bin to break through the surface…obviously not going to happen!
The first few “punchdowns” involved hip waders and some tense moments standing atop a solid cap of Cabernet Sauvignon berries, wondering if I had made a huge mistake by not partially crushing these berries to release some juice to get the fermentation started. Thankfully, the problem took care of itself after a few days when the heat and CO2 of spontaneous fermentation began to soften the cap naturally, releasing a little more juice into the solution with each successive punchdown. This whole process has a way of humbling you at times with reminders of its ultimate inevitability.
Following a post-fermentation extended maceration, the wine was pressed gently in a basket press, and on first taste it was clear that the inclusion of whole berries had produced the desired effect on the tannins. This would become even more pronounced over the next two years in barrel.
The end result is a 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon that is well-structured with palate-pleasing tannins and a maturity beyond its years. Aromas include wild blackberry, dark cherry, blackcurrant jam, vanilla and faint black olive. It is an approachable wine that should age gracefully thanks to the requisite amount of balancing acidity. Cellaring recommendation 2027-2035.
2025 Pinot Gris
2025 Pinot Gris
It came to me one morning, as I was lingering a little longer than necessary in a row of Pinot Gris, that I might be afflicted with the curse of treating all varietals like they are Pinot Noir. Surely, spending my formative years trying to tame five youthful rows of Pinot Noir alongside my Mom had something to do with this. Although this behaviour may be appropriate in tight-clustered relatives like Pinot Gris, treating everything like Pinot Noir is not something that I would advise to those wishing to maintain their sanity.
Obsessive attention to details like crop load, fruit exposure, cluster spacing and inner-cluster debris have become normal protocol in our Pinot Gris over the years. However, I don’t think I could justify the time spent in that vineyard if I was not making my own wine from the fruit. A more pragmatic grape grower would rightfully scoff at the levels I go to to keep my Pinot Gris clean, but the winemaker in me just can’t help but linger until I’m sure that every rotten berry or potential Botrytis hot spot has been ameliorated. Maybe the curse lies in being a vineyard-tending winemaker.
Anecdotally, I have noticed more fruit consistency and less disease incidence in our Pinot Gris over the last half decade, much of which can be explained by three consecutive stellar vintages in Niagara. In fact, even when we’ve experienced Botrytis issues in the neighbouring Sauvignon Blanc, the Pinot Gris have been spared. To that end, I can confirm that it does not take much evidence to convince a winemaker that a little extra time spent in a vineyard is justifiable if the end results are clean fruit and varietally pure wine.
We harvested our pampered Pinot Gris on September 15th at 22.2 degrees Brix, TA 6.40 g/L and pH 3.36. The pressed juice was cool fermented in a combination of neutral oak (66%) and steel tank (34%). The marathon fermentation lasted for 38 days until the wine finally reached a balance point to my palate at a specific gravity of 0.997. Following bentonite fining for protein stabilization, the wine was allowed to age in barrel and tank for another three months.
The 2025 Pinot Gris features an alluring golden-pink colour developed through a brief period of skin contact post harvest. The vintage seems to have coaxed out rare aromatic complexity, highlighted by notes of honey, pear, apricot and faint spice. Upon tasting, the wine shows a rich, velvety texture derived from the barrel fermented portion and resolves into a nicely balanced finish.
2025 Riesling
2025 “Jean’s Block” Riesling
“Talk of mysteries! — Think of our life in nature, — daily to be shown matter, to come in contact with it, — rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks! The solid earth! The actual world! The common sense! Contact! Contact! Who are we? Where are we?” Henry David Thoreau
Most days, it’s pretty easy for me to get lost in a vineyard job. I treasure those tranquil times, as they serve to refresh my self-worth and give me an authentic confidence when speaking to visitors and friends about the wines that I love to make. Interestingly, some places on the farm are more conducive to deep thought and reflection, and my time spent in Jean’s Block has proven to be especially so.
Working alone in a vineyard, with boots touching the soil, provokes intense feelings of connection to the natural world and humility about our place within it. Vineyard jobs require constant attention to detail, but ultimately become innate as you progress from vine to vine and row to row. The true “vinelightenment” occurs when your physical body is still doing the job at a high level of precision, but your mind is free to explore a deeper connection. For a fleeting moment, I am one with Riesling.
Thoughts turn to how the season will unfold and the stark reality of best laid plans. There will be Botrytis, oh yes, but now is not the time to let that seep into your consciousness. Out of nowhere, your physical body is suddenly aware of how hot it is and the task at hand becomes more like actual work. Thankfully, this is where a self-preserving satisfaction component usually kicks in and you begin to envision how the end product will be improved by the job you are currently doing – so much so that you can almost smell and taste it!
And so goes another quiet day in Jean’s Block.
I don’t know if I could have anticipated the resultant intensity of the 2025 Riesling during those quiet days, but I certainly had hopes. Dry vintages can be a tricky proposition for growing aromatic whites, with particular attention paid to preserving natural acidity and staving off stress-induced characters. If you can thread that needle, there is a chance for something concentrated and intense to result.
The 2025 Riesling is a showcase of just that, in the form of apple, pear, elderflower and citrus. This wine was left slightly off-dry, but possesses sneaky natural acidity to balance the residual sugar. I truly enjoy crafting the wines from this Clone 49 block of Riesling, as much for the therapeutic process as for the end result.
Letting the Vineyard be the Star
While cleaning out my desk recently, I opened up a day-timer from 2008 and was instantly transported back to a life I scarcely remember. It was a time when we were on the cusp of something special, but I didn’t know it yet. There were notes from introductory meetings with Insite Design, a honeymoon in Paris and Burgundy planned without a smartphone, a golf trip with my Dad to Williamsburg and some ideas for the name of a winery. “How many rows of Pinot did Mom and Dad first plant back then?”
Fittingly, thanks to those fruitful sessions with Insite, just about the only thing that hasn’t changed over the last 17 years is our wine label. To put things into context, you have to remember that blogs were cutting edge back then and my idea of “social media” was an email exchange with Peter Mansbridge about his enjoyment of our Pinot Gris. Ultimately, the exercise was a fun reminder about why we got into this in the first place along with the early challenges and uncertainty that we faced.
One odd note I came across was a page that simply had the words “letting the vineyard be the star” written on it. I don’t remember the context or what I intended to do with that thought, but perhaps it has been a silent mantra engrained within me throughout this whole journey. Maybe it was a humble reminder that it’s not meant to be about me, but a tribute to those who came before. More likely, I was attempting to manifest a situation where everything revolved around what happened in the vineyard – the blog stories, the wines, my daily farm work and meeting people for tastings in the barn. Come to think of it, maybe that part hasn’t changed much either.
In an era where the look at me culture fostered by many social media platforms becomes the new norm, it can be difficult to trust that the way you have always done things still resonates. Seeing that statement, on a page written in 2008, was just the perspective tonic I needed to keep letting it happen from the vineyard out.
2022 Pinot Noir
2022 Pinot Noir
I’m not sure how many people’s Mom’s taught them everything they know about growing Pinot Noir, but consider us a lucky few. Yes, one of the things that makes Five Rows unique is the passed down love of working in a vineyard. Nowhere is that more the case than in our old Pinot Noir block.
It is inspiring to read so many stories these days celebrating the critical role played by women in the development of our industry, and it makes me proud to know that my Mom has been doing her part for over 40 years. Early on, it didn’t take her long to realize that growing Pinot Noir would present a very different challenge to the hybrids and labruscas that she was accustomed to tending. Like many other vinifera converts at the time, my parents were forced to re-learn grape growing on the fly, her in the vines and he on the tractor. Thankfully, I got to observe them both as I grew in step with those first Pinot vines.
My sister and I were raised on the forefront of a changing industry. Everything that Ontario grape growers and wineries did in the 1980s was new and understandably questioned by the establishment. It is a much different experience for our kids 40 years later – the industry is established, respected and much larger. You might say they have it a little easier, but growing Pinot Noir is still as challenging as it ever has been and I can’t wait to pass that on…in a good way!
Although not as severe as seen in other varietals, the usually hardy old Pinot Noir vines were not spared the winterkill damage of 2022. This meant significantly lower yields and more attention paid to vine balance and nutrient status within the block throughout the vintage. Excellent summer growing conditions made for few issues in ripening that light crop, which was harvested on September 24th.
Normally, I would choose entire rows to harvest for our production, but the sporadic crop distribution necessitated a different approach. It was decided to use portions of many rows as opposed to whole rows, and for that reason the 2022 Five Rows Pinot is perhaps the most representative exploration of terroir over the entire Old Block we have made to date.
Tasting notes:
Good colour for Lowrey Vineyard Pinot Noir. Refreshingly intense, ripe red fruit component (wild strawberry, cherry). The subtle oak is mainly perceptible on the palate, showing harmonious integration. An underlying hint of terroir-defining truffle/mushroom supports the bright fruit. Pleasing tannins that do not overwhelm the palate, quite the opposite, inviting one to envision what the future might hold for this wine, this vineyard.
2024 Sauvignon Blanc
2024 Sauvignon Blanc
“The Infinite Variability of Terroir”
One day, while inspecting the hundreds of new replants in our Sauvignon Blanc vineyards, I was struck by the vast number of variables that are at play behind the creation of any wine. As I peeked into the grow tubes, one by one, to check on the status of these struggling little sticks in the ground, I couldn’t help but be awed by the evolving and tangled web of life that is a vineyard.
When you really think about all of these variables on a micro level (berry cells, leaf chlorophyll, root growth, soil micronutrients and the intensity of radiation on August 21st at 2pm – just to name a few) it can make your head spin. It’s a wonder that any two wines ever show any similarity whatsoever!
Enter the winemaker. They have the tools to mold a wine into a certain style through their choice of barrels, yeast, nutrients and malolactic bacteria. Alternatively, they may choose to let the anomalies of each vintage shine through by minimal intervention. This latter approach is my preference, adding even more layers to the seemingly infinite variability of terroir.
The vintage of 2024 may one day be celebrated as one for the ages. That is much easier to proclaim now, of course, than during the vintage itself. Contemplating all the things that have to go right for a successful harvest is far more enjoyable after the fact than during the ordeal. Unlike other standout vintages where the eventual outcome was more obvious early on, 2024 had its share of extreme precipitation events that left our fields flooded in a way we had never experienced before. The prevailing thought at the time was that the excess precipitation would have a negative effect on fruit quality. Much like 2023, however, the crop was saved by perfect ripening conditions in August and September.
I’m not sure if birds would be classified as part of the terroir, but they certainly played a part in thinning the Sauvignon Blanc crop this vintage, especially in the northernmost section of the block. This was yet another anomaly that we had never encountered with this varietal in that specific part of the vineyard. You may sense a theme here.
The fruit for this wine was harvested from both of our Sauvignon Blanc vineyards on September 11th, with ripening parameters of 20.8 ºBrix, TA 7.35 and pH 3.32. After pressing, the juice was fermented in a combination of mostly neutral French oak barrels (85%) and tank (15%). The fermentations were managed to be as slow and cool as possible for maximum aromatic and flavour potential. Along the way, the wine picked up pronounced citrus and herbaceous notes, subtle tropicality and hints of lemongrass.
The terroir is strong here, both in its familiar hallmarks and vintage specific nuances.
2022 Cabernet Sauvignon
2022 Cabernet Sauvignon
I operate under the assumption that everything I do in the vineyard will slightly improve the wine. There is a belief that I will make better, truer wines by being present in my vineyard every day. The moment I entertain doubt, I lose confidence and motivation. Sometimes growing Cabernet Sauvignon in a cool climate can foster those feelings of doubt, as no varietal that we grow is more dependent on the length of the growing season and warm fall conditions.
Perhaps that is why I have mixed feelings about naturally light crop vintages like 2022. On one hand, a lower yield is just what the doctor ordered for ripeness and tannic maturity in your fruit. On the other hand, it could be proof that we tend to overcrop our Cabernet Sauvignon in most other seasons, leading to unplanned late season crop adjustments. Either way, it always comes down to the amount of growing degree days experienced by that crop (heavy or light) in a given season and there is little you can do to influence that!
The 2022 vintage turned out to be a dream season for low-yielding Cabernet Sauvignon in Niagara. We ended up with some of the ripest Cab we’ve cultivated to date (24.4ºBrix) on one of our earliest harvest days ever (October 16th). Fruit for this wine was sourced from both of our clones, 169 and 191. Each block was hand-picked and gently destemmed into its own bin. The wine was allowed a four-day cold soak before indigenous yeast fermentations started naturally, then were managed with three daily punchdowns. The wine was dry after five more days with a peak fermentation temperature of 32ºC.
Given the ripeness of the fruit, I remained cognisant of the potential overextraction of tannins throughout the fermentation process. I made it a habit to taste each bin daily to evaluate the mouthfeel, noting if there was any significant change to the tannic profile. When all the elements felt balanced, we opted to lightly press both bins in our traditional small basket presses.
Four French oak barrels (25% new oak) housed the wine for two years and what evolved was a truly special wine. It is expressively aromatic, even in its youth, and shows equal parts depth and approachability on the palate.
There is no doubt about it, I grow Cabernet Sauvignon to make wines like this.