2023 Sauvignon Blanc

Tuesday, May 07th, 2024

2023 Sauvignon Blanc

As the first buds of 2023 started to push from their winter cocoons, the countdown was on to see whether the fickle new trunks we painstakingly established the previous summer were up to the task of supporting vegetative growth.  It was a nervous, yet fascinating time to observe the delicate first spring growth of a Sauvignon Blanc grapevine.

We didn’t have to wait long.  The one thing about young trunks (young anything for that matter) is that they are vigorous and impatient.  Two years’ worth of underutilized nutrient supply awaited the voracious and deep roots of these vines.  Early season conditions were very conducive to growth, so much so that efforts were soon undertaken to balance 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 – no thanks!

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 super-clean fruit.  The deficit in precipitation seemed to dilute the water status in the berries to the point where the intensity of flavours was more noticeable in the week leading up to harvest.

We chose to harvest our bountiful crop of Sauvignon Blanc on September 25th, and ended up with about 2300L of juice after the press cycle.  After cold-settling the juice, it was racked into eight French oak barrels (80%) and one tank (20%).  The barrels were of varying ages (2-15 years) and mostly neutral in their tannic contribution.

The vessels were warmed to 20°C and then inoculated with X5 yeast.  Once fermentations were established, the barrels were cooled to 8°C for about two weeks, then allowed to warm again to finish.  I find that pushing the lower end temperature limits of the yeast tends to maximize the aromatic intensity.  One must be cautious, however, not to overly stress the yeast – it’s a fine line!

The finished wine represents an amalgam of all the terroir-derived elements that Sauvignon Blanc enthusiasts would come to expect.  It is less overtly opulent than the light-crop 2022 vintage, putting it more in line with a typical vintage like 2019 or 2021.  Aromatically, there is an intense intermingling of tropical and citrus characters, with some typical Sauv Blanc gooseberry present as well.  The TA for this wine is 7.9 g/L, which balances well with the 8 g/L of residual sugar and contributes to noticeable length on the palate.

This wine evokes a personal feeling of satisfaction and thankfulness, born out of the travails of re-establishing a beloved vineyard.  Perhaps that is why I enjoy it so much.  I hope this feeling of rejuvenation and joy is perceptible to all those that give it a try.

2023 Riesling

Tuesday, May 07th, 2024

 

2023 Riesling

Does Riesling have an image problem?

I’ve heard tale of debates on this controversial topic in recent years, and have been reticent to give my two cents, until now.  I’ve never been one to really care about my own image, but my wines – that’s a different story!

Like anything in life that is abundant, reliable, low maintenance and versatile, Riesling tends to get taken for granted.  Our region is not completely blameless in this oversight, as we’ve come to treat Riesling as a “plateau priced” varietal that is often overcropped and in surplus.

Riesling is a great blending varietal due to its intense aromatics and reliable balancing acidity.  In fact, it may be such a good blender that it has exacerbated the aforementioned issues.  It also tends to be a great value per price point single varietal wine, which can be a double-edged sword, making it relatively easy and inexpensive to find a decent bottle, yet hard to justify paying more to explore single vineyard terroir.

In our experience, Riesling tends to be the slowest seller of our whites each vintage, and I feel strongly that this does not reflect a quality disparity amongst the wines.  The other whites tend to be more niche and get more fanfare, but the Riesling is often my preference.

There is a hidden benefit to the slower Riesling sales, however, in that it’s usually available for tastings in our barn throughout the summer.   In the many tastings I’ve conducted over the years, I would say that Riesling is the wine that tends to get the most surprise reactions from our guests.  Expectations of something sweet and dull or dry and bracing are quickly cast aside.

Niagara Riesling has consistently proven to be a unique take on the varietal and should continue to be celebrated as such.  I encourage people to explore the many different clonal and terroir variations that we can offer throughout our region.  As a grape grower and winemaker, I will continue to treat Riesling with the same reverence and effort that I afford all other noble grape varietals.

2023 “Jean’s Block” Riesling

There is usually a lot of drama and bluster in my yearly recap of vinifying Riesling.  For once, I am extremely grateful to report, that was not the case.  We’re talking drama free, and borderline enjoyable!

In terms of fruit cleanliness, the Riesling we harvested in 2023 stands on its own amongst previous Jean’s Block vintages.  As much as I’d like to take credit for this result, it is 100% due to the lack of late season precipitation and humidity.  Okay, maybe 99%.

Harvest date was October 11, and the pressed juice was cool-fermented with W15 yeast in stainless steel tanks.  Fermentation was slow and steady over 26 days, then stopped at a specific gravity of 1.004 and 10.7% abv.  Total production was 100 cases.

I think the cleanliness of fruit is reflected in the purity of the aromatics.  There are distinct layers of apple, citrus and floral notes.  I always associate Riesling with Springtime in Niagara, as it abounds with freshness and hints of tree fruit blossoms.

2020 Pinot Noir

Monday, Dec 11th, 2023

It is perhaps unfair to compare and contrast the work that goes into growing Pinot Noir with that applied to other varietals, but that is exactly what I intend to do here.

The only time I don’t wake up thinking about Pinot Noir is the short window of time between bottling day (early April) and budbreak (late April) – a most joyous stretch that I cherish akin to The Masters each Spring.  The other 11 months and change can only be described as an all out battle of wills that would provide a fitting test for even the “Tiger Woods” of grape growers.  For the record, I’ve had my share of Greg Norman-esque collapses through the years.

In the Lowrey Vineyard, the cycle begins in December with the first pruning cuts of the season.  Traditionally, we opt to prune our old Pinot block first each winter, as the vines usually winterize and harden off earlier than our other varietals.  Excess wood is trimmed away from the vine until we are left with four canes to choose from, each housing 8-10 buds.  Two of those four canes will be tied down and two left as insurance, to be removed after a successful budbreak in Spring.

Budbreak is always a nervous time, especially in early awakening varietals like Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris.  Minor frost damage is usually inevitable, so it becomes more about avoiding the killer frost.  Windmills can be handy in this pursuit, but they are not the magic shield that they are sometimes made out to be.

Once the frost worries subside, the real fun begins.  I would estimate that I average at least a couple of hours each day through the growing season tending to Pinot Noir.  It is at this point where every vine becomes a puzzle that needs to be solved, but with a solution that is constantly evolving based on the conditions.  Pinot Noir vines grow very vigorously, and it is easy to get behind in taming the growth should you get complacent.  Recent research has shed light on the benefits of early season basal leaf removal in berry set of Pinot Noir, so that is now a focal point along with regular thinning practices.  The ultimate goal is establishing proper shoot spacing, cluster load and berry set prior to bloom phase.

As the canopy takes shape, the bloom through veraison stage shifts focus to disease prevention and maintenance.  Depending on the day, I might be tinkering with shoot positioning, removing leaves, cluster thinning or hedging.  Although all varietals have need of these jobs in varying degrees, no varietal demands the attention to detail required in Pinot Noir.  It is reflected in the make or break nature of Pinot, which is certainly not for the faint of heart.  I may have alluded to this once or twice over the years.

The “easy” stage of Pinot growing ends abruptly, as the berries fully colour up and start to accumulate enough sugar to entice a shocking number of pests to have a taste.  It is a time when the tightness of the cluster, and any trapped debris within, can pose a potential threat of Botrytis.  It is important to be especially vigilant with both your eyes and nose when walking through the vineyard on the hunt for any signs of rot.  If found, the offending clusters are removed promptly to prevent disease spread via fruit flies.  This constant daily search for rot can take a mental toll, so I make sure to break up my days by working in easier varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon.

The final gauntlet of Pinot Noir growing revolves around when to harvest the crop.  I’ve written about this agonizing decision many times in the past, but there are so many variables at play it doesn’t hurt to review.  Every vintage presents a new set of parameters that you must adapt to:  cluster tightness, skin thickness, crop load, weather conditions, disease pressure, seed ripeness, flavour development, berry composition (sugars and acids) and stem ripeness (should you choose to include whole clusters in your fermentations).

Once a picking date is settled upon, or more likely forces itself upon you, we now enter the thorough Pinot Noir sorting process.  Ours is three stage: a walkthrough visual inspection of every cluster in the rows we choose to harvest, a second closer inspection of each cluster by the hand-picking crew and, finally, a third rotten berry inspection en route to the destemmer.  Only then can I feel confident that the fruit we’ve worked so hard to keep clean and ripen is fit to be vinified.

The 2020 vintage was characterized by an early budbreak and some long stretches of the hot and dry conditions that winemakers dream about.  There were the usual challenges (detailed above), but ultimately the fruit came in ripe and beautiful on September 18th (21.6 degrees Brix, 7.0 g/L TA).  Our fruit was harvested from rows 2-5 of our oldest vines and rows 8 and 15 from the slightly younger plantings.  Whole clusters were added to two separate bins (10%) and then filled with destemmed berries (90%).  The clean fruit was allowed to soak in the bins for seven days before natural fermentation began.

Fermentations were punched down by hand three times daily, reached a peak temperature of 30C, and were dry after seven days.  The new wines were pressed after a five-day post ferment maceration.  Five French oak barrels were filled (20% new oak) and allowed to undergo malolactic fermentation over the next couple of months. The wine spent 24 months in oak before bottling 122 cases on April 6th, 2023.

I am in love with this Pinot Noir right now, mainly due to its striking aromatics of ripe cherry, black currant jam and truffle/mushroom.  It is very tempting to advise enjoying it now, but I’m sure it will evolve and improve over the next few years.  If you like a Pinot that exhibits a bit of youthful tannin, then by all means give it a go!

2022 Riesling

Monday, Dec 11th, 2023

 

2022 “Jean’s Block” Riesling

There is just something all around comfortable about Riesling.  From its reliability in the vineyard to its versatility in the winery, I can’t help but get the warm and fuzzies when I think of this varietal.

Sure, there are the inevitable yearly Botrytis issues, but after facing those conditions so often it starts to become part of the routine and a subtle component of the wine.

The 2022 vintage marked the earliest harvest date we’ve ever had for this varietal – September 16th.  This was mainly due to the light crop in Jean’s Block, approximately 25% of our normal yield.  It is generally preferable for Riesling vines to carry a slightly higher crop load than our other aromatic white varietals, in an effort to maintain acidity through ripening.  Therein lied the challenge in 2022, and we opted to harvest earlier than normal to preserve the delicate flavours and acidity (18.0 degrees Brix, 10.4 g/L TA).

I employed the usual regimen of two separate fermentation tanks, each inoculated with a different yeast strain (W15 and X5).  I love the dynamic complexity that using these two yeasts provides.  The X5 tank shows beautiful, intense tropical and floral aromas, while the W15 tends to have more of a traditional Riesling profile of green apple, pear and peach.  Together they are fermenting bliss!

Fermentations were carried out cool (10C) for about a month until the wines tasted balanced at a specific gravity of 1.005.  The tanks were then blended and allowed to bulk age until bottling on April 6th 2023.  Total production was 126 cases and final alcohol was 10.5%.

The knockout aromatics of this Riesling are the real standout of this vintage.  I tend to lose myself a bit while nosing this wine before the crisp natural acidity snaps me back to.  This Riesling has become my go to wine for settling in to watch a Leafs playoff game after putting the kids to bed.  I can’t think of anything more comfortable than that…

2022 Sauvignon Blanc

Wednesday, May 03rd, 2023

 

2022 Five Rows Sauvignon Blanc

If I learned one thing from the light crop year of 2022, it was to appreciate what you have and never take a full crop for granted.

In the Southern Ontario climate, it seems like just enough time passes between severe winterkill events to lull you into the false sense that a vineyard is invulnerable, and vines producing fruit is a given.  Sometimes I even catch myself complaining about having to endure the laborious task of removing excess clusters – oh the humanity!

Suffice it to say, there was no such complaining in 2022.  A myriad of events led to a depressing amount of trunk damage and vine death heading into the growing season.  The main culprits, in my opinion, were the late season disease incidence in 2021 and the severely up and down nature of the subsequent winter.

What we were left with was 25% of a normal crop, much like the yields harvested in 2005 and 2015.  The challenges of a light crop are many, with the most obvious being no room for error!  Finding balance within a block, in terms of nutritional requirements, can prove very difficult when vines are bearing variable amounts of fruit or are dead altogether.  A lighter crop will tend to ripen quicker as well, often times leading to issues with diminished acidity and overripe characters.  Some vines even budded out promisingly, only to wither up later in the summer along with our false hopes.

With all that in mind, and given the popularity of Sauvignon Blanc within our winery portfolio, you can probably infer my feelings on the precious bit of fruit I was tending to in the summer of 2022.  Thankfully, the growing season was excellent overall and very conducive to our needs.  We were spared the usual blast of heat and humidity in the days leading to harvest, allowing the few hanging clusters a chance to ripen gracefully.

One odd phenomenon that came about was the noticeable increase in bird damage in our Sauvignon Blanc vineyard.  The birds normally ignore the Sauv Blanc in favour of the adjacent Pinot Noir block, but they sure seemed to take a liking to those tasty golden berries in 2022.  It marked the first time we had to apply netting as a means of protection.  Upon reflection, it is surely the scarcity of fruit throughout the region that altered their feeding habits.

Our entire crop, 2478 kg, was harvested on September 13th.  What it lacked in quantity, it certainly made up for in quality, as the fruit came in at 19.0 degrees Brix and 8.25 g/L TA.

84% of the juice was fermented in French oak (mainly neutral) and 16% in tank using Zymaflore X5 yeast.  All vessels were fermented cool (9C)  and stopped at an average specific gravity of 0.998, just slightly off dry.  The finished wines were aged for another six months before blending.  177 cases were bottled on April 6th, 2023.

A noticeably riper and rounder version than previous vintages, there is also a crisp core to this wine that I find irresistible.  Aromas include peach, lychee and pineapple with flavours of peach candy most prominent at this stage of its evolution.  To that end, I am far more bullish on the notion of aging Sauv Blanc these days.  We recently cracked a 2013 SB that blew me away, shattering my notion that aromatic Sauv Blanc is best enjoyed within a year or two of release.  The fact that this wine could transform in such an interesting way after ten years in bottle, whilst maintaining its hallmark tropical fruit aromatics, was truly eye-opening.  Who knew?

A Walk With Thomas

Tuesday, May 10th, 2022

The 2019 Five Rows Pinot Noir is still in its infancy, but it has the potential to become one of the most exciting expressions of our terroir that we’ve released to date.  The journey to attaining this precocious potential was harrowing at times, but ultimately very rewarding.

Every year, there comes a time when I am at my wits’ end with Pinot Noir.  To those around me it’s a predictable and annoying phase that I’m convinced they refer to as “his rotten Pinot days”, behind my back.

It usually falls somewhere near the end of veraison, at the first sign of a rotting cluster.  Inevitably, I manage to convince myself that all the work leading up to that exact moment had been in vain, and continuing the efforts would surely be a waste of time.  The daunting nature of the situation lies in the amount of time still required to properly ripen the fruit before harvest.  Successfully navigating those remaining weeks is always challenging – even in the years when the weather does co-operate!

The reliable voice of reason is always my father.  His steadying emotional keel is usually enough to steer me back to the grind of thinning out undesirable clusters from the vineyard.  This time, however, when he innocently reminds me not to worry, that this happens every year – he is met with a snappy retort of, “exactly why, then, do we still do this?”

In 2019, I had reached that boiling point during the second week of September after four straight days of rain.  The Pinot were starting to go downhill, but not quite ripe enough to consider harvesting.  Little did I know that my rejuvenation would come in the form of a tall Pinot soothsayer who had stopped by for our annual tasting walk through the Old Block.

My relationship with Thomas Bachelder goes back to when he was starting out with Le Clos Jordanne and I was finishing my Master’s Degree in Viticulture at Brock University.  From the first time we met, I was struck by his knowledge of all things Pinot and how much he already knew about my family vineyard.  Our shared passion for Pinot has been a connection ever since, eventually leading to Thomas making his own wine from our vineyard starting in 2011.

There are many benefits to having Thomas make wine from your grapes, but I treasure our pre-harvest walk and chats the most.  In September of 2019, it may have indeed saved the vintage – or at least restored my sanity.  He arrives in a whirlwind of phone calls and consulting-related tasks (he somehow navigates vintages in multiple countries at once) and is usually out of the car and tasting berries before I am able to catch up with him.

I eventually get swept into his gravitational pull and he manages to reinvigorate, educate and praise me all in one tasting swoop of a few rows.  We compare notes on the current growing season, previous vintages, Pinot Noir clones, Karl Kaiser, harvest logistics, the effect of rain on Pinot, expressing terroir vs chasing overripe characters, the potential evils of chaptalization, berry skin thickness and, finally, how I should stop referring to our 2007 planting as the “Young Block”.  This all takes place in about 15 minutes – the full Thomas experience.

Ultimately, it reminds me not to look at things under a pessimistic microscope, but rather to embrace the macro, bigger picture.  He looks at the entire block in relation to its terroir expression, while I tend to focus on the effect of a few teetering, less than perfect clusters that will probably get sorted out anyways.

I’m not sure that Thomas has any “rotten Pinot days”, but he certainly helped me escape mine on that September day in 2019.

The fruit for this wine was harvested on October 1st, and sourced predominantly (90%) from our original five rows.  It was a pleasure to watch this wine evolve over its long 24 months in barrel;  from its fruity and tight origins through opening up to become an intriguing combination of red fruit (cherry, cranberry), floral nuances and noticeable, terroir-driven minerality.

In its current state, this Pinot starts smooth on the palate with late grip and a lingering finish.  Flavours include strawberry, raspberry, mocha and vanilla.  It is always difficult for me to advise not drinking a wine now, but I feel this one could be particularly ageworthy – perhaps to 2030 and beyond.

$60/bottle

 

2019 Syrah

Tuesday, May 10th, 2022

 

2019 Five Rows Syrah

One of the true joys of being both a farmer and a winemaker, is that one transitional day when the two jobs collide.  Tasting the fruit and making the decision when to harvest can simultaneously prove to be both nerve-racking and a relief.  The farmer mindset is nearly always “get them off ASAP”, while the winemaker is more obliged to “let them hang”.

I get to wear both hats at Five Rows, so vetoing the decision either way tends to be a little less contentious.  It does not, however, preclude me from massive bouts of second guessing and remorse.  To that end, there are a couple of coping methods I’ve employed in recent years to aid in arriving at harvest timing decisions a little more confidently.

The first is to seek the advice of as many of my farmer and winemaker colleagues as possible.  How are things looking to them?  Have they harvested any of that particular varietal yet?  Do the crop level or conditions in this vintage remind them of any others?  If so, how did the wines turn out?  What are some techniques for dealing with fruit harvested a little early or hung a little too late?

The second method is splitting picking dates – i.e., harvesting a portion of the crop early and hanging the rest until after the troubling weather forecast.  My tendency has been to err on the side of good fruit condition over the years, but I’ve become a little more willing to roll the dice with split picks in the last few vintages.  This could involve flagging individual vines or entire rows depending on the varietal and block.  Perhaps the most interesting case study in this respect was the 2019 Syrah.

We grow two different Syrah clones on our farm (7 and 100), each inhabiting a unique plot of soil.  The Clone 7 is planted a little further north, in heavier clay, while the more vigorous Clone 100 vines can be seen lining the driveway in to our barn.  The decision to split the picking dates in late October 2019 was based on the rapid onset of Botrytis and looming rain.

The fruit for the first bin was harvested from a combination of the cleanest rows in both blocks.  After some rain and a week of drying out and bonus ripening time, the second “later harvest” bin was filled predominantly with fruit from Clone 7, which tends to stave off Botrytis a little longer than Clone 100 on our site, due to slightly less vigour and increased distance from the headlands.

The early bin (cleaner, higher TA) was given a little longer cold-soak and allowed to start fermenting wild, while the later picked bin (riper, softer skins) was inoculated with RX60 yeast after a four day soak.  The bins were pressed to separate barrels (100% French, 20% new oak) after 15 total days on the skins.

There were some jitters about the split pick decision early on, as the higher acidity in the “early pick” barrels (pre-malolactic fermentation, mind you) was evident, but it was so clean and varietally pure (red fruit, spice, pepper) that I held out hope.

When it came time to blend, the two picks came together harmoniously, complementing one another and zigging where the other zagged.  It proved to me that there is more than one way to make a complex wine.

Aromas include blackberry, cherry and pepper.  This drinkable Syrah comes across smooth and ripe on the palate with flavours of dark chocolate and sweet peppercorn.  It will continue to soften and open up in bottle – best enjoyed 2023 to 2028.

$60/bottle

 

 

2019 Cabernet Sauvignon

Tuesday, May 10th, 2022

 

2019 Five Rows Cabernet Sauvignon

It takes guts to grow a late-ripening varietal like Cabernet Sauvignon in a place like Canada.

At least that’s what I tell myself every year around the first week of September, in an internal pep talk of sorts, when there are still a few green berries in my Cabernet clusters and every other varietal is fully through veraison.

A real-world analogy to this situation would be being confident in your seemingly independent 4-year-old’s maturity level, until one day they come home from school with a craft-scissor hairstyle and you realize that they weren’t quite as mature as you gave yourself credit for.  There is a gut-wrenching moment of reckoning, followed by the realization that there is a lot more work to do than you initially thought.  The irony here, of course, is that both situations require a lot more cutting to remedy the problem.

When I look back at my notes for the 2019 vintage, the first thing I have written is “very wet year – 50% meant 100% PoP”.  There aren’t many other entries in those notes that are fit for print, so let’s focus on the positives!

Some of my favourite Cabernet Sauvignon wines, over the years, have come from “cooler” vintages.  Providing that the vines were properly thinned and allowed to hang to the bitter end of the season, they show remarkable ability to ripen fruit.  It is in those cooler vintages where the St. David’s Bench really demonstrates its versatility in regard to Terroir.  The SDB can give you the heavy hitter Cabs of 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2016; while managing to offer a somewhat more elegant version in years like 2019.

Call me a sucker for the underdog, but I tend to gravitate to some elements of the cooler vintage Cabs – especially when aged to perfection.  The combination of slightly higher acidity and brighter red fruit components is right up my alley.

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon was hand-harvested on November 5th, with 48 picking boxes sourced from our Clone 169 Block and 110 boxes from our Old Block (mixed clones).  The fruit was allowed to cold-soak for five days before warming for fermentation.  The bins were dry within five days and achieved peak fermentation temperature of 32C.  Four French Oak barrels (one new) were filled after pressing and the wine was allowed to undergo malolactic fermentation in barrel.  After spending 24 months in oak and 6 months bulk aging in tank, 108 cases were bottled on April 25th, 2022.

Far from reaching its peak, this young wine is loaded with aromas of red licorice, wild blueberry and cassis.  There is a familiar, oak-related spice which I usually associate with Radoux medium toast barrels, that is carried harmoniously through the aromatics to the palate.  This wine has the potential to age well for 7-10 years (2029-2032).

$60/bottle

2021 Sauvignon Blanc

Tuesday, May 10th, 2022

2021 Five Rows Sauvignon Blanc

Time flies when you’re having fun.

It’s difficult for me to fathom that I’ve been making wine from Sauvignon Blanc grapes for 15 years.  Never once in my formative years on the farm had I ever thought, “Sauvignon Blanc, that’s the ticket!”

I give all the credit to the brain trust at Creekside Estate Winery, circa 1998.  Whether it was Peter, Marcus, Rob or Craig (or likely a combo of the four) who convinced my parents to plant this notoriously winter sensitive and vigorously growing varietal, I am the ultimate beneficiary.

It has been a pleasure to see those vines flourish and mature over the years, despite the odd re-trunking winter disaster (2004, 2014).  Tending to two distinct blocks of Sauvignon Blanc (heavy clay vs. sand/loam/clay) has illustrated to me just how sensitive these vines can be to specific vineyard conditions.  As the vines have aged, I’ve noticed that they tend to handle extreme stress situations better than they used to.  The varied nutritional and canopy management needs of the two blocks took a while to ascertain, but I feel like we’ve gotten enough reps now to be confident in our practices.

Consequently, making the wine from this fruit is no longer as stressful as it used to be.  The consistency of the vineyard has a lot to do with that.  I have developed trust that my fermentations will produce those familiar aromatics that fill the barn with tropical delights, and that time spent in my treasured French oak barrels will enhance the structure and flavour profile.

The real decision is when to integrate new barrels into the portfolio.  I’ve always opted to ferment and age about 80% of our Sauv Blanc in very neutral, 10-12-year-old barrels.  Eventually those barrels need to be replaced, so I try to do so with something gentle that will complement the overall blend.  In 2021, that newbie was a DAMY barrel with a special “Light-Long ++ Toast” that aims to “soften the initial presence of the oak and elevate the integration and harmony between the fruit, oak and toast.”  Coopers have a way of making these things sound romantic that I will always be a sucker for.

The 2021 Sauvignon Blanc was harvested on September 13th.  The fruit was pressed and racked to nine barrels and one tank.  Fermentations were carried out with X5 yeast at about 8-9 degrees C.  After 30 days, the vessels had reached my desired specific gravity level of 0.998.  The barrel potion went through partial malolactic fermentation prior to bentonite fining and filtration.  248 cases were bottled on April 25th, 2022.

Collectors of Five Rows SB will likely note that this vintage falls somewhere between 2019 and 2020, stylistically speaking.  In a way, you get the best of both worlds – the tropical ripeness of 2020 and the lively vein of natural acidity found in the 2019.  Aromas and flavours include lemon, lime, gooseberry, melon and vanilla.

$45/bottle

2021 Pinot Gris

Tuesday, May 10th, 2022

2021 Pinot Gris

The 2021 Vintage was…well…hard to describe.  I will do my best to shed some light on it from the unique perspective of my Pinot Gris.  The following is their firsthand account, and yes, grapes can talk if you are willing to listen.

Coming off a growing season like 2020, that even the crotchetiest of farmers and winemakers would agree was a spectacular one off, we were surely bound for a letdown in 2021…or were we?

The spring and summer of 2021 was splendid, as our buds came out early and thrived in the warm and dry conditions.  The crop did appear to be a little heavy, but nothing that we couldn’t handle ripening given the “2020” rose-coloured glasses of recent memory.

At first, we welcomed the abundance of precipitation in July, but suddenly that little bit of extra fruit became a quickly swelling burden that needed to be addressed with substantial cluster thinning.  Veraison came early, near the end of July, when the first signs of what would come to haunt us later in the vintage, rode in on the choking humidity.

August was a hazy memory of 30+ degree heat and welcome sun, with a brief respite from the rain and humidity.  All ripening parameters were progressing nicely as the calendar flipped to September.  Idyllic warm days and cool nights lulled us into a false sense of security.

Scribbled in the caring vineyard manager’s notes for September 8th: “an obscene amount of rain overnight and through the next day, approx. 100 mm!”

Cue visions of exploding Pinot berries set to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

Miraculously, however, our berries did not explode.  Within a week they had shed the excess water weight and were ready to harvest on September 13th.  No one is quite sure just how this unprecedented rain event didn’t have more effect on the fruit condition, but there is some thought that much of the water ran off before absorption, and that perhaps it came at a time when things had started to shut down from the extreme heat.  Whatever the case, we were extremely lucky to end up with fruit rivalling that harvested in 2020.  Enjoy!

Winemaker’s Description

There is something uniquely tropical about this Pinot Gris compared to previous vintages.  I get notes of baked banana, sweet coconut and lemon drop candy.  It was left ever so slightly off-dry and has the familiar Pinot Gris weight and texture that I’ve grown to love.

One behind the curtain note is that this wine was the showstopper on filtration day.  My Dad helps me with filtration every year, and it is often his first exposure to the wines.  I try not to get overly emotional about his reactions, but I must confess to an inkling of pride that day when he complemented me on this Pinot Gris.

$40/bottle