2023 Pinot Noir

Tuesday, May 12th, 2026

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

Tuesday, May 12th, 2026

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

Tuesday, May 12th, 2026

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

Tuesday, May 12th, 2026

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

Tuesday, May 12th, 2026

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

Tuesday, May 12th, 2026

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.

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…