Our weekend retail hours have proved to be an extremely positive experience.  We’ve been able to forge some great relationships over the last couple of months that I’m sure will last for years to come.  It’s so exciting to hear that people have enjoyed their visit to Five Rows.  Tour Director and Sommelier Andrew Brooks (Crush on Niagara Wine Tours) recently had this to say in his latest web update:

“Wes Lowrey is another newcomer to release micro amounts of crafted wine. Wines are sold out of the barn on the charming grow site at the base of the St. David’s Bench (off York Road in Niagara on the Lake). Wes has a contagious enthusiasm that makes you want to sell your house, quit your job and plant a vineyard!”

One quick note:  Our store will be closed on Sunday, July 19th for a previous family commitment.  I do encourage you to come visit us any weekday,  just give a quick call ahead to set up a time.

Now that pruning is in full swing and somewhat under control, I finally have some time to devote to tying up a few loose ends in the winery.  One of the challenges of sustaining a vineyard and winery operation of this size (ie. no other employees) is deciding which “hat” to wear on a daily basis.  Luckily, my cellar work is fairly minimal at this time of year, with a main focus on protein and cold stabilization in the 2008 whites.  I like to use bentonite to obtain protein stability, at a minimal rate, so as not to upset the delicate nature of these aromatic wines.  Fining with too much bento can actually have the negative effect of binding and stripping flavour compounds as well as unwanted proteins.

Another important consideration at this time of year is to assess the entire inventory in an attempt to come up with a bottling and release plan for the coming season.  Needless to say, this is a daunting task!  At the completion of this all-encompassing tasting session, a couple of things became abundantly clear.   The first being that the 2008 vintage is a lot more promising than many people touted at the outset,  and the second is that our 2007 reds are not quite ready to unleash on the public.  These wines are so youthful and intense that further time in barrel is a must in my opinion.  From a winery sales perspective this creates a bit of a conundrum.  Initially, my intention was to bottle these wines sometime early next summer and have them ready for the fall of 2009, but now I’m leaning towards pushing those dates back.  I truly feel that it would be a disservice to these wines to release them prematurely, just to meet budgetary demands.

I’m of the opinion that for Niagara to make the next step on the world stage, we have to make a concerted effort to demonstrate the ageability of our premium wines.  The temptation and current trend is to release wines too early, mainly out of cash flow necessity.  It is my hope that doing things on a smaller scale will afford us the opportunity to wait for the right time to release, without too much disruption in our business plan.  That is the precise reason we decided to make small lots of Cabernet Sauvignon in 2004 and 2005 – to buy time for this kind of scenario.

The good news is that the 2007’s have a chance to be something very special, and lets hope there are enough of them around at the peak of their existence to prove Niagara can age some great wines.

The labels are in!  After signing a final draft approval and some weeks of nervous anticipation, I felt like a kid at Christmas as I ripped open a box to reveal the culmination of nearly a year’s worth of brainstorming, planning and tough decisions.  I couldn’t be more proud of the works of art that I found in that box, and all the credit goes to the highly skilled and dedicated team at Insite Design.  They took an initial concept and managed to translate it into a beautiful and original label that I truly feel represents my family’s vision for the journey we are about to embark upon.  I always felt that the reality of starting this winery wouldn’t hit me until I saw that first bottle with a label on it, and I can now fully attest to that.

Through carefully writing in the required info and applying each label by hand, I feel a neat personal connection to every bottle.   Notwithstanding a few crookedly applied labels,  I’m thrilled about this prospect and intend to continue doing so as long as I can.

After “borrowing” my parents’ old kitchen table, we now have a space in our barn that is set aside for guest tastings, and I encourage anyone interested to contact us and set up a time.  It is my intention to personally conduct all tastings and give our guests a peek into future vintages as well.  All those who support us through wine purchases during this initial phase will be rewarded by always getting first choice when it comes to future limited releases.

Available wines include our 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon ($300 per 6-bottle case), 2007 Pinot Gris and 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (both $150 per 6-bottle case).  Descriptions of all these wines can be found in previous blog entries.

In the summer of 2001, standing alone amidst the oldest of our grapevines, feeling a deep connection to the land and to the past, I decided to start my own winery.   I was working that morning in our original five rows of Pinot Noir, when it hit me that this work would not be truly satisfying unless I could eventually make my own wine from this fruit.  It was my belief that we could craft a spectacular wine in very small quantities while still producing exceptional fruit for our winery clients.  This blog is the continuing story of building our winery from the vineyard up. Our thoughts, our goals, our decisions, the good days and bad days. Enjoy.

Located in Niagara’s St. David’s Bench sub-appellation, the 5th generation Lowrey property is a 35 acre vineyard that produces craft wine grape varietals for customer wineries in the area. Lowrey wine grapes have supplied some of Canada’s most prestigious wines by accomplished winemakers and garnered many awards.

The Lowrey family has farmed the area for 5 generations. Current generations, Howard Lowrey and his son Wes Lowrey tend to the vineyard with a focus on achieving the most characteristic and complex examples that their varietals can produce.

Howard and his wife Wilma run the accomplished wine grape growing operation of Lowrey Vineyards while Wes, a Winemaker and Viticulturalist by training, crafts small batches of wine that exemplify the terroir of the St. Davids Bench and the style of the Lowrey Farm.

The St. Davids Bench is one of the recently designated sub-appellations recognized by the VQA as a distinct growing region and terroir within the Niagara Peninsula’s famed wine region. See VQA Ontario.