In the past, Fielding Estate Winery was always one of my ‘go to’ wineries for Chardonnay Musque and unoaked Chardonnay. Unfortunately, they no longer produce Chardonnay Musque and produce one mass produced unoaked Chardonnay. However, I did not come away empty-handed as I did find a wine that was totally unexpected – Rock Pile Winemaker’s Red, which is a Meritage blend consisting of 40% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc and 20% Malbec. Being a long time fan of Bordeaux style wines, I could not resist picking up a couple of bottles for my cellar.

Anytime I am in Niagara I always stop by Chateau des Charmes with the hope of picking up a couple of bottles of their Bordeaux style red wine, Equuleus. Not seeing any on the wine shop shelves, I enquired as to whether they had any. Disappointingly, I was advised that the last edition of Equuleus was produced in 2016, appearing on the store shelf a few years ago, and soon sold out. I was reminded that Equuleus was only produced during years having a great harvest with optimum growing conditions and 2016 was the last of those.

On a more optimistic note, it is believed that the 2025 growing season produced grapes suitable to create the next edition of Equuleus, but it won’t be known for certain until the winemaker can sample the wine after some aging. If all goes to plan, the next edition of Equuleus will reach the shop shelf in 2028. Here’s hoping.

Sláinte mhaith