winery

Ontario’s Movers and Shakers for 2024

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As the end of the year rolls around I think back to the year that was and which wineries left me with an impressionable mark. This is not to suggest that these are the only great wineries in the province; they are merely the ones that caught my attention this year.   My list varies in length from year to year as I like to focus on achievements rather than listing a specific number of wineries.

Here is my list for 2024. The wineries are presented in alphabetical order.

Henry of Pelham Family Estate

I was surprised when I checked back to my past lists and found that Henry of Pelham has never appeared until now. It was the top Ontario winery this year at the National Wine Awards.

This six-generation family farm is situated in the Short Hills Bench sub-appellation of the Niagara Peninsula. In 2006, Henry of Pelham was the first vineyard to be certified as local and sustainable by Local Food Plus. They have followed Sustainable Winemaking Ontario’s world-leading standards in their farming practices since 2004. In 2017, they became one of only six Ontario wineries to be certified by the Wine Council of Ontario as following sustainable winemaking practices from vine to table.

This year’s award-winning wines included:

  • Henry of Pelham NV Cuvée Catharine Brut Rosé
  • Henry of Pelham 2022 Speck Family Reserve Chardonnay
  • Henry of Pelham 2023 Pinot Grigio
  • Henry of Pelham 2020 Speck Family Reserve Cabernet-Merlot
  • Henry of Pelham 2023 Speck Family Reserve Riesling

Peller Estates Niagara-on-the Lake

This is Peller Estates fourth appearance on my Movers and Shakers list in the past five years. This year Peller Estates placed eighth at the National Wine Awards.

The Peller Estates team has operated in Niagara-on-the-Lake, in the heart of the Niagara wine region, as a family-owned Canadian company for four generations. Their winemaker is Katie Dickieson, who has previous work experience in vineyards in New Zealand and France, as well as in Ontario and British Columbia.

Their 2024 award winning wines included:

  • Peller Estates 2020 Signature Series Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Peller Estates 2022 Signature Series Sauvignon Blanc
  • Peller Estates 2021 Signature Series Estate Red
  • Peller Estates 2023 Private Reserve Sauvignon Blanc
  • Peller Estates 2023 Signature Series Vidal Oak Aged Icewine

The Organized Crime Winery

Organized Crime previously appeared as a Mover and Shaker in 2020. This year it was recognized as the fifth small winery at National Wine Awards.

Organized Crime is a second-generation, family-owned, small boutique winery located on the Beamsville Bench of the Niagara Peninsula.

They farm the land themselves and assist in the winemaking throughout all stages of the process. Their production volumes are very small as they intentionally lean towards the passion side of the business rather than the commercial.

Greg Yemen is Organized Crime’s Consultant Winemaker.

Award winning wines from 2024 included:

  • Organized Crime 2022 Sacred Series Cuvée Krystyna Chardonnay
  • Organized Crime 2020 Pipe Down
  • Organized Crime 2020 Sacred Series Tara Block Pinot Noir Unfiltered
  • Organized Crime 2020 Cabernet Franc Unfiltered
  • Organized Crime 2023 Riesling

Thirty Bench Wine Makers

Thirty Bench Wine Makers has previously appeared three times on the Movers and Shakers list, last in 2022. This year they were fifth at the National Wine Awards.

Thirty Bench is committed to “Small Lot” winemaking, which means that many of their wines are made in extremely limited numbers. With Riesling vineyards dating back as far as 1980, they are proud to be considered one of Niagara’s first true boutique wineries.

The Thirty Bench Wine Makers portfolio includes a diverse range of award-winning wines across nine varietals.

2024 award winning wines included:

  • Thirty Bench 2021 Small Lot Riesling Wood Post Vineyard
  • Thirty Bench 2022 Winemaker’s Blend Cabernet Franc
  • Thirty Bench N/V Sparkling Riesling
  • Thirty Bench 2021 Small Lot Chardonnay ‘Extended Barrel Aged’
  • Thirty Bench 2021 Small Lot Riesling Triangle Vineyard

Vieni Estates

Placing tenth at this year’s National Wine Awards, this is Vieni Estates first appearance on the Movers and Shakers list.

Vieni Estates brings the passion for wine from Italy and combines it with the love for this Canadian wine region. Located in the rolling hills of the Vinemount Ridge along the Niagara Escarpment, master winemaker Mauro Salvador takes the best of the many varietals grown on the estate to produce a broad range of still wines, ice wines and sparkling wines.

In addition to the many fine wines produced here, Vieni Estates also offers traditional Italian-style grappas and spirits distilled from the many fruits of Ontario.

This year’s award winning wines included:

  • Vieni Estates 2022 Cabernet Franc
  • Vieni Estates N/V Sparkling Apple Cider
  • Vieni Estates 2020 Cabernet Franc Reserve
  • Vieni Estates 2020 Aglianico Reserve
  • Vieni Estates 2023 Novello Nouveau Gamay Noir

Final Thoughts

The list of award-winning wines includes only a sampling from each winery in order to provide you with an idea of the noteworthy wines each winery produces. It is not an all-inclusive list.

As this is the final post for 2024, I would like to wish you all a safe and happy New Year!

Sláinte mhaith

2024: A Year to Remember in British Columbia

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It would be an understatement to simply say that Mother Nature has been unkind to the B.C. wine industry this year. In January the extreme cold caused devastating damage to the vast majority of the grapevines in both the Okanagan and Similkameen Valley. It is estimated that 90% of this year’s grape crops were lost and 15% of the vines were destroyed.

Further devastation resulted because of the hot dry summer consisting of heatwaves and wildfires. The good news is that because of the heat, the remaining grapes ripened quickly, resulting in an early harvest with smaller but more concentrated fruit.

Lifelong workers in B.C.’s wine industry cannot recall a year that has been as devastating as this one. The provincial government has established a 26 million dollar vine replant program with an additional 92 million dollars to be paid through the Production Insurance and AgriStability program.

B.C.’s wine industry generates approximately 3.75 billion dollars annually for the province and employs more than 14,000 full-time workers. There are about 350 licensed grape wine wineries in the province that receive nearly 1.2 million visitors annually.

In order to help the wine industry recover from the lost grape harvest, the province is permitting the impacted wineries to import grapes and grape juice in order to produce the 2024 vintage. However, the imported products will not be eligible to carry the B.C. Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) label. Without these unprecedented concessions, many wineries would face potential financial ruin resulting in cuts to thousands of direct and indirect jobs, including the loss of highly specialized wine makers and cellar masters whose expertise is essential to the industry.

So, what will all this mean for the wine drinker when comes to the 2024 vintage of BC wines? Because of the intense heat and early ripening of those grapes that did survive, they will provide very concentrated and flavourful wines. However, given the scarcity of the wines that will carry the VQA designation, you can expect the price of the 2024 vintage to be higher than most years.

You can also rest assured that the wines that will be created from imported grapes will meet the established standards of the winery producing them. After all, their hard established reputations are at stake here and no one is willing to jeopardize that. British Columbia’s talented winemakers will deliver great results.

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Maritimes Adventure

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During a recent trip to the maritime provinces of Canada, I made a point of seeking out local wines to try. The first I came across while in St. Andrews by the Sea, New Brunswick; the second I found in North Rustico, Prince Edward Island and two while in Nova Scotia.

The first wine my wife and I tried was a 2019 Marquette from the Magnetic Hill Winery of Moncton, New Brunswick. It was a light bodied red wine similar to a Pinot Noir. It had aromas of cherries, blackcurrants and blackberries. The wine was a pleasure to drink and reasonably priced at $20.00 CDN.

The Marquette varietal is the cousin of the Frontenac varietal, which is a well-known French North American hybrid, and a descendant of Pinot Noir. This wine pairs well with pub foods such as cheeseburgers, bangers (sausages) and mash and chili con carne.

The second wine we tried was a $21.99 CDN Gamay from Matos Winery & Vineyards of St. Catherines, PEI. Until then I was not aware that there is a winery on PEI.

Matos Winery & Vineyards is a family-owned and run business that was initiated in 2007.  They utilize the French concept of terroir whereby they found a location where the combination of soil, slope, sun exposure and the peculiar weather patterns allow certain grape varieties to thrive.  They consulted with European vintners who visited PEI to provide their skill and knowledge.

Their Gamay has won a bronze medal at the National Wine Awards in 2016, 2014, 2012 and silver in 2011.

The first wine from Nova Scotia that we tried was the 2022 Baco Noir from Blomidon Estate Winery, of the Annapolis Valley, near Canning.

The 2022 Baco Noir has a nose of bright berry fruit accentuated by vanilla and notes of spice. Unfortunately for us, we found the wine to be slightly harsh and not quite as smooth and mellow as we have become accustomed to for Baco Noir. The price of this wine is $23.00 CDN.

Given the structure of this wine it would be best suited for pairing with barbecued beef or pork.

Blomidon Estate produces 100% Nova Scotia grown grapes and wines. Over the years they have earned several national and international awards.

The 2nd wine from Nova Scotia we experienced was Founders’ Red from Jost Winery, which is made from a blend of Leon Millot and Marechal Foch grapes. We experienced this wine during a quiet afternoon at our B&B outside of Cap-Pelé, New Brunswick. Like the day, this wine was very smooth and mellow. It had wonderful fruit flavours and was well worth the $17.19 CDN we paid for it. 

Founders’ Red is a well-balanced blend of Nova Scotian-grown grapes with deep colour and intensity. This wine pairs well with barbequed meats and roasted pork.

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Millesime Sparkling Wine Company

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Millesime was a sparkling wine company in Niagara that was originally established by Frenchman Alain Girerd. He saw Niagara’s potential as a wine producing region and developed his export business from France to service Canadian winemaker’s needs. Millesime provided comprehensive solutions for traditional method sparkling wine production services such as consulting, riddling, disgorging, and packaging.

Len Pennachetti, Harald Thiel, and Philip Dowell

In December 2023, Millesime was purchased by two of the Niagara’s key winery owners and a veteran winemaker. Hidden Bench Winery owner Harald Thiel, Cave Spring co-founder Len Pennachetti and winemaker Philip Dowell purchased Millesime and have renamed it Niagara Sparkling Wine Service.

By acquiring Millesime and providing Ontario craft winemakers with a scalable traditional method for producing sparkling wine, they feel they can ensure and expand the growth of premium sparkling wine production in Ontario. Winemaker Dowell, the operating partner of Niagara Sparkling Wine Service, has been crafting benchmark traditional method sparkling wine for more than 20 years and provides sparkling wine consulting services to the industry on an as needed basis. Dowell was most recently the winemaker at Kew Vineyards and Angels Gate prior to their being purchased by Arterra Wines Canada.

Millesime was originally sold by its founder, Alain Girerd to John Young, who was then president at Angels Gate Winery. Dowell and Young operated the company as the full-service facility as it was envisioned by Girerd until Arterra purchased Angels Gate Winery and left Millesime dormant. The purchase by Thiel, Pennachetti and Dowell from Young got the idle sparkling wine production facility back in operation to the relief of wineries who had their wines tied up during the transition.

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BC’s 2023 Movers and Shakers

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These are the wineries from British Columbia that particularly caught my attention this past year. My impressions are based on several factors: the winery’s performance at both the National Wine Awards and the All Canadian Wine Championships, environmental and sustainability practices of each winery and my own thoughts.

I have listed the wineries in alphabetical order and have included several of their 2023 award winning wines. 

Corcelettes Estate Winery

Corcelettes was ranked as the second best performing small winery at this year’s National Wine Awards.  It is located on 150 acres in British Columbia’s Similkameen Valley. Charlie and Jesce Baessler blend passion, precision and science to craft their expressive, small lot premium wines. No short cuts are taken in finding balance between viticulture, the environment and winemaking.

Corcelettes first vintage was in 2011, consisting of 200 cases. They currently craft 8,200 cases of wine per year, with plans of each future vintage growing in production size.

Their portfolio includes predominantly Syrah and Pinot Noir, crafted from Similkameen grown grapes. There is also a small selection of premium wines from the Micro Lot Series; wines crafted from specially selected grapes available only in limited quantities.

In addition to this year, Corcelettes was among the Top 10 Small Wineries at the 2018, 2019 and 2021 National Wine Awards of Canada.       

This year’s Platinum and Gold award winning wines included:

  • Corcelettes 2020 Syrah Corcelettes Estate Vineyard
  • Corcelettes 2021 Reserve Pinot Noir Micro Lot Series
  • Corcelettes 2022 Oracle Rosé
  • Corcelettes 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Corcelettes Estate Vineyard
  • Corcelettes 2019 Merlot
  • Corcelettes 2020 Merlot
  • Corcelettes 2019 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Corcelettes 2020 Cabernet Franc

Deep Roots Winery

Deep Roots was awarded Best Performing Small Winery at this year’s National Wine Awards where they earned 1 Platinum, 4 Gold, 1 Silver and 4 Bronze medals.

Their Platinum and Gold winners included:

  • Deep Roots 2020 Reserve Chardonnay
  • Deep Roots 2020 Parentage Red
  • Deep Roots 2022 Gamay
  • Deep Roots 2020 Syrah
  • Deep Roots 2022 Sauvignon Blanc

Deep Roots is a family owned and operated winery situated on the clay cliffs above Okanagan Lake on the Naramata Bench, where beginning in 2003 the Hardman family began switching their 100-year-old family farm from an apple orchard to a vineyard. Today they have 19 acres of grape vines spread between two Naramata vineyards, using almost exclusively estate fruit.

Initially the grapes were all sold to CedarCreek and Lake Breeze, among others. However, that all changed in 2012 when Will Hardman broke ground to create his own winery.  There are two vineyards at two sites on the Naramata Bench where they grow Muscat, Gamay, Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Malbec and Syrah grapes.

All the vineyard work is done by hand, as the Hardmans are passionate about producing grapes that are the best expressions of each varietal.

Road 13 Vineyards

At Road 13 in Oliver, B.C., they farm to protect the land. Their philosophy is that by taking care of the dirt, the dirt then can take care of the roots of the vines, thus producing the best fruit possible. Doing things right means going the extra mile, in both the vineyard and in the cellar. Winemaker, Barclay Robinson and his crew farm organically to produce the best wine possible.

Road 13’s Platinum and Gold award winning wines included the following:

  • Road 13 2020 Select Harvest GSM
  • Road 13 2013 Jackpot Sparkling Chenin Blanc
  • Road 13 2020 John Oliver Cabernet Franc
  • Road 13 2021 Viognier
  • Road 13 2020 John Oliver Petit Verdot
  • Road 13 2022 Honest John’s Rose

SpearHead Winery

SpearHead Winery of Kelowna, B.C, appears on my list of British Columbia’s list of movers and shakers for the second straight year. 

Their focus is on premium quality wine which is produced from grapes grown in their estate vineyard and from selected Okanagan Valley vineyards. The hand harvested grapes are sorted at the winery and fermented in small lots.

SpearHead produces Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling varietals.  Approximately 80% of the 15 acres of vines is comprised of Pinot Noir including four different Dijon clones, 2 California heritage clones and Pommard.  This combination of plantings enables the wine maker to select from the different characteristics of these clones to create a complex Pinot Noir from their home vineyard.  They also draw from several other vineyards in the Okanagan including Golden Retreat in Summerland and Coyote Vineyard in West Kelowna.

Their 2023 Platinum and Gold award winning wines include the following:

  • SpearHead 2020 Club Consensus Pinot Noir
  • Spearhead 2020 Golden Retreat Pinot Noir
  • SpearHead 2021 Saddle Block Pinot Noir
  • SpearHead 2021 Cuvée Pinot Noir
  • SpearHead 2021 Golden Retreat Pinot Noir
  • SpearHead 2022 Pinot Gris

Wild Goose Winery

It all began in early 1983 when founder Adolf Kruger purchased a piece of land east of Okanagan Falls.

Kruger first planted Riesling and Gewürztraminer with the intention of selling the grapes. Over the following few years, outstanding wines were produced by purchasers of the grapes leading him to the decision to make his own wine.

Wild Goose Winery became the seventeenth winery in British Columbia and was established in June 1990. The winery started producing Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Maréchal Foch. Over time Wild Goose established itself as a premium small producer of VQA wines.

In July of 2021, the Wyse family of Burrowing Owl Vineyards purchased Wild Goose Vineyards & Winery.  Wild Goose’s approach to winemaking has been to grow the highest quality fruit and then transform it into premium wines.

Wild Goose’s 2023 award winning wines include:

  • Best White Wine of the Year – 2022 Gewürztraminer
  • Best Red Wine of the Year – 2021 Pinot Noir
  • 2022 Mystic River Gewürztraminer
  • 2020 Cabernet Merlot

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