By Richard, winemaker at Traynor Family Vineyard.
The estate is picked. Sometime in the last two weeks, depending on which row you were standing in, the last of our own grapes came off the vines at 1774 Danforth Road and went into bins, and the bins went into the cellar, and the part of the year that we spend the other eleven months preparing for finally started. Here is what came in, where the rest of our fruit comes from, and what happens to all of it now.
What we grow here
Our estate vineyard in Hillier is 5.5 acres, farmed without synthetic pesticides since 2018, with grass, clover, and dandelion between the rows and hazelnut, sea buckthorn, elderberry, and lavender planted around the edges for the pollinators. On it we grow three grapes you may not have heard of: Frontenac Gris, Marquette, and Petite Pearl.
There is a reason those names are unfamiliar. They are cold-hardy hybrids, bred to survive winters that would kill a Chardonnay vine outright. Prince Edward County is on the northern edge of where wine grapes can be grown at all, and most wineries here bury their vines under soil every fall to get them through to spring. These three varieties are built for it. Marquette and Petite Pearl make deep, spicy reds. Frontenac Gris makes a pink-tinged white with big fruit and bright acidity, which is why it is so good for pet-nat and rosé. Growing them is part of our answer to the question of what a Prince Edward County wine should taste like: the grapes that actually want to live here.
Where the rest of the fruit comes from
Three grapes on 5.5 acres cannot make forty-nine wines, and we have never pretended otherwise. This year, as in most years, our fruit comes from three places. The estate, for the three grapes above. Amanda's Vineyard, a partner grower here in Prince Edward County, for County fruit we do not have the acreage to grow ourselves. And Niagara-on-the-Lake, where we buy fruit like Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, and Gamay from a warmer growing region that ripens them the way they want to be ripened.
We say this plainly because it matters. When you drink our Merlot, it is Niagara fruit, made in Hillier. When you drink something from Marquette or Frontenac Gris, it grew twenty feet from the patio you are sitting on. Both are ours. They are just different stories, and we would rather tell you which one you are holding.
What harvest actually looks like
It is not one day. It is a rolling series of picks over several weeks, each one timed to when a particular block is ready, and in a County growing season the windows are narrow. Fruit for pet-nat and sparkling comes in earlier, while the acidity is still bright. Reds hang longer. A week of rain or an early cold snap changes the plan overnight, and the crew moves through the rows with bins when the fruit says so, not when the calendar does.
Richard's verdict on 2026, in full: "The crop looked good and we are happy to make some delicious wines from it." He is not a man of many words in September. The wines will say the rest.
If you visited in the last few weeks you may have seen it from the patio: trucks, bins, a few tired people in rubber boots, and a sweet, yeasty smell in the air around the cellar door. That smell is the next part.
What Richard does now
Our winemaker, Richard, has the fruit, and the first two weeks are the ones that decide the most. The grapes get sorted and crushed or pressed depending on the wine. Whites and rosés are pressed off their skins early. Reds stay on their skins so the colour and tannin can come out. Then, in every single tank, the same thing happens: nothing. We do not add yeast.
Every wine we make is wild fermented. The yeasts that live on the grape skins and in the cellar start the fermentation on their own, in their own time. It is slower and less predictable than adding a commercial yeast, and it is the whole reason our wines taste like this place instead of like a lab. So the first weeks are a lot of waiting, a lot of tasting from tank, and a lot of deciding not to do anything yet. Richard checks the tanks every morning, watches the temperatures, and lets the fruit tell him what it wants to be.
The one exception to the waiting is pet-nat. Pet-nat has to be bottled while it is still fermenting, so the last of the fermentation happens inside the bottle and makes the bubbles. That means a decision has to be made in a matter of days, on the strength of a good palate, and the result is not known until next spring. It is the most nerve-wracking and most fun part of harvest, and it is why our Bang Bang tastes the way it does.
What you can taste right now
The 2026 wines will not be ready for months, and some not until next year. But the cellar is full of last year's, and October is the best month to taste them. The patios are open, the vines behind them are turning gold, and a $10 flight on the Covered Wall Garden while the crew works behind you is a very good way to understand what you have just read. Ask the staff what is in tank. They will tell you.
And we will keep you posted. Later this fall we will pick one tank from this harvest and follow it here on the blog from now until it goes into a bottle, so you can watch a wine get made. Richard has agreed to this. He does not know yet how many questions it will involve.
Thank you to everyone who came out this summer. It was a fantastic season on the patio, and it paid for the vines.
Good to know before you visit
Where: Traynor Family Vineyard, 1774 Danforth Road, Hillier, Prince Edward County, Ontario K0K 2J0. Five minutes from Wellington, 15 from North Beach, 25 from Sandbanks, about 2.5 hours from Toronto. Free on-site parking.
Hours and booking: Open daily from 11 am until November 15, with Friday and Saturday hours until 7 pm. From November 16, open Friday and Saturday from 11 am to 7 pm and Sunday from 11 am to 6 pm. Current hours are always shown at the top of traynorvineyard.com. Walk-ins welcome for groups of five or fewer; reservations recommended for six or more and required for ten or more. Call 1-877-403-4224 or email retail@traynorvineyard.com.
Food: Street food made fresh daily: gourmet all-beef hot dogs (kimchi dog, pocket dog), adobo pork and pulled chicken tacos, kofta sandwich, red lentil dal, roasted beet salad, street corn nachos, whipped feta, house-baked cookies, plus a kids’ plain hot dog. Four vegan and four vegetarian dishes on the fall menu, and every wine is vegan.
Drinks: $10 wine flights (three pours), $11 wine by the glass, $10 wine slushy, vermouth cocktails, $7 non-alcoholic peach slushy for kids and drivers. Bookable experiences include the Cellarmasters Barrel Tasting ($49.95) and Stemware Sensation ($39.95).
Family-friendly: Kids welcome. Designated play area visible from the Vineyard Patio, on-site ice cream trailer, juice slushies, kids’ menu, strollers welcome, all patios wheelchair accessible. Kids combo (slushy, popcorn, hot dog, cookie) at the counter. Free Friday Family Movie Nights run in spring and summer.
Dog-friendly: Leashed dogs welcome on all five outdoor patios, with pet beds provided. Dogs can’t come inside the Cellar Tasting Room.
What’s on by season: Summer: Friday Family Movie Nights, DJ sets on the Vineyard Patio, Happy Hour Après Beach Sunday to Thursday 4 to 6 pm. Fall: the WineLab Holiday Series (PSL pumpkin spice wine, Spiced Apple, Mulled Wine, Mulled White) launches; Family Movie Nights return in spring and summer 2027. Winter: mulled wines and Caribou, Cellar Tasting Room heated.
The wine: Small-batch natural wine, wild fermented and vegan, family owned since 2008. Estate vines in Hillier farmed without synthetic pesticides since 2018, plus fruit from partner growers in Prince Edward County and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Pet-nat, piquette, skin-contact whites, vermouth, and fortified wines. Ten wines are listed at the LCBO.
