Natural Wine Styles

91 Pts.  “For me, a very successful exercise of fermentation of Chardonnay on the skins.  The nose is clear, with accents of orange and lemon oil, a small toasted element, and a beautiful equilibrium.  Tasty, has a beautiful texture and persists in a pleasant way in the mouth.”

Rémy Charest- winealign.com - June, 2018 

Silver- National Wine Awards of Canada, 2018

Sommeliers Note:
This wine impresses with a rich golden hue and continues to impress on the nose with light honey and green tea leaf notes.  Dried, sugared stone fruit define the taste with a touch of warm spice to compliment everything.

Winemakers Note:
This vintage was made from fruit we sourced from another local vineyard in Prince Edward County as we had a disappointing crop in our estate vineyard. However, we have been very happy with the results. This chardonnay was whole cluster, skin fermented and macerated for 16 days.

It was then pressed and left on its heavy lees for 15 months. A portion (roughly 40%) spent time in used barrels to help soften the natural tannin of the fruit and it was allowed to clarify naturally.

We have focused much of our production on making approachable orange wines and this one is very delicious. As always we bottled this wine unfiltered and by hand.

12.4% alcohol

 

Our orange is back, but this time with a twist.  We took new, radical steps this year to push our limits and create something completely unique.  

Cold soaked on the Frontenac Gris skins for a week, we then pressed the fruit earlier than we typically do.  That’s easy.  

But here’s where we got wild.  Ever heard of ripasso?  It’s a technique most commonly associated with Valpolicella.  Essentially, they take the pressed skins from another wine and add it to fermenting juice.  We did this, but we added our Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc skins to the Frontenac Gris juice and left them to macerate for another two weeks.  

The result is a wine that is more lively and fresh than our previous orange wines, with less aggressive tannin and an almost fuzzy peach nose.  

We love this wine so much right now, we bottled 30 cases for a little preview and will bottle the balance next summer as the wine rounds into shape.  

How about a juicy selection of our delicious skin fermented whites?  Doesn’t that sound lovely?

A bottle each of our Inclusion Orange, Ten Rows Sauvignon Blanc and Skin Fermented Chardonnay to save 10% off bottle price, or double it up to save 20%

Plus free shipping!

Sommeliers Note:
Great musty wet earth and mushroom notes along with sweet ripe red cherries come out on the nose of our pinot noir.  Slightly tart fruit along with a strong black tea and a bit of zesty citrus and soft smooth tannins characterize the palate of this wine.

Winemakers Note:
Made from fruit sourced from a local vineyard in Prince Edward County. Hand harvested and delivered to our winery where we whole cluster fermented the grapes. Left on the skins for 25 days and pressed into tank to settle quickly. 50% of this wine has been in used barrels for 18 months and 50% in stainless steel.

11.4% alcohol
2,200 bottles produced

Want more reds and want a deal?  How about a bottle each of our Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Alta Red?  Ummm, yum!  

Save 10% off bottle price on three pack and 20% off on six pack!  Plus free shipping!

“Golden in colour and ever-so-slightly hazy from contact with the lees, the wine tastes – what’s the word? – wholesome in the manner of the best natural wines. Medium-bodied and delectably fleshy and ripe, it offers up pronounced tropical-fruit flavours of mango and grilled pineapple along with popcorn, brown butter, brioche and toasted nuts. A new Canadian icon wine.”

BEPPI CROSARIOL
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
-  March 7, 2019

 

Sommeliers Note:
An intensely deep gold wine; honey, apricots and that wonderful musty smell associated with botrytis affected grapes.  Full flavour, with a great blend of sour lemony citrus as well as ripe richer tropical pineapple

Winemakers Note:
Grown in our estate vineyard in Prince Edward County, this chardonnay is a result of a botrytis (Noble Rot) infection in the vineyard. In order to manage our fermentation’s effectively, we went through the vineyard and culled out any botrytis infected fruit.

The fruit was then brought into the winery and whole cluster pressed, quickly settled, and then racked into a used barrel. It was then fermented and left on the lees for twelve months and bottled directly from the barrel. Unfiltered and hand bottled as is our practice.

13.6% alcohol
250 bottles produced

89/100 “Zesty and mouth-watering.  Aromas of freshly cut grass and chives.  Pair with fresh seafood and shellfish.  Medium Bodied.”

Natalie MacLean, April 11, 2018

 

****+ “Aromas of passion fruit, and pink grapefruit gracefully make their way out of the glass.  On the Palate this opens up with nice concentration, and good weight on the mid palate”

Andre Proulx- andrewinereview.ca - April 19, 2018

 

89 Pts.  “This is a fairly intense, green and almost salty sauvignon.  Lots of minerality, some nettle and celery on the nose and palate.  It is quite slim with almost crunchy acidity and some heat.  Reminds me of sauvignon from the Atwater’s sub-region of Marlborough, NZ.  Intense with very good length.”

David Lawrason- winealign.com - Feb 2018

 

89 Pts. “Reductive, not flinty or smoky, but reductive.  This carries the gooseberry-passion fruit suitcase of fruit.  I like the fruit acid balance and the way it delivery’s semblances of tart and tangy.  Really nicely judged wine.  Drink 2018-2021.”

Michael Godel- winealign.com - June 2018

 

Silver- National Wine Awards of Canada- 2015, 2018

Silver- Intervin- 2015

Silver- Ottawa Wine and Food Show- 2015

 

Sommeliers Note:
Our sauvignon blanc is crisp with a great range of smells ranging from peach to guava and fresh green grass on the nose.  Fresh fruit continues on the palate with a great full lemony acidity that balances a full and round white.

Winemakers Note:
After spending years making wine in Ontario, I had serious doubts about whether Sauvignon Blanc was a variety that I could excel at as a winemaker. In the winter of 2009 that all changed when I went to New Zealand to learn what they did to their Sauvignon Blanc wines to make them exceptional.

What I learned was that less is more. Don't push the fruit to ripen to extremes, don't over handle, keep air away from it, emphasize the acidity, stir the lees and above all embrace the funky. During fermentation, Sauvignon Blanc smells bright and earthy. Allow it to go through its life process, let it be and it will come back to you.

This wine was made from fruit sourced in Niagara-on-the-Lake and pressed immediately after harvest to ensure vibrancy in the flavours and aromas.

It was fermented, aged and hand bottled at our winery in Prince Edward County. Fermented and aged in stainless steel and left on the lees for eight months. Racked three times to achieve clarity after fourteen months. Bottled unfiltered as are all of our wines.

13.5% alcohol

Winemakers Note:

A rarity for Prince Edward County, a 100% estate vineyard grown Sauvignon Blanc. We whole cluster fermented the wine and macerated on the skins for ten days. Pressed and racked into a used barrel where fermentation was completed. 

Hand bottled directly off of the lees to retain freshness.

White pepper, ground cherry, lemon grass, and guava. Zesty and bright.  A lighter, more vibrant orange wine.

12.9% alcohol

280 bottles produced.

Sommelier Notes:
This bright beautiful deep ruby wine comes through with raw cacao, rich ripe mulberries and fresh fig.  This wine drinks medium but has such great depth of flavour finishing with notes of cold earth and fresh tobacco leaf.

Winemaking Notes:
Made from fruit sourced from a local grower in Prince Edward County. Cold macerated for 48 hours. After which 20% of the juice was bled off to concentrate the flavour. Fermented on the skins for 24 days and pressed into stainless steel vats and oak barrels where the wine stayed on the heavy lees for four months. Racked twice and bottled.

A hearty, deeply couloured red.  Campfire, leather and plum make this a wine to warm your bones by.  Enjoy with meety dishes or on a cold night with someone special.

Blend of estate grown Marquette.

13.4% alc./vol