A new name, a new winery, an exciting future for Niagara’s Bella Terra Vineyards

By Rick VanSickle

The Niagara winery formerly known as PondView has taken some giant-sized steps since transforming into Bella Terra Vineyards.

The last vestiges of the PondView name rest with two popular LCBO wines — PondView Dragonfly and PondView Icewine — because they are such big sellers for the estate, and estate owners didn’t want to mess with the name change. But all other wines from top to bottom are fully under the Bella Terra banner and part of a growing production of wines.

On a tour at Bella Terra recently, with owner Luciano (Lou) Puglisi (above), winemaker Fred DiProfio, and marketing/sales director Marcel Morgenstern, the progress on display is staggering. It starts with the new 10,000-square-foot production facility with 50 shiny, new stainless-steel tanks, for a total capacity to process 400,000 litres of wine. The state-of-the-art, temperature-controlled tanks provide for automatic punch downs and pump overs, eliminating two of the most laborious jobs in the cellar.

With the winery, Bella Terra now has the capacity to take its current 30,000 case production to 44,000 cases across its two brands — the all-estate-fruit Bella Terra and the 80% estate-fruit Burnt Ship Bay wines. “We’re slowly ramping up,” says Puglisi.

It’s a big deal for the Puglisi family and it allows the estate to clear out the former winery space (which was part of the tasting and retail facility) and create more room for its growing stampede of customers.

Once all the oak barrels are moved into the new winery, the Bella Terra team will begin to transform the old winery into a spacious tasting hall to accommodate the many wine lovers who have made the winery a popular destination. The back of the old winery, where the crush pad was located, looks out into the vineyards and tented event space nestled up against the vines. Tables will be set up in the new space outdoors, offering even more options for guests.

Bella Terra sits in the heart of Niagara-on-Lake in the Four Mile Creek sub-appellation. The family farms 50 acres of grapes that have been tended to by the Puglisi family since 1974.

The patriarch of the family, Giuseppe Puglisi, emigrated to Canada in 1965 and brought with him a passion for grape-growing and winemaking. His son Lou, a former Grape King in 2008, has been passed the torch, and now carries on the family tradition.

The rebranding to Bella Terra celebrates the connection of Puglisi’s family roots in Sicily with the connection between earth and sun that are the foundation of excellence in grape farming. The design is a simplified and modernized version of a Sicilian clay tile with the sun at its very centre. The colourful tiles have been popular in Sicily for centuries and can be found on many stairs and buildings around the island.

For Lou Puglisi, the renaming to Bella Terra Vineyards story “is important to me to let our guests know that our wines start right here in our own vineyards in one of the most exciting and still developing growing regions in the world.”

I tasted a selection of Bella Terra wines with Puglisi, DiProfio and Morgenstern over a couple of hours with a delicious charcuterie board to munch on following the tasting. Here’s what I liked:

The white collection

Bella Terra Wild Ferment Riesling 2019 ($25, 93 points) — This estate Riesling from the Bellara Vineyard is made in a bone-dry (less than 4 g/l of RS) style. Such an impressive nose of lime, apricot, peach, a touch of ginger, lemon oil, beeswax and hinting at petrol. It has lovely texture that shines a spotlight on the grapefruit/lime zest notes, apricots, green apples, ginger, and lovely savoury/petrol accents on a zippy, fresh finish. Enthralling Riesling that will age nicely over the next five years.

Bella Terra Sauvignon Blanc 2021 ($23, 89 points) — A friendly Savvy with a nose of juicy grapefruit, kiwi, peach, pear, and subtle herbs. It’s bright and refreshing on the palate with stone fruits, lemon/grapefruit, kiwi, and a lifted finish.

Bella Terra Fumé Blanc 2019 ($35, 92 points) — The fruit is sourced from the estate’s Corus Vineyard located on the East-West Line in Niagara-on-the-Lake. It’s partially wild fermented and spends 22 months in 100% French oak (a mix of new and used barrels). Such an elegant and beguiling nose of ripe pear, honeysuckle, grapefruit, minty herbs, tropical fruits and toasty vanilla and spice. It has lovely texture and is made in a rich and fleshy style that highlights poached pear, kiwi, mango, grapefruit, fine oak spices, and vibrancy on the finish.

Bella Terra Chardonnay Sur Lie 2021 ($23, 89 points) — Some lees stirring is employed in the making of this unoaked style of Chardonnay. The nose shows creamy pear, yellow apple, and lemon tart amid a seam of freshness. It has a creamy texture, ripe orchard fruits, zesty citrus, and mouth-watering acidity on the finish. If you prefer your Chardonnay unoaked, but love texture, take this out for a spin.

Bella Terra Viognier 2020 ($25, 91 points) — This Vio is barrel fermented and barrel aged for 22 months, with 25% of the barrels made with acacia wood. Acacia brings an elevated texture and less of a woody taste. The nose shows lifted aromatics of apricots, poached pear, sweet spice notes, mango/tropical fruits, and a floral accent. It’s rich, generous, and creamy on the palate with notes of apricot tart, ripe pear, yellow apples, mango, elegant spices, luxurious texture, and a long finish.

The sparkling collection

Bella Terra Sparkling Brut 2020 ($25, 89 points) — The Brut is made in the charmat method from estate Vidal grapes and has a nose of fresh apples, pears, sun-ripened peach, and freshening lemon zest. The bright acidity shines a light on the full range of orchard fruits on the palate in a clean, fresh, and fun style of bubbly.

Bella Terra Blanc de Blanc 2017 ($40, 92 points) — This is the second vintage for the traditionally made 100% Chardonnay. It sits on the lees for three and a half years and receives a modest dosage of 4 g/l. “I’m just trying to make a well-balanced, well-made wine,” says DiProfio. There’s an intriguing autolytic/biscuit note to start on the nose followed by green apple, lemon zest, fuzzy peach, and pear with a subtle note of brioche. It’s full of life on the palate with an elegant bead in the glass and rich, biscuity notes mingling with orchard fruits, citrus zest and a fresh, vibrant finish. Top-notch bubbles here.

Bella Terra Sparkling Rosé NV ($25, 89 points) — This, too, is made in the cuvé close or charmat method. It’s 95% Vidal and 5% Malbec, which gives this bubbly its light pink colour. The nose shows fresh orchard fruits, brambly red berries, and a touch of earthiness. It has an energetic bead on the palate and a bit more complexity than the Brut above with earthy undertones, peach, pear, quince, and wild raspberries with a bright finish. Another fun sparkling wine that won’t break the bank.

The red collection

Bella Terra Calm the Franc Down! 2021 ($25, 90 points) — Created from the need to find a distraction from the gloom that impacted the world in 2020 at the height of the Covid pandemic, Calm the Franc Down was concocted from a blend of red Bordeaux grapes from the 2018 vintage. Consumers loved the name and the blend that is now at least 85% Cabernet Franc. The 2021 version, the fourth iteration, spends 12 months in oak barrels. It’s a lighter style of Franc with a vivid nose of brambly red berries, red currants, anise, floral/herbaceous notes, and light spices. The earthy black cherries, wild raspberries, plums, and darker berries on the palate are held together with medium+ tannins, well-integrated spice notes and a tangy, lifted finish.

Bella Terra Merlot 2020 ($45, 92 points) — This Merlot and the reds that follow are all from the “reserve” tier at Bella Terra and sourced from estate vineyards. All four wines are aged in French oak barrels (and some American oak) for 20 months. The Merlot has an attractive nose of plums, black cherries, a touch of cassis and black currants, with rich spice notes and pepper. There is firm tannic structure on the palate in support of ripe red fruits, lifted florals, cassis, touch of smoke, elegant spice notes, and length through a finessed, vibrant finish. Can cellar 7+ years. All these reds are finished at 14.9 abv.

Bella Terra Cabernet Franc 2020 ($45, 92 points) — The 2020 vintage allowed optimum ripeness across the board for Bordeaux varieties, especially for fruit grown on the east side of the canal. This unfiltered CF has a rich and ripe nose with a melange of red berries, earthy/savoury notes, some cassis, and pepper with woodsy spice notes. It’s highly structured on the palate with a concentrated and deep profile of rich red berries, anise, touch a eucalypt, herbs, black licorice, fine oak spices and a long, lifted finish. Can cellar 7+ years.

Bella Terra Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 ($45, 93 points) — It’s such a treat to see this variety perform well in a near perfect vintage like 2020. It’s tight right now, but swirl vigorously and those profound notes of blackberries, cassis, anise, black currants, sweet tobacco notes, cocoa and elegant spice begin to emerge. It’s highly structured on the palate with evident tannins supported by a rich broth of ripe dark berries, peppery notes, dark chocolate, subtle herbs, and fine oak spices all leading to a long, smooth finish. This is built to age for 10+ years. A beauty.

Bella Terra Meritage 2020 ($50, available in myriad bottle sizes all the way up to 6-litres, 94 points) — The blend for this special meritage is 40% Cabernet Franc, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 10% Malbec sourced from the best barrels made at the estate. It’s magical on the nose with such an elegant array of sweet oak spices, black cherries, warm blueberry pie, black currants, mulberries, lifted perfume notes, and beautifully integrated spices. It all comes perfectly together on the palate in a melange of blackberries, blueberries, black currants, macerated cherries, wild summer raspberries, brambly, subtle earthy/forest floor notes, lovely spice, polished tannins, and a smooth, long finish with finesse. Tuck some away in the cellar in forget about them for a decade.