A warm hug to B.C. wineries from Niagara vineyards and those who dared

By Rick VanSickle

It was like a big hug stretching across five provinces, one Canadian wine region offering the other a helping hand.

With the 2024 B.C. grape harvest all but wiped out, wineries there were left with the unimaginable task of finding grapes to keep their businesses running through lean times. Loss of vineyards across the winegrowing regions in B.C. was 90%, a devastating blow that will take years to fully recover from.

The immediate concern was making enough wine from outside sources to keep consumers coming through the doors and where to get the grapes that would best fit into their portfolios. In the end, most wineries chose to stick close to home with kindred spirits in Washington and Oregon, which share a west-coast vibe and similar growing conditions. But a brave few Okanagan wineries chose the path less travelled and called on Ontario to help fill in some of the gaps.

In the early days of the new reality in B.C., wine-related social media sites were rife with opinions and, to be honest, a bit of a bias against sourcing any grapes from Ontario, mainly due to the Herculean task it would take to get fresh grapes or juice from Niagara to the Okanagan Valley rather than the relatively short jaunt from U.S. west-coast terroirs.

The ones who made the effort, at least for the most part, have deep ties to eastern wine regions and made a point to source what they thought would best fit into to their lineups of wine. Wineries such as Mt. Boucherie, with former Niagara winemaker Jeff Hundertmark, Rust Wine Co., with former Niagara winemaker Ryan de Witte, and Tantalus, with former Niagara winemaker and Riesling brand owner Scott Woody, were determined to seek Niagara fruit despite the obstacles.

Hundertmark (below), director of winemaker and general manager at Mt. Boucherie, was the long-time winemaker at Niagara’s Stoney Ridge and Marynissen with his own Niagara brand, while Rust winemaker de Witte was the assistant winemaker at Leaning Post before moving west, and Tantalus viticulturist Woody learned his trade in the cellars and vineyards from several well-regarded Niagara wineries such as Malivoire, Tawse, Henry of Pelham, Leaning Post Wines and Angel’s Gate, plus has his own Niagara-based Riesling brand called Horseshoe Cellars.

Tantalus said that their 2024 vintage “will go down as one of the most challenging — yet most innovative — in our winery’s 20-year history. Faced with the crop loss at our home estate, like so many producers in our region, we had to rethink the season. Rather than seeing it as a setback, we dove into the opportunity to explore and collaborate with our winegrowing colleagues in two exceptional cool-climate regions. The wines from 2024 reflect not only the quality of the vineyards we worked with but also the camaraderie between our team and the industry peers we leaned on for support in a difficult situation.”

For Riesling, Tantalus partnered with two key growers in Ontario: Paul Franciosa at Grimsby Hillside and Mark Picone at his namesake vineyard, nestled geographically just next door. Both sites were planted to the same Riesling clones Tantalus has in the ground at its estate: Weis 21b, “with remarkably different terroir that we were thrilled to see evolve in our cellar.”

Woody, for his part, shared some memories from his “unforgettable” 2024 vintage experience representing Tantalus in Niagara. “Without the incredible people and terroir in the peninsula, none of this unprecedented transcontinental vintage would have been possible. Mio Vineyard, thanks for hosting me and riding the crazy wave that is harvest together. Your Chardonnay is already tasting amazing in barrel, and I cannot wait for you to taste it for yourself in the Okanagan. Grimsby Hillside Vineyard, your terroir and team is an inspiration to all winegrowers in Niagara and is truly a jewel to behold in the peninsula. Marc Pistor (Fogolar and Collab Wine and Beverage), thank you for the assist in obtaining some world-class Riesling terroir in Picone Vineyard, and on a personal level on helping us out at Horseshoe Cellars in continuing the Niagara Riesling adventure. Southbrook Vineyards and winemaker Casey Hogan, your kindness, winemaking professionalism and expertise made the processing rewarding and painless. Your craftsmanship is a work of art.”

From Hundertmark’s point of few, the biggest challenge was getting the juice from Niagara to the Okanagan Valley in sound shape, a trip that is 4,000 kms away and takes 48 hours to get there. He made the trek to Niagara to oversee the process.

“We processed the grapes into juice in Niagara. the juice was settled into 1000 L totes and chilled down to 2 C,” Hundertmark explained. “Then it was transferred into reefer trucks for the trek across the country. We used tandem drivers, so they drove straight to B.C. The timing was very fast, around 48 hours (give or take?). When the juice arrived here, we racked it into tank and warmed to cellar temperature for fermentation. All fermentation took place at Mt. Boucherie with our crew. The juice actually beat me back to B.C. and was warming when I arrived. For comparison, the red grapes we sourced from Washington/Oregon took almost the same amount of time to get here from the vineyards to crush pad.”

I asked Hundertmark if doing this kind of grape swap between Niagara and B.C. is feasible going forward. “The idea of doing this more frequently with Niagara is very appealing to me and quite frankly we are really on board with a VQA Canada being developed,” he said. I understand there are a few obstacles in the way, but we have new leadership in B.C. with the BCWA (B.C. Wine Authority), so my hope is we can open a few more conversations with Ontario, Nova Scotia and Quebec to get this done. Dare to dream.”

Hundertmark told Wines in Niagara that “I feel like we are being pushed into a commercial licence from our land-based licence. As we all know, the vines that have died from the cold in the past two years (in our case, about 50 of our 165 acres) will take 3-4 years before we (will see) any quality fruit. We are out-sourcing as much B.C. fruit as we possibly can for the next five years, but the price of the fruit is only getting larger and makes the economics of buying local difficult. I don’t see us buying fruit from the U.S. in the next four years for obvious reasons, but we may be forced into it, if the opportunity to buy Canadian isn’t made easier.”

For now, wineries like Mt. Boucherie are looking at their immediate tasks: “Re-planting 30 acres this year, retraining trunks for the vines that survived and getting the precious juice we have transformed into I think some really nice wine, into bottle. BTW, we had bud-break this week and we are looking good, fingers crossed,” Hundertmark said.

In an earlier interview with Hundertmark, I asked him why so many B.C. wineries and consumers have a bias against at least exploring the Niagara wines as option when there’s a need for grapes. “Some of it is based on pride (rightfully so, we make some damn fine wines) and some of it based on fear (consumers won’t understand and therefore our industry will suffer) and some of it based on ignorance (Ontario’s grapes are inferior, we don’t get many Ontario wines out here and the opinion is because they aren’t very good), and some of it is based on social conscience (Washington is close by so the impact to the environment for shipping will be less) … note, this also falls under hypocrisy,” he said.

“I have lived in and made wine in both regions in Canada, and I can tell you, if we think our Rieslings, Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs are heads and shoulders above Niagara, we need to taste more Niagara. There are some incredible examples of those wines, we just don’t get them here,” he added. “For my two cents, I Choose Canada. I always have, and always will.”

Mt. Boucherie, Rust and Tantalus all sourced grapes from multi wine regions, including Niagara. They made the effort and took on the extra expense to have Canadian made wines in their portfolios during trying times in B.C. They can’t call it VQA because sadly there still isn’t a Canadian VQA designation. Wines in Niagara applauds the three wineries here (and any others which followed suit) for going the extra mile to prove it can be done and it can be done well if the wines reviewed here are any indication,

Wines in Niagara was fortunate to receive samples of the Niagara Rieslings made in the Okanagan Valley from Mt. Boucherie, Rust and Tantalus, plus a rosé. There’s also a Niagara Chardonnay from Tantalus coming soon, sourced from the Mio Vineyard.

I tasted these wines with Peter Rod, Niagara College program co-ordinator and professor of beverage programs, and Grimsby Hillside co-owner Paul Franciosa on my back porch last week. It was interesting to see the similarities between some of the Rieslings, and also some of the obvious differences. The approach to labelling was also different from the wineries. Rust and Mt. Boucherie used a “Cultivated in Ontario, Crafted in British Columbia” badge on their labels, while Tantalus chose “Grown in Ontario” as their approach.

Here are my notes on the Rieslings and rosé from Niagara (plus a reference Riesling from Tantalus), and a few B.C. grown wines from Tantalus under the direction of winemaker and general manager David Paterson. Please note, the Tantalus Rieslings are all available now and can be found here while the Mt. Boucherie and Rust wines aren’t listed or priced quite yet. When they are, you will find them here for Mt. Boucherie and here for Rust wines.

The pan-Canadian Tantalus wines

Tantalus Riesling 2024 (Niagara, $28, 94 points) — A blend of the Grimsby Hillside Vineyard in the Lincoln Lakeshore sub-appellation and Picone Vineyard in the Vinemount Ridge sub-app. All grapes where whole bunch pressed with the juice settled naturally for two days before being transported from Ontario to the estate’s East Kelowna cellar in a temperature-controlled (chilled) state. Inoculation with a variety of Riesling specific yeasts happened on arrival. Ferments lasted between 30 and 50 days at temperatures that did not exceed 15 C. The final blend naturally balanced itself with just the right amount of sweetness (at just under 15 g/L of residual sugar) to maintain the “lovely tension we seek in our typical house style of our flagship Riesling release,” the winery said. Our small tasting group of myself, Rod and Franciosa all agreed that this wine, when compared to the estate’s flagship 2022 Old Vines Riesling from the Okanagan Valley we tasted beside it, remarkably shared some similarities in the texture and flavour profile. The nose is perfumed and floral with yellow apple, pear, citrus, white peach, saline/stony accents and an interesting subtle reduction note. It’s texturally beautiful on the palate and shows beeswax and lanolin in support of bergamot, ripe pear, chalky/stony notes, lemon curd, a touch of buckwheat honey, and peach tart with sizzling acidity keeping the RS in check through a lifted and finessed finish. Exceptional Riesling that you can cellar through 2035.

Tantalus Old Vines Riesling 2022 (Okanagan Valley, $43, 95 points) — The 2022 Okanagan vintage of this benchmark Riesling showcases all four mature estate Riesling blocks, originally planted in 1978 with Clone 21b. The majority of this wine, however, comes from “Block 5,” a two-acre parcel bordered by 10 acres of mature ponderosa pines on the western and northern edges. These towering pines provide shade in the late afternoon and evening. Riesling is typically the last variety harvested at Tantalus as they wait for optimal phenolic ripeness, balanced sugars (7.1 g/L), and precise acidity. As Peter Rod noted when tasting the Niagara version beside this Okanagan Riesling, “it was interesting to see how (the Tantalus) house style was evident in all three Rieslings and how the quality, accessibility, and structure varied so appropriately between the three tiers: Old Vines B.C. estate, Grimsby Hillside/Picone, and Hard Pressed Niagara.” The nose is profound with pithy lemon peel, white peach, pure salinity, floral lift, wedge lime and nectarine that comes at you in persistent wave after wave. It has silky texture on the palate, a touch of reduction, bergamot, lemon peel, bin apples, peach tart, steely/stony notes, dry extract and a lifted, forever finish driven by racy acidity. Such a long life ahead. Can cellar through 2040.

Tantalus Riesling Lab Hard Pressings 2024 (Niagara, $22, 92 points) — Celebrating the spirit of experimentation each year, the Riesling Lab has emerged as a fun opportunity for the winemaking crew to “geek out over our beloved variety.” This year’s iteration of the Riesling Lab was made up of several lots of Ontario Riesling hard pressings. “For us, the real experiment this vintage was getting to know this new-to-us juice — how it would ferment, how those delicate expressions we see over our long Riesling ferments would evolve over its three weeks, and where the natural balance for these hard pressings would fall.” Tasting the lots upon arrival to the crush pad, Tantalus quickly determined that they would start the juice predominantly in seasoned Chardonnay barrels. Opting for a combo of barriques and puncheons, they found the juice a lot less phenolic than how the estate hard pressings of Riesling express. The natural balance of the Lab this year fell at 20.8 g/L of RS, with a lower alcohol of 10.9% abv, making this year’s release a medium sweet bottling. It has a beguiling mineral nose of saline and wet stone with lemon tart, camomile, white peach, yellow apples and crushed oyster shells. The palate reveals a subtly viscous texture with a complex array of lemon verbena, ripe peach, reduction, nectarine, pear skin and showing a bit of honey and savoury notes that all get balanced out on a racy, mouth-watering and lingering finish. Quite interesting. Can cellar through 2035.

Mt. Boucherie and Rust wines from Niagara

Despite the challenges faced in the estate vineyards in the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys in 2024, Mt. Boucherie and Rust winemakers Jeff Hundertmark and Ryan de Witte were “thrilled with the opportunity to source and process grapes from premium, reputable vineyard sites in Niagara” as well as Washington and Oregon.

“Our team was able to visit growers in person and actually process the grapes with their own hands, meaning that these wines are truly ours as opposed to having been pre-processed by another winery and simple purchased in bulk.”

We tasted a Riesling and a Rosé from Mt. Boucherie and a Riesling from Rust for this report. No prices were provided, and these wines aren’t yet listed on the websites.

Rust Riesling 2024 (Niagara, 91 points) — Hundertmark noted that winemaker de Witte has made some decently acidic Rieslings the past couple of years “but this year, he had his hands full” with the Niagara version. Harvested from the iconic vineyards at Vineland Estates, featuring a blend of St. Urban and Bo-Teek Vineyards, picked on Oct. 5, the technical details are this: pH is 2.95, 7.53 g/L of residual sugar, and 9.6 TA. It shows gushing lime on the nose with green apple, floral notes, candied citrus, pear and subtle wet stone minerality. It’s a lighter rendition of Riesling on the palate with bright citrus, peachy apple notes, fresh saline and a vibrant, mouth-watering finish. Can cellar through 2032.

Mt. Boucherie Riesling 2024 (Niagara, 92 points) — This is also from Vineland Estates’ Bo-Teek Vineyards with pH at 2.92, 11.4 g/l of RS, and TA at 9.9. This is just a bit closed at the moment, which is to be expected from a young Niagara Riesling. Swirl and come back to it, as we did at our tasting, and the saline, crushed oyster shells and saline notes emerge on the nose followed by lime/citrus, quince, white flowers, green apples and pear. It’s a lighter style on the palate with stony minerality, pulpy citrus, pear, a touch reductive, a pinch of honey and tingling, electric acidity driving the back end. Wait on this if you can. It can be cellared through 2032.

Mt. Boucherie Rosé 2024 (Niagara, 88 points) —The Gamay was sourced predominately (90%) from 23-year-old vines at the Huebel farm in Niagara-on-the-Lake and picked Oct. 5. A soupçon of Vidal was blended in to correct colour and to add some floral notes to the wine, said Hundertmark. It was made in the saignee style with pH at 3.44, 10.88 g/L of RS, and TA at 7.65. It shows a light copper colour in the glass with brambly red berries, watermelon, with some juicy citrus and red currants. It’s pleasing on the palate with ripe cherries, strawberries, plums and citrus with gentle sweetness, subtle herbs, savoury notes and sizzling Niagara finesse on the finish that keeps everything in balance.

The Okanagan Tantalus wines

Tantalus Pinot Noir 2022 (Okanagan Valley, $36, 92 points) — The Pinot Noir is crafted from multiple clones from estate blocks, along with a small percentage of fruit from a neighbouring East Kelowna vineyard. Parcels of fruit were handpicked and vinified in small lots using 100% wild fermentation. Each parcel was fermented separately then aged in oak barriques (25% new) for 10 months, at which time it was blended and put back to neutral barrel for an additional five months. The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered. For someone more accustomed to Niagara Pinot Noirs, this was a bit of shock. We often forget the differences between the Okanagan Valley and Niagara, particularly with the heat of the west coast and the ripeness that results in a variety such as Pinot Noir. The colour is a deep red in the glass with a big nose of Morello cherries, wild raspberries, a touch of black currants, floral lift, ripe plums and toasted spice notes. The tannins are grippy on the palate and the fruits move from red berries to darker berries of anise, cassis and currants with fresh earth, wild raspberries, rich spice notes on a long, lifted finish. Can cellar through 2032.

Tantalus Cabernet Franc Further Afield Series 2022 (Okanagan Valley, $31, 92 points) — The Further Afield series emerged out of a desire for the winemaking team to explore British Columbia’s most revered varieties, beyond the estate’s vineyard borders and sourced from compelling sites but crafted with a Tantalus perspective. 40% whole cluster was used while ferments took place over various lengths of time to gain layers and complexity. The wine was then pressed and settled to French oak barrels (all used oak). Further élevage took place in barrel for 11 months of maturing before racking and a gentle filtration. This Cab Franc was surprisingly lighter coloured and less tannic than the Pinot Noir above and more in line with Niagara examples. It bursts on the nose with dark cherries, anise, earthy/savoury notes, mulled herbs, plums, dried tobacco and spices. There are subtle tannins and some structure on the palate in support of anise/licorice, wild raspberries and cherries, blackberries, plums, earthy notes, integrated herbs and fine oak spices on a vibrant, long finish. Can cellar through 2032 but drinking pretty good right now.

Tantalus Chardonnay 2022 (East Kelowna Slopes, $33, 91 points) — The principal composition of this wine is built from the estate’s 2006 and 2013 Chardonnay plantings, with the remaining wine hailing from a sloped site just up the road and also planted in 2013. The fruit was gently whole bunch pressed and aged in a combination of new and seasoned barriques and puncheons before undergoing wild fermentation in barrel as well as partial wild malolactic fermentation. It was then aged for 10 months on fermentation lees in those same barrels (with 20 to 30% new oak incorporated) before bottling and an additional six months in the cellar before its release. This is also a departure from what we expect to see in more minerally, finessed expressions in Niagara. This is a bolder, riper style with a west coast vibe. The nose is rich and bold with poached pear, yellow apples, lemon tart, toasty vanilla, hazelnuts and fine oak spice notes. It’s quite concentrated on the palate with a flinty/matchstick opening followed by ripe apples, baked pear, savoury notes, and peach tart with a luxurious texture, toasty vanilla and spice on a fresh, lifted finish. Drinking nicely right now but can cellar a few years for further integration.