By Rick VanSickle
Stratus is coming to the aid of its vineyard workers whose families were impacted by the devastating storm that hit Jamaica recently.
Also in this Niagara Wine Report: VQA wines picked for Ontario legislature, plus new wines reviewed from Divergence and the debut Chateau Everett brand, and our picks from the Vintages release, including Foreign Affair, Bachelder Wines and Flat Rock Cellars.
“For 25 years, our Jamaican vineyard team has been an integral part of Stratus — their skill, dedication, and spirit shaping each vintage from vine to bottle,” Stratus wrote in a note on social media. “Just days ago, and only weeks before they were to return home, Hurricane Melissa devastated their communities leaving many of their families in urgent need of support.”
For the month of November, 100% of purchases of the 2024 Stratus Trials Ancestral Field Blend Rosé will go directly to the winery’s nine-member Jamaican team to assist their families as they rebuild and recover.
Why this wine? “A field blend of all 16 grape varieties grown in our vineyard and crafted by all hands, it is a true expression of unity, diversity, and the collective effort that defines Stratus,” the winery said. “Every bottle reflects the dedication, experience and hard work that this team brings to the growing season and harvest, each year.”
The wine, which sells for $39, can be purchased here. It’s a unique sparkling field blend crafted from every one of the estate’s 16 grape varieties, including Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Gamay, Tannat, Sangiovese , Viognier, Tempranillo, Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling. Wines in Niagara hasn’t tasted it, but Stratus describes “like a shimmering rose-gold sunset, this wine oozes sunshine. Think juicy watermelon, ripe strawberry, and tangy rhubarb, all racing across your palate with a crisp, cooling finish. One sip, and the world feels sunnier, the air warmer, and the playlist just right.”
Wines in Niagara contributor Lidija Biro tasted the wine and these are her thoughts: “Hazy, peach-pink in colour with floral notes, strawberry, ripe nectarine and pink grapefruit. It’s gently fizzy, with honey, strawberries and cream, nectarine, grapefruit and refreshing acidity, slightly tannic grip on the finish with a spice note (nutmeg).”
Southbrook Vineyards is also helping victims of the hurricane in Jamaica.
“Climate change has been making our weather crazy,” said proprietor Bill Redelmeier. “Jamaica has suffered through what is probably its most damaging hurricane ever, and I think that we need to do something about it.”
For the next two weeks, Southbrook is donating 5% of its online sales to the Canadian Red Cross’s Hurricane Melissa Appeal here. “Why the Canadian Red Cross,” asked Redelmeier. “I trust them to research and do a good job of distributing money, to make sure it is effective, and also, I am hoping that the Canadian government will match this donation, increasing its effectiveness.”
The official wines of the
Legislature chosen for 2026
The Grape Growers of Ontario, with the speaker of the Legislature and MPP for Flamborough-Glanbrook, Donna Skelly, hosted the 46th annual wine tasting event at Queen’s Park last Wednesday. The following have been chosen as the official wines of Ontario’s Legislative Assembly for 2026:
• Sparkling Wine: 2023 Sparkling Riesling by Harbour Estates Winery
• Red Wine: 2021 Barrel 81 by Riverview Cellars Estate Winery
• White Wine: 2022 Pecorino by Casa Dea Estates Winery
• Icewine: 2024 Vidal Ice Wine by Between The Lines Estate Winery
“As the legacy partner of the Legislature’s wine tasting event, the Grape Growers of Ontario thank the Hon. Speaker Skelly for continuing the tradition of choosing the official VQA wines of the Legislative Assembly for the coming year,” said Matthias Oppenlaender, GGO chair. “Our agriculture value-added industry is rooted in the land, and the Grape Growers of Ontario look forward to continuing to work with the government of Ontario to support Ontario’s grape and wine industry. Congratulations to Harbour Estates Winery, Riverview Cellars Estate Winery, Casa Dea Estates Winery, and Between the Lines Estate Winery on their wines being selected.”
Debbie Zimmerman, CEO of the GGO, said “the wines showcased at this event reflect the connection between 100% Ontario-grown grapes and the winemakers who craft them. We congratulate all of Ontario’s wineries on producing top-quality VQA wines and thank the six wineries who participated in this year’s tasting.”
Riverview Cellars Estate Winery: “We are truly honoured that the Legislative Assembly of Ontario has chosen Riverview Cellars’ 2021 Barrel 81 to be featured this year. This recognition celebrates the dedication of our family and team, as well as the unique character of our Niagara-on-the-Lake vineyard. We’re proud to share a taste of our terroir with Ontario’s representatives and guests.”
Casa-Dea Estate Winery: “Casa-Dea Estates Winery is deeply honoured that our 2022 Pecorino has been chosen as the white wine for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. We want to thank the Grape Growers of Ontario and the Queen’s Park legislative staff for hosting a wonderful tasting showcasing Ontario Wines.”
Between the Lines Winery: “Between the Lines Winery is honoured to have our 2024 Ice Walker Vidal Icewine selected for the 2026 Legislative Assembly of Ontario. As a small family estate, this recognition means a great deal to us. Over the past 15 years, we have refined our craft through experimentation, innovation, and a commitment to inventive winemaking techniques. The support of our fellow wineries and the enthusiastic feedback has been truly inspiring. We extend our sincere appreciation to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for this opportunity and for celebrating wines made from 100% Ontario-grown grapes.”
Harbour Estates Winery: “It is a great honour to have our 2023 Sparkling Riesling chosen as the Ontario Legislature’s sparkling wine for the year. Early in the history of Harbour Estates Winery, our 2002 Chardonnay was chosen as the white wine for the year. This is confirmation that, after over 20 years, we are still producing wines of great quality that stand out and are recognized. Kudos to the Ontario Legislature and the Grape Growers of Ontario for showcasing the fine wines produced by wineries across the province through this annual event.”
Members of provincial parliament gathered to select the Legislative Assembly of Ontario’s official VQA wines to be served at legislative functions throughout 2026. Participants tasted and marked their preferences on a voting ballot to determine which wines would be selected from six Ontario VQA wineries.
The Grape Growers of Ontario is the official organization that represents over 475 actively producing farm families of 17,500 acres in the province’s three viticulture areas: Niagara Peninsula, Lake Erie North Shore and Prince Edward County, and emerging regions across Ontario.
New wines from Collab’s Divergence
and debut wines from Chateau Everett
You should be well familiar with the Collab Wine and Beverage collective by now. At last count, there were 12 brands under one umbrella, all virtual beverage operations focused on showcasing unique, small-batch Canadian beverage brands. Based in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Collab is a place for industry professionals to come together to create and grow their own distinct brands.
Mitchell Everett McCurdy (above) founded Ev’s Eclectics, a collection of different drinks, done in different styles by this a curious winemaker. He is a graduate from Brock University’s Oenology and Viticulture program in 2018 and has been working under the tutelage of Marc Pistor for the last few years bringing his own style to the table with Collab Wine and Beverage.
His latest cheeky label is called Chateau Everett. And it has a cool story to go with it. I’ll let McCurdy explain.
“The label was designed after a Chateau Margaux label,” he tells me. “After some market research (looking through the LCBO shelves) I thought it quite comical that all the Bordeaux wines were variations of the same label. Chateau X, a picture of a castle, vintage date. Simplistic and straightforward, if it is wine and it is French it is good, seems to be the marketing move.”
McCurdy has been making wine for Marynissen but also under Ev’s Eclectics as his virtual label. “The idea of Ev’s Eclectics was to pull different styles into winemaking (the definition of eclectic), like a Riesling fermented in old tequila barrels, and after my middle name Everett in which my friends affectionately refer to me as Ev,” he explains. “Funky labels with eclectic winemaking. I had wanted to make a more serious single vineyard wine but didn’t feel that the Ev’s Eclectics labels were really the place for them. Talking with coworkers, I made a quip about how much effort we put into our labels, and I should just be Chateau Everett, circling back to the idea that French wine = good wine.”
His coworkers agreed that “it had a nice ring to it” and being a bit more of a ‘high end” style would be better suited for a single vineyard wine. “Being a virtual label, and a winemaker I don’t have the funds for a large castle, I also am a renter currently, so I don’t own a house,” McCurdy said. “It was again a coworker (Julie Enns of Battersea wines) who suggested my parents’ house as an idea. Considering this house was where I lived during my formative years, where I learned to garden with my dad, where I currently bring bottles of wines to share with my family it seemed like a perfect idea.” And thus, Chateau Everett was born with a graphic of McCurdy’s parents’ house on the label.
Also from Collab, Jeff Moote (above) created the Divergence brand, which he says is focused on wines “true to origin and inspired by tradition, but not bound by it.”
His newest “Signature” wines are sourced from some of the top vineyards in Niagara and the labels place a greater emphasis on where the grapes come from rather than winery that crafted them. Moote is another young winemaker making an impact on the Niagara wine scene.
Here are the wines I liked from Chateau Everett and Divergence. The wines can be purchased here:
Chateau Everett Bock Vineyard Malbec 2023 ($30, 92 points) — McCurdy enjoys Malbec from Argentina, but Cahors is a much more interesting expression in his opinion. “I’ve also had the pleasure of trying some awesome Niagara Malbec that either made it to bottle as a single varietal or was blended as an important component in a meritage,” he said. “I would say the winemaking is much more French in style than the mass-produced Argentina wines. The grapes were hand harvested with a long time on skins (about 28 days), malo-lactic fermentation occurred in barrel slowly through the winter, with aging in French oak barrels for 18 months, etc. This St. David’s sourced Malbec from the Bock Vineyard has a nose of savoury black cherries, cassis, lifted florals, anise, saddle leather and fine oak spice notes. It has good structure and weight on the palate with grippy tannins surrounding a core of red and dark berries, black licorice, peppery notes, spice and a long, finessed finish. Can cellar through 2035.
Chateau Everett Gewürztraminer 2024 ($28, 92 points) — McCurdy jumped at the chance to make some Gewürztraminer. Jeff Moote had also made some Syrah from the Black Bank Hill vineyard in 2023 “which blew my socks off,” McCurdy said. “I also think Gewürztraminer is a wonderful grape variety that unfortunately has fallen out of fashion, but I’ve never been one for fads. This Gewürztraminer is made it an old-school style. Handpicked, settled in stainless tank and then barrelled down in an old neutral French puncheon and a second fill Ermitage barrel that had done wonders with a Riesling the previous year, McCurdy said. The wine was aged in oak until the spring (about 6 months) and bottled in May. The Black Bank Hill Vineyard is technically in the Lincoln Lakeshore sub-appellation but is only divided by the width of old Highway 8 to the south where the Beamsville Bench is located. This barrel fermented Gewürztraminer has a nose of ripe apricot, ginger, lychee nut, Asian pear, cloves and sweet spice notes. It’s rich, layered and viscous on the palate with layers of apricot tart, poached pear, grapefruit, ginger, wild honey and spice on a luxurious, long and rounded finish. Very nice expression that should age well through 2030.
Divergence Signature Black Bank Hill Vineyard Syrah 2023 ($59, 93 points) — This is from Moot’s top tier “Signature Series” that amplifies the vineyard on the label above brand. The Syrah was co-fermented with 9% Viognier (from Black Bank Hill in the Lincoln-Lakeshore sub-appellation as well). Fermentation was carried out using selected yeast, and the wine remained on skins for about three weeks before pressing, settling, and racking to barrel. It was aged in a combination of older Hungarian oak puncheons and second fill French oak barrique for 18 months before blending and bottling unfined and unfiltered. It has a lifted, floral nose of black currants, cassis, anise, purple plums and cherry/kirsch with underlying meaty/savoury notes and sweet oak spices. It shows a bit more grit on the palate with firm(ish) tannic structure and delves into the grilled meats/underbrush notes I love in great Syrahs, on top of dark berries, crème de cassis, earth/savoury notes, black peppercorns, toasted spice notes and sizzling acidity giving it lift and finesse on the finish. This should age nicely through 2035.
Divergence Bock Vineyard Cabernet 2023 ($38, 91 points) — Sourced from the escarpment in St. David’s, this wine is made with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. The PV was co-fermented with a portion of the Cab Sauv, and all the components spent 20 months in French oak barrels before being bottled unfiltered. This is a more elegant style for a Bordeaux blend with an attractive nose of cassis, black cherries, black currants, pomegranate, subtle herbaceous notes and vanilla-tinged spices. It shows some structure on the palate with fine-grained tannins in support of dark berries, anise, ripe cherries, earthy/savoury accents, cedar plank and spice on a bright, long, lifted finish. Can cellar through 2033.
Our picks for the Vintages wines
being released on Nov. 8
The Foreign Affair Dream 2023 ($30, 91 points) — Not all the reds in the Foreign Affair red portfolio have appassimento grapes used in the blend, but The Dream, a mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec, aged for 14 months in older oak barrels, sees about 15% of the grapes dried. The nose leans toward the darker fruits of blackberries and cassis with dark cherries, subtle earthy notes and integrated spice accents. It has good structure, weight, a plush texture and super concentrated dark berries and spice on a finessed finish. It’s drinking nicely right now but can cellar through 2032.
Bachelder Lowrey Vineyard Old Vines Pinot Noir 2021 ($55, 92 points) — On the tail-end of the St. David’s Bench, planted on the shores of the old riverbed of where the Niagara River used to run many moons ago, lies the picturesque Lowrey Vineyard. “It is surely one of the great honours of our lives to work with this special place,” said Thomas Bachelder. The oldest, eastern part of the vineyard was planted in 1984 by the Lowrey family for Karl Kaiser (winemaker and co-founder of Inniskillin). Kaiser used the vineyard for his ground-breaking international collaboration Alliance series Inniskillin made with Burgundy’s Jaffelin (Bernard Répolt, now with Rémoissenet). The idea of doing an Alliance brand soon led to the idea of Le Clos Jordanne, that Bachelder, Delaney and his family eventually moved to Niagara from Oregon to help start. Such a profound nose of dark cherries, forest berries, brambly raspberries, earthy/chalky notes, anise, and clove spices. It has lovely texture and verve on the palate with earthy red berries, cran-cherries, fine-textured tannins, a touch of red currants and a long, finessed finish. Cellar 5+ years.
Flat Rock Cellars Unite 2023 ($35, 89 points) — From the Monolith project, with a twist. It kind of makes sense, considering Flat Rock puts both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at the centre of everything it does. With the Unite, the winemakers are letting both varieties have fun in the same playground, blending 73% Pinot Noir with 27% Chardonnay that was co-fermented and sent to neutral French oak barrels to age for eight months. Now, being a neophyte in tasting these two varieties blended together (outside of sparkling wine) I decided to chill it slightly for this tasting. The colour is light Burgundy with a nose of fresh red berries, plums, cassis and subtle notes of red apples and currants with only the faintest hint of spice. Minerality plays a role on the palate to go with red berries and a mishmash of orchard fruits on a silky-smooth frame and all leading to fresh, lifted finish. A bit outside the norm but a fun wine to taste and debate with your wine-curious friends.
Flat Rock Hexa Pinot Noir 2020 ($70, 94 points) — This the ultimate expression of the estate Pinot Noir from Flat Rock Cellars, made only in the years that the winemakers feel best express this grape. It was the last grape pick of 2020, on Sept. 27th, from the 17th Street Block. The wine was 17% whole cluster fermented and aged in 10% new French oak barrels from five different coopers, including 50% Cadus barrels, owner Ed Madronich’s favourite oak. It shows a rich ruby colour in the glass with a profound nose of black cherries, ripe strawberries, brambly raspberries, fresh turned soil, jammy black currants, and toasty vanilla-tinged spices that all comes at you in waves. It’s rich, opulent and layered on the palate with a silky texture, fine-grained tannins and layers of ripe and sweet red berries, anise, cedar notes, chalky minerality, and spice with on a luxurious, lifted and long finish. Drinking fine right now but can cellar through 2030.
Flat Rock The OC Chardonnay 2023 ($35, 92 points) — The Monolith Series OC (Oaked Chardonnay) hearkens back to those pre-millennial heady California/Australia winemaking days when they smothered those Chardos in oak and consumers couldn’t get enough of them. Times have changed and Niagara, including Flat Rock, is certainly more known for its more nuanced, elegant style of Chardonnays, but this is a fun look-back at a style that once drove the market. The grapes for this wine were picked at maximum ripeness and sent straight into new French oak barrels for 21 months with regular lees stirring. And then, just before bottling, the wine was sent to another set of new barrels to create this “boundary-pushing” Chardonnay from bygone days. The judicious use of oak and long hang-time in the vineyard shows up immediately in the glass with a deep golden colour followed by full-on ripe orchard fruits of peach, poached pear, nectarine, lemon tart, toasty vanilla bean and spice box. The palate mirrors the nose with super-ripe orchard fruits, a creamy/rich texture, biscuit, stony minerality, plus buttery-caramel and spice notes. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s decadent but still maintains a sense of freshness on the finish from the mouth-watering acidity Niagara is famous for. No need for cellaring, this is rocking it right now.
Flat Rock Amplify Dry Riesling Riesling 2023 ($25, 91 points) — This amped up Riesling is a graduate of the Monolith Series and now has a more permanent place in the estate’s Foundation Series. It’s barrel aged for 12 months in a mix of French and American oak and undergoes full malo. It has a bold nose of lime, creamy lemon, green apples, ripe pear, saline minerality and nectarine. It’s dry on the palate with a creamy texture, bright citrus notes, peachy/pear fruit, apricot tart, just a hint of spice notes and a soft, rounded finish with juicy acidity.
Also released but not reviewed by Wines in Niagara:
• Konzelmann Reserve Series Merlot/Shiraz 2021 ($25)
• Kew Soldier’s Grant 2023 ($22)
• Kacaba Terraced Vineyard Syrah 2021 ($35)
• Flat Rock Unite 2023 ($35)
• Black Bank Hill Fraternité 2023 ($35)
• 13 Street Reserve Viognier 2023 ($30)
• 2027 Cellars Wismer Vineyard Foxcroft Block Cabernet Franc 2021 ($25)
• Stratus Chardonnay 2024 ($35)
• Organized Crime Sauvignon Blanc 2023 ($23)
• Leaning Post The Fifty Chardonnay 2022 ($26)
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