Buyer’s Guide to Vintages September 7th Release

Harvest & Storm Clouds in Ontario

By John Szabo MS, with notes from Sara d’Amato, David Lawrason and Michael Godel

The week’s report features the September 7 Vintages Release and the LCBO’s annual harvest-time focus on Ontario. The Vintages circular offers flashy spreads and ample coverage of Ontario wineries, with special emphasis on advancements in sustainability, the rise of hands-off winemaking, and the ongoing search for ever-finer distinctions across the province. It’s worth a read to brush up on some of the important developments that have taken place within the Ontario wine industry, ones which have and will continue to elevate wines on the world stage. I also highlight a few below.

But as local vintners head into the busiest and most exciting time of the year, storm clouds are gathering, at least metaphorical ones. VQA Ontario wines currently represent a pitiful 5% of LCBO wine sales, down from previous years. Read on for Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy’s stern directives to the LCBO to right the ship, and also for the WineAlign Crü’s top Ontario picks from the release, including a rare marsanne with equally rare quadruple alignment, should you want to help notch that market share up.

And also alarmingly, the Grape Growers of Ontario, the independent organization that represents more than 500 grape growers and 18,000 acres of vineyards across the province, are predicting a massive surplus of grapes this vintage, the worst oversupply since 2009 according to CEO Debbie Zimmerman. And this amidst the tragic harvest in the Okanagan Valley, where virtually no fruit will be picked this year thanks to January’s brutal cold snap, and many wineries have been scrambling to buy (the also massive oversupply) of grapes from Washington State. B.C. growers, take note: There are grapes for sale in Ontario. And speaking of foreign wines, the Crü also shares top picks from September 7, including a cracking Châteauneuf-du-Pape and a superb and an affordable red Bordeaux from the legendary 2010 vintage that’s drinking beautifully now.

What’s Going on In Ontario

“Taking environmental stewardship seriously is at the core of what we do for a living,” says Gabriel Demarco, winemaker at Cave Spring Vineyard. Earlier this summer Demarco called me up to share the learnings from cover crop trials he’s been running, clearly bubbling with excitement by the results. Ironically, as I was pulling weeds in my own vineyard in Prince Edward County and dripping with sweat while on the phone, Demarco enthused about the success he’s had weaponizing alfalfa, white clover and red clover in the battle against weeds.

Aggressive, tall weeds that grow up into the vine canopy are problematic. They reduce air flow and thus increase disease pressure, as moisture tends to hang around longer on leaves and grapes, creating perfect conditions for mildews to flourish. This is one of the principal challenges when growing grapes in a humid climate like southern Ontario’s.

Mechanical weeding by tractor is expensive and time consuming (and boring) and burns a lot of diesel, while clearing by hand is even more so (and good luck finding a crew that wants to hand hoe your vineyard). It’s little wonder many growers rely on herbicides to kill weeds under row — it’s much faster and cheaper, even if terrible for microbial life in soils, a factor whose critical importance is becoming ever-more obvious to farmers. Look for the telltale, perfectly linear strip of brown, lifeless soil under rows of vines when next driving through wine country. That’s herbicide in action.

But, according to Demarco, low-creeping clovers don’t grow high enough to suffocate the vines, and, importantly, they are “rapid-growing and outcompete weeds,” reducing or eliminating the need for herbicides. Clover also attracts beneficial insects, like bees, another obvious benefit. Stratus Vineyards has run similar trials with big success; winemaker Dean Stoyka is equally buoyant about the potential to eliminate herbicides altogether with both permanent inter-row and under-row cover crops based on clovers. Wide implementation of under-row cover crops would massively reduce the use of herbicides in Ontario.

Cave Spring is also on the cutting edge of ultra-violet weed-control technology. They have partnered with Haggerty AgRobotics and AgricUltra to design a Canadian-patented system that uses energy-efficient LED U.V. light to kill weeds. It’s another potential game-changer, especially adding electric tractors into the mix, already in use in vineyards.

Similarly, Vineland Estate is trialling a combination of ultraviolet light, ozone and hydrogen peroxide to attack mildews and fungus. “The results,” says Brian Schmidt, “are unbelievably promising.” Fungal diseases are typically controlled by toxic chemical sprays in conventionally farmed vineyards, but this new Canadian technology could significantly reduce the need for fungicides, not to mention save farmers thousands of dollars per year spent on the chemical products.

It’s heartening to see Ontario take a leading role in developing such innovative techniques that could change viticulture worldwide for the better.

Doing Less But Finding More

Along with advancing sustainability, Ontario winemakers are also increasingly obsessed with doing less in the winery in order to uncover more of the nuanced differences between vineyard parcels and sub-regions. “If there’s one thing Burgundy has taught me, it’s the importance of regional nuance,” says Thomas Bachelder, who has obsessed with terroir more than perhaps anyone in Ontario. “We’ve been mapping out the entire Niagara Peninsula from Vinemount to Niagara River to identify key factors in between,” he says, with a huge range of single vineyards on offer to prove the point. Tasting through them is always one of the highlights of the WineAlign tasting calendar year (if exhausting).

But Bachelder is hardly alone. “Perhaps the most exciting thing about making wine in Niagara,” says vintner Taylor Emerson of Black Bank Hill, “is the evolving and ongoing process of discovery; exploring the terroir and uncovering what makes us special and unique.” And Emerson’s refrain is heard throughout Ontario.

It now seems clear to Ontario winemakers, as elsewhere around the world, that the key to unlocking, the special and unique characteristics of a given vineyard is to do as little as possible to the incoming grapes, rather than to attempt to impose a style on a wine through a series of aggressive interventions in the winery. With the huge arsenal of techniques and approved winemaking additives available to vintners, it’s relatively easy to craft a wine to boardroom or focus-group specs. But such wines obviously crush the importance of place, the one thing that matters most to fine wine lovers.

“There’s an ethos to being an organic producer,” says Harald Thiel of Hidden Bench, a long time organic-biodynamic producer on the Niagara Escarpment. “Using indigenous yeasts, hand-picking, low intervention, all allows Beamsville Bench’s terroir to speak for itself.”

Len Pennachetti of Cave Spring adds another dimension of revelation through low-fi techniques. “I love crafting wine with low intervention, to allow for the vintage variation in each wine to speak in the glass,” he says, reflecting on the significant year-to-year differences experienced in Ontario. For Pennachetti, this is something to be celebrated, not ironed-out.

These are all very positive developments for the Ontario wine industry, a story to follow along as it unfolds.

Stern Directives from the Finance Minister to the LCBO

Recognizing the alarmingly poor performance of 100% Ontario-grown wines a at the LCBO, representing a paltry 5% of the sales mix, Ontario Finance minister Peter Bethlenfalvy sent a pointed letter to LCBO chair Carmine Nigro recently outlining ways to potentially increase market share for Ontario wines.

“With marketplace expansion around the corner and increased consumer demand for local Ontario products and those of other small producers, I am now directing the LCBO…to create more opportunities to promote these products in LCBO’s retail and wholesale operations,” Bethlenfalvy’s letter said. The LCBO, which reports to the Ministry of Finance, would seem obliged to implement the suggestions.

“In support of this direction, and while being mindful of Ontario’s trade obligations, I would like the LCBO to undertake the activities below during the lead up to and post launch of Phase 1 of retail expansion this summer. LCBO shall consult with government and stakeholders to inform these activities,” he wrote, and included several areas of improvement he would like to see take place.

Here’s what Bethlenfalvy suggests:

• Establish an internal/external champion who will lead the LCBO’s efforts to respond to consumer demands for local Ontario products.
• Establish a collaborative forum with local Ontario industries to understand the needs of the industry.
• Provide prominent merchandising space, signage, and promotional opportunities for small and local Ontario producers that reflect consumer trends and demands.
• Update LCBO public reporting to separate out and highlight the successes of small alcohol producers.
• Develop a plan to measure progress and targets in supporting these initiatives.
• Develop training supports for retail employees to highlight small and local Ontario alcohol producers, for which there is increased consumer demand and interest.
• Leverage LCBO Food and Drink and digital advertising assets to be an active partner for small and local Ontario alcohol producers.
• Implement supply chain and inventory strategies to better assist small and local Ontario alcohol producers in response to increased consumer demand for these products.

It remains to be seen which of these points will be addressed, and how fast. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, celebrate harvest time with a glass or two of VQA Ontario wine. Below are our suggestions.

Buyer’s Guide September 7: Ontario White

Kew Vineyards Marsanne 2020, Ontario, Canada
$19.95, Arterra Wines Canada
John Szabo – One of the rare (only?) marsannes in Ontario, and a small handful in Canada, KEW’s 2020 has shifted into a mature, bottle-aged expression from these experimental 1975 plantings, smoky, like old Hunter Valley Semillon – it’s idiosyncratic- but there’s a lot of appeal. A wine that will captivate a handful of people no doubt. Intrepid drinkers take note.
Sara d’Amato – Marsanne isn’t found much around these parts, a grape whose origins are in France’s northern Rhône Valley where it is often blended with roussanne. A pleasant surprise, this Beamsville Bench-grown expression is perfectly ripe, distinctive but not showy, and a notable value.
David Lawrason – Since when is a rare Rhone variety supposed to work so well in Niagara. It is a classic marsanne with, perfumed aromas of orange marmalade, yellow flowers, and spice. It is quite full bodied yet braced by good acidity, warmth and a lovely sense of fennel/licorice on the finish.
Michael Godel – If you knew how little marsanne there is planted in Ontario then you’d know what a unicorn this truly is. Succulent and conversely grippy, which translates as phenolic to underscore exactly what the grape should be. The definition of a discovery wine.

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