Pinot Noir Vines at The Grange of Prince Edward County
A couple of weeks ago my partner (Becky) and I attended her cousins wedding in South Western Ontario. On our way back to Ottawa we decided it would be a great idea to spend an afternoon in one of the worlds up and coming wine regions, Prince Edward County. The county as it is known by people who live in the area is technically a large headland in the east end of Lake Ontario near the mouth of the St Lawrence River. It lies just south west of Kingston, Ontario and directly south of Belleville, Ontario. It has a rich loyalist and agricultural history dating back into the 1700s and more recently has become a hub for great local cuisine and now wine.
Vines have not been planted in the county for very long from what I have heard the oldest vines are roughly 15 years old. Before that I suppose no one had really thought of planting vines, it being Canada with such harsh winters. Most agricultural was devoted to livestock and fruit orchards, mainly apples. However, the county benefits from a moderating influence that being Lake Ontario, which actually allows for some great cool climate grape growing conditions. The biggest factor that makes the county very exciting is the wonderful limestone rich soils of the region which really expresses itself in the wines being made here. Moreover, many of the producers here are committed to producing high quality, terroir driven, and interesting wines.
I have tried several wines from the county and I am becoming more and more convinced that this place is really special and could become one of the greatest wine regions in the New World. In fact of all the New World wines I have tasted, PEC wines tend to always stick out in my mind as being so unique and wonderful. The first county wine I tried was The Grange of Prince Edward County's (whose Pinot Noir vines are pictured above) Trumpour's Mill Gamay Noir 2005. It was brought by my good friend Drew who had worked in the county for several summers and knew of the great wine makers in the region. He had cellared this Gamay for a couple of years and we tried it in the summer of 2008. We did not take written notes, but I remember we discussed the wine thoroughly on that gorgeous summer evening. Both of us picked up on a fascinating animalistic/gamey/meaty note that was so interesting and honestly awesome. We came away both feeling it was one of the best Gamay experiences we had ever had and from that point on I have been exploring what the County has to offer.
Unfortunately, we only had an afternoon to visit the County on our way back so our time was limited, but it turned out to be an absolutely perfect fall day and we had some truly memorable and amazing experiences. The first winery we visited was The Grange of Prince Edward County which as I explained above was the first County winery whose wine I had tried. They are owned by a father/daughter team of Bob and Caroline Granger and the wine is made by Jeff Innes who holds a certificate in vineyard and winery management from the Business Education Council of Ontario. The Grange currently holds 60 acres of vineyards with 72,000 vinifera vines which makes it far and away the largest winery in the County. The vines are planted in shallow clay gravel soils (about 12- 24 inches with the exception of one vineyard which is deeper) with calciferous limestone making up the bedrock. They grow quite a large range of wines from Gamay Noir, Pinot, Noir and Cabernet Franc to Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc. Overall they adhere to a philosophy of creating authentic, honest and terroir driven wine made all from County fruit.
Pinot Noir at The Grange
Vineyards at the Grange of Prince Edward County
The Grange of Prince Edward County
The winery's property is picturesque with a lovely loyalist barn built in the late 1820s turned into a tasting/event room and winery. We arrived early and had hoped to get a tour of the property, but unfortunately they were short staffed so we just tasted some of their wines. We started with their recently bottled 2007 Trumpour's Mill Pinot Gris which was a lovely perfumed wine with a lot of nice richness in the mouth. We then had the 2007 Trumpour's Mill Pinot Noir which I found to be quite light and rather neutral on the nose. It had an interesting sour cherry/cranberry note in the mouth with lengthy finish, I think it needs some time in the bottle but should be quite great in a couple of years. We finished with the definite highlight of the tasting the 2007 Trumpour's Mill Cabernet Franc which was so fascinating and unique we had to buy a bottle on the spot. We have now tried the bottle and I will publish the full tasting notes for it right after this blog, needless to say after spending a few hours tasting the wine it truly is excellent and if you get a chance I would highly recommend trying it.
After visiting The Grange we headed into Picton (which is in the centre of Prince Edward County) for lunch. Picton is a lovely town and I would highly recommend visiting it if you get a chance. I has a ton of great restaurants offering great dishes from local producers and of course local wine. Furthermore, it has some great little shops and coffee houses full of character and interesting products. One of the highlights was stopping at Buddha Dog which is a gourmet hot dog joint in the centre of downtown Picton. The hot dogs are hand made from seasoned beef sourced from local farms, the buns are also fresh and hand made. They offer a massive assortment of interesting toppings from fresh tomato-basil ketchup to smoky mesquite ketchups and everything in between. They also use locally sourced cheese as a topping, the Black River aged cheddar is definitely a must. I have to say these hot dogs were out of this world and for the quality really quite reasonable. If you are in Picton go to Buddha Dog it is worth the visit.
After lunch we headed down to the Black River cheese company who has a whole range of cheeses that are all so delicious. I would recommend trying their awesome salsa mozzarella and their lovely aged cheddars. From the Black River cheese company we headed south the the highly recommended (by my good friend Drew) Long Dog Winery. Very much off the beaten path Long Dog is in one of the southern-most parts of the County. Down several small winding country roads we arrived to a small house and barn on one side of the road and a small "tasting" building on the other side. We parked the car walked up to the little tasting building only to find it locked. On the door was a little printed sign claiming that they have the tasting bar open on weekends, but there was usually someone around to help if you knocked on the door of the house across the road.
Outside Long Dog's Tasting Room
Feeling disappointed as we did not want to go an knock on the door of a house we decided to take a few pictures around the property as it was very quaint. Just as we were about to start taking pictures a bearded man in a grey hoody and grape stained jeans came walking down the path across the road waving and saying "hello". We met up at the road and he asked if we were interested in tasting some wine, obviously the answer was yes. As we began talking we soon discovered that this man was actually Owner and Winemaker of Long Dog Winery, James Lahti.
James and his wife Victoria both worked in film business for years and decided in 1997 to look for a country vacation home in the County. They bought a 300 acre farm property founded in the 1840s from an acquaintance thinking it would be a nice place to get away. Pretty soon James, an already avid wine lover, noticed some small vineyards growing in the County and began to wonder if perhaps grapes could be grown on their property. After several soil samples and many consultations it was concluded that their soil and climate was remarkably similar to that of Burgundy. In 1999 James decided to import Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gamay Noir and Pinot Blanc from France and planted 1200 vines altogether with the help of Victoria and their close friend Steven. To the surprise of everyone the vines began to thrive in the limestone rich soils and summers in the southern tip of PEC. In 2000 they decided to plant a further 3700 vines and in 2001 7000 more including some Pinot Gris.
In 2002 their oldest planted vines produced a good size crop and so they decided it was time to make wine and converted the farmstead's pig barn into a winery. James who had never gone to school for viticulture read as much as he could on wine making and applied some of his own ideas on how wine should be made and set to work. Encouraged by their initial results and realizing that this really could be a great winery they planted 8000 more vines in 2003 and in 2004 began selling their wines. Long Dog Winery is now in its 7th vintage and from what I have tasted they are creating absolutely amazing stuff.
As James invited us into his little tasting room we began talking about how common interests, the fact that we both have Finnish heritage, about how he remember my good friend Drew who had recommended visiting the winery, and of course wine. As we talked he poured us a sample of his 2007 Bella Riserva Chardonnay. This was one big Chard with notes of butterscotch and tropical fruits on the nose a creamy mouth feel with a mineral driven finish. As we tasted the wine his wife Victoria came in and we started talking to her as well. James said he had to step out as he had some work to do, but if we wanted to see what he was doing after we finished tasting to come over to the barn. He left and Victoria poured us a sample of their 2007 Otto Riserva Pinot Noir. The nose on this wine was out of this world, just pure brilliance. So complex, so floral, pinot fruit, spice, and that 'je ne sais quoi' that Pinot Noir exhibits when it is at the top of its game. In the mouth it was just as beautiful with tons of ultra smooth pinot fruit and pure County minerality, it culminated with a finish that just went on and on. We bought a bottle and are putting it away for a bit so when I do open it up I will publish the full tasting notes as I think it is going to end up absolutely amazing.
After we finished tasting the wines we went to see what James was up to. He was in the midst of destemming his 2009 crop of Chardonnay. He gave us a bunch of the grapes to taste which were beautifully ripe and just delicious. As we ate his grapes we began talking more about his wines. He said that great wine is not made in the cellar but in the vineyard and that the key to making great wine is by growing great fruit. All his wines are made from grapes 100% from his own vineyards that he has grown and if they are not the quality he wants he will sell them to other wineries in the County. He uses indigenous yeasts and strives to make his wines as pure expressions of his land in South Marysburgh, Prince Edward County. Furthermore everything is done by hand from the vines they originally planted, to pruning and picking. He does bring in workers to help him pick, but all are from the area as James believes in supporting the local economy.
Long Dog's 2009 Pinot Noir Fermenting
As James finished destemming his Chardonnay he asked if we wanted to see the rest of the winery. He lead us into the barn which they converted into the winery. On one side are all his oak barrels in which he was barrel fermenting his 2008 crop and on the other side of the barn was his recently picked (14 days prior) 2009 Pinot Noir grapes undergoing fermentation. As he stirred the must to keep it from burning as fermentation was kicking into high gear at this point he spoke more about wine. He said he wasn't interested in making McWine and that wine makers should be striving to create something that is an expression of its place not something that is made to suit mass tastes. Personally I am glad he has this philosophy on wine it is very refreshing in a time when a lot of wine is just manipulated to make it uniform and drinkable. James also gave us an opportunity to taste the fermenting must, which was delicious and gave an idea as to how his 2009's will be. It was a wet summer in most of Ontario, but James said he was very happy with his harvest. He said that most of the rain in their South Marysburgh microclimate came in the evenings and that they had sun in the days. Also September and October were quite dry and really helped to ripen the grapes. Overall he said the 2009s should turn out to be excellent. After that we shook hands and headed out as James had to get back to work. I would highly recommend visiting Long Dog Winery if you get a chance. Their wines are really only available at the winery or a few select restaurants and more people need to try these wines because they are awesome. On top of that James and Victoria are so personable, passionate, and committed to wine that it is a pleasure just meeting them.
After we spent so much time at Long Dog Winery, we had to get back to Ottawa. It was an absolutely fantastic time it was too bad that we could not visit more wineries, but we did not have that much time. Next summer we are planning a weekend trip and will try to get to as many wineries as possible so stay tuned for that blog next year. All I can say is that Prince Edward County is producing to absolutely stunning wines and I can only see bright things in its future. If you get a chance please visit the region as you will not regret it. It is a place where the wine, food and people really speak for themselves.
