Getting schooled in cool-climate Chardonnays

In mid-July, winemakers, winery owners, those in the trade and the wine-loving public convened in Niagara to celebrate wines made from the noblest of white grape varieties — Chardonnay.

This annual gathering isn’t just about any old Chardonnay, however — rather, it fêtes those made in regions where the grape produces the liveliest, most exciting examples of the stuff.

The 16th annual International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration brings together producers making Chardonnay in regions of the world that don’t get as hot as, say, Napa Valley, Australia’s Barossa Valley or Tuscany in Italy.

The grape developed a bad rep among some wine drinkers for being overly oaky and buttery, with almost-overripe fruit flavours and a big, rich texture. That style has primarily a thing of the past, however, with more producers opting to craft wines that deliver decent ripeness but with less oak influence and more zip, offering a lively wine with a backbone rather than something on the flabbier, over-extracted side of things.

Cool-climate producers are ideally suited for this style of Chardonnay. Grapes grown in regions that don’t get as hot retain more acidity, delivering a fresher, racier style of wine — particularly when winemakers skip extensive aging in new oak barrels in favour of older wood, stainless steel tanks or concrete vessels before bottling.

It also makes sense that Wines of Ontario (who invited me as a guest to attend) is one of the primary sponsors of the event, and that Niagara is the area to host it — the region’s grape growers and winemakers have embraced cool-climate viticulture, working with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Gamay, Cabernet Franc and a handful of other grapes that thrive in areas that don’t get overly hot.

Niagara’s glacial soils and the moderating effect of nearby Lake Ontario are an ideal combination for cool-climate viticulture.

The “international” component of the event included wineries from France, Italy and South Africa, and there was a contingent from Nova Scotia and British Columbia on hand as well. But the bulk of the wines being poured over the three days were from Ontario, and specifically the Niagara region.

The three-day event kicked off July 16 with School of Cool, a day-long series of tastings and workshops aimed primarily at those in the trade, with a keynote address by Quebec sommelier Véronique Rivest followed by panels that delved into sparkling iterations of Chardonnay, a coast-to-coast tasting of Canadian cool-climate Chardonnay and others. For wine nerds like myself, it offered valuable insight into the state of Chardonnay and the industry in general.

The following day saw the bulk of the Canadian media contingent visiting producers for vineyard and winery tours as well as some tasting (Chardonnays, obviously, but also some other odds and ends) and very nice meals.

Our first stop was at Leaning Post Wines near Stoney Creek, a winery owned by ex-Winnipeggers Ilya and Nadia Senchuk. They make a range of very good cool-climate Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs and Riesling, and led the group through an extensive tasting of their wines. (There are two Leaning Post wines at Liquor Marts, as well as a half-dozen or so more at Kenaston Wine Market.)

After a couple more wine-related visits, it was off to the Niagara airport — not to head home, but for Friday Night Flights, which sees attending wineries each pouring a couple of their wines (Chardonnay, both still and sparkling) in an airport hangar. This event is aimed mainly at the public, with many in attendance decked out in colourful, summery attire while sampling Chardonnay as a cover band pumped out the hits.

The next day started with a tour, tasting and lunch at Maivoire Wine Co., where Nova Scotia’s Blomidon Estate Winery joined in to pour wines and co-host an East Coast-inspired seafood boil lunch, which paired quite well with — you guessed it — cool-climate Chardonnay. (Malivoire’s exceptional wines are available in Winnipeg at De Nardi Wines.)

The evening saw everyone gather at Peller Estates Winery and Restaurant for the big closing dinner and tasting, giving guests and trade one last chance to taste through the cool-climate Chardonnays on offer.

Was there plenty of merrymaking? Yes. By the end of the trip, did I need a little break from Chardonnay, cool-climate or otherwise? Also yes.

But the main takeaway from the International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration for this writer, and likely most in attendance, was that a great many producers, particularly in Niagara, have embraced expressions of the grape that retain freshness and verve — and that (hopefully) the days of fleshier, super-ripe and weightier examples of Chardonnay are a thing of the past.

For more on the International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration, see coolchardonnay.org.

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Wines of the week

Chartron et Trébuchet 2023 Crémant de Bourgogne Chardonnay (Burgundy, France — $28.99, Liquor Marts and beyond)

Made in the traditional method used in Champagne (secondary fermentation in the bottle), this sparkling wine from Burgundy, the homeland of cool-climate Chardonnay, is medium straw in appearance, offering bread dough, baked apple, peach, biscuit and lemon-curd aromas. It’s dry, light-plus-bodied and with a slightly rich texture, with the yeasty, bread-dough notes from 12 months aging on the lees in the bottle adding texture to the baked apple, saline, white pepper, lemon zest and peach flavours. A bubbly that punches above its price tag. 4/5

 

Leaning Post 2022 The Fifty Chardonnay (Niagara Peninsula, Ont. — $27.99, Liquor Marts and beyond)

From Manitoba-born Nadia and Ilya Senchuk comes this Niagara Chardonnay, aged in concrete vessels (versus stainless steel or oak). It’s medium straw in appearance and aromatically offers up-front red apple, pear, lemon zest and a hint of lees. It’s dry, light-plus bodied and viscous, with the fleshy apple and pear notes accompanied by tart lemon flavours and a hint of chalky limestone on the palate. It’s a slightly older vintage with a lovely texture and viscosity, and hints at Burgundy while still retaining that decidedly Niagara style. 4.5/5

 

Malivoire 2024 Chardonnay (Beamsville Bench, Ont. — $28.99, De Nardi Wines)

Pale straw in appearance, this Beamsville Bench Chardonnay brims with ripe red apple, lemon curd, pineapple, pear and floral aromas. It’s light-plus-bodied and dry, with loads of fresh tree fruit, citrus and tropical notes, a hint of spice (from 10 per cent Chardonnay Musqué grapes), some nice creaminess from malolactic fermentation (half the wine is also fermented in mature French barrels) and, at 12.5 per cent alcohol, a modest, medium-length finish. Elegant and stylish, with plenty of ripe fruit to boot. 4.5/5

 

Cave Spring 2022 CSV Chardonnay (Beamsville Bench, Ont. — $32.99, G.J. Andrews)

This single-vineyard, estate-grown Chardonnay is medium-deep gold in appearance and aromatically offers ripe peach and red apple, a vanilla/crême brulée note and a hint of spice that comes with a pinch of lemon. It’s medium-bodied and dry, with lush, ripe peach, pineapple and red apple flavours showing very well alongside the vanilla, fleshy pear and subtle spice notes. Modest acidity brings in the lemony note, while the four months in barrel and extensive aging on the lees (the spent yeast cells) add a richness texturally that ramps up complexity. 4/5

 

ben.sigurdson@winnipegfreepress.com