Out east, in Nova Scotia, Blomidon Estate winemaker Simon Rafuse is blunt: “It can really be a challenge to grow Pinot for still red. Getting the grapes to a good level of phenolic development without too much rot setting in is tricky. We often have to pick just after the sparkling wines to ensure any decent commercial level of yield.” The different growing conditions across Canada are
broadly—but not perfectly—reflected in the styles of Pinot Noir they produce. There is a clear distinction between British Columbia and Ontario Pinot Noirs, with the former showing more assertive fruit, but both tend to have well-developed and well-calibrated acidity. In the cooler regions of both these provinces, the emphasis is on acid rather than fruit, and the wines tend to be lighter in body and color, though rarely as light as the Pinot Noirs from Quebec and Nova Scotia. As for the clones of Pinot Noir planted across Canada, most growers have opted for several, in order to increase the complexity of their wines. The Dijon clones 667 and 777 are universally popular, and most wineries appear to co-ferment the clones. But at Stag’s Hollow winery in Okanagan Falls, where nine clones are planted in two vineyards, winemaker Keira LeFranc vinifies the clones separately. “We feel each clone offers distinct aromatic, structural, textural, and flavor components, and by having multiple clones that are vinified and barrel-aged separately, we give ourselves a lot of options in terms of blending and building layered complexity when the time comes.” Not all clones are suitable for some districts. As noted earlier,
Stag’s Hollow is planting Tempranillo to replace one clone (Ritter) of Pinot Noir that has underperformed in warming conditions. Meanwhile, Blomidon Estate, on the shores of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, has chosen to focus on clone 115, which has proved hardier than 667 or 777 in its rigorously cool growing conditions.
A growing sense of their own place Winemaking techniques vary from winery to winery, of course. Many ferment whole clusters and some ferment whole berries. Almost all age Pinot Noir in French barrels, but many are adopting formats larger than barriques and are reducing the proportion of new oak. Most use between 10 and 30 percent new oak barrels in their mix, but Thomas Bachelder, who makes a series of impressive single-vineyard Pinot Noirs in Niagara Peninsula (“I’m trying to map Niagara, one vineyard at a time”) has foresworn new oak entirely; he relies only on second-use barrels. As for the style of Pinot Noir producers aim for, some declare that they make their wines in “a Burgundian style.” Perhaps Keint-he Winery & Vineyards, an excellent producer in Ontario’s Prince Edward County, is most explicit; its website refers to it as “a Burgundian winery right here in Ontario.” In Niagara Peninsula, Le Clos Jordanne began life in 2000 as a partnership between Vincor, a big Canadian wine company no longer in existence, and Burgundy’s Boisset company. Le Clos Jordanne went out of business for a few years but has been revived and retains a resolutely and explicitly Burgundian approach to viticulture, winemaking, and even labeling. Some winemakers refer to Burgundy and other Pinot Noir- producing regions as guides. Simon Rafuse of Blomidon Estate says he likes “pretty, floral, and fruit-driven Pinot,” and adds, “I think back to the early 2000s Burgundian Hautes-Côtes wines or the Coteaux Champenois I was introduced to at school, as
inspirations for what we’re trying to achieve.” Bachelder, in Niagara Peninsula, has also made wine in Burgundy and Oregon, and his discussion of his Niagara Pinot Noirs is occasionally punctuated with references to Burgundy villages, such as Chambolle-Musigny and Volnay, as similarities occur to him. But there seem to be many fewer references to Burgundy than there used to be. Instead, winemakers acknowledge their own unique growing conditions and winemaking styles. Many now declare that their wines have “a sense of place,” and if that notion doesn’t bear much scrutiny either, at least “the place” is their own vineyard and not a wine region in another country. Asked if they try to make their Pinot Noir in a specific style, most winemakers reply—fairly predictably—that they work with the grapes each vintage gives them and try to intervene as little as possible. Typical is Colin Stanners, co-owner and winemaker at Stanners Vineyard in Prince Edward County. “We are in a very cool wine region,” he says, “so that is the style we make. I’m not trying to make it into something it isn’t.” Burgundy also crops up in other contexts. A number of principals who discussed Canadian Pinot Noir for this article cited the high prices of red Burgundy as a partial explanation for the popularity of Canadian Pinot Noir. It is an open question how many consumers consider Burgundy and Canadian Pinot Noir interchangeable, but most very good Canadian Pinot Noirs sell for less than C$60 a bottle—far lower than village-level Burgundies. But it is also possible to pay a lot more for Canadian Pinot Noir, such as C$150 a bottle for Martin’s Lane Winery Fritzi’s Vineyard Pinot Noir 2019. Harald Thiel, owner of Hidden Bench Winery in the Beamsville Bench sub-appellation of Niagara Peninsula, puts pricing in a broader context. “There is a very good price:quality ratio with our wines, even though they are at premium price points,” he says. “The large price increases for Pinot Noir in Burgundy, Oregon, and California have permitted us to increase pricing to absorb some recent cost increases with labor and packaging.”
From outlier to highflier There is plenty of enthusiasm for Canadian Pinot Noir, and many producers plan to extend their plantings. Almost all talk of the ease with which they sell Pinot Noir—even though it tends to fetch higher prices than other varieties. Ben Bryant, winemaker at 1 Mill Road Winery in Okanagan Valley, says, “I think the world’s palate is evolving to a lighter and more moderated wine style, and Pinot Noir fits nicely in that category.” But some point to Pinot Noir consumers’ being more discriminating. Lindsay O’Rourke (the winemaker) and Graham O’Rourke (the viticulturist), wife-and-husband owners of Naramata Bench’s Tightrope Winery, say, “Pinot Noir drinkers tend to be well versed and can easily distinguish between good and poor quality. They can be stylistically picky.” Overall, though, it seems that no one is stuck with volumes of unsold Pinot Noir. The place of Pinot Noir in Canada’s vineyards and in Canadian wine consumers’ shopping baskets has changed rapidly over the past two decades. From being an outlier variety, albeit with the cachet that Burgundy gave it, Pinot Noir is now important in both major wine regions—more so in British Columbia than in Ontario—and it has been embraced by consumers. There’s no reason to think that this will continue forever, of course, but at this moment, Pinot Noir is in a good place in Canada.
THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 79 | 2023 | 139
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