Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, CanadaThomas Bachelder, long heralded with his skilled hand at chardonnay and pinot noir, has turned his eye towards gamay, with a series of releases from the 2019 vintage, including two from Wismer-Foxcroft Vineyard, the special Twenty Mile Bench site known for its exceptional chardonnays and pinot noirs. Planted in 1993 to magnesium and limestone laced soils, this gamay was 22% whole cluster. Opening with a wave a reduction, this then moves into ample cracked pink and black peppercorns, savoury green stem, sapid black plum, wild raspberry, celery, ferrous notes, and a good shake of mineral salts on the finish. Tannins are long and well integrated into the toothsome fruit. More a brooding style, this gamay can handle pouring alongside roast pork and/or wild mushroom dishes.Tasted: 30 August 2021Tasted by: Prices:
ON
$27.95
750ml
winery online/direct
Producer: Mary et Thomas Delaney-Bachelder et FillesDistributors: Winery Direct Grape: Gamay NoirUPC: 185729000484
Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, CanadaProprietors Thomas and Mary Delany Bachelder are dedicated to making pure, mineral wines of elegance that speak to their origin, with no compromises. The second-generation Wismer family supplies the fruit for this wine from the Vineland Bench, where they have been growing grapes for 20+ years. The Foxcroft lies 5.2 kilometres from Lake Ontario, about 100 metres above the water in magnesium and limestone-laced, glacier-derived soils. With more clay and silt, the heavier soils add some heft to this gamay that opens with a meaty, gamy, bloody nose. It offers a rush of mid-palate weight on the palate with more wild cherry, spicy, stony fruit that is slightly reduced but blew off over time. It’s a richer version of gamay made from nearly 30-year-old vines. Bachelder’s first gamay was made in this vineyard, and he says the site “made us think of making an ageable ‘Cru” Gamay Noir." I do too. Drink through 2027.Tasted: 22 May 2021Tasted by: Prices:
ON
$27.95
750ml
winery online/direct
Producer: Mary et Thomas Delaney-Bachelder et FillesDistributors: Winery Direct Grape: Gamay NoirUPC: 185729000484