Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, CanadaThomas Bachelder is one of Canada's leading chardonnay and pinot noir specialists honed through time in Bourgogne and Oregon and years in the vineyards of his Niagara home base. As the label notes, this is from old vines (planted in 1983) in the Willms Vineyard, 6km from Lake Ontario, and 4km from the Niagara River, with a soil combo of silt loamy-clay, limestone, gravels, and sand. Thomas selects the eastern side of the vineyard for this wine. After a native ferment, this rested in French oak (none new) for around 16 months, sans bâtonnage. Broad and savoury, a buzzy undercurrent sweeps along green apple, pear skin, and a stony salinity through a lingering finish. Very moreish now, and with time ahead.Tasted: 17 June 2022Tasted by: Prices:
ON
$47.95
750ml
winery online/direct
Producer: Mary et Thomas Delaney-Bachelder et FillesDistributors: Winery Direct Grape: ChardonnayUPC: 185729000729
Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, CanadaWillms Vignes 1983 was a Bachelder favourite in 2018 when he praised its precision despite a warm year. In 2019, a medium yellow colour was the first thing I noticed from a wine whose vines are among the oldest in Niagara-on-the Lake. Like last year, the style is rich and honeyed for a Bachelder wine, a sort of California/Burgundy style if that makes any sense, with a preponderance of yellow apple and soft-ish acidity. There is a welcome yeasty, leesy note with a slightly bitter aftertaste that balances the wine. Certainly different from Thomas's norm, but nothing a roast a chicken dinner can't handle.Tasted: 29 November 2021Tasted by: Prices:
ON
$47.95
750ml
winery online/direct
Producer: Mary et Thomas Delaney-Bachelder et FillesDistributors: Winery Direct Grape: ChardonnayUPC: 185729000729