Tag: ONChardReview

This is the final article for my Ontario Chardonnay Review.  I’ve reviewed the wines, compiled tasting notes, identified soils associated with the participating wineries, and identified the weather conditions for each vintage.  Are there any similarities between wines produced on the same soil type, and are there any similarities between wines produced in the same year, and finally are there…

I have been interviewing Ontario winery principals for many years about their harvest and the growing season.  Weather and growing conditions can vary widely from year to year.  For my Ontario Chardonnay Review I tried to get wines that were from one or two growing seasons.  Most of the wines I received came from 2023 and 2024, with a few…

Soil is one of the important factors influencing the aromas and flavours produced by wine grapes.  For my Ontario Chardonnay Review, I checked with the Government of Canada National Soil Database (NSDB) Soils of Ontario to determine the soil types associated with each of the Ontario wineries that provided their bottle(s) of Chardonnay.  Using the free, open source, computer mapping…

The last Chardonnay to review for my Ontario Chardonnay Review is a sparkling wine made by  Drea’s Wine Co. which produces small batch, single vineyard, low intervention wines.  Drea’s wines are certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Ontario.  I really enjoyed tasting Drea’s Cabernet Franc wines when I undertook my Ontario Cabernet Franc Review last year.  Let me tell you about the latest…

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I received four bottles of different Chardonnay produced by Ontario’s Henry of Pelham winery.  I previously tasted their more entry level wines: Henry of Pelham Family Estate Classic Chardonnay 2025 and Speck Brothers Family Tree “The Goat Lady” Chardonnay 2023.  These wines were under screwcap.  The next two wines that I just tasted…

Ontario’s Dobbin Estate Winery does not talk a lot about itself.  It lets their wines do the talking.   Last year I tasted their Dobbin Estate Cabernet Blend 2020, which I rated as one of my top wines for 2025.  They are located on the highly acclaimed Twenty Mile Bench, and they note their calcium-rich soils are ideal for producing Chardonnay,…

I received three vintages of Chardonnay from Ontario’s Wending Home Estate Vineyards & Winery as part of my Ontario Chardonnay Review.  I reviewed the 2020 and 2021 vintages previously (see article), and today I am reviewing their 2023 vintage.  Without further delay, here are my tasting notes for this wine. My Wine Tasting Note Wending Home Estate Vineyards & Winery…

Last year I was tasting through Ontario Cabernet Franc wines, and I adored the wines from Wending Home Estate Vineyards & Winery Estate Vineyard, so I had great expectations when I received Chardonnay wines to review as part of my Ontario Chardonnay Review study.  I was not disappointed.  These are excellent wines.  In case you wanted to know about the…

You may have noticed that I have been reviewing and writing about southern Ontario Chardonnay wines, from the Niagara Peninsula in particular.  I have undertaken my “Ontario Chardonnay Review” where I review a selection of wines from across southern Ontario, then using the tasting notes and soil maps of the region, to investigate how Chardonnay in the region expresses itself…

The next Chardonnay that I am tasting for my Ontario Chardonnay Review comes from Henry of Pelham.  I received four bottles of their Chardonnay wines.  Today I am tasting two of them: Henry of Pelham Family Estate Classic Chardonnay 2025 and the Speck Brothers Family Tree “The Goat Lady” Chardonnay 2023.  The winery follows Sustainable Winemaking Ontario’s world-leading standards in their farming…