A kid from the Sault

The weather was cooler, everything a little dreary, and the skies grey, when I visited Niagara-On-The-Lake to speak with Peter Graham, a Sault boy, a Dunn grad, and now Assistant Winemaker at Lailey Vineyards.

I asked Peter how a kid from the Sault ended up making wine in Niagara – though he’s not the only one, as Marc Pistor is currently making wine for Vincor/Constellation Brands (think Wine Rack) in Niagara Falls.

Peter laughed, and explained that he had gone into nursing, but in second year realized that it was not for him.

When a friend mentioned a potential job as a wine tour guide on Pelee Island, Peter, apparently knowing nothing about wine, decided to give it a go, and at the end of the season stayed on the island through the winter to work in the vineyards.

He spent that year learning on the job the tasks of caring for vines under the tutelage of the vineyard manager, Bruno Friessen, a Brazilian Mennonite.

It was at that time that Walter Schmoranz, the Wine Master and President of Pelee Island Winery, came out to the island and approached Peter as he was riding a tractor, and asked him what he wanted to do; when Peter told him, basically, “learn about wine”, Walter pulled him off the tractor and made him interim Pavilion Manager, overseeing the tasting facilities.

Pelee Island, Peter said, makes about 3 and a half million litres of wine a year, and so when Peter decided he wanted to learn about ‘small batch’ wine making, he moved to nearby D’Angelo Vineyards, where Sal D’Angelo, a former Ontario
Grape King, was a master at precision viniculture, paying attention from vine to vine, not just acre to acre.

One example of this has to do with trellis practices, and how the vines are trained: Sal employed a modified “Scott Henry” system, with half the shoots growing up, half growing down, in a way that decreases the vigor of the vines (so they don’t over-produce) and increases the sun exposure as well as the air-flow.

Peter considered going to school to study winemaking, but, given what he had been able to learn already, it made more sense to continue his education “on the job”, and he eventually moved Niagara to work with Jean-Pierre Colas, a renowned winemaker from Burgundy, who was then at Peninsula Ridge, and is now at Thirteenth Street..

There, Peter worked with Colas, mainly managing the vineyard, and came away with the sense that, with the French, it can be a more intuitive approach, over-all.

After 5 years, Peter felt he needed more wine-making experience, and so moved to Lailey Vineyards in Niagara-On-The-Lake, which he feels, as a small operation where he gets to do everything, is a great fit.

He believes that winemaker Derek Barnett and the Lailey family know what to expect from the fruit on their property, and he is starting to use what he has learned to develop his own thoughts and approaches.

Peter summed it up as “the three i’s” – initiate, integrate (to create your own style), and innovate (develop your own expression): he would like to own his own vineyard eventually, continuing to make wine that people enjoy drinking,
combining precision grape-growing and wine-making to produce the best fruit and best possible wine.

He definitely sees himself as a “cool climate’ person, and he is working in a geographical area where nature can put a different character on fruit, especially Syrah and Pinot Noir, from vineyard to vineyard, even those only a couple of
miles apart.

I asked him why I’ve never seen a fat winemaker, and he laughed, explaining that people don’t realize how physical the job is, hauling around barrels that, even empty, weight over 100 pounds, spending hours “scouting” the vineyards to make sure everything is ship-shape and climbing up and down ladders in the winery.

Besides, he said, you have to be able to fit through the opening to clean out the stainless steel tanks!

I asked him how the current vintage compared to 2012, and he acknowledged how “Cool Climate” viticulture can lend itself to significant differences from year to year.

2012, like 2010, gave the vines everything they need to be great in the fields, giving the winemakers no need to play around, making significant adjustments.

2013 is a “winemaker’s vintage”, one that challenges the winemaker to demonstrate his or her craft, as, despite reasonable growing conditions, there was a period in early to mid-summer when it was so hot that the vines actually
shut down, with no photo-synthesis or sugar production, and so the sugar levels are lower.

The winemaker is compelled to decipher the grape chemistry for the harvest, picking more on PH than on flavour, “chasing after sugar”, keeping it in balance, plant to plant.

It is a busy time for Peter, who, as of last week, had only 4 days off since the end of September; this is where the action is, the moment when the winemaker has the most control over the wine, and it will affect sales for the next three years or
longer.

 

With this year’s harvesting, there’s a lot more time between varietals, as even on November 6, there were grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon still to be picked, partly a result of lack of space for fermentation, partly a result of looking for balance in over-all ripeness: leaving grapes on the vines at this stage might result in a little shriveling or drying up, intensifying flavour, similar to what is sought in the “appassimento” approach in the Veneto in Italy.

As to Peter’s own tastes, he enjoys Fumé Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc that has been fermented in new French oak barrels, a treatment that softens up the wine and moderates the high acidity of the grape.

He indicated that his Fumé Blanc is always evolving; he has an idea of where he wants it to be, and he has to be patient with it; he isn’t trying to do wines for immediate consumption.

He is also happy with Malbec, a grape that can achieve phenomenal maturity, and which, for Niagara, is truly and experimental varietal, one which he believes ripens before Cabernet Sauvignon and is as cold-hardy as Merlot or Syrah.

As for wine-making styles, the trend today is towards “non-intervention” - making wines as naturally as makes sense, with a really low use of sulphur, wild yeast fermentation, etc. – a more holistic approach, versus the “manufacturing” of wine,
though he doesn’t feel our climate is necessarily conducive to a whole-hearted commitment to organic and biodynamic practices.

In all, Peter loves the dynamics of the whole industry, from watching the migration of birds over the vineyards, to getting a glass of wine from a tank at the end of a tough day… and he has no intention of giving up his passionate pursuit
any time soon.

Lailey’s wines are highly respected, and, while none are currently available in our LCBO stores, they do come through vintages from time to time and it is expected that the 2012 Chardonnay Unoaked, $15, a fruit-forward white with good acidity, will be listed.

I was able to taste some barrel samples with Peter, an interesting exercise, as the wines are not yet finished.

The 2012 Malbec will probably be bottled early in the new year, after the 2013 harvesting and processing is completed: it has subtle red currant and dark cherry notes on the nose, and while balanced, comes across as a deeper, “broodier” red
than we might expect from a typical example from Argentina.

Likewise, the 2012 Syrah has some herbal and “meaty” accents, with good weight and dense, dark fruit – Peter says they strive for weight and texture with this wine which should retail for $27.

I would suggest checking out the website, where the wines can be purchased directly at www.laileyvinyard.com, - you also might consider joining their wineclub which sends wine your way four times a year.

As we head towards Christmas, we are starting to see the LCBO rolling out all kinds of liquid temptations.

Coming November23 is one of the earliest Super-Tuscans, Ornellaia 2010, celebrating its 25th Vintage; at $189.95 you expect greatness, and this wine earned a 97 from erobertparker.com – certainly not an everyday purchase, but after all, it is Christmas!

For my money I would aim for Chateau D’Anglès Grand Vin La Clape 2008, $20.95, which should be a stellar red, mostly Mourvèdre, a wine from the Languedoc produced by the former wine director of the top Bordeaux growth, Lafite Rothschild.

While writer Jancis Robinson would have us drink it up, the winery itself believes it could age for another 10 years or more.

If you are a ‘ripasso’ fan, there will be 9 cases in stock of the Remo Farina Ripasso Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2011, $17.95, which should present dried cherry and vanilla spice flavours and have good length.

A good value Vintages white will be the Santa Carolina Gran Reserva Chardonnay 2010 from Chile, $14.95, which should deliver well above its price, with oak and tropical fruit coming through from start to finish.

For a drier white, the Bordeaux blend from Chateau Roquefort, a Sauvignon/ Semillon 2011, $16.95, earned 4 out o5 stars in the 2012 Decanter World wine Awards, and was described as having “complex, herbaceous...flavours integrated into [a] long finish”.

Already in our Great Northern road store is the Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Calcaire 2011, $27.95 an amazingly rich, lush white wine that offers generous dollops of peach and melon, coming across as full-flavoured as a late harvest wine – I overheard one respected Niagara winemaker say that it was the best Pinot Gris he had ever tasted.

There are virtually dozens and dozens of wines worth trying both in the store and on their way: think of what you like, and ask the wine consultants for suggestions.

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