2021 Bachelder `Les Villages` Bench Niagara Chardonnay

Canada in the last 30 years has seen a wine revolution, partly fuelled by climate change.  Canada's Burgundy is Ontario with the Niagara Peninsula being the most important wine region.  Here, with its climate moderated by the Great Lakes, Thomas Bachelder and his wife Mary Delaney have produced high-quality, cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Years of making Chardonnay in Burgundy, taught Thomas to favour a low-intervention approach in his winemaking. As a result, the Bachelder wines are made using gentle pressing and indigenous yeast fermentations, followed by an extended ageing period to create a wine with beautiful elegance and well-integrated flavours.

The Les Villages ‘Bench’ Chardonnay is made using grapes sourced from benchlands along the Niagara Escarpment, which comprises the sub-appellations of Short Hills Bench, Twenty Mile Bench and Beamsville Bench. The resulting wine has a delicate floral start, leading to a creamy mid-palate with refreshing mineral notes, alongside flavours of apple and a hint of smoke. The finish is delicious.