(2023) It's around a decade since I had a big wine touring professional trip to Ontario, but having returned on holiday late in 2023 I discovered just how much the wine industry on the Niagara Peninsula had grown, and how good the wines were. Here's a Niagara Pinot were whole clusters where wild yeast-fermented before 23 months in French oak. And it is a lovely wine: pale and almost translucent, sous-bois and cherry, a gentle smokiness and a sappy touch of something herbal to add interest. In the mouth the coffee character from the barrels gives a really gentle and dark underpinning to the fruit. Tannins are elegant and acidity well-balanced, in a rather lovely Pinot.