Gamay Noir 2023
WISMER WINGFIELD VINEYARD
Gamay Noir grapes were sourced from the Wingfield Vineyard managed by the Wismer Family.
Smoky, meaty, and savoury, this vintage marks a stylistic deviation from the prior two vintages of this wine. Still underlined by red berry fruits and fresh acidity, this wine will accompany a wide range of cuisines.
An exploration in bench terroir and winemaking style, this wine will satisfy a variety of palates.
Gamay Noir 2023
WISMER WINGFIELD VINEYARD
Gamay Noir grapes were sourced from the Wingfield Vineyard managed by the Wismer Family.
Smoky, meaty, and savoury, this vintage marks a stylistic deviation from the prior two vintages of this wine. Still underlined by red berry fruits and fresh acidity, this wine will accompany a wide range of cuisines.
An exploration in bench terroir and winemaking style, this wine will satisfy a variety of palates.
SENSORY PROFILE
Pale to medium ruby in the glass, this wine has aromas of dark fruit, cured meats, smoke, and vanilla. The palate is considerably more fruit driven with cherry, raspberry, and blackberry underlined by savoury herbs and a smoky vanilla note. The structure is firm, and leads to a long, smooth finish.
FOOD PAIRINGS
Pair this wine with smoked brisket, birria tacos, mushroom risotto, or any other savoury umami driven dishes you can think of.
CELLARING POTENTIAL
This wine is tightly wound on release in 2025, and will likely show its best from 2026 through 2030.
VINTAGE
The 2023 growing season started with an early budbreak and a frost risk in May. June and July followed with a lot of wet and warm weather that resulted in higher than average disease pressure. July and August presented a new challenge to us in Niagara, with wildfire smoke filling the skies reducing our sunlight hours and keeping daytime temperatures down.
The light crop load in 2022 and sunny spring of 2023 gave a high cluster count on the vines, but cluster weights were average to smaller due to the poor weather at flowering.
September and October brought perfect harvest conditions during the critical months and winemakers were able to make harvest decisions according to the vineyard and desired wine styles. The fruit and resulting wines from the 2023 vintage show very ripe characters, excellent balance, and ability to express site and terroir.
WINE DATA
Variety: 100% Gamay Noir
Alcohol.: 12.5%
Residual Sugar: 1.5 g/L
Titratable Acidity: 6.3 g/L
pH: 3.29
Bottling Date: 2025-02-14
Production: 140 cases
VINEYARD AND HARVEST DATA
Appellation: Twenty Mile Bench
Site: Wismer Wingfield Vineyard
Soil: Oneida loam over clay till parent material
Clone: 509 and 565
Rootstock: 3309
Vine Age: 2016 planting
Harvest Date: 2023-11-03
Yield: 3.6 T/ac
VINIFICATION
Grapes were hand harvested and destemmed into one large fermenter. After allowing some fermentation activity to begin spontaneously, the tank was inoculated with a selected yeast strain. The tank was pumped over twice daily and one delestage was performed at the peak of fermentation.
The wine was pressed after two weeks and settled for a short time before being transferred to French oak barrels: 40% in a new 500 L puncheon and the remainder neutral barriques. After twelve months, the wine was racked out of barrel and gently filtered prior to bottling.