Tasting Note
This has the stuffing that reminds me of great white Bordeaux. It has that kind of structure and depth. In fact, in recent years, I have increasingly thought this way about barrel fermented sauvignons from Niagara’s Four Mile Creek region. They are not New Zealand, nor are they like Sancerre. They fall right in between with sub-tropical guava, fresh herbs and a weight that opens its arms to oak. This is a nicely detailed example with a lifted nose of guava, grapefruit and fresh dill. It is medium bodied, generous and almost rich with some warmth, firm acid and intense flavours. The length is excellent. This wine was released at LCBO Vintages store in January 2026, but likely to sell through quickly.

Backgrounder
To most Divergence is still obscure, but I have had winemaker Jeff Moote on my radar for about two years now. He has a real touch around making firm, structured wines that ring with varietal accuracy. One reason for his obscurity is that there is no winery as such. He makes the wine within the Colab project based at Marynissen Estates. Nor is there a vineyard, but he has smartly gone to some of Niagara’s best vineyards to purchase fruit. In this case to the Creek Road Vineyard planted in 2004 near the town of Virgil in the heart of Niagara-on-the-Lake. The winemaking was straight forward with early morning picking, short cold soaking before pressing to preserve freshness.  It was racked to French oak barriques for fermentation with selected and wild yeast. Partial malolactic fermentation followed. After nine months the final blend was selected from 20% new, 20% second fill, and the remainder older neutral wood.  It was aged one year in bottle before release. 

National Wine Awards 2025 Gold Medal