Tasting Note One of my favourite wines of 2025 was generously donated to the Grand Finale Event at the Canadian Culinary Championship. I ranked it in first place at CCC Best of Show Competition, although it did not reach the Wine of the Year final when all the judges rankings were tallied. When tasted last fall the nose seemed a bit more reserved than others in the 2023 Bachelder range, but it captured classic mineral, hazelnut, lemon, pear and considerable spice. It is quite elegant, linear and powerful, with flavours and energy that build and build. A very intense wine in its way. Excellent to outstanding length. Tasted December 2025 and January 2026.

Backgrounder Quebec-raised Thomas Bachelder started out as a wine writer but veered into winemaking in Burgundy after a visit there in the 1990s. Pinot and chardonnay have been his calling ever since, taking him to Oregon, then to Niagara to head up a Franco-Canadian joint venture in 2003 called Le Clos Jordanne, which he still oversees. But his own venture, with partner Mary Delaney, has been to explore Niagara terroirs in detail, sourcing fine, old-vine, organically farmed sites the length of Niagara, to prove the region’s diversity and quality potential. In 2023 he made 13 different chardonnays! For several years now, this chardonnay from the Wingfield Block of the sprawling Wismer Vineyard has shone the brightest in my books. The Wismer Vineyard is among the most highly regarded in Niagara, a gentle north-facing slope laced with limestone. Different blocks have emerged with special features. Wingfield is a bit higher on the slope and a touch farther inland, so a cooler site. Bachelder winemaking employs wild yeasts and long ageing in barrels “chosen for their transparency and ability to express terroir.”