Tasting Note The strong spring release line-up from this newish winery shows how far it has come so fast. Chardonnay has become the bellwether variety in Ontario, and this fits comfortably among the best. It is a keen, balanced and bright example that captures an intriguing sense of being in an apple orchard, with fruits and ambient grasses and earth on the nose. Then, in creeps the oak spice (nutmeg) and tobacco, with each component evident. It is medium bodied, firm and crisp, yet suave and elegant, with excellent length. It should show well through the early 2030s.

Backgrounder Taylor Emerson purchased this property in Lincoln Lakeshore just below the Beamsville Bench in 2017 and planted several varieties. Despite the young vines, BBH’s rise has been dramatic post-Covid, perhaps due to the arrival of Taylor’s winemaking cousin Jonathan McLean, who was lured from the Okanagan Valley. For this chardonnay, two clones were harvested separately — 50% were whole-bunch pressed into barrel and 50% were de-stemmed and lightly crushed prior to receiving 24 hours of skin contact. Both batches were racked into third-use French oak barrels and fermented using ambient yeasts. Élevage was 19-months on lees in the same French oak. The wine was blended and estate-bottled without fining.