Tasting Note First tasted blind at the Judgement of Kingston 2025, this proved the sturdiest in the lineup of five wines. On second look in January 2026, it’s firm acidity and tannin were confirmed. This should be laid down about three years. There is plenty to wait for with impressive flavour intensity already obvious. And there is considerable complexity as well. The nose is fairly expressive with classic strawberry-red cherry fruit, some hay/earthy cellar character and modest oak spice. It is light to medium bodied (13.1%), intense, with a smooth mid-palate, sour-edged, and quite dry in the end. Flavours stay well focused and hit excellent length. One of the most “old-world” styled pinots from PEC, that I would place in Burgundy’s Côtes de Beaune by a traditional winery. Best 2028 to 2032.
Backgrounder – Keint-He, with one of the most classic labels in Canadian wine (in my view), is named after a Seneca First Nations village in what is now PEC. It is also the base of the current name of the Bay of Quinte. The winery grew out of early vineyard and winemaking by County pioneer Geoff Heinricks in the Hillier region, with one of its vineyard sites, called Little Creek, being the second-oldest in PEC, planted in 1997. The winery was opened in 2006 by retired banker Ron Rogers, with Heinricks as winemaker. There have been others in the meantime but Bryan Rogers is now at the helm. The 28 acres are spread over three sites, including the impressive Big Lake vineyard on Lake Ontario, at the winery. This wine was barrel aged about 14 months in 44% second-pass oak and 56% neutral and was bottled unfined and unfiltered.
