This is a tale of two vineyards on Twenty Mile Bench on the Niagara Peninsula—Foxcroft and Wingfield. When I made my first visit to Canada in 2022 I was surprised to discover an unfolding story of terroir as I tasted my way across the Niagara Peninsula, but nowhere more so than on the bench. The limestone slopes are somewhat similar to Burgundy’s, albeit this hillside faces north and the vast expanse of Lake Ontario moderates the climate.
My eye was caught by the wines made with Chardonnay from Foxcroft Vineyard, which have a distinctive density and richness. The fullish body is underscored with stony minerality which carries to a savory oyster-shell finish. It should combine richness with elegance, although it can swiftly over ripen and become heavy. Wine from Foxcroft, in the guise of various varieties, cropped up over a period of ten days while tasting with different producers.The wine business in Niagara is not unlike Burgundy in so much as some producers are estates with their own vineyards, while others are négociants buying fruit from growers and many combine the two.
The Wismer family are among the principal growers in Niagara with seven farms and 300 acres (120ha). Other well known growers include Saunders and Laundry. The Wismers settled here three generations ago and moved into grape production when the bottom fell out of the tender fruit market. In the early 1990s they started planting in Jordan. Knowing nothing about grapes, Rick Wismer listened to Lloyd Schmidt who had experience in cool climate viticulture in Germany. He advised on which varieties to plant and where, although in retrospect this seems to be experimental and scatter-gun. Craig Wismer is now at the helm of the family business Wismer Vineyards and he sells fruit to around 70 producers.
Digging into the Foxcroft and Wingfield terroirs
On my last trip I wrote an overview of the whole region, so on this visit I wanted to dig into a specific terroir. Foxcroft offered the opportunity to taste wines from several winemakers in one sitting to see if there was a shared identity. Does Foxcroft have a vineyard expression or had I imagined it?
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Thomas Bachelder and Adam Lowy of Cloudsley Cellars produce Foxcroft Chardonnay from neighboring rows. They also make Chardonnay from Wingfield, another Wismer vineyard which lies 4.2 miles (6.8km) from the lake—0.6 miles (1km) south (ie inland) of Foxcroft, further up the slope and 160f (50m) higher in altitude.
Twenty Mile Bench is actually a double bench and Wingfield is on the upper section with Foxcroft below. So I decided to include Wingfield in my research. It promised to be a good contrast with Foxcroft as I recall the wines being straighter, citrusy with clipped edges, more delicate than Foxcroft with a sharper, silvery mineral thread.
Craig Wismer is a busy man. His company, Glen Elgin Vineyard Management, also looks after numerous other vineyards and wineries throughout the region making him notoriously difficult to get hold of, so I wasn’t sure if he would show up for our appointment in the vineyard. But he came and moreover surprised me with his keen interest in the expression of terroir in the final wine.
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“I can pick out Foxcroft blind for its salinity and minerality,” says Craig, who knows this vineyard better than anyone. “They are fuller, riper wines with an undertone of minerality.” I went for a walk in both vineyards with Craig, Thomas Bachelder, and Adam Lowy. This was followed by an extensive tasting of wine pulled in from different producers of Foxcroft with Thomas in his winery (aka the “bat cave”).
Subsequently, in Prince Edward County (PEC), I came across several wines from Foxcroft and Wingfield. I had been unaware that Craig has customers in PEC where it is typical for producers to import some fruit from the Niagara Peninsula. However the producers here don’t customarily declare either the vineyard or grower on the label as those on the peninsula are wont to do. This seems to be a missed opportunity for PEC producers to show tighter provenance in their Niagara wines and there’s added kudos where a vineyard, such as Foxcroft, is fast gaining a reputation for quality and terroir expression.
A description of the Fox
Let’s start with a description of Foxcroft, which is affectionately referred to as “Fox” by those who grow and make it. It’s a 45 acre (18ha) parcel on the Vineland side of the Twenty Mile Bench appellation. It is 360ft (110m) above sea level at the top of the vineyard and lies 3.4 miles (5.5km) from Lake Ontario, which moderates the temperature. On summer afternoons, as the hot air rises off the land, cool air is drawn in from the lake, then hits the escarpment and tumbles back. This windy turbulence is quite noticeable in some vineyards and while it is not as cool on the bench as Lincoln Lakeshore and Creek Shores, there is certainly some lake effect. In October and November the proximity to the lake makes it slightly warmer than those vineyards on the lake shore, permitting a longer hang time if the weather is fine and the fruit healthy. The dolomitic limestone makes the bench special. The topsoil is a glacial till, a degradation of the escarpment washed down over thousands of years—limestone mixed with shale, clay, silt, and stones with various depths and compositions.
Foxcroft was planted in two phases. In 1996 with Chardonnay (15 acres [6ha] of clone 96 largely grafted onto 101.14 rootstock) and 10 acres (4ha) each of Gamay and Cabernet Franc, while another 10 acres of Riesling followed in 1997. The vineyard is a contiguous parcel accounting for most of the land on this Wismer 50-acre (10ha) farm.
“We originally identified Foxcroft for large scale management and machine picking, but began to feel this didn’t do the vineyard justice,” explains Craig. “In the early to mid 2000s, I was approached by producers, people like Norm Hardie and Thomas Bachelder, who were looking for ultra-premium fruit which helped drive the shift for us. Fruit like that didn’t exist back then or at least not for sale by growers. This began the focus on quality, changing the trellis to VSP instead of Scott Henry and Niffen, reducing buds, manual leaf removal, crop management, and so on.”
Craig prefers to work with numerous small producers focused on terroir-driven wines rather than with fewer large companies looking for a large volume of fruit. He sold Foxcroft fruit to 26 producers in 2023, eight of them making Chardonnay. “It helps that everyone is pushing for quality so I can manage the whole vineyard pretty much the same way,” he tells me. It is all hard harvested with the exception of some Riesling. “It’s a really special site, large and efficient to work, not shaded by trees and bushes so it makes fuller, riper wines, and the quality and expression now shows from the relationships we have forged with these producers.”
Maybe the best section for Chardonnay is the southwest quadrant—top right if you stand with your back to the lake. Thomas Bachelder and Adam Lowy both have full-length rows running top to bottom in this upper quadrant, which also contains some rows of Riesling on the far right/west.
As we walked along these rows Thomas remarked on the whiter color of the soil when compared with the lower section of Foxcroft where the soil has a reddish tint. “There’s more magnesium oxide in the soil,” says Thomas, who had Chardonnay rows here, but swapped to the quadrant above. He points out this lower section of Foxcroft forms a band which continues eastwards along the bench into Hank and Wismer Park, which are good vineyards for Pinot Noir.
In the upper quadrant he has found the lower two thirds of his rows produce wine with a more mineral feel. Analysis of the top soil in this specific band has confirmed a higher level of calcium carbonate. Craig tells me there is no difference in the vine growth or yields along the full stretch of the rows. “The vines reached a natural satisfaction at around 20 years and now they are 30 years old there is purity [in the expression]. We don’t manipulate the vines, but help them show a sense of place.” So it seems there is a difference in the soil. Crag points out the top third of the rows is flat, while the lower section is on a marginal incline. I suppose this effectively makes it the belly of the slope, while two lower quadrants where the soil is deeper and definitely a little redder form the lower slope. It’s intriguing to get to this level of focus within one vineyard. Proper terroir stuff.
Whereas many estates have researched the soil structure of their vineyards, it is understandable that growers managing a large acreage and focused on producing fruit would not feel the same imperative. However the next step lies in discovering what lies below the surface of specific vineyards to explain why they display a strong and qualitative identity. It might also substantiate the reputation of specific parcels within these large vineyards becoming the “premier cru.”
I wondered whether there had been any research into the soil strata. “I’d like to do this, but digging pits is an expensive exercise,” said Thomas with a sidelong glance to Craig, who sportingly took the bait and offered to share the cost. “When will this happen?” This winter they agreed. So hopefully we will soon discover more accurately what lies beneath the surface of Foxcroft and Wingfield.
Tasting Foxcroft
In Thomas’s cellar we tasted the 2023 vintage in barrel from both sections of his rows. The “haut” part of Thomas’s rows, which seems less mineral, is harvested separately and declassified into Bachelder Twenty Mile Bench, basically his village blend, while the lower part showcases Foxcroft and is labeled as such.
At Cloudsley Cellars Adam Lowy takes a slightly different approach by harvesting the full length of the rows in three passes moving from east to west. This, he feels, gives a good cross-section expression of this quadrant of Fox. He subsequently makes a selection of the best barrels for Foxcroft while declassifying the remainder to his “village wine” Twenty Mile Bench Chardonnay, which actually has a very Fox feel.
So both of them are effectively making a premier cru chardonnay from Fox, while declassifying the less intense and characterful wine into a village blend. This cascade system is employed by many of the top estates on the Niagara Peninsula for their single vineyard wines to ensure the best expression of the vineyard, but is less likely to happen when the fruit is purchased.
The three producers whose wines showed the strongest expression of Fox—that combo of density and body with minerality and elegance—were Bachelder, Adam Lowy, and Ilya Senchuk at Leaning Post who sadly made his last Foxcroft wines in 2019. There are other skilful producers making wine from Fox, but I think these producers snaffle the best fruit. (No one would sell anything less than the best to Thomas Bachelder who is the unofficial global ambassador for the wines of Ontario).
The secret to getting the best fruit? Stay close to your grower for a start, and you can’t get much closer than Adam Lowy whose winery lies across the street from Fox on Wismer’s land. It’s a smart move to declare the grower’s name on the label. It gives them a vested interest. On one hand a gracious gesture to acknowledge their significant contribution, on the other a tactical maneuver to ensure top quality fruit.
Secondly, select your rows and pay for haute couture management—shoot positioning, careful leaf thinning, hand picking—the whole shebang—which will be significantly more expensive (30-90%) than the official price per kilo of fruit set by the Grape Growers of Ontario.
Micro-négociant and Burgundy lover Adam Lowy is a relative newcomer. 2017 was his first vintage. “I am not a seventh-generation producer of Foxcroft, but I can tell the wines have the structure to age.” He chose not to make any single-vineyard wine in 2018 or 2021. “Conscientious winemaking will showcase the potential of this region,” he explains.
I tried Riesling from Adamo Estate Winery (2022 and 2023) Leaning Post 2019, and “2027 Cellars” 2020 which shared a firm and flinty, straight and vigorous feel. While a flight of four Rieslings from Trail Estate Winery on PEC seemed more driven by winemaking technique rather than an expression of Foxcroft which may be a stylistic decision and/or the location of the rows in the lower section of the vineyard on the red tinted soil.
Cabernet Franc, which is planted in the southeast quadrant (top left) is always happy on limestone, which here is mixed with clay in a heavier soil. I tasted well-structured Cabernet Franc in which the Foxcroft expression came through in substance, vigor, and graphite minerality. There was a complex, structured 2019 from Leaning Post which will continue to evolve, and a rich, sleek 2020 vintage from 2027 Cellars with oyster-shell freshness. However, three vintages of Cabernet Franc from Adamo Estate didn’t express the vineyard, and only 2015 and 2016 from a flight of six vintages from Trail Estate had a Fox feel.
There is a hollow, towards the end of the lower left (northeast) quadrant. From vines before the dropoff, Norm Hardie has Chardonnay and Bachelder makes a charming, silky Gamay—all four vintages I tried had a Fox feel—lighter in substance, but with a smoky reductive graphite note. Malivoire Wine Co draws Gamay from the lower deeper soil. This Gamay is attractively dark, brooding, and gutsy, but not very Fox in character. Maybe it’s the clone, which is different, but probably also the terroir. But in any event, the reds in Foxcroft are not as consistent in terroir expression as the white wines. Only if Foxcroft were planted wholly in Chardonnay would it be truly possible to assess the differences.
In any large vineyard there are likely to be disparities—Clos Vougeot and Charmes Chambertin are among the world’s most extreme examples where grand cru terroir can sink to a good village wine, so we must forgive Foxcroft for some variation in soil and expression. Maybe it’s an argument for tighter delimitation and labeling within the vineyard.
But all credit to the growers and producers who have come a long way in a relatively short time in figuring out the best pairings of varieties and clonal material to soil type and microclimate. Many varieties do well on the Niagara Peninsula and Chardonnay is particularly accommodating, but identifying the best Chardonnay vineyards is another thing. Foxcroft is certainly one of them—but it needs watching.
Everyone I spoke with emphasized the importance of picking dates as Chardonnay in Fox ripens swiftly and can turn on a sixpence into over-ripe. Adam Lowy finds that picking a day early (seemingly) often proves to be the best time. Catching the moment in the hot and dry 2020 vintage was key. Foxcroft’s 2020 Chardonnays are rich and a touch tropical. A sleek, fat Foxcroft vintage, but those I tasted have the potential to refine, if harvested in good time, and what they lack in acidity can be compensated by sapidity.
Even in 2022, a warmish, but not hot, low-yielding vintage, Foxcroft Chardonnay can have a hint of exoticism. The issue is partly due to vine material (clone 96 can easily over-ripen) and partly due to terroir. Craig points out that Foxcroft vineyard is large, open, and exposed on the slope with no influence of trees or bushes. The 2021 vintage has less mouthfeel, so the minerality is more exposed while 2019 is spot on: power and energy with salinity. Good examples all round, including a vigorous 2021 Adamo Estate and a whiplash mineral wine from Leaning Post.
Wingfield: In the nape of the escarpment
While Foxcroft rides the line between richness and weight and “bench” elegance and minerality where it’s necessary to keep an eagle eye on the pH, Wingfield is the opposite. This vineyard can struggle for full phenolic ripeness with the result that in colder vintages, such as 2021, it can taste a touch lean and green. Chardonnay here ripens well after Foxcroft, from nine days to four weeks in 2019.
The 20 acres (8ha) of Wingfield Chardonnay are further from the lake than Foxcroft, so logically it could be warmer, but it is clearly a cooler place. It’s 165ft (50m) higher and Adam Lowy describes it as being in “a nape” of the escarpment, and, unlike Foxcroft, it is small and shaded in part. It shows well in 2022. Nowhere had much crop in 2022 because of the polar vortex and the season stretched into a nice September, perfect for Wingfield to show its delicate profile—slim, streamlined, and precise with a pure treble note.
I wondered why Wingfield hadn’t been planted with Riesling in 1993. “It was experimental, and people said Chardonnay was risky,” “Craig admits. We stood on the “Hill of Wingfield’ (550ft [168m] and 4.2miles [6.8 km] distant from the lake), a sloping parcel, about 10ft (3m) higher at the top, where the first few vines are shaded by tall trees. Sometimes the fruit under the trees is underripe and goes into sparkling wine.
The 4 acres (1.6ha) “Hill of Wingfield” is divided between Cloudsley Cellars and Bachelder who pioneered Wingfield ten years ago. The soil is clay loam with gravel and limestone “calcium carbonate is everywhere here in powder form,” says Thomas as we walk into the Wingfield North parcel. This 4-acre section, planted in 2016 with Chardonnay clones 95, 96, and 76 on 3309 rootstock, is sloping, although everywhere has a very marginal slope to the lake.
Bachelder makes two Chardonnay cuvées, Wingfield and Hill of Wingfield, while Cloudsley only makes Wingfield but it comes from the hill section—the fruit from below goes into a traditional-method sparkling wine. So for now at least these are the only two Wingfield Chardonnays you can find on the market.
Norm Hardie has Wingfield Chardonnay, but it is usually blended with fruit from Fox and Cuesta. The 2022, still in barrel, is zippy-tense and super-citrus. I believe it will be bottled separately as Cuvée L (touchingly named after Norm’s late sister). But if it were labeled Wingfield this would certainly help promote the identity of this vineyard which, as Norm (who has been making wine from it off and on since 2012), observes, is “always the most mineral and freshest site”. In 2016 Bachelder made a Hill of Wingfield, the freshest and brightest example of Chardonnay in this hot, dry vintage from which many wines are now well past their best.
While the Chardonnay parcels cover a total of 8 acres (3.2ha) in two neighboring parcels, Wingfield is a much larger farm—80 acres (32ha) of mixed crops including 16 acres (6.5ha) of vines. Craig pointed out a vineyard of Cabernet Franc across some fields and tells me the decision to plant Cabernet Franc there in 1993 may have been Lloyd Schmidt’s sage advice or a wild guess. “However it was a correct one to have the more hardy Cabernet Franc on the lower elevation and the slightly less hardy Chardonnay on the higher part for our winter temperature.”
“The entire Wingfield vineyard was considered unfit for growing vinifera in the 90s,” Craig adds. “The ‘upper bench’ of the two-tiered Vineland bench was considered too far from the lake and we were told we were wasting our time. Thirty-one years later we affectionately refer to our ‘upper’ bench as we discuss the quality we can produce on such a focused site.”
I tried three versions of Cabernet Franc from Trial Estate which is pursuing a rich, bitter- chocolate, oaky feel. It’s good, but it doesn’t relate to the expression of terroir in Wingfield Chardonnay. Trail’s Cabernet Franc is called Hedonism, not Wingfield, and in this case maybe that’s a good thing. Unlike Foxcroft, Wingfield is not a contiguous vineyard, which makes the terroir message more difficult to pin down and communicate.
Chardonnay is the hero variety for both Wingfield and Foxcroft and each vineyard has its peculiarities. Wingfield shows best when a fine autumn and healthy fruit permit a long hang time. Foxcroft Chardonnay is more likely to hit the mark in a cooler vintage.
When Wingfield is spot on it’s super stylish with a shimmery stretch across the palate, but it won’t show the density and gravitas of a Fox on form.
In Foxcroft it pays to know your producer, the vintage, and the specific parcel within the vineyard. That’s proper terroir wine. That’s exciting. And I applaud it.
Go find your Fox. Tally ho!
