Bachelder Les Villages Bench Niagara Chardonnay 2022

Bachelder Les Villages Bench Niagara Chardonnay

Region: Niagara, Ontario, Canada

Vintage: 2022

Bottle size: 75cl

Grape: Chardonnay

ABV: 13.5%

A floral and apple blossom start, leading to a creamy mid-palate with refreshing mineral notes, alongside flavours of apple and a hint of smoke. The finish is delicious and full of both mineral chalkiness and acidity.

The Niagara Chardonnay is produced from fruit grown in the Saunders Vineyard on Beamsville Bench, as well as older vineyards in Vineland and Four Mile Creek, and several sites across the Niagara Peninsula. The region’s bench topography provides continuous air circulation to moderate extremes in temperature and ensure even ripening, while the vineyards’ Dolomitic, limestone-rich soils impart additional freshness in the wines.

Thomas employs a low intervention approach to winemaking to ensure the wines express a sense of place. The grapes were pressed very gently and fermented to dryness in oak barrels using indigenous yeasts. The wine remained in barrel for 17 months to enhance its texture. Bâtonnage was not carried out, in order to preserve the wine's crisp aromatics.

Thomas Bachelder and his wife, Mary Delaney, are masters of cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. After a career making wine in Burgundy and Oregon, while dabbling in the Niagara Peninsula, they returned to their native Canada full-time in 2015, determined to discover its best vineyard sites.

https://bachelderniagara.com