If you’re driving through the countryside near Vankleek Hill, you might be surprised to see rows of grape vines that seem to pop up out of nowhere.
When they happened upon the plot of land and the vines six years ago, Scott Lambert and Teresa Bressan saw potential – so much so that they bought the 55-acre property that is today the new Vankleek Hill Vineyard (VKH).
Although the original objective was to dig in and start a commercial vegetable garden, Lambert’s and Bressan’s plans evolved into a much larger undertaking: becoming vintners, despite the fact they originally had no intention of purchasing a vineyard.
Though the vines were neglected and in disrepair, the partners invested money and a lot of their own labour to refurbish the winemaking facilities and re-vamp and rebuild the vineyard.
“The original owner of Vankleek Hill Vineyard planted vines in 2007 and opened the winery around 2010. We purchased it in 2019 and spent two years cleaning up the vines and got them producing again,” says Lambert.
A fresh start
Having arrived from Saint-Lazare, southwest of Montreal, Lambert and Bressan were “shopping around,” and the possibilities posed by the Vankleek Hill terrain intrigued them: they liked the property, and more and more they then found themselves liking the idea of growing grapes and making wine.
Retaining the vineyard’s original name only – they developed new wine recipes and have made a full and clean break from the previous ownership, they stress – the pair work the vines on Dandy Road, which is about 10 minutes’ drive from the town centre.
They currently crop about four tons of grapes from five acres of vines which are hearty North American varietals – a trio of Frontenac grapes developed at the University of Minnesota – that can survive cold and frosty temperatures and thrive in the area’s clay-based, sandy-loam soils.
Since they purchased the vineyard, they have been, like farmers must be, unwavering in the face of climatic setbacks which have required resilience and persistence to overcome: shortly after taking over, they lost much of their crop to the vagaries of weather but salvaged about two tons the next harvest.
Wine as ‘‘project’’
Uniquely, while Lambert and Bressan have been making wine for a few years now, they have studiously pursued a “work-in-progress” approach to what they do.
That means that each year they make new and different wines – using 100% Ontario fruit – and tweak production techniques which are captured on the unpretentious yet elegant wine labels that began six years ago at “Project 01” with “Project 50” coming up.
For instance, the 2022 Frontenac Noir rosé is “Project 48,” a ruby pink wine (12.7% ABV) with a hint of raspberry on the nose and a smooth finish, while “Project 41” is a medium-bodied Cabernet Franc at 12.9% ABV with slight cranberry and raspberry aromas and a touch of cinnamon.
I’ve tried the Fumé Blanc (Project 42) and the “orange wine” Frontenac Gris (Project 45) and enjoyed both.
“We do things a little bit differently here,” says Lambert, “so we don’t have the same wines year after year. Two years ago, it was Gamay and the year before that it was Syrah. Next year it might be Malbec.”
Small-batch production
As the VKH Vineyard winemaker – self-taught, he says, having drawn on consultations with Niagara vignerons and vintners – Lambert has shepherded the vineyard to producing about 24,000 bottle each year.
For some wines, he employs a “ripasso” method in which the vineyard’s Frontenac grapes undergo a second fermentation on the leftover skins of Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot grapes.
“In the case of our Frontenac Gris, we do it on Pinot Noir skins, and we change the characteristics. A lot of our wines are therefore unique to our winery,” he says.
Other fruit used in VKH’s winemaking, either as grapes or juice, comes from the Niagara region and goes toward a portfolio that currently sits at about a dozen wines in addition to a trio of fruit wines.
Citing that he has to adjust his grape growing and winemaking for the cold, Lambert notes that the American hybrid vines can withstand temperatures as low as -40C.
“We also live in a humid area, a very wet climate, as compared to some of the biggest wine regions in the world that are very dry and arid like California, Australia and South Africa.”
A small-batch winery that is not part of Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA), VKH Vineyard allies itself with a smaller vintners’ organization that represents several eastern Ontario wineries producing fewer than 2,000 cases of wine annually.
Lambert is quick to point out that VKH Vineyard doesn’t produce the volume to warrant being VQA-designated. For instance, if a non-VQA winery wants to sell its wine in a dépanneur, grocery store or at a restaurant, a fee of up to 55 per cent would go to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario; the fee for VQA wines is one-fifth of that.
Family, community, wine
However, Lambert, Bressan and VKH don’t dwell on the politics and bureaucratic rabbit holes of wine-making in Ontario: they’re too busy making wine, hosting customers and being a supporter of the surrounding social organizations in their immediate region, such as local food banks and bike trails.
During the summer season, VKH offers wine tastings and tours; they have a large patio for enjoying a glass of Chardonnay or Fumé Blanc “amid the vines” while listening to live music at the Vineyard and prepare a small menu of food, including pizza.
The dog-friendly winery is also a versatile event space (accommodating 50 guests seated or 80 standing cocktail-style) which has hosted annual general meetings, comedy nights, trivia nights and fundraisers, one that took the shape of a masquerade party.
Estimating that nearly 50 per cent of their customers travel from nearby Quebec, on an average summer weekend, VKH will see a few hundred customers visit.
That is a significant motivator for them: while the wine’s the thing at Vankleek Hill Vineyard, there is also a strong sense that this is a community project as well as a grape project – and one that Bressan describes as something “more than a vineyard.”
“We’re focussed on family and community even before wine,” she says. “We have become a popular destination, and we have a completely different vibe here that’s really comfortable and feels like home.”
Vankleek Hill Vineyard is currently open Thursday to Sunday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Check their website (vankleekhillvineyard.com) for upcoming summer hours.
Food writer Andrew Coppolino lives in Rockland. He is the author of “Farm to Table” and co-author of “Cooking with Shakespeare.” Follow him on Instagram @andrewcoppolino.
