August 5th, Niagara Day Three: Malivoire, Daniel Lenko

Last Breakfast At "House By The Side Of The Road"
There are worse things than to be awakened by a Gold Finch singing its tune like a Canary in a cage. The bird was just outside the sliding patio door on my room's balcony. The sky was blue and the Sun just about to shine. Everything outside was as still as silence. Lovely morning.
It was after 7 AM when i finally made it down to the dining area where Monika was busily cooking breakfast. Roy had "beaten me to the punch" and was already out taking "shots" of the Bed and Breakfast.
I sat down and had the delicious coffee and by the time I had finished the first cup, the morning meal was ready. Bacon, French toast, juice, home fries all were ready and delicious. This was our last day and the camaraderie of the previous night was still in our veins so to speak.

We bid our good-byes to Christine and Monika. However, this was not to be a good-bye but just a "See Yah Later" (Hey that would be a good name for a winery!!!LOL Tsk Tsk) since in reality I knew that we would be back in the future. We made good friends at this lovely "House By The Side Of The Road" and planned to return.

Malivoire

We then crossed the road and went to Malivoire with the initial intent of just taking a few pictures of this forward moving winery. We were not there long before we were approached by Stephen Gash, Director of Sales and Marketing of Malivoire. No doubt he had wondered who these people were, roaming around the vineyards and taking picture and camera shots. Once we introduced ourselves he "clicked-in" to the messages that I and Sandie had left.

Sandie and Stephen did an interview using the rows of vines ascending up the Malivoire hill as a background. They discussed the facts and advantages of going totally organic----in a sense going forward with wine by going back to nature. Harmony is a philosophy that is taught in Oriental Schools of Meditation and Martial Arts and to be harmonious with nature is to be in total sync with the Universe. At least that is the belief. In that case to be harmonious with nature by using only methods that encourage compatibility and synchronization with all inhabitants of a vineyard would certainly be apropos here. This is what Malivoire does. There are no artificial methods used in the propagating, cultivating and collecting of the vines. Everything is natural.

We then went into the "bug shaped"winery which many mention looks like the "ladybug" emblem that is depicted on some Malivoire labels and signs. Sandie, who had done a magnificent job interviewing on this trip, did so again by interviewing Stephen regarding Malivoire wines. They tasted and discussed several wines including my favourite-----the Malivoire Old Vines Foch, which was made from 30 year old Marechel Foch vines. They also discussed the use of "Stelvin" screw caps and why they were becoming one of the main closures on the market today. While I taught that the "Jury" was still out on any major conclusion it is a fact that the "corked" wine syndrome does not exist with closures of this type and the affect of the closures on the wine(s) seems negligible at this time. Could the wines age and develop as with cork closures, we can only find out for sure after older "Stelvin" capped wines are tested five, ten and twenty years from now. I felt that they will do well because I was and still am under the impression that minute bits of air still get in to slowly age the wine as happens with cork. Time will tell!!!

Speaking of time----we were starting to run late and Daniel Lenko was waiting very patiently for us! We bid our farewell and off we went down the road to Daniel Lenko Winery.

Daniel Lenko

Daniel Lenko came out of his barn to meet us. Tall, good looking with an athletic build, he looked more like a sportsman than a wine maker/grower. He is a third generation grape grower who took over the family farm in 1998. Daniel always wanted to make quality wine and with the assistance of two factors----- the oldest Chardonnay and Merlot vines in Canada which give an abundance of quality fruit and his very experienced winemaker, Thomas Laszlo-------he has achieved that.

Daniel runs a very "homey" style of winery. His tasting room is the kitchen of his house located in Beamsville. His well equipped barn serves houses his fermentation tanks and barrels and his vineyards produce the quality grapes. "What more can I ask for?", says Daniel to Sandie Kraft in the interview that she conducted during the visit.

Sandie, as usual, came up with some excellent probing questions as to the making of Lenko wines. All the wines are estate grown by Lenko. Due to the limited production levels, his wines are only sold at the winery and some select restaurants.

His wines include a super 2007 Unoaked Chardonnay and a very interesting label called Chardonngay which is a 2007 Unoaked Chardonnay specifically aimed at furthering AIDS research by not only directing attention onto Canada's diverse Gay population but also donating one dollar of every bottle sold to the cause. Other wines are a 2007 Riesling, 2007 Viognier, 2007 Meritage, 2007 Syrah and a 2007 Old Vines Merlot. His repertoire includes some Select Late Harvest Vidal and a Viognier Icewine. Also available is a small library of older (2006, 2005, 2006) wines as well as an interesting 2008 White Cabernet Rose.

We thanked Daniel for his generosity and for sharing his wines with us and then were off to our last visit---to where it all began----the original site of the Inniskillin Winery which by all accounts should be designated "Hallowed Ground" as the birthplace of Canada's Boutique Wine Industry.

That in itself is a separate and astounding story. Stay tuned!!!!!!!