An Evening at Southbrook Vineyards By Diane Love

On August 13th over 50 members and guests of the Niagara Chapter of the Ontario Wine Society spent a delightful evening at Southbrook Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Our host was Bill Redelmeier, the actively involved and visionary owner of this unique winery, which is certified organic, and also has the distinction of being Canada’s first biodynamic winery. As well, its facility has received LEED Gold Certification – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. These designations became more familiar to us as the evening proceeded.

Upon arrival we were treated to Biodynamic Bubbly served with cheeses and charcuterie. During this time Bill took half of our group at a time on a tour outdoors to show us and speak about some of the elements that go into organic and biodynamic viticulture. He explained many farming benefits of the milkweed plant, and types of natural organic pesticides used (eg. made with herbal teas, horsetail, willow, yarrow).We also viewed its 2 large solar panels which, in conjunction with Ontario’s FIT and Net Metering programs, has reduced Southbrook’s electricity bill by 90%. This was definitely not “a typical winery tour!”

Following some reception time for mingling and refilling our glasses, we convened in the Great Room, aptly named for its floor to ceiling windows looking out to a lovely view of grapevines. Jackie Barrett welcomed us and co-Planner Ken I’Anson thanked Christine Montour, Retail Manager, who so capably organized the evening’s event for us with the Southbrook staff. Ken then warmly introduced our host Bill, with descriptors such as a farmer, a steward of the land, an environmentalist, a visionary, a storyteller and a rebel.

Bill is indeed a great storyteller and he interspersed many stories throughout our five guided tastings of Chardonnay, Cabernet Rose, Pinot Noir, Gamay and Orange Wine. He’s the kind of fellow that you could listen to for hours. But in addition to stories and tangents (eg. 2010 Olympic mittens) we learned much from him about the winery’s practices (eg. using wild ferment rather than yeast, sulphites added only after fermentation), the challenge of viral diseases infecting grapevines through much of the world, and other nuggets of information (eg. 2/3 of champagne is made from red grapes).

For the final portion of our event we moved to the outdoor covered patio where a variety of delicious thin crust pizzas were served from their patio pizza oven, and more wines were poured. Bill spoke to us briefly about their unique antioxidant product Bioflavia, a powder made from dried and ground grape skins, and samples of it in a yogurt mixture were available for all. Delicious – and healthy! And then there was dessert: bowls of chocolate bread pudding, with and accompanied by their famous Framboise raspberry dessert wine.

Organizers Diane Love and Ken I’Anson with Southbrook Owner, Bill Redelmeier (centre)

In addition to Bill and behind-the-scenes Christine, thank you to staff Alina, Fab, George, Emily, Charlotte and Chef Nick Guli. Thank you everyone for your hospitality. Indeed it was an evening of great wines, excellent food, and fascinating wine tales!

Photos by member and photographer Fred Couch. More photos can be seen at https://www.flickr.com/photos/photoshopphlake/albums/72157710336275811