Harvested from four separate sites in the Niagara Peninsula, each site contributing layers of complexity to the wine. Cold maceration of 7 days, indigenous yeast fermentation with two punch downs daily. The wine was pressed in small batches in a traditional basket press. Aged in 228L French oak barrels for 9 months. Natural malolactic fermentation, bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimum sulphur.
Reviews
Jamie Goode , WIneAnorak
94
11.2% alcohol. So supple and delicious, with primary red cherry fruit and some spicy structure. Has amazing precision and lovely fruit purity, with a bit of grip under the fruit. There’s a lightness and elegance to this wine that’s delightful, and it should develop well. 94/100
Michael Godel , WineAlign
93
It was an exceptionally hot, dry, dusty and waterless summer in the Niagara’s vineyards where pinot noir grows for Norman Hardie’s ubiquitous bottling and only he could have directed his grower to bring about fruit so settled, calm and in understanding of what needed. That canopy protected fruit has done its part and Hardie's prestidigitatious work did the rest. The tight ferment, slow controlled and gently ushered along has left this yet closed and still in complete control of its destiny. Really great fruit lurks behind the compression. Fruit with pop, singsong tang. Fruit with acidity finer than many other vintages and with the least amount of pinot anxiety and bitterness as I've ever noted in Norm’s Niagara lineage. I would think he has to be quite proud of this wine, what with its really a terrific floral display, freshness and pulchritude. Two to eight years should be the snapshot window of ultimate and optimum discretion. Drink 2019-2025. Tasted October 2017.
John Szabo MS , WineAlign
91
Fresh, light, delicate and flavourful, Hardies' 2016 Niagara pinot is a marvel of fruit and lightness of being, delicate, ripe but assertive tannins, and great length. Hardie seems to be shepherding his Niagara pinots ever-more towards the light and ethereal end of the spectrum, as his County pinots have always been, a happy development in my view. Tasted October 2017.
The 2016 season was characterized by a hot and dry growing season. Harvested mid-September, the grapes were fermented with indigenous yeasts from each individual vineyard block. 21-25 days on the skin in total: 6-8 day cold soak with 2 pump overs a day, followed by 7 day fermentation with maximum of 2 punch downs a day, remaining days gentle turning of cap once a day. Gentle basket press before being put to French oak barriques for 10 months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, with minimal sulphur dose before bottling.
Reviews
Jamie Goode , Wine Anorak
95/100
11.7% alcohol. Deliciously sappy and bright with some raspberry and red cherry fruit. Elegant and pure with some silkiness to the perfumed, floral red fruits. Real finesse here: a beautifully expressive, balanced wine that’s drinking well now, but which will develop beautifully over the medium term. Such precision. Norm says that this has a hardness and an inaccessibility in the mid-palate which is a bit like Chambolle, and is a very good thing. 95/100
Chris Waters , Waters And Wine
Fragrant, fruity and inviting, Norman Hardie’s 2016 County Pinot Noir is the largest volume and best to date bottling from Prince Edward County. He’s long mastered the trick to delivering wines that taste true to the grape variety and place, but this takes that expression to another level. The balance, purity of fruit and silky texture make it a joy to drink — it’s the sort of wine that begs to be shared. Reacting to the atypical hot and dry growing conditions of 2016, Hardie said the team left a lot of leaves on the canopy to shade the fruit and moved quickly to harvest the grapes to prevent bringing in jam. He also explained how he finds the wine has hardness in the mid-palate that reminds him of Chambolle… Safe to say, this is next level County wine and worthy of pouring into the biggest glasses you have. Outstanding. Released Dec. 9 through LCBO Vintages.
Michael Godel , WineAlign
93/100
If a Norman Hardie pinot noir ever drifted with such a prominent perfume I can’t recall, but here from 2016 it is with fresh flowers, sweet rosewater and fragrant spice. The impossible magic of lithe rendering, low alcohol and intuitive balance are always a Hardie thing but these ideals can’t be stated often enough. It’s like they all come together in 2016 in an effortless way, in structure and invisible layering like never before. The finest subtleties wave and oscillate in hushed, variably collective tones. The whisper effect is new and somehow intrinsic, explained, without words and inexplicably obvious. This story will be read over 10 years. No surprise there. Drink 2019-2028. Tasted February 2018.
Harvested from four separate sites in the Niagara Peninsula, each site contributing layers of complexity to the wine. Cold maceration of 7 days, indigenous yeast fermentation with two punch downs daily. The wine was pressed in small batches in a traditional basket press. Aged in 228L French oak barrels for 9 months. Natural malolactic fermentation, bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimum sulfur.
Reviews
John Szabo MS , WineAlign
91
A pinot in the light, fragrant and delicate Hardie style, from Wismer, Butler's Grant and Cuesta vineyard, all from the Twenty Mile Bench appellation in Niagara. It's a touch volatile to be sure, fine grained, delicate and full of soft but tart red berry fruit, raspberry, strawberry, with accompanying leaves. The finish lingers impressively on minty, grassy notes. 11.9% alcohol. Tasted December 2016.
Due to a devastating late spring frost (May 23rd!), we lost most of our County crop in 2015 resulting in a minuscule production of our celebrated County Pinot Noir. Fermented with indigenous yeasts from each individual vineyard block. 21-25 days on the skin in total: 6-8 day cold soak with 2 pump overs a day, followed by 7 day fermentation with maximum of 2 punch downs a day, remaining days gentle turning of cap once a day. The wine was pressed in small batches in a traditional basket press before being put to French oak barriques for 10 months. Natural malolactic fermentation, bottled unfined and unfiltered, with minimal sulphur dose before bottling
Reviews
David Lawrason , WineAlign
90
Although not from PEC where Norm Hardie is located, this elegant, tart-edged Niagara pinot shows the styling and intensity making Norman's wines famous. It's sleek, sour, bright with very bright, lifted cran-cherry fruit, toast, smoke and some spice. Very fine tannin makes it ready to drink now. Sour and tart edged, with excellent length. Chill lightly.
Richard Hemming MW , Canada Comes Courting (Again)
17.5
Earth, farmyard, fresh cherry fruit with gorgeous red fruit intensity - yet all without high alcohol. More chew to the mouthfeel than their County bottling. If Pinot Noir is the heartbreak grape, this is the happy ending!
A blend of 60% Niagara Pinot Noir and 40% County Pinot Noir. Each component was fermented separately, in small batches using indigenous yeasts. Aged separately for 8 months in French Oak barriques. After initial aging period the Niagara and County Components were blended together then put back into neutral oak for an additional 8 months.
2014 began as a cooler vintage, but we received hot, dry weather through September which developed fruit with exceptional phenolic ripeness and complexity, while still retaining lively acids. This is a special bottling, only done in the finest vintages.
Reviews
John Szabo MS , WineAlign
93
Only one of four cuvée "L" pinots made since 2007, this is in my view the best yet. From 70% Niagara and 30% County fruit, eight barrels were made, aged in 40% new wood for the first eight months, and then another year in all old wood before bottling. I love the improbable depth and fleshiness at just 11.2% alcohol, the tangy acids, the dense red berry fruit, the supple texture and ripe tannins. Acids are ripe but sharp and well-defined, and the length is excellent. There's a fine salty bitterness that extends through the finish. Superb.
The 2014 season was characterized by a cool growing season, but unusually long, warm and sunny fall; harvested at the beginning of October, the grapes achieved outstanding phenolic complexity, while retaining vibrant acidity at a wonderfully low alcohol. Fermented with indigenous yeasts from each individual vineyard block. 21-25 days on the skin in total: 6-8 day cold soak with 2 pump overs a day, followed by 7 day fermentation with maximum of 2 punch downs a day, remaining days gentle turning of cap once a day. Gentle basket press before being put to French oak barriques for 10 months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, with minimal sulphur dose before bottling
Reviews
John Szabo MS , WineAlign
92
Hardie rarely misses a beat, and the 2014 pinot emerges here with supreme grace, fine-grained, delicate, seemingly light but anchored on solid base of impossibly ripe fruit at just 10.9%. I love the length, the absence of any wood flavour, the terrific mineral saltiness. Lovely wine. Tasted April 2016.
Michael Godel , WineAlign
93
In Prince Edward County and for Pinot Noir there is no substitute and no comparison. Quixotically sweet Pinot Noir fruit, from the lowest of the low yields, scrupulously heeded and handled with care and yet also, somehow without a care to the world. As self-effacingly pretty and impossible as ever though in 2014 the tensity is lower, the anxiety bereft and not so crucially or dearly developed. There is almost no crisis from out of this first of the near-crisis vintages. This is an early to love Norm Pinot Noir, brought to life and with red citrus that only a Hardie low alcohol Pinot can bring. Humility only exceeded by impossibility.
Richard Hemming MW , Canada Comes Courting (Again)
17.5
Perfumed and floral - this smells how you wish most Volnay would. Cherry blossom, strawberry, light chalky texture. Sublime fruit clarity.
This vintage was picked early due to a very even and balanced growing season. The fastidious work of our vineyard crew all season long allowed our county fruit to achieve incredible phenolic ripeness with remarkably low sugars: the alcohol on label is very restrained 10.9%. Fermented with indigenous yeasts from each individual vineyard block. 21-25 days on the skin in total: 6-8 day cold soak with 2 pump overs a day, followed by 7 day fermentation with maximum of 2 punch downs a day, remaining days gentle turning of cap once a day. Gentle basket press before being put to French oak barrels for 10 months
This is a 70% blend of Niagara Pinot Noir and 30% County Pinot Noir. Each of the components were fermented separately. Aged separately until November 2013 and then blended and put back to old Fench oak barrels for an additional 6 months.This is the 3rd bottling of "Cuvee L" Pinot Noir since our first vintage in 2004. The richness in this wine comes from the grapes grown on the heavier clay soils of Niagara; this is balanced by the vibrant and delicate fruit from the lighter calcareous soils of Prince Edward County.
2012 proved to be one of our most exciting harvests. Similar in concentration and body to 2010, while maintaining focused minerality and purity throughout the finish. Fresh and bright aromatics on the nose, followed by ripe cranberry on the palate. Medium body with firm structured tannin. Wonderful length.
Platinum Medal - WineAlign 2014 National Wine Awards of Canada
Reviews
WineAlign , 2014 National Wine Awards of Canada
Platinum
Our 2012 County Pinot Noir was the highest-rated Pinot Noir at the 2014 National Wine Awards of Canada, winning Platinum.
Reviews
WIneAlign , 2014 National Wine Awards of Canada
Gold
Our 2011 Niagara Peninsula Pinot Noir won Gold at the 2014 National Wine Awards of Canada, hosted by WineAlign.
John Szabo
91
This 2011 pinot is a model of finesse allied to deceptive power. It's all silky and refined on the entry, shored up by a core of firm tannins and sharp acids
Our County Pinot is always made from 100% local County fruit, from our own estate vines and a few select vineyards in the Hillier region. Pinot Noir from 2011 was picked in late September and early October at 21.5 brix. Despite a cool vintage the grapes were picked with incredible phenolic ripeness. The average yield was approximately 1kg per vine. The wine was fermented using indigenous yeasts on skins for 23 to 26 days. As the wines aged, no sulphur was added until August of 2012 due to long, slow malolactic fermentation. Approximately 33% new, 33% second and 33% third fill tight grain 3 year dried French oak barrels used for ageing. Bottled unfiltered and unfined.
Reviews
Tony Aspler
90/100
Cherry red colour; high toned, red berry nose; lean and sinewy Burgundian style with flavours of raspberry and cherry backed by lively acidity. Volnay in style, elegant and sophisticated.
Susy Atkins , The Telegraph (UK)
A serious treat, and talking-point. An attractive, soft and juicy Canadian pinot, with hazelnuts, cassis and plump black cherries.
Jamie Goode , The Wine Anorak
95/100
Pale cherry red colour. So expressive, pure and supple with red cherry and herb fruit and complex, fine, spicy notes. Real precision and elegance with a subtle meatiness under the silky cherry fruit. So supple and pure, with haunting perfume and real finesse. 95/100
Sourced from the Wismer Vineyard on the Bench, our Niagara Pinot is harvested, transported to our County facility and processed within the same day to ensure the highest quality of fruit makes it into our wine. 2010 was a vintage with very ripe fruit and solid tannin structure. 27 days on the skins and 16 months in French oak barrels.
Reviews
Jamie Goode , The Wine Anorak
94/100
Floral, fresh, sappy cherry fruit nose. The palate is sweet and fruity with lively cherries and berries, and a bit of spice. Nice grippy structure here. Sweetness and precision combined, with good structure and density. 94/100
Our earliest county harvest to date. Picked mid-September (2 weeks earlier than usual). Wonderful phenolic ripeness and given the richness of the fruit the ferments were worked vigoursly to maximize extraction.
Reviews
David Lawrason , National Post
91/100
2010 was one of the best pinot vintages yet in PEC and this is a fine effort. It’s a pale ruby shaded pinot with a great nose - lovely woodsy, smoky nuances around the ripe raspberry-cranberry fruit. It’s medium weight, quite smooth and substantial with juicy berry fruit, minerality and chalky/dusty tannin (not at all green). The finish hits excellent length. Best over the next five years.
Jamie Goode , The Wine Anorak
93/100
Very interesting nose with floral, fruity raspberry and cherry fruit. Sweet and smooth on the palate with black cherries and plums. Very long, pure fruit here: so drinkable, but also has complexity.
Our "L" series wines are only made in the finest of years. Typically a blend decided for the specific year, the Cuvee "L" combines the lighter, more aromatic County wines with the more full bodied Niagara wines. The sum of the parts (two different terroirs) allow us to make a very complex wine. This is a blend of 60% Niagara fruit and 40% County fruit. The wine was initially aged for 12 months in French oak barrels. It was then blended and put back to oak for 6 months.
Reviews
Ian D'Agata , Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar
91/100
Bright ruby-red. Knockout aromas of red cherry, raspberry jelly, smoke and mocha. Enters the mouth rich and pure, then turns chewy and sweet, with ripe red berry and cherry flavors lifted by harmonious acidity. Finishes with a creamy mouth feel and a lingering red cherry quality. Made from a blend of 60% Niagara and 40% Prince Edward County fruit; interestingly, about half of the Niagara fruit grows in the warmer terroir of the St. David's Bench sub-appellation. Outstanding pinot noir, and very typical of Ontario: graceful, fresh and very minerally, altogether different from those of New Zealand and Oregon. The average vine age is 12 years and the crop level is the equivalent of a little more than 1 kilogram of grapes per plant (Niagara plantings are not as dense as the County ones).
The texture is pure silk and elegance, with fresh, delicate and tart red fruit. This is vibrant and pure, with energetic acidity, very fine-grained tannins and a wonderfully refreshing 11.5% alcohol. Flavours run to the wild strawberry and cherry spectrum. Very compelling, inviting constant sips.