Stratus Vineyards winery and tasting room
Ontario’s Stratus Vineyards is a 55-acre farm, set in the Niagara Lakeshore appellation of Niagara-on-the-Lake, and is planted to 16 grape varieties. All the grapes are grown sustainably. Their winery is the first in the world to be fully Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) – certified, which embodies their commitment to sustainability. The winery uses geothermal heating and cooling to keep their barrel cellar at a consistent temperature.
In June 2005 the winery opened to the public. They hand-pick their grapes and use no irrigation or commercial fertilizer. They are principally organic but also utilize some biodynamic practices. Their vineyard is certified sustainable, but due to neighbouring vineyards and their management practices, Stratus cannot become certified organic.
They typically have lower yields than other wineries in the region; between 2-3 tons/acre, depending on the growing season. They settle for lower yields rather than overcompensate by spraying their vineyards. Stainless steel fermenters are mainly used for white wines. But, they are using more clay amphora for fermenting now to see what they like or don’t like about them and how to proceed with these vessels.
Stratus makes varietal wines in more than one style, e.g. Chardonnay in stainless and in barrel, and then blends them as appropriate to produce the style of Chardonnay that they appreciate. You could think of this process as similar to making the “house-style” for a Champagne house. Most of their wines they bottle unfiltered so in some wines
This Article was originally published on My Wine Pal
