In Niagara (12) Stratus, an important Niagara winery, in a fine-tuning phase
Website: https://stratuswines.com/
Stratus are an important winery for Niagara, and like many wineries in this region they have been on a bit of a journey of late. And the wines are better for it.
I visited with winemaker Dean Stoyka, and he’s really onto things both in the vineyard and the winery. We toured round the vineyard, which was looking in good shape.
They have 62 acres under vines, 16 varieties, 44 different blocks. This parcel reflects the complexity of the site, which has some six soil types, all based on glacial till. The vineyard was initially planted in 2001.
In the vineyard, we looked at an under-vine cover crop trial using crimson clover that was in its second year, with the comparison being under-vine tillage. ‘This year we used a mechanical seeder, the same thing we use for spreading our manure,’ said Dean. This was looking at Cabernet Franc. ‘We put the seed out in the third week of April,’ he said, ‘which was probably about three weeks too late.’ They use a clemens knife to till and then on the back they have a seeder. There is a special set up that only throws the seed under vine. A seed rate of 15 pounds per acre is too low, the trials have reveled: they need to go to 30-40 pounds an acre. The cost for their 75 acre vineyard is about CA$9000. Considering this eliminates under vine weeding, Dean reckons you come out even, plus you get some nitrogen fixed.
‘It is working pretty efficiently. You get some panels that are incredible, and then we tend to get some thistle popping through, mostly because we were late. Next year we are going to shoot for the first week of April and we should have a great mat that won’t allow these things to establish.’ He points out that weeds are starting to pop out between the mid row, between the under vine and the mid row. They will add two disc wheels to go along the side and take care of any weeds that grown in that row.
Last year they tried barley, hairy vetch, crimson clover and white clover, and crimson clover is the one that works the best. ‘It makes a nice mat and doesn’t go any higher,’ says Dean. The vines don’t mind it, and it also fixes nitrogen because it is a legume. ‘With this rate we will get around 30 pounds [of Nitrogen] per acre, which is great.’ The crimson clover needs to be seeded each year.
The Cabernet Franc is cropping at about 2.5 tons/acre, Sauvignon Blanc 3 tons/acre and Cabernet Sauvignon 2 tons/acre.
They are dry farmed, with no irrigation, and don’t use herbicides. They only use copper and sulfur-based plant protection products. ‘The only non-organic stuff I am using in terms of the spray regime is Movento for mealy bugs,’ says Dean. This is a systemic insecticide that is considered ‘soft’ and is compatible with integrated pest management practices. ‘We are using mating disruption for the berry moths,’ he says. For their copper, they use a formulation called Cueva (based on copper octanoate) which works fantastically according to Dean. It is effective at lower levels of copper.
They aren’t using animals but there is a company that Dean is investigating who lease animals. ‘The problem is that this area of Niagara is pretty far from the animal farms in Niagara, so the travel time for them is fairly decent.’
Many of the trunks in the vineyard have been cut back and renewed. They have a special biochar machine coming the following week to make some biochar, something they have been doing since 2015. They always did it in the past in the traditional Amazon kind of way where they covered it in straw and then dirt. Now they have purchased a piece of equipment that makes biochar and has a filter for the methane.
Leaf removal is with a Collard that uses blasts of air. This is great for the Cabernet Franc where the clusters stick out for quite a while and so mechanical leaf removal has to be delayed: you can’t always do it when you want to. They cost around CA$45 000, and the entire vineyard can be done in five days. The budget for hand leaf removal is $35 000 each year. With the Collard they can do leaf removal the moment flowering is finished so they get better spray coverage, better wind movement (less disease pressure) and better ripeness and maturation.
Row orientation is all north-south. Between 11 and 2 pm (the hottest part of the day here) they have fruit protection from the canopies, and they also get even ripeness. There is sunlight on both sides of the canopy, and the afternoon sun here isn’t particularly hot, so the east and west facing sides aren’t very different.
Dean describes his tillage as ‘modified minimal till.’ ‘We don’t do any tillage except at the end of the season, when we use two big shanks and in every other row we will do a deep ripping behind the tractor where the tractor tyres are because you can imagine how many times we are passing the tractor. Then in the spring we will do a quick discing just to smooth it out. The rest of the time it is full cover. We will let the mid-row grow quite high, for beneficial insects. Ideally, one day soon, we will have mid-rows that are a boxwood hedge or something other than vines.’
‘We are not really afraid of weeds,’ he adds. ‘Wines at this tonnage aren’t impacted by a small amount of weeds.’
All the regular black label production is in lightweight bottles with nothing over 400 g: this is a switch they made a few years ago: before, the wines used to come in big grand bottles. They are also experimenting with bottle re-use. The White Label PVMT is in Canada’s first re-used bottle. One of the aspects is using a different label that uses water soluble glue: you can get it off easily but it won’t float off in an ice bucket. There’s a stamp on the bottle denoting each time it has been used.
THE WINES
Stratus Field Blend Ancestral Rosé 2023
All 16 varieties grown on the farm blended together, inspired by a visit to Simplesmente Vinho in Portugal. Effervescent to 2 bars. 13% alcohol. Aromatic and fruity with a yeasty, spicy edge. Tangy and lively on the palate with a sweet edge to the pear, apple and mandarin fruit. Nice weight here with lovely spicy detail, a bit like a saison beer. 90/100
Stratus Chardonnay Unfiltered Bottled With Lees 2021
13.3% alcohol, 320 days neutral French oak. Slightly cloudy, this is a lovely textured Chardonnay with pear and peach and some nice grainy notes, with some melony richness. Very stylish with some spicy tang on the finish. 92/100
Stratus Chardonnay Amphora 2021
Three different manufacturers. 13.5% alcohol. Fresh and tangy with nice pear, a touch of pineapple and lovely focus, with some salinity and nice texture. Fleshy and bright with nice energy to the ripe fruit. 93/100
Stratus White 2021
Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon (although some blends can go up to six varieties). 271 days in neutral French oak. 13.2% alcohol. This is fresh and lively with nice brightness to the pear, peach and apricot fruit. Nice energy with good acidity, and a twist of waxy grapefruit on the finish. Very stylish. 93/100
Stratus White 2006
13.5% alcohol. Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Viognier, Semillon, Riesling. 551 days French oak. Melon, apricot and lemons on the nose. Rich palate with grapefruit, melon and peach, showing nice intensity and some toasty detail. Developing in very interesting. Powerful and dense, with real impact. 93/100
Stratus Cabernet Franc 2020
14.7% alcohol. 549 days French oak, 30% new. Rich, dark and intense with some spicy oak adding interest to the ripe blackcurrant fruit mid-palate. Nice intensity here with firm tannins on the finish. Lively and bright with richness and depth. 92/100
Stratus Cabernet Franc Amphora 2020
14.8% alcohol. This is ripe and dense and has quite a bit of tannin under the sweet black cherry and blackcurrant fruit, with a slight saltiness on the finish. There’s purity and brightness here with some stony, mineral undercurrents. Lovely. 94/100
Stratus White Label Merlot 2020
658 days in French oak, 12% new. Concentrated and vivid with sleek black cherry and blackberry fruit, showing lushness and density. Salty and vivid on the palate with some grip here. Grainy and delicious with nice weight, and some elegance as well as power. 94/100
Stratus White Label Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
They used up the last of their heavy glass for this bottling. 14.9% alcohol, 801 days in French oak with 40% new oak. This is powerful and dense with massive concentration of blackcurrant fruit with some spicy detail and firm tannins. Grippy and intense, with a lot of structure. But also a lot of fruit here. 95/100
Stratus White Label Red 2020
14.8% alcohol. The hearts of the other cuvées went into the red. After pressing had finished the free run was taken, and then the tank was slowly drained to barrel overnight. A blend of five different Bordeaux varieties. 676 days in French oak, 26% new. This is all about harmony and balance with bold blackcurrant and cherry fruit, showing good structure and intensity. There’s some rich, grainy black fruit dominant, with refinement and potential for ageing. 95/100
Stratus PVMT ‘Field Blend’ 2021
Petit Verdot (58%), Malbec (23%), Tannat (19%). 611 days French oak. 14.2% alcohol. This is fresh and detailed with sweet black cherry and blackcurrant fruit with nice freshness as well as richness. Good structure here. Lovely chalky texture in the mouth: very fine. 95/100
Charles Baker Cuvée du Boulanger 2021 Vinemount Ridge
11.3% alcohol. 100% Riesling, dosage 5 g/l, 1 year on lees. pH 3.02, 10.5 g/l TA. Intense limey nose with a hint of fresh toast. Powerful and lively with amazing fruit intensity and keen acidity. Lively and fresh. 92/100
Charles Baker Picone Vineyard Riesling 2020 Vinemount Ridge
11.7% alcohol, pH 2.95, 9.79 g/l TA, 18.5 g/l RS. 45 year old vines, 21B clone. Textured and pure, and just off dry, with lovely lemon and lime fruit with a hint of melon. Very pure and precise with lovely fruit intensity. Racy and bright, and lovely. 93/100
Stratus Riesling Icewine 2022 Niagara
13.5% alcohol. Picked night of 23 December in a 95 km/h wind. The idea is to pick it the first time the temperature goes below -8 C. You have to call a hotline to get approval to pick. If you let it freeze and thaw you lose 50% of your juice. The pickers get paid $35 an hour. This is 10 g/l TA, pH 3.2, rs 144 g/l. Powerful and full with lovely sweetness and acidity. Beautiful apricot, pear and peach with nice lemony acidity. Has some spicy structure. Very sweet but maybe 50 g/l less sweet than some. Remarkable concentration and lovely complexity here. Beautiful stuff. 96/100
Older notes:
Stratus Weather Report Chardonnay 2017 Niagara on the Lake, Canada
Rounded and smooth with ripe pear and peach fruit. Has real depth of flavour, Sweet mid palate with generous fruit. 89/100
Stratus Chardonnay Unfiltered Bottled With Lees 2017 Niagara on The Lake, Canada
This has lovely mouthfeel and texture with rich pear and spice fruit, and a touch of peachy richness. Very fine grained and quite delicious with some elegance. Such a lovely ripe expression of Chardonnay. 93/100
Stratus Cabernet Franc 2016 Niagara on the Lake, Canada
This is ripe, dense and concentrated, showing lush, spice-framed blackberry and cherry fruit. Rich and more-ish with some grip and spice. Lots of impact here. 91/100
On older report from 2018
Stratus
I’ve been to Stratus a few times now. It’s such a distinctive winery, with a very modern design. This isn’t surprising: it was established by David Feldberg, president and CEO of the Teknion furniture business, and whose father Saul was the founder of the Global Furniture Corporation. Stratus’ winery relies on gravity flow and geothermal energy. In 2005 it became the world’s first LEED-certified winery.
The vineyard is 62 acres divided into 44 different plots with 16 different varieties, and it’s part of the Niagara Lakeshore subregion.
The winemaker here is the extravagantly bearded JL Groux, and he hails from France’s Loire Valley. His signature is harvesting at full maturity, and in a typical vintage, three-quarters of the vintage will take place in November. Initially, the idea at Stratus was to create complexity through blending, and while the Stratus White and Red are still the core of the range, varietal wines have been added. As this tasting showed, these late-picked blends do age well.
Stratus Chardonnay 2015
40% new oak. Fresh with nice intensity. Toasty, nutty edge to the bright pear and pineapple fruit. Has a slight cedary edge. Fresh style with a savoury character. 91/100
Stratus White 2014
54% Chardonnay, 35% Sauvignon, 5% Semillon, 5% Viognier, 1% Gewurztraminer. No new oak. Unusual stuff: fresh with a fennel edge to the citrus and pear fruit, with some table grape notes and a bit of green tea character. Has some subtle green notes. 90/100
Stratus White 2007
85% new oak. Supple and expressive with tangerine, pear and apricot notes. Has some spiciness with a bit of fine toastiness. Has developed really nicely. Very subtle green hints and nice fine toasty notes. Lots of life in this still. 92/100
Stratus Gamay 2015
13.7% alcohol. 15% whole bunch, then aged in old barrels. Sweet liqueur like cherry and berry fruits here. Very sweet and seamless but with a bit of spicy grip on the palate. Ripe fruit dominates this. Has nice brightness countering. Very attractive. 91/100
Stratus Red 2014
13% alcohol. 52% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 2% Syrah. 34% new oak. Fresh, vivid and crunchy with nice blackcurrant and raspberry fruit. Grainy and gravelly with nice structure and good acidity. Fresh style with ageability. 92/100
Stratus Red 2007
40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Cabernet Franc, 25% Merlot, 5% Gamay. 88% new oak. Nicely savoury with a gravelly, cedary edge to the attractive plum and berry fruit. Has developed really nicely into a savoury maturity, and the oak has integrated well. Fresh and structured. 92/100
Stratus Cabernet Franc 2015
35% new oak. Nice ripe black cherry and blackberry fruit with a slightly cedary, savoury twist. Ripe but balanced with nice warmth and concentration. 91/100
Status Decant Cabernet Franc 2015
50% new oak. Intense and concentrated with spicy oak and dark black fruits. Bold, firm and tannic with nice acidity. Very tannic and intense. 90/100
Stratus Botrytis Semillon 2016
81 g/l sugar. Complex and tangy with nice pineapple, apricot and lemon notes. Sweet but balanced with a lovely crisp, spicy finish. Has good concentration, but it feels quite light and expressive. 92/100
Stratus Riesling Icewine 2017
125 g/l sugar. Balanced and pure with sweet citrus, pear and apple fruit. Lovely acidity with a slight honeyed edge and some grapey characters. Not as intense as some icewines, but very pure and quite elegant. 92/100
