Three weeks ago in the New World Pinot Noir theme, one of the wines I featured was the 2018 ‘Parfum’ Pinot Noir from Thomas Bachelder. It was the favourite of many people in the Zoom tasting and although that wine is now sold out at the winery, he’s just released his 2019’s and we are going to have Thomas join the Zoom this week as a special guest! We’re going to do one wine from each varietal he produces in Niagara: Chardonnay, Gamay, and Pinot Noir. I’ve done countless tastings, events, and dinners with Thomas over the years and I always learn something new when hanging out with him. This should be a really great night, as Thomas is such an entertaining encyclopedia of wine and one of Canada’s best winemakers. Actually no, not just one of the best in Canada, I think he’s one of the best in North America.

Thomas in the vineyard with his sweet new covid flow.

Thomas was born and raised in Montreal and later began his winemaking career in Burgundy where he was educated and mentored in the vineyards. After school and some vineyard work in Burgundy he moved to Oregon to work with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the New World for a few years, then back to Burgundy, then back to Oregon again to help start Lemelson Vineyards where he was head winemaker before eventually coming back to Ontario to help start Le Clos Jordanne. Thomas helped Le Clos Jordanne became one of Ontario’s most famous Pinot Noir and Chardonnay producers and then left The Clos to partner with his wife Mary to follow their dream and start their own operation, making cool climate Chardonnay in the 3 places they had come to know intimately: Burgundy, Oregon, and Niagara. They made wine simultaneously in all 3 places the same way each year. A really cool terroir project that they simply called Bachelder. But, as outstanding as his Burgundy and Oregon wines are, ironically the Niagara wines were what has been in the most demand at home and internationally, so Thomas and Mary began putting all their eggs in one basket and are focusing at home in Niagara.

A typical day out with Thomas Bachelder.

Thomas’ wines have topped New World Pinot Noir and Chardonnay lists by Jancis Robinson, Decanter, The World of Fine Wine, New York Times, and many other top international critics and publications. He’s a bonafide Pinot Noir and Chardonnay specialist who we’re lucky to have among our local talent. And on top of all that, he’s the most chill, down-to-earth, super great guy who will mesmerize you for hours with interesting wine knowledge, chat philosophy with you, or have impromptu country music jams after several glasses of wine…as seen here at my place in 2016. His wines are all lighter in body, but high in flavour, depth, and complexity. They’re all very terroir-driven…I won’t go into detail on all that here, but if you’re interested check out the IGTV chat I did with him last summer live from my farm in Southwestern Ontario and his cellar in Niagara. We discussed Niagara wines, Oregon terroir, as well as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Gamay in general. And as always, lots of interesting info from Thomas.

Thomas will be joining us for a Zoom this Saturday April 24 at 7pm. To join, all you need to do is pick up all or any of his wines from the Byward Wine Market in Ottawa, Pan Chancho in Kingston, or have a case shipped directly to your house! They have a 6 bottle minimum for shipping anywhere in Ontario. This is a great option for anyone outside of Ottawa or Kingston to get your hands on these wines ahead of the tasting! Just email me ASAP before Wednesday at 9am if you’re interested in a case delivered to your home in time for the tasting. And they’ll be in the shops by Thursday afternoon! Check out his website for all kinds of additional info: https://bachelderniagara.com/

BACHELDER, ‘PARFUM DE NIAGARA’ PINOT NOIR, 2019
$26 from Byward Wine Market and Pan Chancho, or $24.95/case or mixed 6pack from Lifford
This WAS an exclusive wine for restaurants-only, but when the pandemic hit they opened up sales to consumers as well…at least for the time being. His single vineyard bottles go for around $45 a bottle, but this is a blend of those same vineyards for about half the price, at $26. A hell of a deal when you consider how top-end the fruit is that it’s made from. Its name refers to the beauty and perfume that Pinot Noir can have in equal measure to the earthiness or terroir character it’s so often famous for. Look for a super elegant body with nice acidity but smooth mouth feel and texture. Notes of ripe cherries, cherry pits, flowers, and a bit of fresh turned earth or potting soil. Crazy good on its own or with a variety of dishes from cheese, charcuterie, patees, salads, oilier fish, and lighter meats…very versatile and delicious.

BACHELDER, ‘LES VILLAGES’ GAMAY NOIR, 2019
$26 from Byward Wine Market and Pan Chancho, or $24.95/case or mixed 6pack from Lifford
If you’re not familiar with Gamay Noir, you may be familiar with Beaujolais? All Beaujolais wines are Gamay. But if your association is the sweeter tootie-fruity neuveau, cheap stuff, forget that. This is the real deal. All Gamay is light bodied, like Pinot Noir, but it can be as serious as Pinot too. This is Thomas’ experiment with partial whole cluster fermentation and minimal intervention in all neutral oak for 16 months. It’s all wild yeast ferments (like all his wines) and very little sulphur until the end at bottling. It’s a reserve level wine that is blended from 4 different single vineyard sites Thomas works with in Niagara. Here’s Thomas’ own tasting notes on it:

“…intensely perfumed, with great, savoury, meaty flavour definition, and an intense stony finish with rich length. Blended from our four different “Cru” vineyards…the resulting young wine is aged for 16 months in all-neutral barrels... the idea being to develop perfume and increase flavour concentration without any interference from oak flavours - thusly to express the perfume, elegance & purity of their terroirs.. A joy to drink young, our ‘Les Villages’ Niagara Gamay Noir 2019 will nonetheless age well over the mid-term, as what initially seems to be ‘gulpable’ wine metamorphosizes into a dizzy dance of red berries and black forest fruit - a marvel of luscious silky drinkable textures.”

BACHELDER, ‘MINERALITÉ’ CHARDONNAY, 2019
$26 from Byward Wine Market and Pan Chancho, or $22.95/case or mixed 6pack from Lifford
In keeping with the Burgundian nature of these wines, we’ll do as the Burgundian do and taste the white for last (but not least). The reason for doing this isn’t because the wines are any sweeter, they’re not, but it is that the whites are usually richer. There is a fair amount of freshness, acidity (as well as tannin) in the usually a leaner, fresher profile to Burgundian reds. The whites also have this great acidity and freshness, but most often accompanied with lots of minerality, lees aging, and the buttery character from the the malolactic fermentation, which makes the Chardonnays often richer than the Pinots…therefor they go after. In most places it’s just common practice for the whites to be tasted first, but if you’re at a tasting in Burgundy, you’ll like be served reds first. And this wine is a lovely example of that style, and is aptly named for its most dominant minerally flavour profile. The almost saline mineral character that runs through Niagara Chardonnays is thanks to the limestone bed it’s planted on. Mineralité Chardonnay was also a restaurant exclusive, along with the Parfum Pinot Noir, but the pandemic has changed that (for now, at least). So get some of this outstanding value while you can. Look for notes of apples, dried grass, slatey minerality, and brioche. Such a harmonious and beautifully balanced Chardonnay.

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The Byward Wine Market is fully open for in person shopping, as well as online orders offering curbside pickup or local delivery within Ottawa. And just a reminder that the order deadline for Friday case deliveries is Wednesday before 9:00am. Reach out if you have any questions, and check out the archive of past FEATURES if you’re interested in other recommendations. Lastly, please feel free to forward this to anyone in Ontario who may be interested in home wine delivery and follow us on Instagram for daily wine content at @bywardwinemarket and @capitalwine.ottawa!