By Rick VanSickle

This report on the Burgundy inspired Niagara Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from Cloudsley Cellars is the first post with prices reflecting the Trudeau tax holiday where consumers save 13% on every bottle of wine purchased until Feb. 15.

It comes at a perfect time for local wineries and restaurants which should see a surge in sales in what can otherwise be a slow period, at least beyond the Christmas rush.

I went to my local LCBO store early on Saturday when the tax kicked in to see how they were handling the 13% tax reprieve. There were signs generously sprinkled around the store clearly stating that prices on all the wine, beer and cider included the 13% HST, which is taken off at the check-out. There were a lot of people checking their receipts to make sure they got the savings.

As I read Southbrook proprietor Bill Redelmeier’s excellent newsletter that he sends out once a month, he talks about how businesses are struggling to update pricing. “As cash registers become more sophisticated and taxes have become more stable, it has become more of an effort for businesses to change their prices quickly,” he wrote. “Tax rates used to be changed fairly frequently and, when GST was introduced, there was a lot of handwringing to determine which tax was to be charged. Pastries had to be analyzed to find the sugar content. Too high and it was a snack, making it taxable, low sugar and it was bread and not taxable. One bun was taxable, six were not. The introduction of the HST made things a lot easier, but the Consumers’ Association lobbied to have the tax always be a separate item as they thought that it would make it harder and more obvious when the Government wanted to raise the tax rate.”

At Southbrook, “we have decided to show our prices less HST, where there is no adjustment to end with pretty numbers. We wanted to keep the math as direct as possible.”

While all businesses will be different, and for some, more complicated as they try to figure out what’s exempt and what’s not, the tax break will give everyone a nice winter treat.

“I think, and hope, that the big winners in all this will be restaurants,” said Redelmeier. “Most restaurants in Ontario are small and local, buying local products, and employing local people. Even the corporate chain restaurants spend most of their money locally, providing jobs, often first-time jobs for our youth. I am hoping that this tax holiday will provide a much-needed stimulus to a hard-hit sector, especially as the HST holiday runs from before Christmas until just after Valentine’s Day, and includes the depths of January, normally not a very busy time.”

I say, cheers to that.

Here’s what’s HST exempt:

• Prepared foods, including vegetable trays, pre-made meals and salads, and sandwiches;
• Restaurant meals, whether dine-in, takeout, or delivery;
• Snacks, including chips, candy, and granola bars;
• Beer, wine, and cider;
• Pre-mixed alcoholic beverages below 7 per cent ABV;
• Children’s clothing and footwear, car seats, and diapers;
• Children’s toys, such as board games, dolls, and video game consoles;
• Books, print newspapers, and puzzles for all ages;

Cloudsley’s Twenty Mile Bench focused wines

After a bit of back and forth, I was able to get on the same page with Cloudsley proprietor Adam Lowy (above) on the new pricing for the wines reviewed below. He, like many others over the weekend, were madly scrambling to change all pricing on their websites to reflect the HST tax holiday.

The savings represent a nice little bonus for consumers and hopefully increased sales for local VQA wineries. A win-win.

I tasted the 2021 Pinot Noirs and 2022 Chardonnays from Cloudsley Cellars recently, one of the last tastings for Wines in Niagara in 2024.

Lowy has established his portfolio of Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays from vineyards on the Twenty Mile Bench that he feels offer interesting and distinct terroirs. He started his project in 2014 after 17 years of working for Lifford Wine and Spirits, one of Toronto’s premier purveyors of the world’s finest wines.

His approach to winemaking, along with winemaker Matt Smith, is to let the vineyard do all the talking. That means minimal intervention in the winery and just letting the fruit express where it comes from.

In this report, we look at the Chardonnays from 2022 and the Pinot Noirs from 2021. In 2022, winemakers and growers were happy with the quality of the vintage compared to 2021, which was wet and a struggle to find windows to pick between the rain. The 2021 Pinots from Cloudsley show a lighter colour in the glass yet beautiful aromas and elegance on both the nose and palate. The 2022 vintage had lower yields than 2021 but that did not impact the quality. The Chardonnays are concentrated, textured and laced with minerality and finesse.

Here’s what I liked from the portfolio (and note that the prices reflect the 13% HST reduction):

The Chardonnays

Cloudsley Cellars Twenty Mile Bench Chardonnay 2022 ($32.50, 92 points) — This Chardonnay was made with fruit sourced from the Wismer family’s Foxcroft (85%) and Wingfield (15%) vineyards. It’s wild fermented (like all the following wines) and is aged in French oak barrels (20% new) for 18 months. It shows ripeness on the nose to go with poached pear, yellow apples, bergamot, wet stones, saline freshness, and toasted spices. It has a creamy texture on the palate and shows rich, savoury stone fruits, lemon curd, flinty minerality and length through a lifted finish. Can cellar to 2027.

Cloudsley Cellars Foxcroft Vineyard Chardonnay 2022 ($53, 93 points) — This Chardonnay comes from the Wismer family’s Foxcroft Vineyard on the Twenty Mile Bench, which was planted in 1996 to Clone 96. It spends 18 months in French oak, 33% of which is new oak. Quite the mineral bomb on the nose with gunflint and freshening salinity followed by lemon curd, gala apples, pear, citrus zest and integrated spices. It’s rich and savoury on the textured palate with ripe orchard fruits, flinty/saline/stony notes, lemon tart, and a long, echoing finish. Can cellar to 2028.

Cloudsley Cellars Wingfield Vineyard Chardonnay 2022 ($53, 93 points) — The Wingfield Vineyard and the single-expression above from Foxcroft are only 800 metres apart, but, incredibly, so different from each other every vintage. Wingfield was planted in 1993 to Clone 76. It’s aged for 18 months in French oak, 35% of which is new oak. It has an inviting nose of yellow pear and apple, lemon tart, pie crust, toasty spice notes and river rock minerality. There’s more of a savoury edge to the orchard fruits on the palate, and a touch of flinty reduction adding to the complexity of this layered and lacy Chardonnay that also shows citrus zest, nectarine, fine oak spices and a bright, finessed finish. Can cellar to 2029.

The Pinot Noirs

Cloudsley Cellars Twenty Mile Bench Pinot Noir 2021 ($32.50, 91 points) — The vineyard blend for the 2021 Twenty Mile Bench Pinot is 47% Parke, 28% Hanck, 12.5% Glen Elgin, and 12.5% End of the Road. Aging was in French oak (20% new) for 18 months. All the 2021 Pinots show a lighter shade of red in the glass due to the wet vintage, but the aromas and taste are not impacted by the colour. This has a lifted nose of ripe raspberries, dark cherries, pomegranate, red currants and spices. It shows a melange of red berries on the palate with some anise, savoury notes, smooth tannins, oak spice and a tangy, finessed finish. Can cellar through 2030.

Cloudsley Cellars Glen Elgin Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021 ($44, 92 points) — This Pinot from the Glen Elgin Vineyard was planted in 1996 to Clone 115 and is aged for 18 months in French oak, 0% new oak. Again, on the lighter side of red in the glass, but an invigorating nose of dark cherries, wild raspberries, cassis, forest berries, perfumed spices and floral notes. It has a smooth, textured entry on the palate with more earthy/savoury notes to go with red berries, aniseed, integrated spices and a long, lifted finish. Can cellar through 2030.

Cloudsley Cellars Hanck Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021 ($53, 93 points) — Hanck Vineyard is located just north-east of the Cloudsley winery off Victoria Ave. and was planted in 2007 to Clones 777 and 114. The wine is aged for 18 months in French oak, 33% new oak. Lowy has referred to this expression Pinot as an “iron first in a velvet glove. There’s just something very special about this vineyard.” It has a lovely floral note on the nose followed by fresh red berries, anise, savoury accents, and perfumed spice notes. It’s clean and pure on the palate with silky tannins, black raspberries, summer cherries, red currants, iron/bloody minerality and a long, echoing finish propelled by racy acidity. A complex Pinot that can cellar through 2031.

Cloudsley Cellars End of the Road Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021 ($44, 92 points) — This Pinot Noir is sourced from Tom and Loring Wiley’s End of the Road Vineyard, planted in 2007, on the Twenty Mile Bench. It’s aged in French oak barriques, 23% new oak, for 18 months. This usually shows more of a New World personality but in 2021 it’s less robust and more elegant than the 2020 version. The nose shows pure dark cherries, fresh wild raspberries, floral notes and just hinting at oak spices. It’s juicy and smooth on the palate with all those ripe red berries showing up to go with integrated earthy/savoury notes, some meaty notes and a lifted, fresh finish. Can cellar through 2030.

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