To
Prince Edward County and Del-Gatto Estate, sole commercial Pinotage
grower and maker in eastern Canada.
PrinceEdward County is an island about 2.5 – 3 hours to the east of
Toronto. It is cleft with multiple inlets giving some 500 miles of
coastline. The excavation of a short ship canal in 1889 severed
connection to the mainland and created the island now accessible only
by bridge and ferry. It is home to more than 15 wine estates and is Ontario’s
newest wine appellation
Del-Gatto Estate is on a peninsula at the south-east corner with its
vineyards just 800 feet from Lake Ontario. Heat
rising from the lake is blown onto the grapes in autumn, and spring
winds in the other direction keeps frost off bud burst.
 |
| Pat Del Gatto |
Owner
Pat Del-Gatto is the winemaker and viticulturist. He grows a number
of cold-hardy hybrid varieties including Vidal, Baco Noir, Frontenac
and Marquette.
And
he has one acre of Vitis Vinifera:1,200 Pinotage vines he grew from
cuttings sourced from British Columbia on Canada's west coast. “It
would have taken at least two years to clear quarantine if I'd
imported them from South Africa,” he told me.
 |
| Pat Del-Gatto in his Pinotage vineyard |
Pinotage
is a small proportion of his vine plantings but takes an enormous
amount of his time and effort to grow, here at the extreme of
vinifera grape growing.
For
the vines to survive the winter, ripe grapes are harvested early
leaving behind those not fully ripe in order to give him 3-4 weeks to
'put vines to sleep' before winter rains makes ground unworkable.
This
year, 2017, just half the crop of ripe grapes were harvested
amounting to one ton. Vines with dry leaves blowing in the icy winds
coming off the lake bear shrivelled bunches of unharvested
grapes. “We need 2-3 weeks longer growing season to get them all
ripe”, says Pat.
Putting
vines to sleep for winter means cutting off old growth leaving new
canes down low near the graft that can be bent horizontal and covered
with earth to protect from cold.
 |
| New canes growing low by the graft are tied down |
 |
| First pass of covering with soil |
When
I arrived at the vineyard Pat was in the midst of doing this.
 |
| Almost covered, one more earthing up pass needed |
Why
grow Pinotage, when vinifera requires so much work? Pat Del Gatto
fell in love with the variety which he first encountered when
visiting his sister in California. He passed marquees on a hill and
on stopping discovered a post-sanctions promotion of South African
wines.
He
tasted a Pinotage, assuming that it was a Meritage type wine
containing Pinot Noir, but after tasting Pinotages from three
different producers he learned Pinotage was a South African variety.
Back
home he couldn't find any Pinotage in the LCBO state stores,
indeed no South African wines. He determined that one day he'd grow
and make his own.
His
grandfather had been a winemaker in Italy, who immigrated to Canada
after the war where he would buy cases of grapes shipped by rail from
California from which to make wine at home. As a boy Pat helped his
father carry on the family tradition. “Remember,” he was told,
“this is the way we make wine. Others may do it differently but
this is our family secret.”
Pat continues to make wine the same
way, using the same techniques. He has not formally studied
winemaking but, as he says, the old family methods work so why would
he change them?
His
dream was to own his own vineyard and when three properties went for
sale on the island of Prince Edward County he took his father along
with him. It was November and his father was sceptical they would be
able to judge the soil conditions.
Driving
along the road Pat's father noticed a line of trees that still had
leaves when others were bare, then at the location of the third
property his father pointed out that nearby gardens still had flowers
in bloom. Realising this indicated a warmer microclimate the Del
Gatto's bought the third property, comprising 74 acres, in 2001.
 |
| Del-Gatto tasting room, vineyards are behind this building |
On
examining the ground they found a thin layer of soil covered three
feet of shattered horizontal layers of limestone resting on bedrock.
It was on this they planted hardy hybrids.
 |
| Cedar trunk supports trellis |
They
had to clear the land of cedar trees to plant crops including vines,
and saved some cedar trunks to support vine trellises.
But
they knew they'd need to cover fragile Vitis Vinifera and needed a
place with enough soil to earth up.
 |
| Pinotage row next to swamp. Note bunches of unpicked grapes |
They
found a strip at the edge of a swamp which had sufficiently deep soil
over limestone. The limestone had enough fissures for vine roots to
pierce. Pats father told him that limestone retained moisture and the
roots would burrow deep and even in drought the vines would find
enough water.
The
short growing season was a problem so Pat decided to graft the
Pinotage onto Riparia Glory rootstocks which ripen fruit two weeks
early.
Pat
found a supplier with a yeast that came from South Africa and bought
American medium toast oak barrels because they are used for Pinotage
in South Africa.
He
cannot make enough Pinotage to meet demand and has around 200 people
on a waiting list for it. Several local restaurants list Del-Gatto
Pinotage, including the boutique Drake Devonshire Inn in village of
Wellington.lli
There
are two 225L barrels of the 2017 vintage, making 48 or 47 cases
depending how much is lost to evaporation, filtration etc. There is
no spare Pinotage for topping up. 2017 has produced less than
previous years, but has better quality fruit. There was three months
of rain at beginning of 2017s growing season, but a warm sunny
September saved the Pinotage.
2014
was Del-Gatto's first vintage, producing five cases. 2015 produced
eleven cases and in 2016 they made enough to submit to authorities
for VQA** certification. 2016 is the first VQA appellation Prince Edward County
Pinotage
Pat
would like to plant more Pinotage but the time taken to prune back to
next year's growth, then bend them horizontal without breaking and
then to make several passes to cover them with earth means that Pat,
with one assistant, cannot deal with any more vinifera vines.
2016
Pinotage is sold out, but Pat opened a bottle he'd saved for his
library.
Del-Gatto Estate 'Odyssey' Pinotage 2016, VQA Prince Edward County, 13.5%
abv
This
is a gorgeous Pinotage, very dark in the glass, with soft berry
fruits, and a plump ripe body with a some dark chocolate in the
background. Well balanced tannins give structure and there is that
enticing sweetness the Pinotage variety delivers, although VQA
analysis shows less than 1% residual sugar. By any standard this is
an accomplished, confident, expression of the variety.
Pat
uses heavy burgundy shaped bottles with a twig of Pinotage
vine tied to the neck with a ribbon
*Not
to be confused with the province of Prince Edward Island on Canada's
eastern coast.
**Vintners
Quality Alliance: VQA Ontario is Ontario’s Wine
Authority, a regulatory agency responsible for maintaining the
integrity of local wine appellations and enforcing winemaking and
labelling standards.
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