Exploring Bo-Teek Vineyard (Niagara Peninsula, Ontario)
No.10 | Vineyard in Focus
Every time I visit the Niagara region during the growing season, I will almost always make a detour to visit Bo-Teek Vineyard in the village of Vineland so I can check in on “my” Cabernet Franc vines. Of course, they aren’t really mine per se, but I consider myself their adopted caregiver or guardian (and I don’t think long-time friend and winemaker Brian Schmidt would take issue with me referring to these vines as mine).
On these visits, I will park my car, stroll deep into one of the rows, and take a seat on the plush grasses between the row, and then the vines and I will have a brief conversation. I’ll ask how they are faring in light of whatever Mother Nature has delivered for the vintage thus far. Sometimes I’ll tell them what I’ve been up to or ask them for advice. After being sure to give each clonal block the same amount of attention, I bid the vines adieu and be on my merry way.
This is my happy place.
Bo-Teek Vineyard was purchased by Vineland Estates Winery in 1994. Back in the 1960s and 70s, the vineyard was the location of a leading equestrian farm of the same name owned by George Frostad.
The farm was responsible for breeding and training some of the great thoroughbred race horses of the era. Rumour has it that the legendary Northern Dancer, the first Canadian-bred race horse to win the Kentucky Derby (in 1964), spent time here over the course of his career.
Today, it is home to some of the Niagara Peninsula’s finest Cabernet Franc vines, and is lovingly cared for by winemaker, grape-grower and Chief Tractor Driver, Brian Schmidt, who celebrated his 32nd vintage as winemaker at Vineland Estates in 2023.
Located about 5km south of Lake Ontario in the Twenty Mile Bench VQA sub-appellation, the Bo-Teek Vineyard is situated on the Bell Terrace, the first or the lowest in a series of wide, north-facing terraces that make up the larger Lake Iroquois Bench, which stretches the length of the Niagara Escarpment.
The top of vineyard sits at an elevation of 145m above sea level and gently slopes north and every so slightly east towards Lake Ontario. On a clear day, you can see the city of Toronto off in the distance on the opposite side of the lake from the top of the vineyard.
The vineyard is in a bit of a Goldilocks zone on the Bench - close enough to the lake to benefit from its moderating influences, but far enough away so that it is not adversely impacted by the cool breezes that can come in off the lake during the growing season. Its orientation and slope also allows for very good air flow, which can help lower the risk of frost and lessen mildew pressure.
In terms of soil, the topsoil, which varies in depth depending on where you are in the vineyard, is predominantly Oneida clay and clay-loam, and this sits atop a bedrock of dolomitic and argillaceous limestones.
There are two primary blocks of Cabernet Franc here at Bo-Teek. One block of about 3.2 hectares, which is in the northern part of the vineyard, is planted with clone 327 (a Bordeaux clone) and was planted in 1996. Directly adjacent to this block is another block of about 2 hectares that was planted in 2006 with clone 214 (the Loire clone).
In addition to these blocks, in the southeast corner of the vineyard, there is 0.4 hectares (1 acre) of Cabernet Franc planted on a (rare!) south-facing slope. This block was planted with clone 214 in 2010. The grapes from this Legacy Block go into Vineland’s Legacy Cabernet Franc, a multi-vintage blend made via a perpetual fractional blending technique that is intended to optimally showcase this special terroir by minimizing vintage variation.
Bo-Teek Vineyard is farmed sustainably, without the use of pesticides or herbicides. And it is not unheard of for Brian to be in the vineyard from sun-up to sundown during the growing season, tending to his Cabernet Franc vines to ensure healthy soils and optimal canopy-yield balance - because the secret to great Cabernet Franc always starts in the vineyard.
This vineyard is the source for four (yes, four!) of Vineland’s Cabernet Francs. Along with their two single-vineyard, single-clone bottlings from Bo-Teek, the fruit from the vineyard also goes into the winery’s Elevation Cabernet (which has a small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon) as well as their Cabernet Franc Reserve.
Since launching this project in the fall of 2020, I’ve been fortunate to have the chance to regularly taste the wines from this vineyard - from barrel and bottle. The Bo-Teek Clone 327 bottling typically exhibits slightly dark-fruited aromas, like Bing cherry, as well as notes of cedar (leaves and wood) and a touch of tobacco. It’s broad shouldered with a sumptuous mid-palate and superb balance. The Clone 214 bottling is generally more perfumed, with notes of violets and sometimes rose, as well as blue-fruited notes and a touch of fine herbs. It is elegant, focused, with velvety tannins and great persistence.
Regardless of the vintage, the Cabernet Francs from Bo-Teek Vineyard are beautifully approachable their youth and age gracefully in the bottle, and always deliver a sense of place and soulfulness in the glass.
From the Archives!
If you are not familiar with Ontario Cabernet Franc and some of the key sub-appellations in the Niagara Peninsula, I have a YouTube playlist set-up with my complete archive of videos from Ontario, which features many of my favourite Cabernet Francs from the region.
Have a favourite Ontario Cabernet Franc? Let me know in the comments!
What a lovely and interesting happy place! Hope to try the wines someday!
Absolutely loved these wines when I tasted them last year!! Can't wait to go back to try them again at some point