Since the early 2000s, Le Clos Jordanne has meticulously crafted exceptional wines, establishing a reputation for quality and dedication to a specific terroir. The team has poured its passion into every bottle, focusing on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and exceeding expectations. In 2024, the winery unveiled a new name as it entered a new chapter in its story: Domaine Le Clos Jordanne. This evolution isn’t just about a name change. It signifies the acquisition of vineyards in the acclaimed Beamsville Bench. “Domaine” signifies a complete estate winery, a perfect reflection of unwavering commitment to crafting exceptional wines from vine to bottle. With access to these exceptional new vineyards, the winery can showcase not only the Jordan Bench terroir that helped define its early days but also the unique character of Beamsville.

Domaine Le Clos Jordanne represents a place: the winery's home, a destination for immersive experiences, and the heart of its terroir-driven philosophy.

When required, the Chardonnay bunches are manually sorted on the vibrating table and then whole cluster pressed. The juice (or ‘must’) settles in tank at 8-10˚C for a couple of days before letting the tanks warm up, so that the naturally occurring yeast from the vineyard may slowly start the fermentation. We believe indigenous yeasts make the most complete, textured, complex, ageable wines. We then transfer the barely fermenting juice to 228L barrels to complete the long, slow, unhurried fermentation. The wine is then patiently aged for 20 to 22 months according to the needs of each cuvée and/or vintage. Malolactic fermentation occurs naturally over the course of winter and finishes in mid-Spring.

As our Chardonnays mature in barrel, they develop complexity of fruit while still preserving their crisp acidity. This extended élevage in the oxygenative medium of French oak barrels (typically 20-25% new) permits the tertiary perfumes and textures to develop and emerge, a technique that helps push the wine’s terroir to the forefront.

Typical for this parcel, Le Grand Clos 2021 shows impressivelypure, very closed, mute, and fine fruit notes—with almost an autolytic nose reminiscent of a regal Blanc de Blancs Champagne, with hints of red apples, lemon with smoke and spice. In the mouth, the pear-nectar and citrus-cream tone, the purity of the fruit astounds. A plush but focused chalkiness, here, we are indeed ‘chewing on a wet stone.’ Although currently tight and somewhat unyielding, it is complex, layered, very pure, long, and poised for the future! Clearly, there is significant improvement to come: this wine still has much to teach us of local "sense of place," and of the longevity of Chardonnay from the Niagara bench's most august terroirs.

The resulting Chardonnays are quite classic: a ‘pretty,’ pure, floralfruited year with great savoury minerality and solid acidity. The young, still-mute wines are in bottle but portend a great future. Niagara’s Chardonnays age well!

2021 was evidence of the old saying: the vintage is made from September 1st-on; do not let a great summer lure you into complacency! When one looks at the year in the rearview mirror, 2021 was epitomized by variable weather! The warm, dry spring saw a slightly earlier than average bud break, leading the peninsula into an early bloom period, suggesting a early, lowyielding harvest. However, a couple of big rains in July & August pushed crop levels higher, with cluster weights rising dramatically. The heavy, frequent rain continued through harvest, with just enough intermittent sun to ripen the early Burgundian varieties to attractive levels. Yes, for some vineyards—especially the heavily-cropped ones— it was a race against time to get them picked and sorted during the sunny breaks, but in general, the brix and acid were only slightly diluted with the rains, and the resulting wines had beautifully-plush fruit, lower alcohols, yet with trademark Niagara acidity and minerality!