Dam Chardonnay 2020 (Niagara) - Wine Review

Tonight's white wine review is a lovely Chardonnay from Niagara that was quietly released last fall without much of the usual fanfare, and I had the pleasure of tasting last night in a virtual tasting with one of the partners at 80x Wine Company, André Proulx.

It is produced by 80x Wine Company, a virtual winery that started as an idea in 2015 when Vadim Chelekhov and André had a conversation at a wine gala in Niagara and asked each other "Wouldn't it be great if we made some wine together?"

André is a wine writer based in Ontario and not only believes you are what you drink, but also that it is important to understand what it takes to go from vineyard to bottle. Vadim wanted an outlet to explore some more experimental winemaking, while Guillaume Frénéhard studied the wine business in France and assured André and Vadim that he could help them sell their wine. Since all of the partners in this project were born in the 80s, they named the business 80x Wine Company.

In 2019, Adam Kern joined the team as dedicated winemaker, bringing with him years of experience being trained as a somm and working at some of Ontario's best wineries. As a virtual winery, 80x Wine Company purchases grapes from selected vineyards across the Niagara Peninsula and vinify their wines at Rockway Vineyards in St. Catharines, Ontario. Together, they believe that great wine is the result of passion, insanity, and friendship.

This Chardonnay gets its name after a contentious discussion within the company on what wine they were going to make next - their first wine was a Gamay, which I recall tasting several years ago, and was followed by Pinot Noir. The conversation ended with one of the partners saying "Fine, You can have your damned Chardonnay".

It is crafted with fruit from vines planted in 1983 at the famed Erv and Esther Willms Vineyard within the Four Mile Creek sub-appellation in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The 80x team didn't hesitate to purchase the Willms fruit when presented with the opportunity as they knew quality wines were produced by other well-known Niagara wine producers using fruit from this vineyard in the past.

The growing season in 2020 in Niagara was exceptional, in spite of a challenging year for humanity. Conditions were near perfect and favoured both white and red varieties. Grapes reached phenolic ripeness while retaining the all-important acidity. Days were warm, but nights were cool, allowing the grapes to rest and retain its acidity. The high diurnal temperature range between warm days and cool nights is almost unheard of in Niagara and helped greatly in achieving high quality wines across the board.

Harvest day was one of the highlights of 2020 for 80x Wine Company. It was an opportunity to get a small team of close friends to help them pick the fruit from the vineyards that looked like they had been photoshopped by mother nature. It was vinified by slow fermentation over several months in 2nd and 4th fill puncheons with indigenous yeast, with winemaker Adam keeping a close eye on it. In January 2021, they were forced to cover their puncheons with blankets to raise the temperature and feel that their patience was rewarded.

Only 99 cases and 16 magnums were produced and it is currently available for purchase direct through 80x Wine Company, on-site at Rockway Vineyards, and at select bottle shops in Ontario. Let's see how this 2020 Niagara Chardonnay is tasting tonight...

Tasting Note:

DAM CHARDONNAY 2020 - VQA Four Mile Creek, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada (XD) - $30
Elegant, medium-high intensity aromatics are a little musty, revealing golden apple, lemon citrus, butter and lactic aromas with a hint of vanilla spice. On the dry, creamy, medium+ bodied, and nicely textured, palate it offers delicious ripe golden apple, pear, lemon citrus, and buttery flavours with a hints of spice, peach, and honey. It's all supported by fresh, mouth-watering acidity. Citrus and apple notes are joined by touches of spice and earthy minerals on the finish, with very good length. This is indeed a Dam good Chardonnay and a recommended buy! Score: 89 pts