By Rick VanSickle
After 25 years of success, the Featherstone Estate Winery on Niagara’s Twenty Mile Bench is beginning “a new chapter.”
Louis Engel (below) and her winemaker husband David Johnson have gone from owners to employees after selling the popular estate to Toronto’s Rayla and George Myhal last February. While both Engel and Johnson will help in the transition of Featherstone to the new owners, Engel says she is looking forward to retirement. “This retirement thing is a really good gig,” she tells me as we taste the current portfolio of wines on the back veranda, just as we have done so many times before.
Engel is relaxed on this day, not fretting over each and every detail of running a small family farm and winery. That job now belongs to Jennifer Hart who has been hired as general manager of Featherstone. For Engel, she plans to help Hart and the new owners with whatever they need for a seamless transition. Johnston, however, will keep making the wines at Featherstone for as long as they want him.
In a news release about the sale, Engel said that the new owners “have grand plans and this marks an exciting new phase at Featherstone. The Myhal family brings and unbridled enthusiasm for wine and strong sense of philanthropy to Niagara. The local community will benefit from their investment in the industry and their dedication to local charitable initiatives.”
While embracing change in many areas, Featherstone remains “fundamentally committed to making exceptional wines and offering outstanding customer experiences.” In the immediate future, the new owners plan on enclosing the large tasting room veranda to expand the seasons at the estate, facility upgrades and a ramping up of food services. The portfolio of wines will stay pretty much as it is — at least for the immediate future.
One thing they hope won’t change is Featherstone’s uncanny success selling their wines at the LCBO. An envious 65% of all wines they make are sold at the government monopoly, making them Niagara’s poster child for how to work successfully with the province’s largest wine retailer. This is where Engel has made her mark and, if truth be told, she really should run seminars on best practises for wineries to follow if they want to be successful at the network of government run stores throughout the province.
Engel has some free advice for Ontario wineries who want to be successful at LCBO stores with their limited listings.
- Have respect for their processes. There are a lot of forms to fill out, follow up questions, instructions, and niggly details to iron out before your wine hits the shelf. Engel says to go with the flow and “always say yes” to what the LCBO wants.
- The “secret sauce” is sell-through. “The LCBO likes sell-through. You are only as good as your last vintage,” Engel says, no matter how highly you think about your wine.
- QPR is extremely important. It is one of the strengths of Featherstone — making solid, honest wines and selling them at attractive prices (in other words, prices the LCBO want) from vintage to vintage. The LCBO also wants wines with a consistent style, so consumers keep coming back for more.
- The LCBO is not your friend, says Engel. It is a business, and it only cares about moving wine through the system. If it doesn’t sell, you will have a problem getting re-listed. “Operate with a bunch of integrity,” suggests, Engel.
I have tasted, nearly annually, Featherstone wines for about as long as I have published this website. It is always with Engel as Johnson prefers riding a tractor to entertaining pesky wine writers such as me. The strength of the portfolio has always been a consistent style (and price) with the core wines — Black Sheep Riesling, Canadian Oak Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, a bolder style rosé, Gamay, and more recently, bubbles, Sauvignon Blanc and an exquisite Bordeaux-variety red blend called Onyx.
We tasted the new release wines and after, enjoyed some oldies from the estate’s cellar that Engel was excited to pull out in recognition of the 25th anniversary.
The 2007 Old Vines Riesling, the first Featherstone wine bottled in screwcap and from vines planted by Hermann Weis in 1978, was outstanding. There are only eight bottles remaining, so it was quite an honour to taste this. It was gorgeous; showing its age, of course, but loaded with sweet petrol, lime, beeswax and lanoline in a rich, textured and savoury style. We tasted the 2007 beside the current 2021 Reserve Old Vines Riesling ($25), with rich pear, peach, saline minerality, lime, and lovely texture and intensity through the finish.
The Gamay Unfiltered 2003 still had energy and fruit but was understandably tired at this stage. Gamays are not meant to be over-cellared, so it was fun to see this one at 21 years old.
Next up was a 2003 Cabernet Franc, which had a brickish colour and had thinned out over its 21 years in bottle, but still distinctly Cab Franc with wild herbs, remnants of red berries, dissolved tannins and some acidity still holding on the finish.
The superstar from the historic wines Engel pulled from the cellar was the oldest — a 2002 Unfiltered Merlot. It had bright red berry fruit, elegant spices, some mature dark berries and plums on the nose. It was beautiful on the palate with a mélange of berry fruit, still holding its tannins, good structure, spice and woodsy notes on a finish that was long and finessed. What a treat!
As for the new releases, here’s what I liked:
Featherstone Fizzics 2023 ($20, winery, 88 points) — This is a new wine for Featherstone, a charmat style bubbly that’s a blend of Cabernet Franc (60%) and Merlot (40%). The name is an ode to Engel’s dad, who taught physics. It shows a light pink colour in the glass with a persistent bubble and notes of fresh strawberries, cherries, watermelon, floral accents and a smidge of citrus. There is a touch of sweetness on the palate with a lively bead and ripe red berries, a bit of peach and a juicy, vibrant finish. Fun bubbles at an attractive price.
Featherstone Sauvignon Blanc 2023 ($18, Vintages Oct. 8, winery now, 90 points) — 20% of the fruit was barrel fermented using neutral Canadian oak barrels. It has an enticing nose of grapefruit, peach, grassy/herbaceous notes, apple and just a hint of spice. There is lovely texture on the palate with rich and layered pear, peach, fresh apple, grapefruit, minty herbs, touch of spice and a vibrant finish.
Featherstone Pinot Grigio 2023 ($18, previously reviewed, Vintages, 91 points) — This was supposed to be released at Vintages the day after the LCBO went on strike. You can order online at the LCBO or get it from the winery in person or online. It gets its rosy glow from extended skin contact and has penetrating notes of melon, peach, strawberry tart and watermelon on the nose. On the palate it shows mouth-filling orchard fruits, pink grapefruit, a touch of ginger in a rounded, ripe style with vibrance on the finish. Delightful.
Featherstone Rosé 2023 ($17, Vintages Sept. 21, winery now, 89 points) — The Featherstone rosé has always been more on the robust side, but the colour on the 2023 vintage has been dialed back a bit to a bright rosy glow in the glass. “We don’t want any rough edges in our rosé,” Engel says. And at 13% abv, “we don’t want it to be lightweight.” The blend is 41% Cabernet Franc, 31% Merlot and the rest Gewurztraminer. The nose pops with brambly red berries, anise, rhubarb and red currants. There is a touch of sweetness on the palate with ripe raspberry-cherry, red apples, a touch of citrus and a bright, lifted finish.
Featherstone Canadian Oak Chardonnay 2022 ($23, Vintages Oct. 19, winery now, 91 points) — Featherstone has been a champion for Canadian oak for 20 years. This iteration is aged for 10 months with monthly lees stirring. The nose shows rich pear, yellow apple, lemon tart, bergamot and rich, buttery, vanilla-tinged spice notes. It’s generous on the palate with ripe stone fruits, stony minerality, flecks of citrus zest, full-on spice notes and a bright, vibrant finish keeping it all in balance. Put a couple of bottles in the cellar for a year or two to see how it all integrates.
Featherstone Gamay 2021 ($19, Vintages Aug. 10, winery now, 91 points) — This Gamay is aged in American oak barrels for 10 months. The aromas of black cherries, plums, red currants, anise, smoke and pepper leap from the glass. It’s juicy and bold with light tannins, bright red berries, pomegranate, a touch of spice and a tangy, lifted finish.
Featherstone Onyx 2020 ($40, Vintages Sept. 7, 93 points) — This is the top wine made at Featherstone and is only made in the top vintages. The blend of one-third each of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet is chosen from the finest barrels of the vintage and is aged for 22 months in American oak. This is a thrilling red and it begins on the nose with ripe dark cherries, perfumed spices, blackberries, cassis, earthy-savoury notes, pepper, dried tobacco and subtle minty herbs. It’s smooth on the palate with lifted, super-ripe cherry compote, black raspberries, cassis, mocha and ripe tannins, in a dense and luxurious style all balanced by mouth-watering acidity on a long, echoing finish. A real beauty here, again, at a terrific price for a wine of this quality that will age nicely until 2034. Go get it!
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