Time flies

Morandin Wines celebrates first anniversary

It’s hard to believe that the County’s newest winery is already one year old, but such is the case. The first year of operation can be a wild ride for some, so we checked in with Morandin’s winemaker Amelia Keating-Isaksen to see how the inaugural year has been and how their small team is holding up.

Winemaker Keating-Isaksen may be still relatively new to the area, but it hasn’t taken her long to get to know the community. Her east coast roots told her she should have a meet and greet earlier on in the year which turned out to be a great way for her to introduce herself to the neighbours. She was originally brought to the County via a connection to Fieldbird Cider owner Ryan Monkman. The two were schoolmates at Niagara College. Aside from her winemaker position at Morandin, she also helps out Monkman field-managing at Fieldbird.

The one-year anniversary also marked the end of a season that was busier than expected.

“We started out this summer with what looked like a lot of wine to us. But we’ve only got four cases of pinot gris left. We sold out of the rosé, and the syrah. Everything that we have is on its way out. We will have some chardonnay and pinot left. But everything else will be gone soon. We’d rather not run out because of the flow of business, but I’m not stopping them from buying,” Keating-Isaksen says with a smile.

Winemaker Amelia Keating-Isaksen stands amongst the vines at Morandin Wines on Loyalist Parkway.

The small team had an intensely busy summer in the tasting bar, especially considering people are still just finding out about the place. The upclose- and-personal vibe is one that Keating-Isaksen prefers over the increasingly private and stuffy Niagara experience.

“It’s the community-thing that I’m used to, being from Nova Scotia. Working in this environment feels really natural for me. Way more natural than some places I worked in Niagara, where that community-vibe just isn’t there,” says Keating-Isaksen.

Keating-Isaksen had a polar-opposite work experience while in Niagara. She worked for a small mom and  pop style winery called Five Rows where everything was done by hand with an 800-case output, but then also spent a few years at Creekside where she was responsible for more than 20,000 cases annually.

Eventually she found there was no sense of community in Niagara and knew that she needed to be in an environment that was more organic, which is what brought her to the County. That authentic, rural experience.

Morandin has five acres of grapes in total split between chardonnay, pinot gris and pinot noir. The property has 33 acres and Keating-Isaksen has her sights set on planting more in the next couple of years.

Of last year’s vintages, Morandin’s pinot noir is one that has been on the tongue of people-in-the-know as one possibly of the best pinots in the County already, after only one year. Keating-Isaksen explains her process on pinot.

“The vineyard is pretty well-balanced as far as plantings go, there are a couple of different varieties and a couple of different root stocks, so I find that when working with something as picky as Pinot, you need to be as diverse as possible when planting it because then everything will balance out. Also there’s a balance of both new and old oak used in barrels. You also can’t be too formulaic. I didn’t do last year’s pinot like the year before because the growing season was so different. Whatever process worked for the wine one year, may not for the next. You need to be able to react in real-time,” says Keating-Isaksen.

She says she is also excited about the 2017 vintage, which she had more of a hand in growing. She’s seeing fruity, rich notes and darker colours in the pinot. But she’s really happy that the wines are selling so well.

“My goal in life was to make a wine that someone would throw a fit over if we ran out, and that happened this year when we sold out of the rosé and a woman was floored that we didn’t have any. She didn’t believe me. She started looking around the winery for a hidden bottle,” says Keating- Isaksen.

Unfortunately, last year was a bad one for rot on the sangreal block at Morandin. The team worked really hard nursing the vines back to health. In general, this growing year has been smooth, with no real issues and harvest on the way. Because of the rot last year, the yield was only 500 cases, where the aim was 800. This year the aim is produce 1,000 cases. Keating-Isaksen explains her grape-choosing process for non- County grapes

“If I get fruit that’s not from the County, I try to get varieties that you can’t get in the County. A friend in Niagara runs a vineyard she’s restoring that has 30-year old cab sauv vines. So, I actually got it last year and will get some more. I’m also buying some organic viogner Niagara, and surprisingly, a baco noir from Kitchener,” says Keating-Isaksen.

Keating-Isaksen also joins a strong contingent of women winemakers here in the County like Mackenzie Brisbois (Trail Estates), Caroline and Maggie Granger (Grange of Prince Edward) and Anna Castillo (Hillier Creek) to name just a few. We asked her how she felt about given the opportunity to work as a winemaker here in the County.

“I think in-part the opportunities are simply greater for women in the County when it comes to winemaking. In Niagara, it’s is very ‘oldguard’ and everything is pre-decided on who runs the vineyard and most of them are men. A lot of them are great men, but there is not much opening there. Here in the County you have that option. Currently there are more women than men graduating from winemaking programs, so the times are going to change,” says Keating- Isaksen.

“I’ve heard from women in Niagara that were told they couldn’t be a winemaker because they aren’t strong enough. They wouldn’t able to lift heavy things, which makes them not qualified. Well I have been running this winery mostly on my own for the past year and I have yet encounter something I can’t do on my own.”

The team recently celebrated its birthday with a little party at the winery and was surprised to see the parking lot fill up with well-wishers. Jamie Kennedy was on-hand with his famous fries, Rodney from Flame and Smith was shucking oysters and the music for the night was Chris Thompson and Mitch Haigh, who split the evening with an early and late set. The team at Morandin was not sure how long the crowd would stay, but everyone ended up staying most of the night and raising a glass to one year in operations.

For more information on Morandin Winery visit www.morandinwines.ca