“Single vineyard estate wines has always been the dream.”
Mason Vineyard Estate Wines
The Mason Vineyard Estate wines are from my personal vineyard. They represent the answer to my question - what would happen if I could make all the decisions and bottle what I think is best off of this site?
From the start of this dream a decade ago, our goal has been to focus primarily on low intervention and wild ferment Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc wines.
Low intervention — is a philosophy where the winemaker works hard to avoid manipulating the wine during the winemaking process. Manipulations might include adding commercial products or high levels of sulphur that are typical of more volume, mass market wines. We don’t manipulate.
Wild fermentation — is the basis of natural wine; where the winemaker allows the wild yeasts from the vineyard site to ferment the grapes into wine, thereby avoiding the “unnatural” process of overriding the native yeasts with commercial yeasts. We wild ferment.
We believe that our site and other vineyards in Niagara are especially ideal for making the best wines in the world. It’s that simple. Incredible terroir produces exceptional wines and our terroir is second to none.
I hope you enjoy the attention that was given to the wine in your glass. Creating it was rewarding and a pleasure.” — Kelly Mason
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Our mission is to create exceptional wines of site. Our winery purpose lives and breathes making wine to push our limits and show just how far Canadian wines can go.
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We believe that truly extraordinary wines result from applying all of a winery’s resources and attention towards making great wine while avoiding the distractions of conventional wineries.
This is an important differentiator between Mason Vineyard and other winery models which might focus on hospitality or tourism-centric activities and revenues. We believe that what it takes to produce beautiful and distinct wines is nothing short of fanaticism and relentless focus.
For a winery to pursue making beautiful, complex and highly expressive wines, it can only focus on one thing — growing and making great wine. All other activities are a distraction and detract from the outcome that we strive for.
The result is a strategically performance-driven winery designed to make great wine which sells out completely online and through reserved allocation, to the exclusive and passionate audience we have cultivated.
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Winemaker Kelly Mason was born and raised in Montreal. Before establishing herself as a premiere Canadian winemaker, her career began in 2007 in the Carneros subregion of Napa Valley with an internship at Saintsbury Winery under a Burgundian winemaker.
After studying Winemaking at Brock University, Kelly continued her focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as an intern at Tawse Winery followed by Le Clos Jordanne.
Continuing on her focus, Kelly became a well sought after expert in Burgundian varietals which brought her to balance the head winemaker roles for Honsberger Estates for many years as well as The Farm winery for their five award winning vintages. During that time Kelly took on the role of assistant winemaker at the esteemed Domaine Queylus, becoming head winemaker in 2018.
Over the last decade Kelly has owned and farmed the now recognized Mason Vineyard; growing low-yield Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Franc grapes for a number of top tier wineries in the region including Domaine Queylus and The Farm.
In 2021 Kelly launched Mason Vineyard, her own winery dedicated to meticulously crafting exceptional estate, single vineyard Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc wines.
Mason Vineyard Estate — Current Release Wines for 2024
Note: Wine available for shipping in Canada only. BC Shoppers, shipping rate calculated at checkout. Remaining out of Province shoppers, shoot us an email at wines@masonvineyard.com.
Shipping is included for 6 bottles or more in Ontario.
2022 ‘The Matriarch’
Pinot Noir | Unfiltered
Winemaker: Kelly Mason
Varietals: 100% Pinot Noir, Clones 115, 667, 777
Vineyard: Mason Vineyard
Viticultural Area: Twenty Mile Bench
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Pick Date: Sept 18th, 2022
pH : 3.78
TA : 5.43
Alcohol : 12.5%
Sugar : 0g/L
Fermentation: Wild Ferment
Ageing: French Oak, Burgundy barrels, 17 months in mainly neutral oak with use of second and third fill barrels.
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WINEMAKER JOURNAL: To me, the 2022 vintage of Pinot Noir, has a profile reflective of a stronger vintage coupled with a Bench site: the structure, the tannins, the earthiness. I found the 2021 to be lovely, perfumed, and floral.
You could not see two more distinctly different vintages in a glass if you pour the 2021 and 2022 Mason Vineyard Pinot Noir side by side. One vintage tested me to my limits; it was a heavier crop, rainy season - particularly at harvest, leaving pinot berries barely hanging on to their skin integrity and others giving in and forcing me to drop clusters to the ground. I removed clusters from the vine because it was what it took to get through 2021 and focus on the wine. 2022 rebounded the other way, although there was a rough cold snap late in November 2021 followed with a cold winter in 2022, the Bench sites managed to mitigate some of that weather with airflow.
With a much drier growing season, we were able to hang Pinot a little bit longer (think here that even a week or so is a big difference with Pinot Noir!). Harvesting was much easier and we were able to pick with ripeness and promising phenolics.
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NOTES: The 2022 Mason Vineyard Matriarch Pinot Noir poured into my glass has me smiling as it has returned with layers that I recognize - deep fruit concentration that slides between blackberry and cherry notes that have carried nicely through from the nose until they are weighted down by the darker, broody notes with an earthiness I love.
As you are reading this, please remember that this wine was bottled in April of 2024. So, she still needs time in bottle. And do pour it in beautiful Pinot stemware, swirl, and allow it to breathe - it will change with each glass early on in its bottle age and it's fun to anticipate where this wine might go over the years to come.
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TASTING NOTES: Gem-like and medium ruby in colour with a bit of telltale Pinot bricking along the rim. The nose is powerful and pronounced, but still feels quite closed, as though it is not ready to give up all its secrets quite yet. Aromas of brambly red fruit, forest floor, sour cherry, violets and beetroot with a gamey and iron undertone.
On the palate, brisk acidity leads the way into a wine of medium-body with a plush core of ripe black cherry fruit, vanilla and dried autumn leaves framed by a firm, but polished tannic structure. Great mineral energy and excellent length.
Elegant, expressive and impeccably balanced. Plenty of potential for mid-term aging. This wine hits all of the notes one hopes for in great Pinot Noir: sweet fruit, perfumed florality, savoury earthiness and bracing minerality all wrapped up in an elegant and graceful package. This wine is at once elegant yet powerful. Serious but not severe. An absolute joy to drink.
PRICE: $49 / Bottle (Limited Time)
2022 ‘The Landed’
Cabernet Franc | Unfiltered
Winemaker: Kelly Mason
Varietals: 100% Cabernet Franc
Vineyard: Mason Vineyard
Viticultural Area: Twenty Mile Bench
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Pick Date: November 4th, 2022
pH : 3.85
TA : 5.70
Alcohol : 13.0%
Sugar : 0g/L
Fermentation: Wild Ferment
Ageing: French Oak, Burgundy barrels, 17 months with 10% new oak, 10% second fill, 30% third fill and remainder in neutral oak.
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WINEMAKER JOURNAL: I say it all the time, but Cabernet Franc is so much easier to work with than Pinot Noir. It also has so much potential in Niagara. I associate it with fall and harvest time as that is generally when my palate starts to crave Cabernet Franc with heartier harvest dishes. It’s always that same time, late October early November, when we pick. It seems well-timed that I am drinking it and making it all at once. It’s also the last pick on the vineyard, so it is the final chapter to the growing season.
My vines are definitely getting old and I am seeing reduced yields and some vines are tired. It might be time to start a planting program and plant some new vines to help support these old vines out there. That’s a big undertaking – its laborious, expensive and always a big question of how will I irrigate if need be? Debating if I can possibly plant right next to the old vines and while the younger ones take continue to rely on the older ones. It keeps me up at night.
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NOTES: The Cabernet Franc was about as hassle-free as it could be in 2022. We picked early November, destemmed, no crushing, and straight to tank, whole berry. It had a brief cold soak and then we fired up the heating jackets and the ferment took off.
We left it on skins for a total of 25 days and then pressed it off to barrel (this happens right before Christmas). I generally don’t taste much once it first goes to barrel to give it some time to settle for a few months. It is still so young and sort of in an awkward stage. This vintage is a return stylistically to some of my previous vintages and I feel is a pure example of Bench Cabernet Franc.
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TASTING NOTES: Deep ruby in the glass with a hint of garnet showing at the rim. The generous nose bounces back and forth from sweet to savoury with alluring aromas of strawberry, wild cherry, rose petal, leather, dried cranberry, sandalwood, baking spice, wood smoke, black pepper, pencil lead and bay leaf.
Fresh and taut on the palate with a firm spine of acidity keeping things nicely focused. Medium bodied with a heart of ripe fruit supported by luxuriously silky tannins. Absolutely gorgeous texture from start to finish.
This is true-to-form to earlier incarnations of Cabernet Franc that Mason has produced. No over the top, jammy fruit or over-extracted tannin here. This wine is defined by its svelte and elegant build, captivating character and bewitchingly perfumed aromatics. There is a nice frame of stoney minerality supporting the fruit on the exceptionally long finish.
PRICE: $49 / Bottle (Limited Time)
MORE WINES BELOW
2022 ‘The Outlier’
Cabernet Sauvignon | Unfiltered
Winemaker: Kelly Mason
Varietals: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, Clone 169
Vineyard: Mason Vineyard
Viticultural Area: Twenty Mile Bench
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Pick Date : November 4th, 2022
pH : 3.89
TA : 5.45
Alcohol : 13.0%
Sugar : 0g/L
Ageing: French Oak, Burgundy barrels, 17 months with 20% second fill, 20% third fill and remainder in neutral oak.
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WINEMAKER JOURNAL: Here we go with the second vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon. I can see the merits of the 2022 vintage versus the 2021. I still can’t believe that 2021 was the first vintage where I tried to make Cabernet Sauvignon off of this site. The grapes keep surprising me with how overall it does make a wine that I enjoy drinking. I still grapple with whether I have the nerves to stick with it when vintage variation is so out of my control and such a marker on this variety. I have enough stress with Pinot.
I said I would do three vintages and see what we all think. It’s nice as a blend with Cabernet Franc, but shouldn’t I just plant more Cabernet Franc or Chardonnay? I better decide soon and doubtful it is going to happen this year. Maybe 2024 is a harvest for a blend. Let’s see, it is still early.
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NOTES: This release is vastly different from the softer 2021. We harvested in November and similar to the Cabernet Franc, we destemmed and went whole-berry to tank.
We don’t have a lot of tonnage as it is only five rows of vines. This plays on fermentation temperature and extraction – we need heat and without mass in the tank, I sometimes find that this can be challenging. This is why I think a co-ferment with Cab Franc would be helpful?
Anyways, true to its nature, it went to tank and we extracted where needed and let the temperature climb. It tasted good throughout it’s entire time in tank – always surprises me that during its earlier stages, I find it more appealing than the Cabernet Franc. It was a favorite among the team early on and at bottling a few weeks ago, it still was. Let’s be clear, I don’t like it more than the Cabernet Franc, but I am surprised and am looking forward to having a glass with a few months’ bottle age on it.
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TASTING NOTES: Garnet hue with a shy intricate nose hinting at cassis, framboise, cedar, crushed gravel, vanilla bean, and pipe tobacco. Firmly structured with fresh acidity and grippy, but polished tannins. There is a sweet core of fruit that keeps this veering too far toward the austere. Aristocratic and serious.
Medium-plus in weight with great extract and flavour concentration. Very long finish which charmingly replays these flavours throughout its duration. This is tightly wound at the moment and will need a few years to start loosening up; but the intensity of flavour and the beautifully knit structure suggest it will cellar beautifully. I would love to come back to this in 8+ years or so and see where it’s at.
I would speculate that there is a long and glorious life ahead for this wine. If you really can’t wait a few years, decant vigorously an hour or so before serving and pair with something gamy and medium rare. Grilled lamb rubbed with garlic and rosemary would be a winner.
PRICE: $49 / Bottle (Limited Time)
2022 ‘L’avenir’
Chardonnay | Unfiltered
Winemaker: Kelly Mason
Varietals: 100% Chardonnay, Clone 76
Vineyard: Mason Vineyard
Viticultural Area: Twenty Mile Bench
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Pick Date : September 24th, 2022
pH : 3.60
TA : 5.60
Alcohol : 12.3%
Sugar : 0.6g/L
Fermentation: Wild Ferment
Ageing: French Oak, Burgundy barrels, 17 months in mainly neutral oak with use of second and third fill barrels.
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WINEMAKER JOURNAL: It’s harder to write about this Chardonnay because the vines and I are still new to each other. I am trying to figure out what I did right or wrong the previous growing season to see what they might need from me this year to be more balanced.
I truly am impressed by this block of young vine Chardonnay, clone 76. We were out making pruning decisions just a few weeks ago, with bare canes everywhere, you can really assess the growth from the previous vintage. The vine is before you, and with bare shoots it is easy to assess individual vine health – that is, what the vine is inclined to do, where you erred on the side of caution in the previous vintage - it’s fascinating.
Although there are pruners out there who are much faster than myself or anyone on the MV team, I prefer having someone who takes their time to read the growth story the vine is displaying and prune accordingly. I don’t think these young vines are one size fits all. So yeah, more expensive, but pruning is so important. This year, Kaleigh Andrews pruned the whole vineyard - go, Kaleigh.
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NOTES: On its second release in bottle (vines planted in 2018), the 2022 Mason Vineyard Chardonnay was hand picked and whole cluster pressed then settled in a cold tank. It was then racked while keeping fluffy lees and then left to go through a primary and secondary wild fermentation. Once complete, it spent 17 months élevage in oak – about 30% second fill, 10% third fill and the remainder neutral. It has gone through complete malolactic with a light bentonite fining.
It is too soon for me to mark any recurring flavour profiles or sensory traits of this block. I just know it makes me smile. It is producing a great Chardonnay, and I am learning with each vintage how much weight I can add on the midpalate and how can I keep it just lean enough to stay refreshing, mouth-watering, representative of Niagara and still have enough oak for mid palate weight, rounding out the finish, and ageing. It’s so much fun to be a student of my own vineyard.
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TASTING NOTES: Brilliant, greenish gold in the glass. Subdued aromatics upon first pouring, but with a bit of swirling and some time in the glass, it steadily opens up to reveal a beautiful perfume. The nose continues to offer up an ever-increasing array of complex and intriguing aromas with each passing glass. Peach pit, nectarine, ripe apple, citronella, mandarin orange, orchard blossom and candied ginger all make an appearance. Supporting the layers of fruit and flowers is a hint of something sappy and resinous; almost coniferous in nature. A lees derived grace note adds further dimension to this sophisticated wine’s aromatic profile.
On the attack, this wine comes out swinging! Fresh and vibrant, yet rich and full of intense and complex flavour. Firm acidity provides a solid backbone to the weighty body. The palate delivers pitch-perfect balance plus a long finish, pulsing with electric minerality. It paradoxically manages to straddle those disparate worlds of both elegance and power.
This is an absolutely spectacular Chardonnay that is drinking so well right now, but there is more than enough stuffing here to merit space in the cellar. It seems certain that this wine will continue to reveal further delights with a considerable aging.
PRICE: $49 / Bottle (Limited Time)
Disclaimer - This wine has not yet been approved by the Appellation Authority. The use of certain descriptive terms that are regulated under the VA Act is subject to final testing and approval by the wine authority.
MORE WINES BELOW
2020 Sparkling Rosé
Blanc de Noirs — Hors Domaine
Méthode Traditionnelle
Winemaker: Kelly Mason
Varietals: Pinot Noir
Vineyard: Mason Vineyard
Viticultural Area: Twenty Mile Bench
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Pick Date : September 11th, 2020
pH : 3.15
TA : 8.74
Alcohol : 12.0%
Sugar : 3.0g/L
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NOTES: I have this thing for Bench Pinot. I know I am not the only one. This Blanc de Noirs is from 100% Pinot Noir, Méthode Traditionnelle. It has a pretty pale pink colour with a nose of typical pinot floral notes, peach blossoms, and white flowers. For how young this sparkling is, the midpalate has a subtle creamy texture with notes of raspberry and meyer lemon with a tartness on the finish. I have held back bottles for a later release and I foresee with more time on lees, this sparkling will have enough weight to carry as a beautiful Brut Nature.
The Dosage: 2g/L of sugar / Blanc de Noirs
PRICE: $49 / Bottle (Limited Time)
2020 Sparkling
Blanc de Blancs — Hors Domaine
Méthode Traditionnelle
Winemaker: Kelly Mason
Varietals: Chardonnay
Vineyard: Mason Vineyard
Viticultural Area: Twenty Mile Bench
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Pick Date : September 9th, 2020
pH : 3.11
TA : 10.42
Alcohol : 12.0%
Sugar : 3.0g/L
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NOTES: The only similarity in these two sparklings is a pretty floral note on the nose. This Méthode Traditionelle, Blanc de Blancs, has a marked nectarine note and a more subtle undertone of lanolin. The texture is round and already showing some weight, with a finish of star fruit and yellow apple. This is delicate and layered.
The Dosage: 2g/L of sugar / 2020 Mason+Bachelder Collab Chardonnay Frontier.
PRICE: $49 / Bottle (Limited Time)
“A wine should express the land where it’s made.”