Pearl Morissette ‘Chamboulé’ Pinot Noir 2021
Location: Canada, Ontario, Niagara Peninsula
Winemaker: Francois Morissette
Grapes: Pinot Noir
Soil: clay, loam, silt, limestone, iron, sand
Winemaking: fermented as 100% destemmed fruit in a combination of concrete tanks and big oak tanks. After pressing, the wine was aged in a combination of concrete tank, old foudres and old oak demi-muiud for a total of 8 months.
‘Chamboulé’: Our 2021 Chamboulé is 100% Pinot Noir from our Home Farm vineyard in the Creek Shores Appellation. It carries forward the aromatic stamp and delicate, lacy structures of the growing season, much like the rest of our cuvées from that year. Open and expansive bouquet - a spider web of dark-red fruit and spice aromas. The wine unfolds on the palate light-footed, yet reasonant with deep flavours of black cherries and licorice spice. The mouthful is lush but tender - an interlace of round tannin gently containing the ebullient fruit. If drinking now, please decant for an hour or cellar for 3-5 years.
From the importer Selection Massale: Francois Morissette is making the most exciting wines in Canada that we know of in his small corner of Ontario. They are uncompromising wines of terroir that easily transcend the boundaries of the Niagara Peninsula; in his words, “I don’t make wine for Ontario, I make wine for the world."
Francois’ career in wine began in his early 20s when he spent a year working for Domaine Alain Gras in Saint-Romain, learning about the traditional winemaking methods of the region. Once he moved back to Quebec, he worked towards becoming a sommelier and spent the rest of the 1990s building some of the most ambitious wine lists in both Quebec and Ontario. In 2000, the call of the vines was to loud to ignore and he moved back to France to pursue winemaking full-time, working for some of the most famous producers in the Côte d’Or including Frédéric Mugnier in Chambolle-Musigny, Christian Gouges of Domaine Henri Gouges in Nuits-Saint-Georges and Domaine Roulot in Meursault. After 7 years in Burgundy, he returned to Canada with an eye to make his own wine using the knowledge he gained abroad, and it wasn’t long before he found a partner (Mel Pearl, a developer in Toronto) with whom to make it all happen. The estate now owns two vineyards: the 19th Street Vineyard in the Twenty Mile Beach VQA and the home vineyard which is next to the winery, that is part of the Creek Shore VQA: both farmed organically, though not certified. Francois also runs a small negoce project with other likeminded growers in the area. When harvesting (which is done in multiple passes by hand), Francois pays keen attention to the ripeness levels of the grapes as he views this as the key to achieving perfect balance in the finished wine.In the cellar, vinifications are done in a wide variety of different vessels ranging from cement tank, to barrique, to cement egg. Fining and filtration is frowned upon, and sulfur is only used in minuscule doses, if at all. Francois makes a range of different wines from his estate.
Location: Canada, Ontario, Niagara Peninsula
Winemaker: Francois Morissette
Grapes: Pinot Noir
Soil: clay, loam, silt, limestone, iron, sand
Winemaking: fermented as 100% destemmed fruit in a combination of concrete tanks and big oak tanks. After pressing, the wine was aged in a combination of concrete tank, old foudres and old oak demi-muiud for a total of 8 months.
‘Chamboulé’: Our 2021 Chamboulé is 100% Pinot Noir from our Home Farm vineyard in the Creek Shores Appellation. It carries forward the aromatic stamp and delicate, lacy structures of the growing season, much like the rest of our cuvées from that year. Open and expansive bouquet - a spider web of dark-red fruit and spice aromas. The wine unfolds on the palate light-footed, yet reasonant with deep flavours of black cherries and licorice spice. The mouthful is lush but tender - an interlace of round tannin gently containing the ebullient fruit. If drinking now, please decant for an hour or cellar for 3-5 years.
From the importer Selection Massale: Francois Morissette is making the most exciting wines in Canada that we know of in his small corner of Ontario. They are uncompromising wines of terroir that easily transcend the boundaries of the Niagara Peninsula; in his words, “I don’t make wine for Ontario, I make wine for the world."
Francois’ career in wine began in his early 20s when he spent a year working for Domaine Alain Gras in Saint-Romain, learning about the traditional winemaking methods of the region. Once he moved back to Quebec, he worked towards becoming a sommelier and spent the rest of the 1990s building some of the most ambitious wine lists in both Quebec and Ontario. In 2000, the call of the vines was to loud to ignore and he moved back to France to pursue winemaking full-time, working for some of the most famous producers in the Côte d’Or including Frédéric Mugnier in Chambolle-Musigny, Christian Gouges of Domaine Henri Gouges in Nuits-Saint-Georges and Domaine Roulot in Meursault. After 7 years in Burgundy, he returned to Canada with an eye to make his own wine using the knowledge he gained abroad, and it wasn’t long before he found a partner (Mel Pearl, a developer in Toronto) with whom to make it all happen. The estate now owns two vineyards: the 19th Street Vineyard in the Twenty Mile Beach VQA and the home vineyard which is next to the winery, that is part of the Creek Shore VQA: both farmed organically, though not certified. Francois also runs a small negoce project with other likeminded growers in the area. When harvesting (which is done in multiple passes by hand), Francois pays keen attention to the ripeness levels of the grapes as he views this as the key to achieving perfect balance in the finished wine.In the cellar, vinifications are done in a wide variety of different vessels ranging from cement tank, to barrique, to cement egg. Fining and filtration is frowned upon, and sulfur is only used in minuscule doses, if at all. Francois makes a range of different wines from his estate.
Location: Canada, Ontario, Niagara Peninsula
Winemaker: Francois Morissette
Grapes: Pinot Noir
Soil: clay, loam, silt, limestone, iron, sand
Winemaking: fermented as 100% destemmed fruit in a combination of concrete tanks and big oak tanks. After pressing, the wine was aged in a combination of concrete tank, old foudres and old oak demi-muiud for a total of 8 months.
‘Chamboulé’: Our 2021 Chamboulé is 100% Pinot Noir from our Home Farm vineyard in the Creek Shores Appellation. It carries forward the aromatic stamp and delicate, lacy structures of the growing season, much like the rest of our cuvées from that year. Open and expansive bouquet - a spider web of dark-red fruit and spice aromas. The wine unfolds on the palate light-footed, yet reasonant with deep flavours of black cherries and licorice spice. The mouthful is lush but tender - an interlace of round tannin gently containing the ebullient fruit. If drinking now, please decant for an hour or cellar for 3-5 years.
From the importer Selection Massale: Francois Morissette is making the most exciting wines in Canada that we know of in his small corner of Ontario. They are uncompromising wines of terroir that easily transcend the boundaries of the Niagara Peninsula; in his words, “I don’t make wine for Ontario, I make wine for the world."
Francois’ career in wine began in his early 20s when he spent a year working for Domaine Alain Gras in Saint-Romain, learning about the traditional winemaking methods of the region. Once he moved back to Quebec, he worked towards becoming a sommelier and spent the rest of the 1990s building some of the most ambitious wine lists in both Quebec and Ontario. In 2000, the call of the vines was to loud to ignore and he moved back to France to pursue winemaking full-time, working for some of the most famous producers in the Côte d’Or including Frédéric Mugnier in Chambolle-Musigny, Christian Gouges of Domaine Henri Gouges in Nuits-Saint-Georges and Domaine Roulot in Meursault. After 7 years in Burgundy, he returned to Canada with an eye to make his own wine using the knowledge he gained abroad, and it wasn’t long before he found a partner (Mel Pearl, a developer in Toronto) with whom to make it all happen. The estate now owns two vineyards: the 19th Street Vineyard in the Twenty Mile Beach VQA and the home vineyard which is next to the winery, that is part of the Creek Shore VQA: both farmed organically, though not certified. Francois also runs a small negoce project with other likeminded growers in the area. When harvesting (which is done in multiple passes by hand), Francois pays keen attention to the ripeness levels of the grapes as he views this as the key to achieving perfect balance in the finished wine.In the cellar, vinifications are done in a wide variety of different vessels ranging from cement tank, to barrique, to cement egg. Fining and filtration is frowned upon, and sulfur is only used in minuscule doses, if at all. Francois makes a range of different wines from his estate.