If you haven’t been to Niagara on the Lake lately – you’re really missing out. Over the past few years there has been something of a renaissance taking place here – and we’ve been spending so much time focusing on Prince Edward County (deservedly so – there’s amazing things happening there) that it seems like it has gone largely unnoticed by us city dwelling denizens.
It all started with Two Sisters making a statement opening their beautiful facility. It was hard not to take notice with this winery making a statement about premium wines, and pricing to match. A little more quietly – Adnan and Elif Icel opened up Icellars letting us know that a facility doesn’t need to be large to produce high quality red wines. Big Head wines quietly moved from the bench to Niagara on the Lake with Andrzej … but since setting up in their new home things have been anything but quiet with their raw series of wines finding homes on many wine lists in Toronto and St Catharines.
This brings me to Fabian Reis – I remember the first time I met Fabian – he was making the Icewines from Donald Ziraldo’s new eponymous project. Fabian teems with both confidence, and humility. The Ziraldo Icewine is still one of my favourites.
The next time I heard Fabian’s name was when the Ferox wines were quietly making their way to the market. The opening portfolio was stunning (I reviewed the wines here) – and thinking about the Sauvignon Blanc still makes me salivate. Ferox started as a virtual winery working with Reif.
Well – a couple weeks ago I got a text message from Fabian letting me know that Ferox is no longer going to be a virtual winery. Fabian and Stephanie Reis – along with Erwin Wiens have purchased and taken possession of Rancourt winery.
I got a chance to speak with the new owners about their plans for Rancourt. For now, you can expect the existing wines to continue to be sold under the Rancourt label. The plans for 2019 is to eventually switch the winery over to Ferox. When Fabian was showing me around his new home he told me that the plans were to honour the history of Rancourt – as along with the winery he acquired the existing stock and an impressive library of Rancourt wines. Fabian things it’s important to acknowledge the history of the winery – so while it’s a new chapter for Ferox, it’s also for Rancourt as well.
I also had a chance to speak with Erwin Wiens. Erwin is a longtime grape grower for Peller – and has won grape grower of the year from Peller three out of the past seven years. Six years ago, while snowmobiling Erwin and Fabian began laying the groundwork for what is eventually becoming their permanent home. What I didn’t know about Ferox is that Erwin has been managing all the vineyards to date for the Ferox wines. Fabian and Erwin spend a lot of time talking about quality – and working together in this way lets them keep control of the quality of the wine from vine to bottle. It’s impossible to not feel inspired by everyone connected with Ferox. Erwin has been in the business since 2004 – he’s a 2nd generation farmer that has moved from Peaches to grapes. I find when you speak to many people who have been in the industry for quite a while there can be a tinge of cynicism in how the industry works – there is none to be found between Erwin, Fabian, and Stephanie.
Rancourt has 26 acres planted that consist of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Syrah, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Gewurztraminer, and Riesling. I am looking forward to getting another change to taste Fabian’s touch on Bordeaux Varietals given his 2015 Merlot Cabernet sold out as soon as I heard of it. So while the sign outside says Rancourt for now – expect great things to come out of this facility – “It’s go time now” as Fabian told me.
