Norman
Hardie Chardonnay Vertical: 2006-2014&nbsp; &nbsp; 

BY IAN D’AGATA | NOVEMBER 8,
2016&nbsp;&nbsp;

Norman Hardie is regarded as one of
Canada’s most knowledgeable wine producers, but he was not born into a
winemaking family. Hardie’s rise into the magical world of fine wine began by
earning a sommelier degree at the University of Dijon in the late 1980s, then
by working as Manager and Sommelier (1993-1996) at Toronto’s Truffles restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel. There is
no doubt that the Four Seasons was one of Toronto’s three best restaurants of
the time, an upscale eatery where fine wine flowed freely most nights. Hardie then
decided he wanted to work more closely with wine, but had no formal enological
or viticultural training. Over the years, he learned the craft by working with
great winemakers around the world, gaining a vast amount of experience in his
new chosen field.





















A real globetrotter, Hardie started out in 1996 as winemaker apprentice at Evesham
Wood, the high quality and prestigious Oregon winery. From 1997 to 2000, he
served as assistant winemaker at Bouchard-Finlayson in South Africa, then went back
to being a winemaker apprentice at various estates in Burgundy, including Domaine
de la Pousse d'Or in Volnay (1997), Domaine de la Vougeraie in Premeaux (1998),
and Nicolas Potel in Nuits St. Georges (1999). Hardie then went off to discover
an entirely new corner of the wine world and moved to New Zealand. There, he
was the “right hand to the winemaker” at the Central Otago Wine Company in 2001 and 2002, before taking a position
in the same role in 2002 at Au Bon Climat and Qupé , both in Santa Barbara. That’s
a pretty impressive list of places in which to learn about wine.

<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1478534368239-NH+amdst+his+vines+near+Wellington+copy.JPG"> 

Norman Hardie amongst his vines near Wellington



















After years of
working alongside other producers, it was time for Hardie to strike out on his
own. In 2001, Hardie bought a property in Prince Edward County,
Ontario (Canada), convinced that the high limestone content of the soils made
it an ideal spot in which to plant Burgundian varieties (and not just those, as
it turns out). In 2003, Hardie planted his first vines and built the winery. A
year later, Hardie made his first vintage with purchased Niagara grapes.

Learning the Basics: Niagara and
Prince Edward County

















Today, Hardie makes wine from
Ontario’s two most important viticultural regions, the Niagara Peninsula and
Prince Edward County. The two give startlingly different wines,all related to
geology and climate. Ontario constitutes one of the most fascinating studies terroir collectors and wine lovers can
hope to find anywhere in the world. The Norman Hardie estate currently
owns 14 hectares (34.6 acres all in Prince Edward County) and manages another 6
hectares (14.8 acres). Hardie owns no vines in Niagara, but has long term
relationships with growers, where he has been buying from roughly the same
plots every year since 2004. Hardie started out with two red clay-rich spots, but
has moved to sourcing Niagara Chardonnay grapes from as many as five different
sites nowadays, depending on the vintage. Although he doesn’t own any vines in
Niagara, Hardie dictates the viticulture practices and checks on progress
weekly, while his team does the picking.

Hardie grows and makes wine from a number of
different varieties, including Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Melon (the
wine used to make Muscadet in France), Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Cabernet
Franc. He has roared to the top of Canadian quality wine hierarchy mainly
because of his success with the first two varieties in that list, although I
firmly believe his Cabernet Franc to be especially promising too. 

The Chardonnays 



















This report covers a vertical tasting
of Chardonnays, possibly Hardie’s most successful wines to date. Hardie
actually makes four different Chardonnay wines in any given year: Chardonnay (Niagara
Peninsula), Chardonnay (Prince Edward County), Chardonnay Cuvée L (Ontario), and
Chardonnay Cuvée des Amis (Prince Edward County). The last two are made in very small &nbsp;quantities and in only the best years (since
2004, each has been made only in two vintages). The outlier in this group is Cuvée
L, which is the only blended Chardonnay Hardie makes: it’s a mix of both
Niagara and PEC fruit (usually a blend of roughly 70% Niagara and 30% County grapes),
and hence carries the more generic Ontario designation. According to the Ontario
wine appellations, Hardie can’t label the wine with either the Niagara or PEC
names. The Designated Viticultural Areas (or DVAs) regulate precisely where the
fruit has to come from (besides establishing a slew of other guidelines) much
like France’s AOCs (Appellation d’Origine
Controllée) or Italy’s DOCs (Denominazione
di Origine Controllata). Last but certainly not least, the Chardonnay Cuvée
des Amis, from 100% County fruit, ages in used 500-liter tonneaux and is bottled only in magnums. In my opinion, it is this
wine that best showcases the characteristics of PEC’s unique terroir.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1478534392572-NH+Chardonnay+vineyards+in+PEC+%232+copy.JPG"> 

Norman Hardie’s Chardonnay vineyards in Prince Edward
County















Clearly, the Chardonnay that is the most emblematic of
Norman Hardie’s production is the Prince
Edward County DVA bottling. Hardie is widely considered the best producer (by
far) of this still fledgling DVA. Prince Edward Island is a peninsula that juts
out into Lake Ontario, and is characterized by a truly rigid, cold growing
season, with a short burst of summer heat (but even in this area there are
noteworthy differences in microclimate, with the northwestern shore area
especially rigid, weather-wise). Coupled with soils very rich in limestone (the
wealth in limestone makes PEC the most Burgundy-like of all Canadian
viticultural areas), PEC wines are distinguished by low alcohol levels (reading
11.5 or 12% on the label is not at all uncommon), razor-sharp lemony acidity (a
calcaire signature), the sharpness of
which is quite unlike you’ll ever taste in any New World Wine, and a daintiness
of fruit that is truly mesmerizing. These are not wines for those reared on
super-ripe, creamy Chardonnays loaded with buttery, toasty oak and vanilla
notes.&nbsp; 



















Niagara Peninsula DVA is a different story: warmer than PEC, with geologically very complex
soils characterized by varying amounts of loam, limestone, sand and clay,
Niagara’s Chardonnays are always richer and riper than those of PEC, but still
very much built along the lines of cool climate Chardonnays: these are high
acid, steely wines with aromas of orchard and citrus fruit that are practically
never super/overripe and generally do not have high alcohol levels. In a
nutshell, you might say the Niagara wines are more reminiscent of
Chassagne-Montrachet, while the County’s are more Puligny/Chablis-like. Nevertheless,
almost all of Norman Hardie’s wines start off life angular and austere
(especially those from PEC), but all round out in time. Hardie likes to use
natural yeasts and bottles his wines unfiltered and unfined, with minimal
sulfur addition. In the cellard, the Chardonnays remain sulfur free until the
malos are finished. <img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1478632476723-NH+CHARD+1+copy.JPG"> 



















This vertical shows just how well
Norman Hardie Chardonnays can age and their more than passing resemblance to the
steelier interpretations of Chablis (Puligny-Montrachet also comes to mind especially
with the PEC bottling). Depending on the vintage, it is my opinion that the
quality of these Ontario Chardonnays is right up there with that of very good
to outstanding Chablis Premier or Grand Crus.

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