VISION. TRADITION. TERROIR.
THOMAS BACHELDER - WINEMAKER
Thomas Bachelder is internationally recognized and Le Clos Jordanne’s original winemaker - with a speciality in the production of cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. His terroir-revealing wines with distinct, complex minerality truly showcase how Old World, Burgundian winemaking techniques employed on New World terroir - with minimal intervention - can produce exceptional wines.
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OUR BEGINNINGS
Originally Le Clos Jordanne was a Franco-Canadian winemaking collaboration between Vincor Canada (now Arterra Wines Canada) and the Famille Boisset of Burgundy. The goal of Le Clos Jordanne was to create a “domaine” in the Niagara region, producing ultra-premium, Burgundian-style Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, expressive of the unique terroir of the Jordan Bench.
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TERROIR - A VIEW OF OUR VINEYARDS
The ‘clos’, or enclosed vineyard, of Le Clos Jordanne is surrounded and sheltered by the Carolinian forests and their glacial ravines. The limestone-laced, silt and clay glacial soils are known for bringing intensely focused fruit, minerality and age-ability to the wines produced there.
Le Clos Jordanne’s estate vineyard is located on the premium parcel of the Jordan bench, on the first rise from the plain, a natural plateau near the slope of the escarpment. At 10.45 hectares, it enjoys light limestone soils created by the ancient ice shield with rich sediments and produces the fullest expressions of the terroir. Planted with both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir between 2000-2001 it is surrounded on three sides by environmentally protected forest, woodland and pond nature areas which have been left in their natural state; featuring statuesque weeping willows and a picturesque pond complete with lily pads and wild flowers. It is located at 2738 King Street, Jordan Station, at the T-junction of Jordan Road and Highway 81.
Similar to the Grand Cru tier in Burgundy, we are using a ‘vineyard-within-a-single vineyard’ approach. After several years of listening to the wines, and walking the vineyards, it became obvious that the western side of Le Clos Jordanne gave the wines of the most striking potential for showing, breeding silkiness, length and longevity. Within the greater ‘Le Clos Jordanne’ vineyard (10 hectares or 25 acres) the Grand Clos parcels were always more austere, more reticent, yet somehow more noble… It remains one of the most surprising vineyard discoveries of our time - truly, a “Grand Cru” of Niagara and Simply our finest expression of the Jordan bench Terroir. The ‘Le Grand Clos’ consists of the 3 blocks along the western side of the Le Clos Jordanne vineyard, two blocks of Pinot Noir and one block of Chardonnay.
Like its Burgundian counterparts, Le Clos Jordanne holds to the Burgundy varietals of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, producing wine from only these two grape varietals. The vines were imported directly from France and are from mixed Burgundian Dijon clones. The total ‘Le Clos Jordanne’ vineyard yields 8.65 tonnes per hectare of Chardonnay and 6.7 tonnes per hectare of Pinot Noir.
Spaced tightly together, the Le Clos Jordanne vines better colonize the land, resulting in lower yields. However, the fruit that does develop is a higher quality, because it enjoyed wider access to the nutrients in the soils, and the sun’s energy and goodness.
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Pure stone-fruit, lanolin-textured complexity, with length, breadth and a finely-textured elegance, giving way to a complex, marzipan and limestone mineral-inflected ‘calcaire’ finish.
Pure stone-fruit, lanolin-textured complexity, with length, breadth and a finely-textured elegance, giving way to a complex, marzipan and limestone mineral-inflected ‘calcaire’ finish.
