Wine and art at 13th Street Winery

It’s harvest time and I am touring wineries in Niagara’s Twenty Valley. Skies blue or grey, the valley glows with countless shades of amber, gold and copper.

Approaching 13th Street Winery, I admire the bold sculptures in the garden silhouetting the sky: dark beams of wood bent under the weight of another, twisted black metal atop a small hill, running wolves in the distance. The verandas surrounding the crisp white buildings invite guests to relax and enjoy a baked good from the farmhouse bakery. It is after all famous for its butter tarts. But this is a quest for another day. Today, I am here for wine.

I enter the airy tasting room, with its high ceilings and minimalist light fixtures, and I am greeted by the warm smile of Renato, my friendly host for the day. He starts my tasting with the 2018 Gamay Blanc de Noir, a dry sparkling wine in the traditional method. The wine is made from Gamay, a red grape, but without contact with the skins so the juice stays pale. My French slowly kicks in as Renato explains this to me. Mais oui, Blanc de Noir.

I take a sip. The fresh aromas of raspberry hit my nose, followed by bubbles gently popping in my mouth and a subtle nutty finish. Next, the 2017 Riesling from June’s vineyard is all citrus and pears, with a bright clean acidity.

“Have you heard of somewhereness?” asks Renato, handing me a pamphlet. I had not. And is that even a word?

Renato explains the winery is one of 13 in Ontario, most of them in the Twenty Valley, that have invoked this concept to collectively showcase the unique Somewhereness or sense of place of Ontario wines. Each wine is a unique expression of the soil and the season.

Back outside, I debate this new (to me) concept meandering the sculpture garden. The piece “Unzip the Earth” catches my eye. It is low to ground, opening the earth with a large metal zipper. Is somewhere the soil under my feet?

Clearly, I am not going to figure this out on my own. I need to do more research. More wine. I head off to visit more somewhereness wineries.

Back on the gently rolling country roads, I see wide open vistas of rows upon rows of golden vines. Another winery is not far in this tiny region tucked in between Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment. It is not hard to find another winery for my research. The challenge is deciding where to go first.