Exultet Portfolio Tasting - Exultet Estates

Date: Nov 26/14, Wed     Time: 17:30:00-19:30:00     Style: Drop-In

Exultet Estates Winery in Prince Edward County focuses on the distinctness of their property.
Their “Blessed” Chardonnay has won top honours at various Ontario Award Competitions. It seems fitting that the winery name is Exultet, coming from the Latin word “Exsultet”, meaning ‘to sing praise’.

The Spinosas purchased a 200 acre farm in Milford, Ontario, once the home of a cheese factory, and are now growing a total of 10 acres of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio and Vidal grapes in its place. The operation is mostly family run with the help of Gerry and Lia’s kids for tasks like cleaning, bottling and harvesting in addition to a couple of foreign seasonal workers.

With no previous experience in farming, learning to grow grapes in Prince Edward County has been an ongoing challenge for the Spinosas, but their willingness to experiment with different styles of winemaking continues to set them apart.

Being a small winery in a relatively new Ontario appellation (Prince Edward County only became a designated viticulture area in 2007), the Spinosas have to rely on what is in the bottle to sell their product. Gerry identifies his winemaking style as “working with the beauty that his property produces;” he views winemaking as a form of art over everything else. Noting that grapes grown on their property yield different flavours from those grown on lands just a half an hour away, they are pleased to see that once people try a wine from Prince Edward County they can truly appreciate the nuance and character that originates from that corner of Ontario.