Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery is a family owned,
Ontario wine
Ontario wine is Canadian wine produced in the province of Ontario. The provinces has three official wine-growing region, the Niagara Peninsula, the north shore of Lake Erie, and Prince Edward County, although wineries also exist in other regions i ...
ry that released their first vintage in 1988. Located where the valley of the Short Hills Bench meets the weathered mountain of the Niagara Escarpment.
History
The namesake of the winery,
Henry (Smith) of Pelham was an early settler in
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...
’s
Niagara Peninsula. His father Nicholas, the first settler, was
Pennsylvania Dutch and a
United Empire Loyalist
United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America dur ...
who sided with the crown during the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
of 1776.
[C. Fallis, editor ''The Encyclopedic Atlas of Wine'' pg 125 Global Book Publishing 2006 ]
He was forced north from his home in
Pennsylvania and served as a soldier, bugle boy and
Iroquois translator with
Butler's Rangers
Butler's Rangers (1777–1784) was a Loyalist provincial military unit of the American Revolutionary War, raised by American loyalist John Butler. Most members of the regiment were Loyalists from upstate New York and northeastern Pennsylvania. The ...
during the war. After the war he was granted of land under the Kings' Grant as were many of his 14 children.
Youngest son Henry Smith erected a building on his lot in 1842 that would become one of the first taverns in Upper Canada. The tavern was known variously as the Henry Smith Tavern and Mountainview Inn, one of the most popular wayside inns in the Niagara Peninsula, it was the setting for the largest public dances, fairs and social gatherings in the district. At the time of the Inn's popularity, the roads were made of stone and one of Ontario's first tollgates was located at the corner of Pelham Road and Fifth Street Louth. Commonly referred to as "Smith Settlement", the area was the pioneering gateway to the Niagara Escarpment, where the townships of Louth, Pelham and Thorold came together.
When applying for his liquor license young Henry signed his name "Henry of Pelham", winking at the fact that the recent
British Prime Minister
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...
was Sir
Henry Pelham. This became Henry's nom de plume and the name of the winery more than a century after he planted his first vineyards to native species of grapes.
Henry Smith owned and operated the tavern until February 10, 1856 when he died. The inn and lot were passed out of the family shortly thereafter. By 1982, Paul Speck and his three sons Paul, Matthew and Daniel, descendants of John Nicholas Smith, son of Nicholas Smith and Catherine May, purchased and rented lands around the old inn to begin growing grapes. A few years later, Paul purchased Lot 5, Concession 8, Louth Township, on which the inn was located and commenced the restoration of the buildings and the operation of the Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery. Thus the Henry Smith Tavern and family lands were once again owned and operated by a Smith family member.
Grape varieties and wine styles
In the 1980s, there were only a few estate wineries dedicated to producing premium wines made from 100% Ontario-grown grapes. The winery was a founding member, in 1989, of the regions' appellation of origin system the
Vintners Quality Alliance
Vintners Quality Alliance, or VQA, is a regulatory and appellation system which guarantees the high quality and authenticity of origin for Canadian wines made under that system in British Columbia and Ontario. It is similar to regulatory systems ...
(VQA). The winery's focus is on
Chardonnay
Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For ne ...
,
Riesling
Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...
,
Pinot Grigio
Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio (, ) or Grauburgunder is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot Noir variety, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name, but the gra ...
, and
Sauvignon Blanc for the whites, and
Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...
,
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being use ...
/
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Leban ...
/
Merlot blends for the reds. They are also well known for their
Baco Noir
Baco noir (pronounced BA-koh NWAHR) is a hybrid red wine grape variety produced by Francois Baco from a cross of ''Vitis vinifera var.'' Folle blanche, a French wine grape, and an unknown variety of '' Vitis riparia'' indigenous to North Ameri ...
.
Riesling and Cabernet Franc
icewine
Ice wine (or icewine; german: Eiswein) is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing for a more concentrated gra ...
along with their well-regarded Cuvee Catharine
sparkling wines are also in their portfolio.
[J. Gordon (ed) ''Opus Vino'' pg 133, DK Publishing New York 2010, ]
Sustainability
In 2006, Henry of Pelham was the first vineyard to be certified as local and sustainable by Local Food Plus. Henry of Pelham follows Sustainable Winemaking Ontario’s world-leading standards with their farming practices since 2004. In 2017, they became one of only six Ontario wineries to be certified by the Wine Council of Ontario as following sustainable winemaking practices from vine to table. A member of the Porto Protocol.
Awards
# 2014 Cuvée Catharine Estate Blanc de Blanc - Sparkling Wine of the Year - 26th Ontario Wine Awards
References
External links
The Henry of Pelham WinerySustainable Wine On
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry Of Pelham Winery
Wineries of the Niagara Peninsula
Canadian companies established in 1982
Food and drink companies established in 1982
1982 establishments in Ontario