Mia Cara Vineyard, Creek Shores
Vineyard Row. Photo by Joanna Grace Photography
10 acres, 9 varietals.
As a boutique winery in Ontario we strive to create excellent hand crafted, small-batch wines. With only 10 acres of vineyard, we employ sustainable viticulture practices (see details below) with a focus on quality and balance in our vines and the fruit they produce. Our vineyard is located in the Creek Shores sub-appellation. Creek shores is rich in waterways being located between Lake Ontario, Twenty Mile Creek, and the Jordan Harbour. With the varied soil structure and unique mesoclimate in Creek Shores, we use viticulture practices and wine styles to help our wines express the full potential of our site.
On our 10 acres we grow:
Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Gamay Noir, Merlot, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Muscat, Gewürztraminer, and Viognier.
Winemaking.
Our winemaking team is led by head winemaker, Ramsey Khairallah. Ramsey has over 16 years of experience in the wine industry. He finished top of his class in the Winery and Vineyard Technician program at Niagara College and holds an Honors BSC Oenology and Viticulture degree from Brock University. He has worked at several different wineries around the world including Australia, New Zealand, France, and the USA.
Ramsey has a passion for creating excellent and unique wines using different winemaking styles including both Appassimento and Ripasso styles. Ramsey frequently collaborates with our Viticulturalist and Vineyard Manager, Phil Clarke, to ensure that our vineyard is in optimal health and that all 9 varietals produce the highest quality grapes for our wines.
Winemaker Ramsey Khairallah.
Cabernet Sauvignon Grapes Growing. Photo by Joanna Grace Photography.
Cabernet Franc Grapes ready for harvest. Photo by Joanna Grace Photography.
Sustainable Vineyard Practices.
Water Conservation:
We divert our wastewater from our wine production and grape cultivation through a wetland biofilter which uses native plants and microbes to cleanse the water, which is later released back into the vineyard.
Waste Reduction:
Instead of discarding pomace (grape skins, seeds, and stems leftover from processing), our winemaking team spreads the pomace back in to the vineyard returning organic material and nutrients back into the soil, enhancing the soil’s fertility.
Green Energy:
The solar panels installed on our barn harness solar energy, a renewable energy source.
cover crops:
Cultivating cover crops between rows to help prevent erosion, enhance soil fertility, and reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers.
Integrated pest management:
Our regional climate makes for extremely humid conditions during the growing season which can lead to harmful fungal diseases that impact fruit quality, yield size, and have an overall negative effect on the wine. To prevent these diseases, our vineyard team practices Integrated Pest Management (IPM) which consists of:
- Daily investigations for the presence of pests and diseases
- Managing the canopy (leaf thinning) and vineyard floor cultivation to increase airflow and sunlight penetration
- Using weather forecasting to predict disease threats
- Using a scouting service to assimilate regional disease development
Using this data our team selects the most appropriate measures to minimize and reduce the risk. Being ahead of the risk allows us to minimize the amount of spraying used.
