wine review: Cloudsley Wingfield Vineyard Chardonnay 2023, Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Escarpment, Ontario

June 2025

Matt’s review: From one of Niagara’s most compelling single vineyards, Cloudsley’s 2023 Wingfield Vineyard Chardonnay delivers a stunning expression of cool-climate winemaking and site-specific nuance. The Wingfield Vineyard, planted in 1993 with Clone 76 Chardonnay, lies just uphill from the celebrated Foxcroft Vineyard on the Twenty Mile Bench, yet it carves its own identity — perched at a slightly higher elevation, nestled beside a grove of old-growth trees. The resulting microclimate offers longer hang time, a slower, more measured ripening curve, and the potential for extraordinary elegance, particularly in balanced vintages like 2023.

The nose is lifted and expressive: orchard fruit, ripe pineapple, and honeydew melon interplay with cool marine-like seashell minerality and delicately integrated oak spice. There’s a gentle exotic edge here too, adding dimension without veering out of balance. On the palate, this wine is harmonious, polished, and precise. The orchard fruit carries through beautifully, framed by creamy yet refreshing acidity and a subtle textural weight that speaks to both vintage and vineyard pedigree. At 13% alcohol, it’s impressively ripe yet composed — a testament to the site’s ability to achieve full phenolic maturity while preserving freshness and finesse. This is premium Niagara Chardonnay at its best — complex, terroir-driven, and age-worthy. While it’s already drinking beautifully, offering generous fruit and precision today, it will undoubtedly continue to evolve gracefully over the next 8–12 years, gaining further depth and sophistication. A Cru-level wine from a Cru-level site. Cloudsley’s 2023 Wingfield is a brilliant showcase of what the Twenty Mile Bench can deliver when site, clone, and craft align perfectly. Tasted June 2025. 94+ points. Matt Steeves – http://www.quercusvino.ca

Available winery-direct this summer $53