Last House Vineyard in Prince Edward County, Ontario, is a small batch winery is situated on the beautiful limestone shores of Lake Ontario. André Gagné, the vigneron, his wife Debra Mathews, sons—Christian and Daniel—and Billie, the vineyard pup, form the Last House crew. They are dedicated to creating Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines which reflect the unique terroir that is found in Hillier Ward, only made from vines grown on their family farm.

The unique terroir of Prince Edward County will one day be world renowned for growing Burgundian varietals such as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. That’s a bold statement! But, many vintners truly believe it. The County is a cool climate growing region that benefits from consistent lake breezes. Their vineyard is planted near the rocky shores of Lake Ontario in soil known as Ameliasburg Clay Loam which has a depth of 12 – 24 inches. The limestone bedrock and stony texture of the soil allows for excellent drainage in the spring and acts like a wet sponge throughout the growing season. This forces the vines to grow deeper during the hot summer months and produces smaller yields with highly concentrated flavours. The proximity to the lake is a blessing as it delays the start of bud break in the spring, normally past the point of frost danger, and extends the ripening season in the fall.

The secret to great wine is healthy ripe fruit, which means it all begins with the farm work. All canopy work at Last House Vineyard is done by hand. No herbicides are used, with weeds removed manually and via cultivation. ‘Sprays’ to combat insects and disease are mostly organic. Conventional sprays are rarely used. Leaf thinning is kept to a minimum, with a preference for long slow ripening. Harvest is done by hand with small picking baskets. Fruit is processed without delay.
The focus is on good farming. The team believes that if you begin with healthy fruit and then trust it, the winemaking will almost look after itself. They use minimal intervention with the appropriate elevage for the current year’s conditions. So far, the fruit has allowed alcoholic fermentation to be achieved using only the wild yeasts on the grapes and naturally present bacteria has resulted in malolactic fermentation. No enzymes, nutrients, colour or tannin additions have been used and they hope to avoid all of these in the future. The fruit will decide. There is limited pumping, racking, and use of sulphur. The use of oak barrels is balanced to the wine style. All wine is bottled without fining or filtration and is corked by hand.