2022 Wismer-Foxcroft Gamay, Bachelder

• Style: Mineral-driven, cool-climate red
• Taste: Strawberry, rhubarb, iron minerality, orange-peel finish
• Food: Charcuterie, roast chicken, mushrooms, pasta, soft cheeses
• Occasion: Sunday lunch, date night, weeknight dinner
• Serve: 13% ABV, drink now through mid-2020s

In the Glass — Tasting Notes

Strawberry and rhubarb brightness held by mineral tension and persistent tannin. A savoury iron-tinged thread runs through the palate—gift of the stony soils' magnesium oxide—and closes with subtle orange-peel bitterness that keeps you alert. At 13% alcohol, this is built for drinking rather than display: a meditation on place rather than winemaker's ego.

The Winery — Bachelder

Thomas Bachelder and his wife, Mary Delaney, have been crafting high-quality cool-climate wines since 2009 across Burgundy, Niagara and Oregon. Years perfecting Chardonnay in hallowed Burgundy sites taught Thomas the power of restraint. Here he applies the same low-intervention approach: wild-yeast fermentation, a third whole-bunch grapes for structure, and neutral oak that never masks the vineyard's voice. The Twenty Mile Bench sits 5.2 kilometres from Lake Ontario, where cool lake breezes slow ripening and force the vine to work harder. The 2022 vintage—smaller than average due to autumn wet and sudden cold—ripened fully under a warm, dry summer without disease pressure.

At Your Table — Food Pairing & Serving

This is the kind of Canadian red that belongs at your table night after night. Pair it with cured meats and charcuterie, roasted chicken, mushrooms, or soft cheeses—equally at home at a weeknight dinner as beside a proper spread. Drink it now through the mid-2020s. If you're drawn to Gamay for its early-ripening nature and food-friendly bite, this sits alongside some of the finest cool-climate expressions we've found. Explore our Canadian red selection for more from Bachelder and beyond.