2009 Bachelder Niagara Chardonnay

Mary Delaney gave us a list of restaurants that we should go to when we were in Ontario. On our last night in Jordan, we went to Zest located in Fonthill. The wine list at Zest had the Bachelder wines. The staff at Zest had great things to say about Mary Delaney. The connection is that she is married to winemaker, Thomas Bachelder. We ordered the 2009 Bachelder Niagara Chardonnay and wanted to pair our food with the wine. My husband had the halibut and I had the chicken. The description, "Grilled free range chicken breast with an ice wine mint jus, onion, chili compote and chive puree" was enticing and it was decidedly the BEST chicken I have ever eaten! It was the perfect complement for the Bachelder Niagara Chardonnay which to me was of lemon and tart apples on the nose with a dose of minerality on the palate. Thomas Bachelder makes Chardonnay from three different terroirs, Oregon, Burgundy and Niagara and calls it the Bachelder Project. A very interesting interview conducted by Konrad Ejbich just shortly before the Bachelder Project Chardonnays were released at the LCBO can be found here: Pro and Kon. Our visit to the Niagara region was very eye opening to us. They are making some excellent wines here! The people are so friendly, we had a wonderful visit. If you're a foodie and a wine geek, I highly recommend a trip to Niagara, ON!