Visiting Brian Hamilton at Southbrook Estate Winery

Our interest in Southbrook Estate Winery was spurred on by a YouTube video that we saw of the Criveller Estasi Crusher/Destemmer in action. Robert at Criveller gave us Ann's contact information at Southbrook and Ann arranged for us to visit with Brian, the assistant winemaker. The other reason that Southbrook interested us was because they use biodynamic practices in their vineyard.

It was a beautiful morning and Brian was walking the vineyard when we arrived at Southbrook. He greeted us with a friendly "hello" and we immediately got into a discussion about everything! He showed us the biodynamic preparations and explained what each of the preparations did. He also showed us their vineyard sprayer for the biodynamic preparations. Then we went into the winery and Brian showed us how they used the Estasi and the shaker tables. We discussed how a smaller operation like ours might use the shaker table in conjunction with the Estasi.

Brian gave us some barrel tasting and told us that the fermentation was with indigenous yeast. Nothing beats a barrel tasting to learn how a grape variety tastes before blending. While we were in the winery, we also met Scott, the intrepid biodynamic vineyard manager. The summers in Niagara can be very humid and we wonder how they keep the powdery and downy mildew in check. Our hats are off to Southbrook Estate Winery and their staff! We don't know how they do it but we're going to try in Connecticut, because it MUST be easier here than in Niagara!