Long Dog Vineyard and Winery

As we left Mary on Friday after a bountiful and delightful Thanksgiving dinner, the beginning of the long Thanksgiving weekend in Ontario, she said, "Oh, you must go to Long Dog if you are in Prince Edward County." So, along with our short list which included Norman Hardie, Hinterland, The Old Third Vineyard and Winery, and our personal favorite, Exultet Estates, a visit to Long Dog Vineyard and Winery was also on our itinerary. After our visit to Exultet Estates, we found that Long Dog was just around the corner. We passed it once and then turned around and parked in their lot. There were signs that pointed us to the tasting room and once we got there, another sign that said, "Find me at the barn at the end of the driveway across the street."

Thanks to my husband's persistence, I followed him to the barn and peered in to find all kinds of fermentation tanks but no one around. Just as we turned to go, my husband said, "Wait, I hear a tractor" and indeed, James Lahti was driving up in his tractor. My husband and James immediately fell into a conversation about the merits of the John Deere narrow tractor, which was one of the stops we made on our trip to Ontario. As they talked, some people came up to the tasting room so we hurried to the tasting room. The woman said, "I'm not a fan of Chardonnay" to which James replied, "You've tasted nothing like this Chardonnay", when she tasted the wine, she said, "You're right, this is good, I'll take a bottle". James said, "You might as well take two because one won't be enough" and that was enough to convince her to buy two bottles. After serving another couple who came to do a tasting, James said, "I need to punch down my fermentation, would you like to come along?" I was thinking, "Oh, boy would I!" As we went back toward his barn,we passed what he called his "Swinery" because that was where the previous owner had kept some pigs. We watched James punch down his fermenting grapes and we tasted the evolving must. We also were privileged to sample an impromptu blend of his Pinot Noir that was still in the barrel---WOW!!!!

Then James showed us around his vineyard, just on the other side of the swinery. As we walked into his vineyard, he picked up the soil and said that it was all about the soil. He showed us his healthy vines and in less then a minute, he lowered one of the wires and clipped a cane and tethered it back to demonstrate how they bury their vines in preparation for the winter. We made our way back to the tasting room armed with all this education and had a wonderful taste of his 100% PEC grown Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. We bought two of each because we know from past experience that one is just not enough! Mary was right about visiting Long Dog, it was well worth the trip!