The Wine at a glance

The portfolio of Five Rows focuses on 6 main varietals that have been selected based on their unique style and expression of the Lowrey Vineyard, as well as their characteristic representation of the St. David's Bench Appellation. Pinot Noir accounts for the majority of our planting while Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Gris, Shiraz, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc make up the remaining rows.

Through a focus on balanced vineyard management, thinning and hand work, our yields are very low, resulting in only small batches of wine being crafted. It's our belief that this concentration results in fruit and ultimately wine that is highly concentrated with the character of the terroir — the soil, minerality, local flowers and occasional tears in the pinot.

We hope you will enjoy our wine and explore the variability of the nature of the wine in the years to come. We wish to invite you to become engaged in the evolution of Five Rows — get to know us, our land and our wine because without you, there is no winery.

The Lowrey family has farmed the area for 5 generations. Current generations, Howard Lowrey and his son Wes Lowrey tend to the vineyard with a focus on achieving the most characteristic and complex examples that their varietals can produce.

Tasting

Due to the reality of crafting very small quantities of wine, we are limited to offer tastings on weekends between 11am - 5pm, May 1 to December 31 or during the week by appointment only. 

We’re currently able to provide tasting of our Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s difficult for us to manage large groups and please no buses – when you get here you’ll see why.

We also encourage potential customers to visit our very supportive sommeliers and establishments. They are serving some of our releases that they consider to be signatures of our winery.

Purchasing Our Wine

To purchase any of our small releases, we recommend you contact us via phone or email. We try to encourage you to purchase in increments of cases of six because of the logistics of delivery and storage. It's also recommended that you cellar our reds to realize the full possibilities that our vintages have to offer over time.

We know that small batches of wine may sell out quickly so we welcome you to contact us about reserving your selections of upcoming releases.

wines@fiverows.com

You

Every person that we connect with through our winery is a partner and steward of Five Rows and we are forever appreciative of those who believed and invested in us through the wine. We invite all who have experienced our wine to register their unique bottle number and vintage release online with us - Here. This is simply a list of those individuals who have experienced our wine and the beginning of a long friendship through our craft.


Click here to register your bottle for our records
Vintage
2010
Varietal
Riesling "Jean's Block"
Vineyard
Lowrey Vineyards
Product of / Produit du Canada
Cases
78
Release Date
April 6, 2011
Price
$25/bottle
Tasting notes: The 2010 vintage was a hot one. Niagara vineyards amassed more growing degree days than any year in current recorded history. This is perfect for ripening reds but can present challenges to producing crisp, aromatic whites. It was very easy to produce “flabby” and “blousy” white wines in 2010 if grapes were over-thinned, over-exposed to sunlight or left hanging too long.

We harvested and pressed about one tonne of Riesling from Jean’s Block on Septmeber 30, a full two weeks earlier than in 2009. The picking decision was based strictly on acid and flavour. Around mid-September the grapes had plenty of sugar (19 degrees brix) to make the style of Riesling I was after, but it took a while to coax out the wonderful flavours I remembered from last year. Waiting too much longer to pick was a risk, however, as acid levels were declining quickly in the late summer sun. So September 30th was the day I pulled the trigger.

Following the addition of pectinase enzyme, pressed juice was cold-settled at 4°C for two days. The clear rackings were then inoculated with W15 yeast, a great choice for optimizing bright fruit characters in aromatic whites. It’s also a good cool-fermenter, able to withstand temperatures as low as 10°C.

I was able to stretch the ferment over two months at an average temperature of 11°C. It was stopped at a specific gravity of 1.005, a level that I felt exhibited balance to my palate. You have to be careful when stopping a ferment for off-dry balance as sometimes the carbon dioxide bubbles can lead to a raised perception of acidity, tempting you to halt the ferment too soon. My rule of thumb is to taste often until I find the right balance, then wait 12 hours before killing the ferment. It seems to have worked for most of my whites thus far.

Over the course of the next three months, the wine was cold stabilized, fined with bentonite and sterile filtered. 78 cases were bottled on April 6, 2011. As with the 2009, this Riesling went through a lengthy period of bottle shock before I was comfortable that it had returned to the wine I remembered in tank. Consequently, we waited to release the Riesling three months later than our other 2010 whites. In the end this proved advantageous, as the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris both sold out very quickly.

Technical data:
Aromatics: citrus, peach, floral notes
Palate: a surprisingly weighty Riesling, it has ample acid to balance the slight amount of residual sugar; pleasing minerality and fruit characters
Vintage
2008
Varietal
Cabernet Sauvignon
Vineyard
Lowrey Vineyards
Product of / Produit du Canada
Cases
94
Release Date
April 6th, 2011
Price
$50/bottle
Tasting notes: Much will be written about the fabulous "Bordeaux" reds from Niagara in 2007 and 2010. Little to nothing will be written about the late-ripening reds from 2008 and 2009. For that reason, I am perhaps more proud of the Cabernet Sauvignon we grew and vinified in 2008, than any other wine we’ve produced.

Trying climatic circumstances called for extreme measures in the vineyard. As the harvest approached, it became apparent that early season thinning and leaf removal efforts were not going to cut it in 2008. We doubled our efforts and dropped more fruit than I am normally comfortable with. The winery I envisioned, however, could only be built on these tough decisions.

On October 24th we harvested only 68 picking boxes from two full rows of our Clone 169 Block. The fruit was very clean and showed surprising ripeness in both flavour and tannin for its 22.5 degrees Brix. It was a pleasure to pick and process. We went on to harvest 82 more picking boxes from our "Old Block" on November 2, after extracting as much life as we possibly could from the dwindling foliage.

The two blocks of fruit were processed into separate one tonne bins, and cold-soaked on the skins for five days. I decided to try a new yeast strain, Zymaflore FX10, with the slightly riper Clone 169 fruit. FX10 is known to produce wines defined by their elegance through a combination of structure, volume on the palate and intense colour. The Old Block fruit was fermented with F15, a new favourite yeast of mine after a successful experiment in 2007. Both ferments concluded uneventfully after six days with peak temperatures around 30°C. The wine was left on the skins for a further 4 days of post-ferment maceration before pressing.

Malolactic fermentation was carried out in 1 new and 3 older French oak barrels. The wine was left in oak for 24 months before final blending and bottling on April 6th, 2011. Based on previous vintages, I felt that two full years spent in barrel and not going overboard with new oak were essential to properly aging this Cab Sauv.

The two blocks produced remarkably different wines, ultimately leading to an interesting, complex blend. I’m always amazed at the differences between individual barrels of wine from the same vineyard. Is it due to terroir, clonal difference, oak influence, yeast strain, fermentation dynamics or all of the above? As the years go by I hope to peel back the layers and discover just what makes our Cab Sauv end up the way it does.

The 2008 is an elegant wine, with an aromatic intensity that is unexpected by many who’ve tried it. It has a delicate, soft mid-palate that suggests early drinkability, unlike 2007. It is very reminiscent of the 2004 Five Rows Cabernet Sauvignon at this early stage.
Vintage
2010
Varietal
Sauvignon Blanc
Price
SOLD OUT
Vintage
2010
Varietal
Pinot Gris
Price
SOLD OUT
Vintage
2009
Varietal
Riesling
Price
SOLD OUT
Vintage
2009
Varietal
Cabernet Sauvignon Icewine
Vineyard
Lowrey Vineyards
Product of / Produit du Canada
Cases
109
Release Date
July 1, 2011
Price
$45/bottle
Tasting notes: At 8:03 AM on January 2nd, a new era began at Lowrey Vineyards. As the sun peeked over the escarpment we welcomed the dawn of our very own "Ice Age". After an evening of perfect freezing conditions (-12°C) it was decided to harvest five rows of specially selected Cabernet Sauvignon, our first foray into the world of Icewine. A beautiful morning unfolded before us, with a light snow gently filtering the weak rays of winter sun. It soon became clear that picking the fruit and braving the cold are the easy part, and actually quite enjoyable.

To understand the travails of pressing frozen grapes to yield minute amounts of juice, I want you to imagine trying to squeeze a tray of ice cubes in an effort to produce water. It takes equal amounts of pressure and patience I assure you!  Too much of the former and not enough of the latter can lead to problems… big problems. Less than a minute into the second press load I cranked up the pressure and was horrified to hear the sickening hiss of a slow leak in the press bladder.  Luckily we had a back-up bladder on hand, but the subsequent dismantling of the press load and bladder re-assembly really set us back. In the end, patience prevailed and the luscious Cab juice began to flow. It was thick, sweet and full of super-concentrated flavours of ripe strawberry and raspberry.

Technical Notes: This is a special icewine because it only endured a single press. Normally, multiple pressings take place with each successive squeeze getting lower concentrations of sweet juice and higher concentrations of water. Ultimately, these portions are all put together in a diluted final blend. Our "Single Press" netted only 280L of juice (39 degrees Brix) that was subsequently treated with pectinase enzyme then fermented in oak with EC118 at an inoculation rate of 350ppm. An older French oak barrel was used for the fermentation and aging regimen. The marathon ferment began January 29th and wasn’t stopped until June 21st at a specific gravity of 1.070.

The strength of this wine is its aromatic intensity and overall balance, with just the right amount of acid (TA 10.65g/L) playing off the sweet characters. Notes of Strawberry jam dominate the nose while subtle hints of white chocolate entice the palate.
Vintage
2008
Varietal
Pinot Noir
Vineyard
Lowrey Vineyards
Product of / Produit du Canada
Cases
106
Release Date
Price
$50/bottle
Tasting notes: Now that we've been at this venture for a few years, it's funny to look back at my old blog entries upon the release of a new wine. This entry from October 6, 2008 aptly tells the story of our 2008 Pinot Noir: "Vintage '08 is upon us and to this point things have been… well… in a word …WET! Enough rain already. I mean just when I thought we were in the clear we got doused by the remnants of a hurricane, and for the record: I don't like Ike. Thankfully, the last couple of weeks have more than made up for the rain, with lots of sunshine and perfect ripening conditions for the early varietals.

As per usual, the "Heartbreak Grape", Pinot Noir, lived up to its moniker and provided lots of nervous moments and second guessing. In fact, one day in the vineyard while pondering a harvest timing decision, I found myself singing aloud to the Clash hit "Should I Stay or Should I Go". The Pinot were clean but slightly underripe, with threatening weather on the horizon ("If I go there will be trouble / And if I stay it will be double"). Ultimately, we decided not to pick and wait out what suddenly became Hurricane Ike. All the water led to some berries actually splitting and roused us into action.  Led by a Pinot-loving mother hell-bent on saving her crop, the three of us spent two mind-numbing days cutting out individually split berries and underripe clusters. On September 16th and 17th we finally hand-picked our first two tonnes of fruit. In the end, what came in was ripe, clean (thus receiving the Wilma stamp of approval) and fermented into some really intriguing stuff. I experimented with a new yeast strain this season called W15, which after pressing today, is the early favourite to put into our 2 new Sirugue barrels.”

Fast-forward to 2011 and that Pinot-loving mother can be proud of the wine she helped save. The 2008 is reminiscent of many past wines featuring Lowrey Pinot. A classic blend of bright cherry fruit, some floral notes and spice dominate the nose. Flavours of black raspberry and vanilla bean resolve into a pleasingly soft mouthfeel. Tannins are much more approachable than the 2007 Five Rows Pinot Noir at the same stage.

Technical data: 12.6% alcohol, 5.4 g/L residual sugar, pH 3.45
Vintage
2008
Varietal
Shiraz
Vineyard
Lowrey Vineyards
Product of / Produit du Canada
Cases
105
Release Date
April 6, 2011
Price
$50/bottle
Tasting notes: The tale of Lowrey Shiraz began many years ago with a handshake. Our relationship as a grower for Creekside Estate Winery started in the late 90's and continues to this day. Shiraz is a staple for Creekside, grown and vinified to perfection year after year. Given this success, we naively agreed to plant some of these vines soon after our partnership began. Little did we know just how sensitive and vigorous Shiraz vines could be!

This combination of winter sensitivity and summertime vigor is a challenging prospect for the grape grower. Early in their lives, these vines saw some pretty severe winters that almost led to their extinction in our vineyard. Massive re-plantings and constant re-trunking was needed to restore their numbers. Our hard work and patience was rewarded with some stellar vintages in the 2000s, ultimately inspiring me to take a crack at making my own Shiraz in 2008 (and yes, it will always be "Shiraz" not "Syrah" to us because we planted it for an Aussie!).

The fruit for this wine was harvested on October 23 following some pretty dodgy conditions in the summer of 2008. We initially thinned these vines down to two bunches per shoot, but had to remove additional clusters in the fall, as it became clear that ripening would be a challenge. We hand-harvested about one tonne of fruit from each of our Shiraz clones (7 & 100), then sorted before de-stemming into fermentation bins.

A long cold soak was employed to help with colour extraction and tannic development. I chose to ferment the slightly riper Clone 7 fruit with RX60 yeast, but opted for F15 with the Clone 100 bin. Ferments were carried out at an average pace, with four daily punch-downs.

One new Taransaud barrel, two older French and one American oak barrel were used for the maturation process of this wine. Malolactic fermentation was carried out in barrel. After 24 months in oak, the final blend was assembled and allowed to mingle for about 8 more months. This exciting wine was bottled April 6th, 2011.

Aromas: blackberry, black currant, lavender, smoked game
Flavours: dark chocolate, coffee bean, raspberry
Technical data: 13.0% alcohol, pH 3.30, TA 8.55
Vintage
2009
Varietal
Sauvignon Blanc
Price
SOLD OUT
Vintage
2009
Varietal
Pinot Gris
Price
SOLD OUT
Vintage
2007
Varietal
Pinot Noir
Price
SOLD OUT
Vintage
2007
Varietal
Cabernet Sauvignon
Price
SOLD OUT
Vintage
2008
Varietal
Sauvignon Blanc
Price
SOLD OUT
Vintage
2008
Varietal
Pinot Gris
Price
SOLD OUT
Vintage
2005
Varietal
Cabernet Sauvignon
Price
SOLD OUT
Vintage
2004
Varietal
Cabernet Sauvignon
Price
SOLD OUT
Vintage
2004
Varietal
Cabernet Sauv. (unfiltered)
Price
SOLD OUT
Vintage
2007
Varietal
Pinot Gris
Price
SOLD OUT
Vintage
2007
Varietal
Sauvignon Blanc
Price
SOLD OUT