Oxley Estate Winery, Essex

The Vineyard

We farm our vineyards using eco-friendly farming practices, including reduced chemical intervention, in an effort to encourage a healthy and sustainable environment. Our vineyards are located south of the 42nd parallel (as is southern Italy, central Spain and many of the California regions). The Lake Erie North Shore appellation has the highest heat accumulation and the longest growing season of the Ontario wine appellations. Our vineyards’ proximity to Lake Erie provides protection in the cold, as long as the lake has not frozen over, and access to lake breezes that exercise and dry our vines.

Our vines are planted in a north-south direction, with rows spaced eight feet apart and vines planted four feet apart to maximize sun exposure in the morning and provide protection from overheating and sun burn in the evening. We follow the European model and plant multiple clones of a variety, if possible, using various rootstocks to avoid a mono-culture and to maximize the imprint of the terroir. Our pruning, de-leafing, thinning and harvesting are done by hand to enhance quality. Leaf hedging is done mechanically. We tend to each variety individually and have different yields from each. The red varieties are protected from birds by netting because birds favour blue grapes over green and have an aversion to yellow.