VITICULTURE
Our wines at Ravine Vineyard are often described as “elegant” or “refined”. The Terroir of the estate can be segregated into three main sections – the upper bench (‘the top’), the slope (‘the hillside’) and the bottom – and each has completely different compositions. Along with matching the variety of the grape to the soil’s inherent composition, we took into account the complementary characteristics of carefully selected clones and rootstocks.
The soils on the top east side of the property, under a shallower, slower flowing part of the old river, are higher in clay; an ideal location for planting Merlot. Just west of there, where the clay loam ends abruptly, the soils are mostly sand (with a low percentage of silty loam) the result of faster waters scouring the river’s bed. There we have planted Cabernets. On the ‘hillside’, after 5,500 years of erosion on these small but relatively steep slopes, the soil is thin, sparse and very mineral – conducive to the growth of some very low-cropping, Burgundy-style Chardonnay. Lastly, there’s the bottom of the slope, part of the bed of historic Lake Iroquois, rich in deposits of humus and organic material. There, we planted Chardonnay Musqué, which takes advantage of this extra vigor in the production of fresh, vibrant flavours.
Jay Johnston, Winemaker
Jay Johnston is the Head Winemaker at Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery in St. Davids, Ontario, where he leads the evolution of the estate’s wine program with a focus on terroir-driven, small-lot wines.
A respected figure in the Ontario wine industry for more than two decades, he has crafted wines at some of the region’s most acclaimed properties, including Skye Chase Estate Winery, Stratus, Tawse, Hidden Bench, Flat Rock Cellars, Organized Crime and others.
At Ravine, Jay is guiding a renewed emphasis on parcel selection, detailed blending, and process-driven refinement from vineyard to cellar, building on the estate’s strong existing portfolio. His approach centres on highlighting individual vineyard blocks, expanding the range of blending components, and using techniques such as tailored maceration times, fermentation temperatures, and barrel programs to continually elevate quality.
A graduate of Niagara College’s Viticulture and Winemaking program, Jay has contributed to the development of some of Canada’s most storied wineries, with experience spanning both viticulture and cellar leadership. Over his career he has been recognized for producing some of Ontario’s finest wines, combining deep technical knowledge with a nuanced understanding of cool-climate terroir.
In his role at Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery, Jay works closely with the hospitality teams to ensure the wines reflect the character of the historic St. Davids property and its expanding estate holdings, including the Creek Road Vineyard in the Four Mile Creek sub-appellation. His mandate is to harness these diverse sites to create expressive, age worthy wines that showcase Niagara’s potential while enhancing Ravine’s reputation as a leading destination for authentic, estate-focused wines.
TERROIR
Our unique 34-acre organic winery is located in the sub-appellation of Niagara called St. Davids Bench. Although our neighbouring growers also enjoy the fortuitous 20 percent higher temperatures of this sub-appellation, this property is an anomaly; the soils are lighter, its airflow and water drainage more consistent, and its perch on the Bench is at its highest elevation.
The family farm sits atop the river channel of the ancestral Niagara River as it once raged, 22,800 years ago, as part of an ancient drainage system that drained melted water from the thick surrounding glaciers. The massive volume of water the river carried hollowed out a gorge over one kilometer long. When the third glacier retreated 12,500 years ago, it emptied into this gorge massive amounts of glacial silt, filling it to the shoreline and plugging it up so completely it would never reopen again. The river’s waters, not to be denied in their downward imperative to the sea, rerouted to the present channel where the Niagara River now flows as it empties into Lake Ontario. Geologists refer to the earth below our vineyard as part of The St. Davids Buried Gorge.
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