Lailey Winery wins coveted gold at international competition

Every spring I head out to wine country to taste the new releases and find out what programs the wineries will be offering for the high season.

April is the best time to avoid crowds and really get the full attention of staff, so on my list this week was Lailey Winery. I heard that it had changed ownership just over a year ago and I wanted to check it out. I was so impressed to find out that they had just been awarded one of the most coveted gold medals in the world of wine for their 2019 Stonebridge Chardonnay Reserve East. That is quite an accomplishment for such a young winery.

I have worked in the wine industry for many years and fondly remember Lailey wines, but the style changed drastically since the family sold it in 2017. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the new owner, Faik Turkmen, had quickly upgraded the winery by rebranding to bring back some of the traditional varieties that Lailey was known for. Planted in 1970, the Lailey brand of wines are sourced from the original estate vineyard which surrounds the winery, some of the oldest vines in Niagara. Turkmen kept the name and redesigned the label to resemble the original Lailey label with a rose on it. The label is immediately recognizable to those of us who have been living in Niagara for a long time. Turkmen also added a whole line of reserve wines under the new label called Stonebridge.

The Lailey brand offers Rose, a Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Vidal Orange wine and one of my favourites—Zweigelt. Once I finished tasting through the Lailey wines, I eagerly moved on to the Stonebridge Reserve wines.

The grapes for the Stonebridge wines were sourced from Turkmen’s personal vineyard in the Four Mile Creek sub appellation. Prior to purchasing Lailey, Turkmen was growing grapes in his Stonebridge vineyard, hoping to one day open a winery. When Lailey came up for sale, he saw the advantage of purchasing an existing winery where he could incorporate his own brand rather than starting from scratch, and he is so glad that he did. “I get along so well with the Lailey family because we have the same vision for the future of the winery,” Turkmen said.

Stonebridge label is Turkmen’s most cherished wine because he has tended to those grapes since they were planted. “I walk my vineyard every single day. They are my family and I know the vines very personally. I want to produce grapes that will make the best wine possible, so I don’t skimp on anything.”

The vineyard is planted with French vinifera varietals, such as Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. “We use sustainable methods to produce the best quality fruit and restrict production, which results in higher quality grapes. We never rush to pick the grapes, we let them hang until they are perfectly ripe. When ready to pick, they are field sorted, hand-picked, and then inspected bunch by bunch to make sure no imperfect fruit gets into the batch,” he explained.

“The 2019 vintage was superb. My winemakers and I were especially impressed with the 2019 Stonebridge Chardonnay from the east vineyard, so we decided to enter it into the Chardonnay du Monde International wine competition.”

This prestigious event is held in France every year in March and recognizes the best Chardonnay wines throughout the world. This competition is highly competitive — 200 judges compared 537 wine samples, from 32 countries.

“We were ecstatic when we got word last week that Stonebridge 2019 Chardonnay Reserve East had been awarded the gold medal in the 2023 competition,” Turkman said.

With all that in mind, I could hardly wait to taste a sample. Turkman cracked open a fresh bottle of the Stonebridge Chardonnay Reserve East for me to taste. The wine is beautiful golden in colour with a hint of buttered toast on the nose. The oak was subtle, but just enough to give nice body to the wine. As the wine opened up, gorgeous aromas of Anjou pear, a touch of apple and French vanilla emanated from the glass. It was exceptionally smooth on the palate with complex ripe fruit and smooth balanced acidity, ending in a long luscious finish—just superb!

When I asked about his secret to the success of this wine, Turkmen replied, “Our very experienced winemaker, Ann Sperling, takes a low intervention approach, using gentle pressing and natural wild yeast fermentation. Each clone is fermented separately in French oak barrels. After 24 months in the barrel, she tastes and then blends from individual barrels to create the best Chardonnay possible. It's a combination of good grape growing and skilled winemaking that produces quality results,” he said proudly. “I really want to live up to the reputation that the Lailey family established as one of Niagara’s iconic wineries. I would like to build on that reputation for future generations to enjoy.”

This award-winning, limited-edition Chardonnay is only available at the winery, but it won’t last long once the news of the gold medal gets out.

Lailey Winery is located on the Niagara River Parkway just across the road from the McFarland House.

www.laileywines.com