Claramount Inn & Spa Offers the Perfect "Home Base" for Ambitious Country Grazing

The vineyard is named after Ira Chadsey 1828-1905, who was the rather idiosyncratic owner of our 215 acre farm. How wonderful is this little bit of local lore? He was said to have believed that he would be reincarnated as a white horse. As a result, he built Cairns or stone monuments around the horse field behind the original home on the property marking it clearly enough that he would know he was home when he was transformed. Fourteen of the cairns still exist today.

Richard Johnston and his wife Vida Zalnieriunas, have grand plans for their 215-acre farm and are firm believers in the potential of the Prince Edward County wine industry. They began planting vines in 1999 with 3000 Riesling in the field next to the Applehouse Ira built in about 1850, which now houses their tasting room and store.

The vineyards have slightly different soil mixes. The Applehouse Vineyard is on an ancient beach now called Brighton Gravelly Sand, while the Wellington vineyard has some Ameliasburgh Clay on the slope off the buried beach and the King Eddie not only has both these soils in its eight acres but also incorporates some Hillier Clay closer to Lake Ontario.

By Chadsey's Cairns grows eight vinifera varietals producing small batches of single varietal wines with occasional blends. The Riesling expresses a unique minerality thought to derive from the broken shells of the ancient beach and from the calcerous limestone underneath. In the reds the Pinot has been layered and subtle and the Gamay has been more terroir and vintage affected than any of the varietals. With the only Chenin Blanc planted in the County, By Chadsey's Cairns hopes to have a special Loire-like product to attract its particular following.

Devoted to authentic County wine, Richard and his winemaker-by-chance wife Vida produce classic whites that range from crisp Chenin Blanc and dry Rieslings to delicate Gewürztraminers and reds that go from sensual Pinots to light-hearted Gamays.

By Si Si Penaloza, Editorial Director, WOMAN.ca

Si Si Penaloza
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