Technology can keep improving, but humans will always be better.
Dean Stoyka
Niagara’s cool for chards
Niagara chardonnay, cornerstone of an industry, another one of nature’s mysterious constants, long-time member of both local and globally recognized greatness. A pandemic be damned the time had finally come to glide on down the QEW, inch by inch, to arrive in Niagara’s wine-lands and taste recently bottled vineyard bounty, plus some older surprises….
Separating the good from the bad
In recent years, Niagara’s wine grape harvest has seen a collision between tradition and technology in the field. While some wine grapes are harvested by hand each fall, most will, quite literally, be rattled off the vine by towering machines.
Wineries begin picking grapes for Harvest 2021 – Wines In Niagara
And here we go again … the grape harvest has begun at several Niagara wineries. Stratus Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake was first to post photos of Chardonnay for the sparkling program on Monday. Dean Stoyka, assistant winemaker at Stratus, told Wines In Niagara that it isn’t the earliest harvest for the winery, that honour goes to 2012, but it is earlier than average.
Stratus Vineyards embracing ancient winemaking technique
Stratus Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake is taking wine connoisseurs on a journey back to 6,000 BCE, when wine was first mastered by monks in Georgia’s “cradle of wine.” Inside of the depths of Stratus’ barrel cellar, assistant winemaker, Dean Stoyka, is less a monk and more a quick-talking mad scientist.
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DEAN STOKYA – Terroir Symposium
Dean Stoyka- Dean was born and raised in Niagara Falls. Growing up with a father in the wine industry, he was inspired to study Wine and Viticulture at Niagara College in 2009. In his nine- year career at Stratus, Dean previously held the positions of Lab Technician, Winemaking Supervisor, and Vineyard Manager before assuming his current role as Assistant Winemaker.
Building the Stratus wines from the top down – Wines In Niagara
Stratus Vineyards grows 16 different varieties of grapes at its Niagara-on-the-Lake estate, and they all compete to be a part of the top two wines in any given vintage at the winery. The 10 red grape varieties and six white are all vinified and aged separately – either in oak, stainless steel or amphora.
Field of Dreams: A story of foreign workers in Ontario’s vineyards
We consider the pros and cons of programs for migrant workers labouring among our farms and vines After two brutally cold winters, in 2014 and 2015, nearly half of the 82,000 trunks on the 55-acre Stratus Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake were damaged.
Harvesting grapes by mighty machine, or by hand?
Joe Pillitteri, Gary Wiens (farm owner) and Jesse Willms (partner in Lakeview Vineyard Equipment) (Lauren O’Malley) Lauren O’Malley Staff The hardest-working comedian in NOTL is busy harvesting more than laughter these days. Joe Pillitteri – who in “real life” owns Lakeview Vineyard Equipment – has been busy harvesting grapes too.
Vin de glace, c’est le début des vendanges en Ontario!
Un texte de Cristèle Magnout Dean Stoyka a commencé la cueillette à 4 h 30 en ce matin du 14 décembre. L’assistant-vigneron des vignes de Stratus, à Niagara-on-the-Lake, a préparé ses équipes à braver les températures négatives avant l’aube pour récolter les raisins gelés.
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virtual wine tastings and information sessions: welcome to the new normal!
“Online wine buying has made its way to countless new households and virtual, live access through social media has connected the winery teams even more personally to the consumer.” – Suzanne Janke, Estate Director at Stratus Vineyards If the people can’t come to you, you go to the people.
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