A lake and a cliff make a climate that should not be there
Lake Ontario moderates temperature and the Niagara Escarpment turns the air back down over the vineyards, which together buy the growing season its extra weeks.
Section 1
The escarpment and the lake do the work
Why grapes ripen here at all. 4 pieces.
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The named benches are ledges on that cliff
Beamsville Bench and Twenty Mile Bench are terraces on the escarpment, and the soils and drainage on each are why they are named separately.
Ripening is a heat budget, and here it is tight
Growing degree days measure accumulated warmth, and cold-climate viticulture is the practice of managing a budget that barely balances.
A second region on limestone, colder still
Prince Edward County sits on shallow soil over limestone and is cold enough that vines are buried for winter as a matter of routine.