Domaine Queylus

About Domaine Queylus

Queylus is a recently-established domaine-style winery dedicated to a select number of varietals adapted perfectly to Niagara’s soils and microclimate. Domaine Queylus is the fruit of long years of hard work and planning, and was dreamt into existence by a group of friends passionate about wine, the land and terroir. Queylus crafts small lots of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Franc from organically-run estate vineyards in Beamsville and the Jordan Bench. The wines, made by Thomas Bachelder since 2010, display finesse, structure, depth, elegance and minerality.

Representative Biography

Kelly Mason, Associate Winemaker

Representing Domaine Queylus at i4C 2018
Kelly Mason, Associate Winemaker
Born and raised in Montréal, Kelly ‘s love of winemaking began during a vacation in Napa Valley in 2007 that resulted in an internship at Saintsbury Winery under a Burgundian winemaker.

She then studied Winemaking at Brock University before working first at Tawse Winery and then at Le Clos Jordanne, always focused on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Kelly joined the Domaine Queylus team in the spring of 2013.

“When you get the harvest date just right and take a hands-off winemaking approach, cool climate Chardonnay will express the vineyard site beautifully. It allows Niagara to showcase different Chardonnay profiles based on our appellations – what is sometimes referred to as boring varietal becomes complex and interesting as the terroir differs from one producer to the next.” Kelly Mason

About Winery Representative
Thomas Bachelder, Owner & Winemaker

Since the inaugural vintage in 2010, Thomas Bachelder has been the winemaker for Domaine Queylus. With vineyards in Beamsville and Jordan, Thomas strives to make focussed, world-class, terroir-driven wines from these beautiful organically-farmed vineyards.

Graduating from school in Beaune, Burgundy, Thomas has since made a name for himself as a producer of world class, terroir-based, organic Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in Burgundy, Oregon and Niagara. Thomas loves making Chardonnay in, cool climates and is a believer in the limestone terroir of Ontario wines and promotes them nationally and internationally.

“To my palate, cool climate Chardonnays are the most complex white wines on the planet: from their original ancestral home in Burgundy, the challenge is now with new world wine regions to extend the fabulous tradition of making thrilling food wines of substance and subtlety: wines with textured fruit, good acidity and a great mineral finish that express a definite sense of place.” Thomas Bachelder

Why We're Cool

The parcels of land selected for our Chardonnay plantings are our closest vines to Lake Ontario … with a terroir unlike the Bench, the sandier soil texture and temperate ‘Lake effect’ of the Lincoln Lakeshore sub-appellation imbues the resulting wines with a honeyed character, elegance and subtlety. The gentle warmth from Lake Ontario in autumn allows us to ‘hang’ the fruit a little longer to achieve complexity and ripeness without risking higher alcohol levels.

Both our Chardonnays are single-vineyard wines, with the southern block (Clones 95 and 76) bringing a certain nobility, texture and citrus fruit flavour to the ‘Chardonnay Réserve,’ while the northern block (clones 124 and 548) gives the ‘Chardonnay Tradition’ a straightforward, textured fruitiness and backbone of acidity which highlights the minerality of this site. As our vines continue to come into equilibrium, we aim to craft barrel-fermented, Burgundian-style Chardonnays with understatement, subtlety and great texture, Chardonnays that showcase the potential of the relatively unknown Niagara Lincoln Lakeshore terroir.