GreenLane Estate Winery

About GreenLane Estate Winery

Greenlane Estate Winery is a boutique winery located directly adjacent to the base of the iconic Niagara Escarpment in Vineland, Ontario. Established in 2010, we proudly craft small batch wines and invite one to ‘take a moment’ and savour a glass of Greenlane on our inviting country property. We passionately produce small amounts of cellar worthy Chardonnay, Blanc de Blancs, Riesling and a variety of Bordeaux reds from our 10-acre site. Ontario’s cool but variable climate affords us the luxury of embracing vintage variations as an opportunity to create different, but always elegant wines from a few select varietals grown both on our estate and from neighbouring growers. Come take a moment with us at Greenlane.

Representative Biography

Dianne Smith, Winemaker

Dianne Smith joined Greenlane Estate Winery in 2010 and is a graduate of Niagara College’s Viticulture & Winemaking Program and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Geology (McGill University/University of South Florida.) Dianne has been fortunate to work with and hone her skills with ultra-premium producers including Tawse Winery (Vineland, ON), Southbrook Vineyards (Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON), and Carrick Winery (Central Otago, NZ).
Dianne strives to craft wines that speak truthfully of their vineyard origins by paying close attention to the vines and allowing the fruit and vintage to determine how the wines will evolve. Minimal intervention in the cellars and gentle hand-harvesting (when possible) also help with this goal. Her wish is for the wine to be given a helping hand to express itself as opposed to being molded into an artificially created ‘style.’ A passionate advocate of the Canadian Wine Industry, Dianne enjoys all aspects of both viticulture and oenology, and looks forward to the increased status and availability of Canadian wines in her native Wales.

Why We're Cool

We are situated in the Lincoln Lakeshore sub-appellation of the Niagara Peninsula on the southern shores of Lake Ontario directly adjacent to the base of the Niagara Escarpment. There is a strong lake influence at our Benchlands property with pronounced temperature moderating effects from the lake. We enjoy an extended growing season, which affords the opportunity for full phenolic maturity in all our vineyard blocks.
Our three-acre Chardonnay block was planted in 2014 to clone 76 on 3309 rootstock for both sparkling and still production.
Our Chardonnay vineyard is planted on top of pockets of Trafalgar and Morley reddish hued silty clay loam over Queenston shale bedrock with a gentle slope towards the lake. The heavy clay loam soils give us moderate vigour and crop size, while Lake Ontario’s proximity and the escarpment wall effect ensures our site enjoys a constant, often intense movement of air. This constant airflow dries out our vineyard canopies in the summer, while providing a protective measure against frost in the winter as the strong winds do not allow air to sit stagnate over our vines.
Chardonnay is our winemaker’s favourite varietal to work with due to its incredible versatility. Here at Greenlane, we produce a range of wines from our Chardonnay block, ranging from traditional method, three-to-five-year élevage Blanc de Blancs, unoaked stainless steel fermented Chardonnays, elegant partial malolactic conversion wines, as well as California Dreaming inspired full barrel beauties.