KIN Vineyards

About KIN Vineyards

Situated on 47 pristine acres in the heart of the Ottawa Valley and only founded in early 2014, KIN Vineyards has established itself as a premium focused winery.
With a truly agrarian sensibility and belief in sustainable viticulture, our pursuit of winegrowing perfection begins with the soil. The most northerly Ontario Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Vineyard, KIN Vineyards’ Carp Ridge Vineyard is bisected by the Hazeldean Fault, showing glacial till over limestone on the upper slope and clay loam over limestone on the lower slope. With a southwest exposure and a gentle slope to the Carp River Valley, the site offers generous amounts of sunshine and well drained soils in combination with low yielding vineyards to deliver wines of great complexity, freshness and distinctiveness.

The team at KIN Vineyards has sourced additional varietals from key, trusted, vineyards located in the Niagara, Ontario region to augment its overall portfolio. In addition to estate grown Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, KIN also crafts succulent wines from Chardonnay, Vidal, Pinot Noir, Gamay, Marquette, and Marechal Foch varieties. KIN also produces a dry, yet balanced Pinot Noir based Rosé and rounding out its overall portfolio is a Charmat styled Vidal sparkling wine. For the 2019 vintage, KIN is proud to introduce an estate Chardonnay based natural wine.

Representative Biography

Brian G. Hamilton, Winemaker

With a soul deep passion and commitment to exploring some of the world’s most unique terroirs for both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Brian has spent the last 20 years working with top producers in Sonoma, California, New Zealand as well as Niagara, Canada before joining KIN Vineyards in Ottawa, Canada. Brian excels in the extreme winegrowing of Ontario’s most northerly plantings of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir on the unique soils of the Carp Ridge.

Why We're Cool

What makes us Cool!
The Carp Ridge site, at KIN Vineyards, offers a unique opportunity to explore a distinctive terroir in Ontario’s most northerly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vineyard. Located atop the Hazeldean Fault, Carp Ridge presents glacial till over limestone on the upper slope and clay loam over limestone on the lower slope. With a southwest exposure and a gentle slope to the Carp River Valley, the site offers generous amounts of sunshine and well drained soils in combination with low yielding vines to deliver wines of great complexity, freshness and distinctiveness. Cool climates provide the ideal conditions for slow, yet complete, ripening over the growing season allowing the winegrower to achieve more complexity and unique character in the wines.
Great wine truly is made in the vineyard and it is an adherence to this philosophy that informs our choice to farm sustainably, including both organic and biodynamic approaches whenever possible. Healthy soils, a biodiversity of flora and fauna creates a vineyard of balance and synergy … and ultimately, wines of substance, integrity, uniqueness of place and longevity. Our winemaking is focused on using experience and skill to achieve balance in the wines rather than to achieve a preconceived ideal.
Three clones of chardonnay are grown over three distinct vineyards blocks and soil types, on the Carp Ridge, to produce low grape and must yields which are indigenously fermented and aged, sur lie, in a combination of French oak cooperage and stainless steel for 10 months prior to blending, minimal fining and filtration before bottling. It is our intention to bring you the purest expression our site … terroir!