On Seven Estate Winery

About On Seven Estate Winery

In the fall of 2009, we acquired an abandoned Niagara-on-the-Lake farm on seven acres from which we derived our name, On Seven. Our focus is to create memorable, classic Niagara Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines.

To fulfill this focus, On Seven remains true to its guiding principles. We steward a pristine calcareous five-acre vineyard in a locale with legacy of producing premium bottlings. We plant vines sourced from Burgundy with a pedigree of creating great wine and allow our vines to thrive and express the distinct character of their inherent genetics within a unique intersection of soil, climate, and human influence.

We employ traditional and scientific certified organic farming practices that enhance the quality of the wine, and are respectful to our team members, the vines, and the ecological balance in Nature. We maintain low grape yields to ensure optimal ripeness and flavours and hand-harvest estate fruit into small crates to preserve integrity.

We allow wild yeast to express the vineyard’s unique sense of place in French oak barrels. We restrain wine production to very exclusive quantities to maintain focus. We release wine only after ample time in barrel and bottle to ensure its elements are harmoniously balanced and work with team members who share our vision and devotion to excellence.

On Seven believes that it’s through the application of these principles that we are able to produce such memorable, classic Niagara Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines.

Representative Biography

Peter Gamble, Winemaker & Vittorio De Stefano, Owner

A professional winemaker for the first decade of his career, Gamble, also a recognized international wine taster and educator, became the founding Executive Director of the VQA. The newly established body acted as Canada's ‘Appelation Controlée,’ setting standards for the country's finest wines, but was also responsible for marketing and export. In this capacity, Gamble spearheaded the industry's first push for national and international recognition as a premium wine-producing region.

Returning to winemaking and winery consultation in 2000, Gamble’s firm has provided a broad range of expertise to some of Canada’s most reputed wineries in their start-up phase. He has been lead consultant for Stratus Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake, heralded as one of the world’s most oenologically sophisticated wineries and the first to achieve full LEED accreditation; Benjamin Bridge in Nova Scotia, making classic sparklings hailed by many as Canada’s finest; Ravine winery in St. Davids; Lightfoot & Wolfville – Demeter certified and three-time Winery of the Year at the Atlantic Canadian Wine Awards; and, most recently, On Seven, with a focus on high-end Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Gamble and his winemaking wife, Ann Sperling, also co-own and operate Versado, from a high altitude 1920 Malbec planting in Mendoza, and Sperling Vineyards winery in the Okanagan.

In 2019, Gamble was presented with the inaugural ‘Karl Kaiser Winemaker Emeritus Award for Outstanding Services to the Canadian Wine Industry.’ Previously, he was the inaugural recipient of the Tony Aspler Award for contributions to the Ontario wine industry. Gamble’s love of cool climate Chardonnays relates to balance, invigorating acidities and, in the finest vineyards and vintages, a miraculous ability to transform into something sublime with long years in bottle.

Gamble’s love of cool climate Chardonnays relates to balance, invigorating acidities and, in the finest vineyards and vintages, a miraculous ability to transform into something sublime with long years in bottle.

Why We're Cool

As a single-vineyard wine in Niagara-on-the-Lake, On Seven’s cool climate Chardonnay program is focused on both the characteristics of the vineyard and the approach of the winemaking.

Our vineyard: Our focus to create memorable, classic Niagara Chardonnay starts with our site. The calcareous loam and clay nature of the soil is so named because of the high proportion of calcium carbonate, or lime, as commonly referred. This soil is recognized for how it supports acidity in the wine rooted within. In planting our vineyard, we took specific steps to accentuate this characteristic. We chose S04 as our rootstock, given it thrives in lime-based soil. SO4 produces a larger root mass and starts functioning earlier in the season to help our vines endure extreme weather variations such as cool, wet springs, and droughty summers. SO4 also produces vines of moderate vigour (rather than low vigour) and give us the option to set more fruit early in the season and carry it through warmer vintages. This moderate crop load approach slows ripening of the fruit to achieve the desired balance between sugar and acidity levels.

To support our pursuit for classically styled Chardonnay, we sourced our vines directly from Burgundy and planted clones of Chardonnay (76, 95, 96 and 548) with a history of making great cool climate wines. Our planting on the slight north-facing slope of the land extends fruit ripening and maintains freshness while achieving full physiological maturity. Finally, we employ organic farming practices to allow the grapes to capture the subtleties of our site.

Our winemaking: Our obsession in creating memorable, classic Niagara Chardonnay also influences our winemaking decisions. Our Chardonnays exhibit restrained fruit character while being balanced by savoury and mineral notes. We achieve this classic Chardonnay flavour profile through a minimalist approach. We start with hand harvested organic estate fruit. We let wild yeast guide the fermentation process and express the vineyard’s unique sense of place. We age the wine in predominately neutral French oak barrels to enhance complexity while retaining freshness and focus. Finally, we bottle and release the wine once its individual elements are harmoniously balanced.