Here’s why this is the year to try Petite Pearl and Marquette wines in Essex County

Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery in Amherstburg, Ont. Is growing winter-hardy grapes called Petite Pearl and Marquette. (Michelle Maluske/CTV Windsor)

The winter-hardy grapes are the only ones spared from the cold winter we just survived.

“All of the wineries within Lake Erie North Shore have suffered some sort of winter damage to some of their vines,” Steve Mitchell says.

He’s the co-chair of Ontario Craft Wineries and owner of Sprucewood Shores in Amherstburg, Ont.

“Any Vitis Vinifera that went through the winter here in Lake Erie North Shore will have damage, and that’s a fact.”

Vitis Vinifera, Mitchell explains, are the most common grape varieties.

“The Cabernet Sauvignon, the Pinot Grigio, the Chardonnays, the wines everyone knows the names of,” Mitchell explains.

It means those vines will bear very little fruit, if at all, across Essex County this year.

Winemakers will import grapes from Niagara to keep their production going until next year.

The effect of cold weather is why Mitchell invested in two unknown grape varieties after the Polar Vortex swept across the region in 2014 and 2015, the Petite Pearl and Marquette grapes.

“Those varieties are good down to minus 30,” Mitchell said. “The biggest problem for us is nobody knows what they are, so we looked at it as an opportunity for the future.”

Sprucewood just bottled their first vintage of both grapes, and Mitchell is pleased with the result.

“As we find people enjoy it, as people want more of it, we’ll plant more in the future,” Mitchell says.

Winter damage and the Polar Vortex also impacted Coopers Hawk Vineyard in Harrow.

“We lost all of our fruit in 2014 (and) 2015,” owner Tom O’Brien explains.

While this year’s winter damage is a devastating blow to these businesses, O’Brien and Mitchell both say it comes with the territory when you are farming. “We simply adapt the plan. We have about 28 months of supply of finished wines, either in bulk or in barrels or bottles, and we’re going to buy some fruit from Niagara this year to keep it going,” O’Brien said.

He will likely have to rip out and replace his merlot vines, but his Reisling and Gamay Noir grapes aren’t as harshly impacted as he predicted.

They will bear a very small amount of fruit this year, but not enough.

“We suffered really damaging cold. We hit minus 24,” O’Brien said, noting anything below minus 19 will cause bud damages on vines.

He says overnight Jan. 24, 2026, was the worst night of the winter.