Chardonnay is Domaine l'Espiegle's most-cultivated grape, and they know how to treat it. One of the best Canadian Chardonnays we've tried in a while.

Mostly Chardonnay, with the remaining 5% split between Muscadet, Riesling, Savagnin, and Ehrenfelser, this cuvee is a nod to the farmers, interred in the eponymous cemetery nearby, who first tilled the soil on which these grapes are grown. Solemn, but not intolerably so.

As the name ("fougue" translates as 'ardor') indicates, this is a wine with impact, with cherry florality on the nose and notes of stonefruit and lemon curd on the palate, and an almond-y finish. Like some passions, this one needs time: open a day in advance for its full expression.

A nose of melon, beeswax, and riesling's signature petrol, fulfilled in a palate of cantaloupe and baking spices with a steely acidity.