From farmer and winemaker to importer and collaborator, Werner is carving out his own path through Niagara’s wine community
By definition, an artisan producer is one who makes a high-quality or distinctive product in small quantities. An artisanal wine usually comes from a small producer with their own vineyards, produced in limited quantities using traditional winemaking practices.
That is a fitting description of Niagara winemaker Marty Werner and his wines.
Yet there is a more novel term – multipotentialite – which also fits and highlights Werner’s versatility and multifaceted endeavours.
That said, he would still much rather be called a good farmer.
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It’s an easy assumption to make, seeing him dressed in blue jeans, baseball cap, mud-caked Blundstone boots, driving a dusty pickup truck through his 100 acre vineyard in Niagara-on-the-Lake. But that simple appearance belies the many successes Werner has had over the last two decades. First and foremost a winemaker with far ranging experience (California, New Zealand, British Columbia and Ontario), then a grape grower, more recently a wine importer and part owner of several wine brands.
I met with Marty to chat about his many ventures in wine at ‘The Shed’, the MW Cellars tasting bar, as it has come to be known locally. And locals do frequent The Shed for a glass of wine, conversation, to buy a few reasonably priced wines and to see Marty. He has a ready smile and a hearty handshake for all who visit.
VineRoutes: Where does your versatility, collaborative nature, entrepreneurial acumen and great work ethic come from?
Marty Werner: Oh, I would have to say my parents. I’ve always looked up to them. My dad was definitely a hard worker and I think I’m always chasing his large successes in life. And not just the success of Trivial Pursuit. He did a lot at a young age. He was a very successful lawyer. And so, I think I chased that, and that’s a big part of how I operate.
[Note: Chris Haney, Scott Abbott, lawyer Ed Werner, and Haney’s brother John, were the original developers of and investors in the board game Trivial Pursuit.]
And then from an agriculture perspective, definitely the Buis Family (owners of Glenlake Vineyards, grape growers with 40 years of experience).
Marty Werner at ‘The Shed’. (Courtesy of MW Cellars)
So, Kevin and Peter Buis are the gentlemen who ultimately taught me how to farm. I had only rarely drank wine or been to a retail wine store before I met them. They were neighbours and the guys who showed me how to work a grease gun, get a rock out of a disc, and things like that.
Today, their sons and daughters are working here. We collaborate on the Burner Brand, a project where we produce both a chardonnay and a pinot noir under that label. The Buis family are everything from babysitter to my kids, to the people that I look up to in business. Aidan Buis looks after my vineyards.
VineRoutes: You are a second generation farmer, as you mentioned your father was a successful lawyer, but how did your family get into farming?
Marty Werner: We lived in St. Catharines next door to Karl Kaiser (pioneer winemaker in Niagara), Magdalena, Max and Andrea who were my babysitters at times, which is pretty funny! Karl showed my dad Niagara-on-the-Lake and the agriculture business here. The Kaiser family opened my dad’s eyes to purchasing a farm in Niagara with the proceeds of his Trivial Pursuit success.
We moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake when I was four or five, right next to another great farming family, the Meyers. Farming here is all interconnected; families helping each other, learning from one another. It’s a tight-knit community.
VR: Is that how your collaborative spirit was formed? Besides the Burner collaboration, you also make wine with three childhood friends, Trevor Falk, Shawn Spiewak and Mark Lepp – League of Farmers – as well as BOTL (Blends on the Lake)
MW: Yeah, I think we have four or five collaborations now, apart from making wine for the restaurant group. But any of the collaborations I do with the farmers has a couple of things. We’re always trying to promote wines of Niagara-on-the-Lake.
I think that Niagara Benchland Wineries have done a great job of marketing themselves as having a distinct, unique profile. While it is unique and wonderful, I don’t think it’s better than wines and wineries from Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Marty Werner looks at the vines that are used for York Vineyards’ Sparkling wines. (York Vineyards)
I think that Niagara-on-the-Lake wineries have not done as good a job marketing ourselves from a vineyard perspective. So, while I will say that neither place makes better wine, I would say the other side of the canal has done a better job of marketing themselves.
It’s something that I push for and push the farmers into giving us top quality fruit to use in the wines. And then the other reason that I do it ultimately is because I get to hang out with those people and get to enjoy their company.
I found myself asking the other day, what’s the difference between the York Vineyards project and the MW Cellars project? It’s funny how much it relates to youthfulness and someone who’s a little bit more experienced now.
Originally, I was out to prove everything to the world. I picked a sparkling program because I knew that we could do it extremely well and compete on a global level. I said, if we’re going to take something to the world, what can we take? Sparkling is it. We can do it top notch.
Now, I’m in my 40s and I really want to hang out with the people that I like to hang out with. So, getting together with friends (League of Farmers) and family has become as much of a priority as showing the world what we proudly produce in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
For League of Farmers there’s four of us involved. We all played hockey together and making wine gives us a reason to get together every year. We all believe that cabernet franc can be the shining star, single varietal here in Niagara. We’ve produced it for a few years now and it’s nice to have a constant vintage comparison.
VR: What about the other collaboration project, BOTL (Blends on the Lake)?
MW: So BOTL is a project that we’ve been sold out of now for six to eight months. It has a lot to do with the target profile or the taste profile of the wine. Not being able to get California wines or US wines here in Ontario, we decided to make a wine to show that we can make big, rich wines in Niagara.
I spent some time in Paso Robles making wines and learning how to manage tannins at the top end. So, I wanted to use that skill set that I learned in California here in Niagara. Sometimes we don’t have the best vintage for cabernets and merlots, but sometimes we have fantastic vintages!
Marty and Rachael Werner.
That is the reason we call it Blends on the Lake (BOTL). We’re blending multiple vintages together. We’re making a multi-vintage wine, always producing something that will be rich and extracted, and something that ultimately will go with steak is the goal. It’s a wine with a dense profile, higher alcohol, a little bit more oak influence as well.
More evidence of being multifaceted, collaborative and busy: Werner is the consulting winemaker for new producer, Perenelle Wines, neighbouring York Vineyards in the St. David’s Bench sub-appellation. They have been working together for three years. The owners of Perenelle will be opening up their own shop/tasting room in 2027 and look to continue working closely with Werner.
Additionally, he is a partner in a wine and spirits agency, Northern Wine Merchants, importing and distributing authentic, sustainable products from around the globe. When asked why he started a wine agency, Werner said that he made a lot of international friends in the wine industry with whom he did not want to lose touch and built a portfolio that reflects those relationships.
From a sales perspective, when the COVID pandemic hit, restaurant connections with local wine producers fell apart. Werner saw a great opportunity to strike while the market was in a bit of disarray and put together a great portfolio of international lines that complemented his own wines. His goal was to provide restaurateurs with expressions of what he thought was ‘cool’ from France, Argentina, New Zealand, Italy, Portugal and Spain.
VR: Okay, let’s focus now on your major brand wines; MW Cellars. It’s an extensive portfolio. Why focus on so many single varietal wines?
MW: We want people to come back to our shop and maybe in areas where we can’t compete against wineries that have economies of scale and granite countertops. So, by providing a good chunk of portfolio – up to 50% at times – in unique varieties, it gives us a point of differentiation with other wineries. That’s a big reason why we do it.
We have a large community of people who return biweekly for a glass of wine, and we want to be able to provide a new experience for them all summer long. That’s a big part of it as well. We’re trying to get people to come back a couple times a month and have a different wine experience.
VR: Several Niagara wineries have gone premium and super premium. Your prices are reasonable. Is that part of the philosophy to get people to return?
MW: Yes, we are trying to provide a Niagara expression of certain varieties at an affordable price. It’s something Kevin Buis calls weekday wine.
Of course, there will always be celebration wine and weekend wine when you’re having that great dinner with friends where you want to pull out something premium. But other times you’re just at home with your partner and you want to enjoy something that might be unique but it doesn’t have to break the bank.
It’s certainly an affordable thing for a 22-year-old who is just getting into wine.
VR: This MW Cellars shop or tasting bar, that’s known as ‘The Shed’, has become a popular local hangout. Was that by design or it just happened?
MW: We are trying to promote it as a local agricultural bar. Having people from St. David’s to Lake Shore Road here is the goal. Whether it’s the Perenelles, the Buises, the Pillitteris, or the Hernders, it allows them to have a place to call home, a place to come and bring their friends.
‘The Shed’ at MW Cellars has become a local hangout for drinking Niagara wines.
Plus, having something on the shelf that they’re proud of really matters, whether they’ve given us fruit as part of a collaboration project or whether they’ve grown the grapes that we bought to make wine.
We want this place to feel like a community spot. Of course, we always want tourism, but at the same time, the local community is certainly first.
After our chat, Werner took me on a tour of his production facilities (housed at Ironwood Cider House, next to The Shed), his climate-controlled barrel cellar, as well as his vineyards bordering Lakeshore Rd.
Werner has replanted certain blocks with more sauvignon blanc and a new addition of chenin blanc on 10 acres still owned by his parents. Meanwhile, on his 100 acres, he farms over 15 different grape varieties, some of which he sells to other local wineries.
While MW Cellars might be weekday wines, Werner’s dream of producing world class, traditional method sparkling wine – certainly special occasion wine – is manifested through York Vineyards with the help of his mentor, consulting winemaker Peter Gamble.
Located on St. David’s Bench (sub-appellation of Niagara-on-the-Lake), the 7-acre vineyard planted to chardonnay, pinot noir, gamay and aligoté sits on a slope behind Marty and Rachael Werner’s beautiful, historic house (circa 1818). The tastings are by appointment only and situated in a refurbished stone clad former barn.
The York Vineyards property (with historic home that dates back to 1818).
The elegant surroundings house amphora and French oak barrels of finished base wines as well as the tasting bar seating parties of six.
The guided tasting entails a vineyard tour, details about the historic property, an explanation of traditional method sparkling wine production alongside tasting the base wine, wine in process of becoming sparkling and the finished product.
York Vineyards offers five sparkling wines: Brut, Rosé, Brut Nature, Reserve Brut and Blanc de Blancs ranging in price from $65 to $160.
Very much like grower Champagnes, these wines use premium estate fruit, entail masterful blending, undergo long élevage and extended lees ageing.
The entire tasting experience is truly a treat for wine aficionados.
One wine region, one producer but multiple experiences. That’s what you get with Marty Werner.
From local agricultural hangout with everyday wines and artisan, grower collaboration wine projects, to luxurious surroundings and ultra-premium bubbly, Werner as a multipotentialite is on full display.
The York Vineyards Sparkling lineup.
York Vineyards Brut Nature, Niagara-on-the-Lake VQA
This may be the last of Brut Nature made with 100% pinot gris fruit (from Werner’s Lakeshore vineyard) as future iterations will use only York Vineyards estate fruit and no pinot gris is planted there. This wine was aged 72 months on lees, the base wine was fermented partly in amphora and the remainder in stainless steel tanks; there was no addition of dosage. It’s bone dry and linear, with lively fine mousse. There are notes of lemon, pear, shortbread, and some nuttiness with a long, citrusy and saline finish. ($95)
MW Cellars 2024 Sauvignon Blanc
From some of the most prized and oldest sauvignon blanc vines in Niagara, a hop, skip and jump to the shores of Lake Ontario and its moderating effects, and grown on sandy loam soils, this wine is an easy sipper. Light bodied, crisp and refreshing, it’s a nice addition to casual, weekday summer dining. It’s pale lemon in colour, with aromas of citrus, lime leaf, fresh cut grass and star fruit. On the palate the wine delivers lime zest, kiwi and starfruit flavours, as well as some wet stone minerality. This is one of Marty Werner’s favourite wines. He says it practically makes itself. Coming from his parents’ property, the vines were planted in 1992. “That block of fruit gives us a very similar wine every single year. It can be hot, it can be wet, it can be cold. That block speaks the most to me as it provides something very similar every year and it has a sense of place. It’s pretty unique.” Werner muses. ($22)
MW Cellars 2023 Cabernet Franc
Marty Werner loves cabernet franc and is eager to showcase this varietal. He collaborates with friends, League of Farmers (LoF) to make small-batch artisan wines each vintage but also produces cabernet franc as an MW Cellars wine. Marty’s 2023 version is deep ruby in colour, with ripe raspberry, blueberry aromas and exotic spice notes of clove, cardamom and cinnamon. On the palate, the wine shows savoury oregano, basil, and jalapeño pepper along with some wood spice. It’s fresh with chalky tannins and has some heat on the finish. ($25)
MW Cellars 2024 Syrah
Cool climate. definitively a Niagara syrah. This wine is deeply hued and medium-bodied. Ageing in American oak has imbued the wine with dill, vanilla and baking spice notes. Blackberry, cherry, black currant fruit aromas mingle with the scent of violets. On the palate, the wine shows typical syrah black pepper, dark plum and bramble fruit, alongside fresh acidity and plush but grainy tannins. The wine is young with a long and juicy finish but will benefit from some bottle ageing. ($22)
Burner 2023 Pinot Noir
A collaboration between winemaker Marty Werner and the Buis grape-growing family, working with fruit grown in Niagara Lakeshore. This unfiltered Pinot Noir is translucent ruby in colour with some garnet showing on the edges of the glass. Aromas of cherry, plum and dried rose petals are followed by spice notes of clove and vanilla. The palate is fresh with cherry, red currant fruit flavours as well as hints of clove and cinnamon. Bright acidity and fine, soft tannins are followed by a juicy finish. ($26)
– Lidija Biro has been a contributor with VineRoutes since 2023.
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