Purity! The Kirby Pinot Blanc 2024 presents very cleanly, quite mute still on the nose, with hints of green apple and classy, scented pear flesh. In the mouth, the attack is fresh, frank yet displays some of the roundness and waxiness of Four Mile Creek. Yes, it's Pinot Blanc and not Chardonnay, but please, don’t let’s get hung up on the cépage – on the grape variety! It’s those same Niagara Four-Mile Creek characteristics on display here in a thrilling way, partly due to the natural acidity of the Pinot Blanc. In fact, the change in grape type and the way it expresses the local terroir makes one suddenly wonder if there's more available limestone than perhaps we thought in the soils here, on “the Creek” just outside “Old Town”… Finishes with an elegant glycerine-rich, savoury laciness.

A word from Mary: Sea-spray nose, waxy honeycomb and rich-textured pear on the palate.

Drinking prime: Now – 2031

Best fruit window: 2027 – 2029 

Cases produced: 108