Short Hills Bench
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The Short Hills Bench sub-appellation of the Niagara Peninsula (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada).
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[edit] Flora and fauna
A Carolinian Climatic Zone, the Short Hills Bench has been recognized for its unique soils, topography and climate, not only by the government body of the Vintners Quality Alliance of Ontario (VQA) but also by the United Nations as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. The north truly meets the south in this unique region which supports flora from willows, tulip poplars and conniferous trees to fauna including possum, coyote, mountain lion, wild turkey, pheasant and deer.
[edit] The lay of the land
To picture the Short Hills Bench imagine a shelf of land jutting out of the Niagara Escarpment midway up and bounded to the east by a valley of “short hills” carved by small creeks. This valley, now the Short Hills Provincial Park, was the original pre-glacial course of the Niagara River and site of an ancient rendition of Niagara Falls (fully 2 km wide, bigger than the falls are today at the current site). The Short Hills Provincial Park is the headwaters of the 12 Mile Creek which gently flows to Lake Ontario. To the south and west the Short Hills Bench is bounded by the limestone and dolostone rock-face of the Niagara Escarpment while its northern boundary is an open plain that ends at the top of a series of steps leading to Lake Ontario.
[edit] The soils and terroir
In general the Short Hills Bench is blessed with a shale and limestone basin, 30 – 40 feet of glacial clay and silt and a 1 – 2 foot mixture of clay-mixed top soil. Air and water flows to the east and the north but producers are required to under-drain the vineyards to remove excess moisture from the slow drying clay. This same clay naturally restrains the vines’ tendency to produce large crops. It is typical for vines to produce small yields of tiny berries with high concentrations of sugars, acids, minerals and other flavour compounds. Still, the non-uniform glacially deposited soils do contain different minerals at different depths and locations. This results in wines with unique flavours from each parcel of land, particularly as the vines grow older, sending their roots deep into the uncharted minerally depths.
[edit] The meso-climate and terroir
A high proportion of the Niagara Peninsula's south and south-east facing slopes are located in the Short Hills Bench. Fruit grown on these slopes have more intense sun-exposure and hence ripeness than levels found elsewhere in the Niagara region. The ground warms more quickly in the morning than elsewhere in the peninsula, due in part to the relatively high altitude (above the cooler lake winds of summer) and in part to the distance south of Lake Ontario. This is a benefit to the vines as it stimulates them to photosynthesize, essentially “waking them” early in the day and “putting them to bed” later in the evening. Thus the region gets some of the longest daily and seasonal growing time in the overall short but intense season.
During the winter it is the relatively high elevation of the Short Hills Bench which allows it to benefit from rising warm air currents blowing south off Lake Ontario, in much the same way as the lower lying coastal sub-appellations do. This warm air has a moderating effect on the mesoclimate, protecting the tender buds from potentially damaging frosts.
[edit] Key wine producers
Fruit from this region is sourced by many wineries in Niagara and Ontario. As of 2007 two wineries call this sub-appellation home, Henry of Pelham Winery and Hernder Estate Winery. A large Burgundian house recently planted a 40 acre site adjacent to the Short Hills provincial park.
