
Wending: Travelling slowly, indirectly, yet purposefully. That’s how we make our wines. Veteran winemaker Ron Giesbrecht and partner Huaying Feng invite you to share this experience. You can find both traditional varietals and uncommonly delicious blends here.
Opened in 2021 the winery is owned by Huaying (Ying) Feng and Ron Giesbrecht a well known and respected winemaker. A new home is what partner Huaying Feng, along with her husband Jianneng Li, were searching for when they immigrated to Niagara from Guangzhou, a city in Guangdong province in China.Feng and her husband left China for Canada to realize their dream of being farmers who can own their own land, which is not allowed in China. Li wanted his daughter Amy to have a happy childhood because he believes that children in China are made to study too hard, but that their creativity is limited. They feel that they now have a pleasant life here.
After first landing in B.C. in search of agricultural land in 2005, Feng decided the prices in that province were too steep, so the couple eventually moved east and found the perfect property on 9th Street in St. Catharines in 2018. The estate‚s surrounding property was planted with grape vines dating back to the late 1990s by Joseph Zimmerman. Feng has since added to the plantings.Wending means to go in a specified direction, typically slowly, or by an indirect route. Or as partner Ron Giesbrecht says: A slow circuitous course, not in a hurry, enjoying it.
In Cantonese Wending means ‚to aspire to be the best‚.Giesbrecht, who has a degree in Biology from the University of Waterloo and a master's degree in Food Science (specializing in Oenology) from the University of Guelph, was the widely respected winemaker at Henry of Pelham for 23 years before he was hired as the wine and viticulture professor at Niagara Collage. He has been in that job for the past eight years.
Feng was a student of Giesbrecht‚s studying viticulture to help her better understand science art of growing grapes. Following her studies, Feng decided that she wanted to make wine out of her grapes, not just grow them, and went to the only person she knew who could help her. When Feng asked Giesbrecht in 2019 if he wanted to become a partner in small boutique winery, Giesbrecht said: I'm all in!
White grape varieties are: Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Auxerrois and Ehrenfelser. Red varieties are: Cabernet Franc, Gamay, Dornfelder and Lemberger.One of their main goals is to develop two estate blends, a white named Wending North (because all 6 varieties used are on the north side of the vineyard) and also a Wending South blend of red varieties all grown (you guessed it!) on the south side of the vineyard.
| Monday: | Closed |
|---|---|
| Tuesday: | Closed |
| Wednesday: | 10:30 - 17:30 |
| Thursday: | 10:30 - 17:30 |
| Friday: | 10:30 - 17:30 |
| Saturday: | 10:30 - 17:30 |
| Sunday: | 10:30 - 17:30 |
3756 9th Street, ON, Canada