Malivoire was kind of the black sheep of our whole Niagara tour. It is itself a relatively new winery. We had heard nothing of it, it was not on our tour list, and it was not something I was leaving myself open to. We had enough wineries in the region, and certainly missed some good ones, but that is the nature of travel. We were forced to go to Malivoire to meet Mark Walpole. Mark is an ex-chef now entrepeneur who is pioneering a new product called vinifera flour. Vinifera flour is basically the discarded grape skins from wineries, dehydrated and crushed into powder. We've played with it a couple times thus far, to some success, but no greatness. We shall continue experimenting. That's not the point. The point is, he brought us to this winery. The steward and him had business to discuss, and so they did, before we arrived. Upon our slightly tardy arrival, we had been making lunch in a park you see, Mark had to leave relatively quickly. Before his departure, he gifted us a couple bags of purple dust which looked mildly like a massive drug deal, and we said our goodbyes, with promises of experimentation. The gentleman behind the counter then told us we could have a tour of the facility, if we had such a hankering. We did, but first we had to run away to Tawse for our scheduled tour there. Upon finishing our tour at Tawse, we returned to Malivoire to see their gravity fed system. Without really seeing the piping and schematics, they did appear extremely similar. However, our host also did us the good favour of showing us the grounds, the topography, and even introducing us to their winemaker. He was extremely knowledgeable about the region, including history and geography, as well as population demographics. Turns out he is a full time teacher during the school year, and does this for petty cash on the side. Good life. Sadly, because the tour was so enrapturing, I have taken no notes on the wines themselves. I did enjoy some and not others, and we will leave it at that.
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