Featured Winery

Chris Protonentis

Chris Protonentis

Coyote's Run Estate Winery


Located in the heart of the pastoral paradise of St. David’s is Coyote’s Run Estate Winery a relaxed oasis for wine lovers to enjoy their hand-crafted product.  From the tasting boutique and patio, guests can enjoy a stunning view of their vineyards stretching as far as the eye can see. Coyote’s Run Estate Winery places an emphasis on a close relationship with the earth

The winemaker is Chris Protonentis. Chris started working in the wine industry back in 2005 and took a slightly different path. He got his start with Peller Estates Winery; as a “wine consultant” guiding tours, seminars, and later dinner events. Over that time he started building his wine knowledge in different tasting courses. He enrolled in the Winery & Viticulture program at Niagara College back in 2008, wanting to pursue a career in winemaking. After graduation, he started working for Custom Quality Bottling; a mobile bottling line that would travel to wineries all over Ontario and Quebec. Wanting to get back into winemaking, Chris travelled to Western Australia, just outside of Margaret River, for the 2011 crush. Later, coming back home he was offered a job at Stratus Vineyards and spent the next year working in the cellar and lab. He then took a winemaking position at Ridgepoint Wines in Vineland, just in time for the 2013 Vintage. There, he was able to apply his knowledge to make some different wine such as: Nebbiolo, Appasimento style red wines and the award winning White Cab (his first ever commercially produced wine).

Chris Protonentis

 

Chris joined the team at Coyote’s Run in April, 2014 as assistant winemaker. David Sheppard was the winemaker then, with over 30 years of winemaking experience David was the reason Chris joined the winery “Dave has worked in winemaking for so long and has seen and done just about everything, that I couldn’t pass up learning from his experience”. The two have since been working together to produce some of Ontario’s best wine. Now Chris is responsiable for all winemaking at the winery.

 

Coyote’s Run Estate Winery

The 65 acre vineyard is planted with 7 varieties; Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot all surrounding our tasting room in the heart of St. David’s. Located at the base of what was formerly the shoreline of the glacial Lake Iroquois, enjoying one of the warmest sites in the Niagara region.

The estate is made up of two very distinct soil types; refered to as Red Paw and Black Paw vineyards. Red Paw vineyard is an ancient red clay soil from which the wines are typically boldly expressive in varietal character. The Black Paw vineyard being a darker, heavier clay soil retains warmth and moisture while delivering very modest yields. The lower yield per acre is balanced by the intense concentration of flavours in the fruit that it produces. 

 

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