Five Row Craft Winery

361 Tanbark Rd, St. Davids, ON L0S 1P0

Five Rows Craft Wine is located in Niagara's St. David's Bench sub-appellation on the 5th generation Lowrey Vineyards property, a 35-acre vineyard that produces craft wine grape varietals for customer wineries in the area. Lowrey wine grapes have supplied some of Canada's most prestigious wines by accomplished winemakers and garnered many awards.

St David’s Bench is one of four VQA sub-appellations in Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario. Located just below the rise of the Niagara Escarpment, the region is at a slightly higher altitude than the areas closer to the lake. The bench lies between Niagara-on-the-Lake and Niagara Falls.

The name originated in 1984, when Howard Wesley Lowrey was convinced by Karl Kaiser to rip up their livelihood of tender fruit and juice grapes and plant wine grapes — vinifera. Taking a deep breath and a lot of chance, he planted 5 rows of Pinot Noir.

Five Rows wine comes from two vineyards planted predominantly with Pinot Noir. There are five other varietals that come in quantities of about a 100 cases per year including Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Riesling.

The winery traces its history back to 1869. David Jackson Lowrey founded the vineyard, planting some of the region's first grapes in 1869 - starting a tradition that Edwin David Lowrey and Howard Borden Lowrey succeeded until 1984 when Howard Wesley Lowrey planted five rows of Pinot Noir, spiriting Wesley David Lowrey to craft wine. the Lowey vineyard has 35 acres.

The portfolio of Five Rows focuses on 6 main varietals that have been selected based on their unique style and expression of the Lowrey Vineyard, as well as their characteristic representation of the St. David's Bench Appellation. Pinot Noir accounts for the majority of our planting while Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Gris, Shiraz, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc make up the remaining rows.

"Five Rows' one-room, peaked-roof barn houses everything: miniature steel fermenting tanks, oak barrels, two tables that serve as a tasting area and a small stockpile of cases ready for sale. The place seems caught in a time warp, evoking Niagara of the 1970s, when such pioneers as Inniskillin crushed grapes in similarly rustic quarters." The Globe & Mail

What can I tell you about their wines? They are extremly popular and sell out quickly.