From an early age, Shiraz Mottiar knew he wanted a career that would allow him to be outside most of the time.
A viticulture job meant he could do just that. “You’re not there to watch the clouds go by,” said Mottiar, Malivoire Wine Company’s general manager and winemaker. “But every now and then, you do have to stop and watch the clouds go by. Those are the moments that make it all worthwhile.”
Mottiar doesn’t have a lot of time to watch the clouds these days. A Malivoire winemaker since 2000, he was named the winery’s new manager – exact title to be determined – taking over from Stephen Gash, who held the position since 2012.
This year the winery will celebrate its 25th anniversary and, of course, there will be a celebration. However, given its quarter-century history, founder Martin Malivoire never intended to start a winery. “His idea was to grow grapes and live on a vineyard in Niagara. Maybe make a little wine, just to understand how to do it and do it well,” reads the Malivoire website.
After all, he already had one very successful career working in the movie and television industry as a director of special effects. His credits include “The Wayne and Shuster Hour” on TV, as well as Hollywood hits such as “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” “A Christmas Story,” “Hairspray” and “Resident Evil.” However, after 30 years in film, he decided it was time for a change and, in 1995, he bought six hectares of vineyard land on the Beamsville Bench, a plot now known as Malivoire’s Moira Vineyard within Ontario’s Niagara Escarpment. Then he bought some more, a 13-hectare plot located on a glacial moraine within the escarpment. Now known as the Estate Vineyard, it is where the winery is located.
The following year, in 1996, the first Malivoire vineyards were planted – Pinot Gris, Chardonnnay, Gewürztraminer, Gamay and Pinot Noir – and in 1999, the winery opened its doors and the first wines were officially released. These days, Malivoire sells its wines across Canada, in every province except British Columbia.
The winery produces 24,000 cases of wine each year from grapes grown on the 40 hectares of vineyards located within the Beamsville Bench, Lincoln Lakeshore, Vinemount Ridge and Twenty Mile Bench sub-designated viticultural areas. Twenty Mile Bench and Beamsville Bench are located in the Niagara Escarpment, a regional appellation that is part of Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula Appellation. Vinemount Ridge is a sub-appellation of Niagara Peninsula, just south of the escarpment, while Lincoln Lakeshore’s south boundary is at the foot of the escarpment bench.
Malivoire’s assistant winemaker Dan Stouck’s family has owned the Lincoln Lakeshore property for generations, an exceptionally warm plot of land renowned for its Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes. The vineyards are a short distance from Lake Ontario, which moderates temperatures and helps delay the fall frost. “Our vineyards are really at their optimum right now, at about 25 years old or so,” Mottiar said. “But our region is still a young region and our experience with these vineyards is still very young. We’re really looking forward to seeing where they go long-term.”
Rather unusual for a Canadian winery, the Malivoire team has built much of its reputation on its rosé. Between 35 and 40 per cent of their full wine production is rosé, and they make several styles: a Cabernet Franc-Gamay-Pinot Noir blend named Ladybug and the delicate, pale-pink Moira, to name two.
“Rosé, right from the start, was something that was important to us. We believe it can be a real beacon for us on the world stage,” said Mottiar. “It’s about understanding our strengths. Our Pinot Noir is really great for rosé. It made total sense.” Others have recognized Malivoire’s rosé strengths and commitment, too.
“Few Canadian wineries take rosé as serious as Malivoire does,” wrote wine writer Christopher Waters in the Globe and Mail in 2020. “And the Beamsville, Ont.-based winery’s rosé portfolio stands among the very best wines in the country.”
However, it isn’t the winery’s only category. White wines include several Chardonnay styles, Pinot Gris, Viognier, Gewürztraminer and a bit of Melon de Bourgogne, which is fermented and aged in stainless steel with extended lees contact. The red wine portfolio includes several outstanding Gamays, including one that undergoes its primary fermentation in concrete tanks. They also grow and bottle Merlot and old-vine Maréchal Foch, plus several red blends.
There is ice wine, of course, and a small, bust robust, sparkling program. The non-vintage Che Bello, a blend of Seyval and Riesling, is produced in the Charmat method, with stainless steel tanks. A blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the non-vintage Bisous Brut is produced using the traditional method.
The team also makes very small quantities of a non-vintage sparkling red that has proven to be a hit and is something that Mottiar hopes to expand in coming seasons. “One of the team’s strengths has been our ability to adapt and find our best potential,” said Mottiar. “That goes back to Day 1, when the first vineyard was planted with varieties that we knew would always ripen year after year. We knew we wouldn’t be drastically affected by winter here.”
Still, diversification has been important to the winery’s growth. Some labels are produced for restaurants only, while others are for retail stores. Others are cellar door releases, only for sale at the winery or to the wine club. “The small-production, cool stuff is here at the winery,” said Mottiar. “We take a few more risks and we can be a bit more experimental.”
The quality behind all Malivoire’s wines hasn’t gone unnoticed by wine critics and judges. In 2021, Malivoire was named “Winery of the Year” at Canada’s National Wine Awards, competing against 260 other wineries to win 17 medals. “It’s a really cool recognition for the entire team, all of us, from the ones in the cellar to those in the vineyard,” said Mottiar. “But we didn’t get there overnight. It took years and years of honing our craft and understanding our site and our unique skill set.”
Corporate social responsibility and community are also important to the Malivoire team. The environment is a top priority: all the vineyards are certified under Ontario’s Sustainable Winemaking Program, and the winery team is part of Oregon’s LIVE initiative, a non-profit third-party organization that uses internationally recognized guidelines to recognize wineries for their sustainable viticulture and enology practices. “Our goal is to leave the land in better condition than when we started,” said Mottiar.
We try to do things that are good for our community, our company, but our larger external community, too: Beamsville or Ontario or Canada. We try to do what feels right for us.
Shiraz Mottiar, Malivoire Wine Company
All the wines are vegan-friendly, too, meaning that they are filtered and fined without using animal by-products. “When I started in the wine industry, it was pretty standard to add egg whites or isinglass or gelatine to fine your wines,” said Mottiar. “But the modern wine industry has created products, mostly made from pea protein, that do the same thing that non-vegan fining agents do. I don’t do a lot of fining, but when I do, that’s what I use. We have had a lot of feedback that it’s important for people.”
Giving back to the community is also important. Much of the winery’s charitable work is decided informally: a case or two here and there to non-profits in need of help for fundraisers. As a way of saying thank you to nurses, doctors, emergency medical services and other healthcare workers helping people through the pandemic in Ontario, the winery recently offered each frontline worker a free bottle of wine. “We try to do things that are good for our community, our company, but our larger external community, too: Beamsville or Ontario or Canada,” said Mottiar. “We try to do what feels right for us.”
Born and raised in Fergus, Ont., Mottiar visited Niagara every summer with his family. They’d stop off at the fruit farms and Mottiar remembers seeing wine grapes. By the time he was in his early 20s, he had moved to the region and after starting his studies in business, he switched to the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture program at Brock University, where he was part of the program’s first graduating class in 2000. He joined the Malivoire team that year as a cellar hand and then assistant winemaker. Then, in 2002, he did a stint at Coldstream Hills Winery in Australia’s Yarra Valley. He returned to Malivoire and in 2005, he took over as winemaker.
While Mottiar will now manage the winery, he says that the corporate structure is quite casual. “We all wear many hats. Everyone gets involved in a little of everything. You might be in the lab one day doing an analysis and next you’re in the warehouse packing orders. You may be washing barrels and while you’re taking a break, you might be pulling weeds outside,” he said.
“It’s about supporting each other if we need to. Everybody’s involved in everyone else’s business. I always used to say that I could walk away from this place tomorrow and everyone would still know what needs to be done next. It’s a good situation to have.”
Mottiar says he doesn’t get outside as much as he used to in the early days of his career. “I’m really diving into spreadsheets these days, understanding the marketing and sales,” he said. “I’m in a lot more meetings now, but I still enjoy every moment I can [get] in the vineyard. I feel really blessed to be in this environment.”
