Welcome to Wildass Country
Born and raised in the vineyards of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Wildass wines are handcrafted and bottled for enjoyment in select, fun-loving restaurants and homes across this great land.
Wildass grapes are hand picked, gently handled and patiently aged in the new and innovative Stratus winery. The resulting wines are full of personality and best enjoyed with a group of Wildass friends!
Wildass wines are available at your favorite neighborhood restaurants. However, as a result of your enthusiasm and persistence, we have decided to release a limited number of bottles for online purchase. (you stubborn donkeys!)
Wildass wines can be delivered to your household or business in Ontario. To purchase, please use our online order form.
Once we receive your order we will contact you with an approximate shipping date, delivery fee and invoice total.
Wildass Wines are also available from LCBO Vintages.
2006 Wildass White
The best of five wines without the decision of which to drink — have them all! A choice selection of estate fruit makes our most aromatic and mouth-filling wine yet. The combination of creamy Chardonnay, grassy Sauvignon blanc, fruity Sémillon, tropical Gewürztraminer, and last but not least, racy Riesling.
After a two year ‘élevage’ in ze most premium frensch barriques, the individual lots are assembled to produce a wine of incredible intensity, complexity, enjoyablity, and most of all, gulpability. Did we say seriousability as well?
$19.95/btl (Order online) LCBO Vintages – 85100
2007 Wildass Red
Don’t all stampede to the order button at once! This is the finest breed of Wildass Red yet. You could say it is the Secretariat of the mule family, the Northern Dancer of the herd. 2007 gave the winemakers of Niagara the finest growing conditions in 5000 years (most of that is speculation Your Honour). Fully ripe, red fruit on the vine meant a selection of barrels that, once put together, produced a wine of complexity, ageability, but as well, with instant reward... ability.
Summary Tasting Note: Delicious!
$19.95/btl (Order online)
2006 Wildass Red
Bold and beautiful! Cabernet/Merlot with a hint of Gamay to keep it real! The standards for the donkey are as high as ever. Barrel-aged on the lees for over 600 days in ze best frensch barriques, after which each individual variety was carefully introduced to the others to ensure compatibility and harmony. Please...spare us the new-age hand-holding! Ripe blackberry and raspberry aromas, pepper and spicy complexity, give way to smooth tannins and a firm, balanced finish. Cellar potential: Put it in the barn for a few years and walk away or drink now and ‘fire up the bbq... this is the perfect wine for meatapalooza.’
$19.95/btl Order from LCBO Vintages – 86363
2008 Wildass Rosé
La Donkey en Rosé! This is perhaps the heartiest bottle of Rosé wine you will ever meet. In theory, this should be a dry, refreshing, fruity wine with pale flavours of strawberry, raspberry, and peppery spice. In reality, it is more like that of a light, red wine with delicate tannins and explosive red-berry fruit. Made predominantly from Gamay with a hint of barrel ageing, this is a wine to be enjoyed chilled all summer long and served with just about everything.
$19.95/btl Order online at LCBO Vintages – 71712
What the critics
are saying...
2008 Wildass Rosé
“This new release from acclaimed Niagara producer Stratus is a pretty damn fine example of the rosé style. The wine is considerably darker than most other roses, a fact that attests to this wine’s seriousness. It drinks more like a fine light red than a rose actually, reminiscent of very perfumed Beaujolais. Aromatically seductive, with a spiced red fruit core. Structured and firm, this wine is versatile enough to handle all sorts of summer dishes. Just the other evening we had this with piri-piri barbecue chicken and it went down a treat.” (90/100)
—Jamie Drummond,
Good Food Revolution
2006 Wildass White
“A Chardonnay-based blend with semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Viognier. The 2006 Wildass has a lovely nose of fresh, ripe stone fruit, yellow flowers, white peach, yellow apple and really finely integrated wood. The addition of Viognier for the first time adds the attractive floral note. The palate is medium bodied and well balanced, with the characteristic creamy-leesy texture for which Stratus is known. Long, subtlely spiced finish. A really successful wine that is ready to enjoy now but will certainly continue to evolve over the next couple of years. A premium wine and a fabulous value.” (90/100)
—John Szabo MS, Wine Access
COUP DE COEUR 
« Une juteuse crémeuse nouveauté que cette cuvée canadienne, vinifiée avec doigté et élevée avec autant d'attention par l'équipe de Stratus, l'un des nouveaux domaines phares de la péninsule. Il en résulte un blanc sec, aromatique à souhait, à la texture onctueuse, caressante et gourmande, dont l'acidité discrète laisse place aux courbes sensuelles et aux saveurs de pêche, de crème fraîche, de vanille et de pomme Golden. » 
—La Sélection Chartier 2010
SAQ #11098293 $23.95 (Cellier)
2007 Wildass Red
“The 2007 Wildass Red is redolent with lush black currant, blackberry, and cranberry notes which captivates the senses immediately. Blessed with marvelous growing conditions, this single vineyard, Niagara-on-the-Lake wine is soft on the palate with currant notes on the mid-palate. The finish has a slightly flinty note, and the fresh acidity carries the rich fruit flavors through to a long lingering finish, an indication of a very good wine. The ripe fruit is testament to the strong 2007 vintage. This is a softer, sexier Wildass than years past. The team at Stratus continues to develop quality wine at the Wildass level.”
—Mark Moffat
The Wine Guy
“The 2007 Wildass Red from Stratus is a clean, fresh, ripe and fragrant red with a great deal of immediate appeal. There’s a nice mix of red and black fruit and herbal spice, as expected from a cabernet-based blend, with mid-weight palate, juicy acid, and light, fine-grained tannins. It’s certainly a step up in ripeness and concentration from the ‘06 version, and it opens up nicely with significant aeration as is customary from Stratus wines. The finish and depth are average overall, but this is a food-friendly, versatile wine. Drink now, or hold to 2013.” 88/100
—John Szabo
WineAlign First in line Report
2007 Wildass Rosé
“The folks at Stratus in Niagara came up with the playful name Wildass for their “affordable” line of wines, but Wildass Rosé 2007 ($19.95, No. 71712) is more serious and perhaps a little more expensive than the name might suggest. It’s one of the most robust rosés you’re likely to taste. Very dark in colour, it drinks more like a light red — say, a Beaujolais — than a pink wine. There’s a big note of cherry here supported by herbs and, if your imagination runs wild like mine, a charred-beef note. Best enjoyed with hearty food than on its own.”
—Beppi Crosariol
The Globe and Mail
July 13, 2009