An Exciting New Winery Takes Flight
Stone Eagle Winery is the best of Ontario with a Franco-Italian twist.
Wine is often discussed in terms of place. Terroir, the concept that encapsulates the totality of a hyperspecific site, is among the most sought-after, if elusive, qualities in a wine. Many of the world’s best wines are prized for how they, through flavour, represent the ground from which their vines spring. However, wine is also a human product, and especially in the New World, where wine culture has emerged thanks largely to immigration, sometimes far-flung places inspire delicious wines just as much as vineyards in which they are grown. For Stone Eagle Winery, the groundbreaking new project in Niagara, that place is Italy.
“The inspiration came, in part, from two stone eagles sculpted in the Italian Dolomites,” says Angela Marotta, who co-owns and operates the winery alongside her sister, Melissa Marotta-Paolicelli. “These eagles, carved by hand, represent strength and beauty, values we wanted to embody in the winery. Our family has always had a connection to Italy, and we loved the symbolism of these statues—a tribute to artistry, patience, and permanence.”
Ironically, Stone Eagle, like Two Sisters, takes much of its wine-making inspiration from Bordeaux, the French region that popularized and, arguably, perfected the use of grapes such as cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and cabernet franc—all of which take pride of place in the red wines from both estates. At Stone Eagle, head winemaker Adam Pearce expands on this predilection with 2022 Eagle Eye White, a bordeaux blend of sauvignon blanc (68 per cent) and semillon (32 per cent). Aged on lees for 10 months, with regular stirring to add depth, it’s an unapologetically bold wine whose honey, green apple, and lemon meringue notes will no doubt soften and meld over the extended aging period of which it is deserving.
There are other similarities between the Marotta sisters’ two projects. Most importantly, key team members, including Pearce and sommelier magister Dieter Unruh, do double-duty at both properties, ensuring that the commitment to excellence established at Two Sisters is maintained at Stone Eagle. Similarly, the winery restaurant, The Nest at Stone Eagle, maintains the Italian-tinged bistro-style streak that was established at Two Sisters’ Kitchen76 restaurant, offering dishes that are tailor-made for pairing with any of Stone Eagle’s excellent debut cuveés.
The current Stone Eagle portfolio consists of just five wines: two reds, a rosé, a white, and a sparkling. “Each one reflects our belief that Canadian wines deserve a place among the world’s finest,” Marotta-Paolicelli says, but the two reds are the undoubted stars of the show, and the entry-level (relatively speaking) Red Label in particular. According to Marotta, “Year in and year out, our Stone Eagle Red Label captures the best of the vintage and tells the story of the harvest through the wine. It embodies everything we stand for at Stone Eagle: patience, elegance, and purity.” The current release from the 2020 vintage, a blend of cabernet sauvignon (40 per cent), merlot (39 per cent), and cabernet franc (21 per cent), is every bit the blockbuster as that growing season promised—a wine of extraordinary length packed with ripe plums, cassis, and tobacco.
Officially opened to the public in early November 2025, Stone Eagle Winery is only just now taking flight, and there’s no saying what its destination will be. “Stone Eagle will always evolve, always seeking to raise its standards and push the boundaries on itself with the desire to always move forward. This extends to our commitment to timeless elegance. In a time of constant trends, we stay the course to be true to ourselves and our craft, in the most authentic ways,” Marotta says. One thing’s for sure: while its wines will continue to represent the best of Niagara’s terroir, its flight path is likely to cross Italy, France, and beyond.
Two Stone Eagle wines to try:
