How cool is cool-climate Chardonnay?

Ontario’s annual International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration (i4C+) always seems to fall on the hottest and most humid weekend of the summer, as it did in July this year. Sadly the heat and humidity were accompanied by low cloud and showers, so my eagerly anticipated helicopter ride over the Niagara Peninsula vineyards, also taking in the Falls, had to be cancelled. Twice.

However, either side of the three-day Celebration I was able to visit a handful...