Thomas Bachelder is the vineyard manager and winemaker at Le Clos Jordanne in the Niagara Peninsula, a co-venture launched in 2000 by Vincor and the French Burgundy house of Boisset. Thomas has a natural talent for making wine, honed over 10 years of professional experience in Canada, the United States and France, along with educational credentials that include a Bachelors of Arts degree from Montreal's Concordia University, and a professional Agricultural Diploma in Viticulture and Oenology from the CFPPA (Centre de Formation Professionelle pour Adultes) in Beaune, Burgundy.

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Bachelder was introduced to winemaking in 1985 when he received a “Beaujolais-style” home winemaking kit for Christmas. Already a big Bordeaux fan, Thomas had a vision that friends characterize as "religious" in nature after experiencing the transcendental qualities of Pinot Noir. Although he was passionate about making wine at home, it was his honeymoon trip to Burgundy in 1989 that inspired him to become a full-time winemaker.

Thomas’ career began in 1992, when he started working as a winemaking assistant for two prestigious domaines in Burgundy. Upon graduation in 1993, Thomas was encouraged by his schoolmate, Luisa Ponzi, to move to Oregon and work alongside her father Dick Ponzi, as an assistant winemaker at Ponzi Vineyards.

Thomas was then invited to join the historic Château Génot-Boulanger in Meursault, Burgundy, as the winemaker. After seeing Château Génot-Boulanger through its transformation, Thomas returned to the Willamette Valley in Oregon as Lemelson Vineyards' chief winemaker for the innovative new winery's first vintage in 1999. Guided by the principles of gravity flow and organic sustainability, along with time-honoured Burgundian practices, Thomas created some of Oregon's most outstanding Pinot Noir wines during his four vintages with Lemelson Vineyards.

Intrigued by Canada’s prospering wine industry, particularly the “old-world” flavours of Niagara wines, in 2003, Thomas accepted the new position of viniculture manager at Le Clos Jordanne, then a new vineyard estate in the Niagara Peninsula. During the first three years, Thomas worked with long-time comrade, Pascal Marchand, the régisseur for Boisset’s Domaine de la Vougeraie and Executive Overseer for the Clos Jordanne project. Dedicated to the production of world-class wines through time-honoured Burgundian and innovative New World practices, Thomas is responsible for managing LCJ winery's exacting viticultural practices, and for making the winery's super and ultra-premium Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines.