JORDAN, Ontario — Though his wines are found in many natural wine bars around the world, please do not call François Morissette a natural winemaker. And though Pearl Morissette, his estate near this small town on the Niagara Peninsula, produces wines that are luminous and inspiring, it’s better not to call him a winemaker at all.

He prefers the term vigneron, a French word without English equivalent, referring to a person who guides the grapes along their journey from vine to bottle. Indeed, shepherding is how Mr. Morissette sees his job, not so much manufacturing wine as helping the grapes realize their destiny.

Sometimes a wine never gets there. A 2009 chardonnay, one of Pearl Morissette’s early vintages, is still resting in the winery, unsold. Mr. Morissette judged the wine to be too tight and unyielding, and did not want to release it.

“It was telling us to go away,” he said. “Only recently has it become inviting.”

More often, though, the wines are captivating. The lineup includes savory, textured chardonnays; cabernet francs of uncommon depth and purity; fresh, joyous gamays and pinot noirs that can vary from a pretty, floral 2011 that is delicious right now to a spicy, smoky 2012 that manages to be both brawny and elegant. Like the ’09 chardonnay, it has not yet been released.