The dynamic Canadian wine industry of today comes from humble beginnings, overcoming obstacles of climate, crop growing and consumer acceptance. According to Canadian Wine Historian John Schreiner, the first winery in Canada started near what is now Mississauga, Ontario in 1811.
Canada’s earliest pioneer of viticulture was a retired German soldier named Johann Schiller who domesticated wild local vines that grew along the Credit River and experimented with imported hybrid grapes from Pennsylvania.
The Niagara Escarpment – the same landform that Niagara Falls flows over, creates unique microclimates beneficial for the cultivation of the Niagara Peninsula’s fruit orchards and grape vines.
In British Columbia, an adventurous French Catholic missionary named Father Charles Pandosy, established the very first European settlement in the Okanagan and planted the valley’s very first vineyard in 1859.
With the coming of the railway in 1923, and the establishment of the region’s open canal irrigation system in 1927 – the Okanagan’s production capacity increased enormously.
In both the Okanagan and Niagara – the pulling out of older grape vines and the large scale replanting with European “vinifera style” vines, in the 1970’s – was critical to their acceptance as quality wine producing regions.
Today, there are more than 500 wineries across Canada – mostly located in Ontario and B.C., with a smaller number in Quebec and Nova Scotia.
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LOOK AT THE WINEThe wine should be bright and clear. There should not be any bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass (unless your wine is sparkling). There should be no pieces of cork floating in the wine. |
SMELL THE WINEPut your nose in the glass and let the rim touch your brow. Swirl the wine in the glass and smell it again. You should get much more aroma after you swirl the wine because you have added some air and released the esters. A good wine will smell fruity and pleasant; a bad "off" wine will smell musty like wet cardboard. |
TASTE THE WINE ASSESSFor your first sip - swish the wine all around the inside of your mouth. Don't be afraid to slurp it (think of it as a reverse whistle) drawing in some air will help to get your mouth ready for these new flavours. Never judge a wine on the first sip! This is a just getting rid of all of the previous flavours in your mouth ie food, coffee, gum, etc. On your second and third sips your palate is in a better position to get a true sense of the wine's flavours. The wine should have flavours that were in line with the aromas. |
THE WINE'S FINISHThink about how long after your swallow the wine can you still taste it. The longer the finish the better the wine. |
REPEAT...with another bottle of the same wine or try something new. |
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RIESLING |
Reese-ling |
Cool climate grape that ranges from slightly sweet (most), to dry with green apple and petrol characteristics. |
Sushi or grilled seafood |
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CHARDONNAY |
Shar-doe-nay |
"Apple is the most common characteristic followed by pineapple. Most are aged in oak and then take on creamy vanilla flavours." |
Creamy pastas and chicken | |||
SAUVIGNON BLANC |
So-veen-yawn BlahN |
"Higher in acidity creating a crisp wine which usually displays herbaceous, mineral characteristics, with plenty of citrus." |
Salads and seafood | |||
PINOT GRIS/ GRIGIO |
Pee-noe Gree / GREE-jo |
The best examples of Pinot Gris are distinctive, complex and incomparably appealing. Made with or without oak, Pinot Gris is bone-dry, well-structured, and key flavours include dried apricot, vanilla, almond, spice, and smoke. |
Seafood like grilled prawns and seared scallops, light pastas and salads | |||
GEWÜRZTRAMINER |
Geh-vertz-trahmee- nur |
"A highly aromatic wine that is off-dry to sweet. Lychee, peach, melon are the most common fruit characteristics." |
Spicy foods like Thai, Indian or spicy BBQ | |||
PINOT NOIR |
Pee-noe Nwahr |
This difficult grape to grow. At it's peak, the wine is very complex, earthy and velvety with layers of perfume. |
Pork and mushroom dishes | |||
MERLOT |
Mare-low |
A smooth and mellow wine, displaying black cherry, chocolate, and herbal flavours. |
Grilled meats | |||
CABERNET FRANC |
Cab-air-nay Frahn |
A wine with less tannins. Features currant and raspberry characteristics, with a note of bell pepper and smoke. |
Tomatoes and meat sauced pastas | |||
ICEWINE |
Ideally suited to the Canadian winter season in Niagara and Okanagan, the harvest can't begin until temperatures drop below -8ºC for a sustained period of time. Once the extreme temperatures arrive, Icewine pickers arrive, often in the dead of night, to harvest the frozen clusters. The precious grapes are immediately pressed in the extreme cold to extract the luscious nectar. The water content in each grape remains frozen in crystals, leaving only a few coveted drops of concentrated, intense liquid. The finished Icewine is intense, sweet and sumptuous, yet balanced with brilliant acidity. Renowned for fruit flavours ranging from mango to peach to lychees, Icewine is truly a natural wonder and extreme winemaking at its best. | Hard cheeses, especially blue cheese, nuts, dried fruits, custards and fruit crumbles |
Canada has established itself on the world map as a "New World" winemaking country with 9 recognized grape growing areas. Today, there are more than 500 wineries across Canada - mostly located in Ontario and British Columbia, with a smaller number in Quebec and Nova Scotia.
Set in the heart of Canada’s largest growing fruitbelt, the Niagara Peninsula, with its sheltering escarpment and lake-moderated climate, is Canada’s premier wine region. Niagara’s rich and varied soils are located on a similar latitude to great wine regions like Italy’s Chianti, Spain’s Rioja, France’s Bordeaux (between N41° and N44° latitude.)
It was Niagara that first put Canada on the map as a new world wine domain, when Inniskillin Wines won one of the world’s top prizes for its Vidal Icewine in 1991 receiving the coveted Grand Prix d’Honneur at Vinexpo in Bordeaux France.
Since then, Niagara has distinguished itself as superb cool climate winemaking terroir, winning awards worldwide with white varietals such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling; as well as red varietals like Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.
Set in the interior of British Columbia amidst mountains, lakes and Canada’s only desert, the Okanagan Valley is known for its astonishingly diverse scenery, its abundant orchard fruits and most of all, for its award-winning wines.
Located at the same latitude as the Rhine Valley in Germany and the Champagne region of France, (from 49° to 50° N), The Okanagan Valley is classified as a cool climate wine region. Wines from cooler climates are higher in acids resulting in more aromatic wines with longer natural aging potential. *
The temperatures of this long but thin region vary greatly from North to South. You’ll best find crisp white wines in the cooler north and longer ripening, robust Bordeaux-style red grapes in the desert-like terroir of the valley’s south.
The wines of this smaller wine region are sometimes hard to find, but those who have tried them will tell you – they’re well worth the effort!
* Riesling, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer (Whites) as well as: Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc and Merlot (Reds) are examples of classic cool climate grape varieties.
