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History
Canadian wine has been made for over 200 years. Early settlers tried to cultivate Vitis vinifera grapes from Europe with limited success. They found it necessary to focus on the native species of Vitis labrusca and Vitis riparia along with various hybrids. However, the market was limited for such wines because of their peculiar taste, which is often called "foxy". However, this became less apparent when the juice was made into Port- and Sherry-styled wines. For a period of time in the 1800s the export of these affordable wines to England made Ontario one of the largest wine exporters in North America.
During the first half of the twentieth century, the temperance movement and later consumer demand for fortified and sweet wines, hampered the development of a quality table wine industry. However, during the 1960s consumer demand shifted from sweet and fortified wines to drier and lower alcohol table wines. At the same time, there were significant improvements in wine-making technology, access to better grape varieties and disease-resistant clones, and systematic research into viticulture.
After the repeal of alcohol prohibition in Canada in 1927, provinces strictly limited the number of licences to produce wine. The nearly 50-year moratorium on issuing new winery licences was finally dropped in 1974. During the same decade, demonstration planting began to show that Vitis vinifera could be successfully grown in Canada. Others found that high quality wines could be produced if Vitis vinifera vines were grown with reduced yields, new trellising techniques, and appropriate canopy management.
In 1988, three important events occurred. They were: free trade with the United States, the establishment of the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) standard, and a major grape vine replacement/upgrading program.
During the 1990s, Canadian vintners continued to demonstrate that fine grape varieties in cooler growing conditions could potentially possess complex flavours, delicate yet persistent aromas, tightly focused structure and longer ageing potential than their counterparts in warmer growing regions of the world.
Canadian wines have a less than 50% share of the Canadian wine market, making Canada one of the few wine-producing countries where domestically produced wines do not hold a dominant share. Wine in general has been increasing its market share against other alcoholic beverages (beer and spirits): since the late 1990s wine has increased its market share from 21% to 28% and since 2007 wine sales have increased by 9.5% to $5 billion.1
While there are many small Canadian wineries, the domestic wine market has long been dominated by two companies, Vincor International and Andres Wines. In 2006, Vincor International, which had grown aggessively in previous years by acquiring wineries in California, Australia and New Zealand, was itself acquired by Constellation Brands, a U.S. based company and one of the primary consolidators of the global wine business. Now with the backing of the world's largest wine company, Vincor Canada is focused more than ever on the Canadian wine industry.
Quality wines
In 1991, Inniskillin’s 1989 Icewine won the Prix d’Honneur at the prestigious VinExpo, in Bordeaux, France. In the 2003 Japan International Wine Challenge Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery 2000 Vidal Icewine won the gold medal. At the St. Catharines Wine Tasting of 2005, a blind tasting of four named growth Bordeaux and twelve Ontario Cabernet and Cabernet blends was held at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. The fifty Canadian judges were wine writers for Canadian publications, wine educators and students at Brock University, Ontario vintners, and included three certified wine judges. The tasting ranked five Canadian wines above four wines from Bordeaux. The third-ranking entry (an Ontario wine) cost $14.95 whereas the 12th-ranking entry (a Bordeaux wine) cost $85.00. It is important to note that the price for the Bordeaux wine was artificially inflated due to import taxes and tariffs, and was widely available in the U.S. and Europe for closer to $35 U.S.
Despite the awards, not all Canadian wine is VQA. In fact, well over half of the grapes grown in Canada are used to produce blends, using a high proportion of foreign bulk wine to produce a product which is labelled as “Cellared in Canada”, “Product of Canada”, or “Vinted in Canada”. Some of the wine industry's organizations, and respected wine writers in Canada and abroad, are quite concerned about the blending practices of some producers. However, the somewhat limited production of VQA wines has been dictated by supply of premium grapes and demand for VQA wines.
Exports
Some Canadian wine is exported. Canada shipped US$4.9 million worth of wine to the U.S. in 2001.
See also
- Vintners Quality Alliance
- Ontario wine
- List of Quebec wineries
- Association of B.C. Winegrowers
- Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute
- Ice wine
- Globalization of wine
Sources
- Canadian Vintners
- Tony Aspler. (1999). Vintage Canada: The Complete Reference to Canadian Wines, 3rd Edition. McGraw-Hill Ryerson. ISBN 0-07-086043-2.
- John Schreiner. (2005). The Wines of Canada. Mitchell Beazly an imprint of Octopus Publishing Group Limites. ISBN 1-84533-007-2.
Notes
External links
- Map of Ontario Wineries
- Review of select Canadian wines from Slate Magazine.
- CBC Digital Archives - Canada's Wine Renaissance
- Ontario Terroir - A blog exploring all aspects of Ontario wines and viticulture in Ontario
- The Short Cellar - A blog about drinking and cellaring Ontario wines
- Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery
- VQA Ontario
- Association of B.C. Winegrowers
- BC WineCast
- British Columbia Wine Institute
- Niagara Winery Information and Ratings
- Southern Ontario Vintners Association
- Ontario Wine and Winery reviews, articles and more
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