Areas of grape cultivation in Canada

While most of Canada is too cold for grape growing, Canadian wine is produced in Southern Ontario and southern British Columbia. The two largest wine producing regions are the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario and the Okanagan in British Columbia. Other wine producing areas include the shores of Lake Erie in Ontario, and the southern Fraser River valley and southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands in British Columbia. There are small scale productions of grapes and wine in southern Quebec and Nova Scotia. The Canadian wine industry also vinifies imported grapes and juice. Icewine, which can be produced reliably in most Canadian wine regions, is the most recognized product. Canada produced 75.9 million litres of wine in 2002 (0.3% of world production). Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1388x1214, 66 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Canadian wine ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1388x1214, 66 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Canadian wine ... Species Vitis acerifolia Vitis aestivalis Vitis amurensis Vitis arizonica Vitis x bourquina Vitis californica Vitis x champinii Vitis cinerea Vitis x doaniana Vitis girdiana Vitis labrusca Vitis x labruscana Vitis lincecumii Vitis monticola Vitis mustangensis Vitis x novae-angliae Vitis palmata Vitis riparia Vitis rotundifolia Vitis rupestris Vitis shuttleworthii Vitis... Southern Ontario is the portion of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies south of the French River and Algonquin Park. ... Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Official languages English de facto (none stated in law) Flower Pacific dogwood Tree Western Redcedar Bird Stellers Jay Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seats  - Senate seats 36 6 Area... The Niagara Peninsula is the portion of Ontario, Canada lying on the south shore of Lake Ontario. ... A view overlooking Skaha Lake in the Okanagan Valley The regional districts that comprise the Okanagan are shown in red. ... Lake Erie, looking southward from a high rural bluff near Leamington, Ontario Lake Erie (pronounced ) is one of the five large freshwater Great Lakes in North America, which are among the largest in the world. ... The Fraser River is the longest river in British Columbia, Canada, rising in the Rocky Mountains near Mount Robson and flowing for 1400 km (870 mi), into the Pacific Ocean at the city of Vancouver. ... Vancouver Island is separated from mainland British Columbia by the Strait of Georgia and the Queen Charlotte Strait, and from Washington by the Juan De Fuca Strait. ... Map showing the location of the Southern Gulf Islands The Gulf Islands is the name collectively given to the islands in the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the mainland Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada. ... Motto: Je me souviens (French: I remember) Official languages French Flower Blue Flag Iris (Iris versicolor Linné) Tree Yellow Birch Bird Snowy Owl Capital Quebec City Largest city Montreal Lieutenant-Governor Lise Thibault Premier Jean Charest (PLQ) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 75 24 Area Total  - Land  - Water  (% of... Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (Latin: One defends and the other conquers) Official languages none (English, French, Gaelic) Flower Trailing arbutus Tree Red Spruce Bird Osprey Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Lieutenant-Governor Mayann E. Francis Premier Rodney MacDonald (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seats  - Senate seats 11 10 Area... Ice wine is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen. ...

History

Vineyards near Lake Okanagan in British Columbia

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 their juice 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. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x768, 523 KB) Lake Okanagan and Vineyards photo by Kelly Nigro File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x768, 523 KB) Lake Okanagan and Vineyards photo by Kelly Nigro File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Okanagan Lake is a lake in the Okanagan Valley. ... Binomial name Vitis vinifera L. For thousands of years, the fruit and plant of Vitis vinifera, the European grapevine, have been harvested for both medicinal and nutritional value; its history is intimately entwined with the history of wine. ... Binomial name Vitis labrusca L. Vitis labrusca (Fox grape) is a species of grape native to the northeastern United States. ... Binomial name Vitis riparia Vitis riparia Michx, also commonly known as River Bank Grape or Frost Grape, is a native American climbing or trailing vine, widely distributed from Quebec to Texas, and Montana to New England. ...

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 licenses to produce wine. The nearly 50-year moratorium on issuing new winery licenses 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. The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was a trade agreement reached by Canada and the United States in October of 1987. ... Vintners Quality Alliance, or VQA, is a regulatory system that guarantees the quality of wines in Canada. ...

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.

Quality wines

In 1991, Inniskillin’s 1989 Icewine won the Prix d’Honneur at the prestigious VinExpo, in Bordeaux, France. 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 judges, were wine writers, wine educators, vintners, and certified wine judges, ranked 4 Canadian wines above the top rated Bordeaux. The third-ranking entry (an Ontario wine) cost $14.95 whereas the 12th-ranking entry (a Bordeaux wine) cost $85.00. When comparing these prices it is important to note that the price for the Bordeaux wine is artificially inflated due to import taxes and tariffs. The Bordeaux wine that costs $85 in Canada was widely available in the US and Europe for closer to $35US. Ice wine is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen. ... The St. ... Brock University is a modern comprehensive university located in St. ...

At the Ottawa Wine Tasting of 2005, 35 expert tasters evaluated 18 wines blind. Six were from Bordeaux, six were from Ontario, and six were from British Columbia. One BC wine and one Ontario wine were ranked ahead of the top rated Bordeaux. The Ottawa Wine Tasting of 2005 was sponsored by the Vendange Institute of Ottawa and included 35 expert tasters. ...

Exports

Some Canadian wine is exported. Canada shipped US$4.9 million worth of wine to the U.S. in 2001 (Over US$80 million of U.S. wines were imported to Canada that year).

See also

• Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute
• Globalization of wine
• Ice wine
• Vintners Quality Alliance
• Wine

The Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) at Brock University in Ontario, Canada, was established in 1996 and is a partnership with the Wine Council of Ontario (WCO) and the Ontario Grape Growers Marketing Board, now the Grape Growers of Ontario (GGO). ... The globalization of wine is largely a post-1976 phenomenon. ... Ice wine (or icewine or Eiswein in German) is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen. ... Vintners Quality Alliance, or VQA, is a regulatory system that guarantees the quality of wines in Canada. ... Wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of the juice of fruits, usually grapes. ...

External links

• Review of select Canadian wines from Slate Magazine.
• CBC Digital Archives - Canada's Wine Renaissance

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low grade regional metamorphism. ...

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