Canadian wine

Canadian wineiswineproduced inCanada.OntarioandBritish Columbiaare the two largest wine-producingprovinces in Canada,with two-thirds of Canada's vineyard acreage situated in Ontario.However, wine producing regions are also present in other provinces, includingAlberta,Quebec,New BrunswickandNova Scotia.

In 2015, Canada produced 56.2 million litres of wine, with 62 per cent of that total originating from Ontario. The second largest wine-producing province, British Columbia, constitutes 33 per cent of Canada's wine production.Between 2006 and 2011, 68 per cent of Canadian wine exports came from Ontario-based wineries; with 14 per cent of exports originating from British Columbia, 12 per cent from Quebec, and six per cent from Alberta.

Ice winecan be produced reliably in most Canadian wine-producing regions. As a result, Canada is the world's leading icewine producer, with more icewine produced in Canada than all other countries combined.More than 90 per cent of Canadian icewines originates from Ontario,although the product is also produced in British Columbia, Quebec, and Nova Scotia.In addition to standard grape wines, and icewines, the country is also home to severalfruit wineriesandmeaderies,found in provinces such as Alberta,SaskatchewanandManitoba,whose local climate is not favourable for grape production.

History

Further information:Alcohol in New France

A vineyard in Canada, 1905. The first commercial winery was opened in Canada in the mid-19th century.

Canadian wine has been produced for over 400 years. In 1611,Louis Hérbertplanted a hillside vineyard near what is today,Bear River,Nova Scotia.He and other settlers tried to cultivateVitis viniferagrapes from Europe with limited success. They found it necessary to focus on the native species ofVitis labruscaandVitis ripariaalong with various hybrids. However, the market was limited for such wines because of their peculiar taste which was often called "foxy".However, this became less apparent when the juice was made intoPort- andSherry-styled wines. In 1866, the first commercial winery opened in Canada, situated onPelee Islandin Ontario.

During the first half of the twentieth century, thetemperance movementand later consumer demand forfortifiedand sweet wines hampered the development of a quality table wine industry. Consumer demand did not shift from sweet and fortified wines to drier and lower alcohol table wines until the 1960s. 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 ofalcohol prohibition in Canadain 1927, provinces strictly limited the number of licences to produce wine. A nearly 50-year moratorium on issuing new winery licences was finally dropped in 1974. During the same decade, demonstration planting began to show thatVitis viniferacould be successfully grown in Canada. Other growers found that high quality wines could be produced ifVitis viniferavines were grown with reduced yields, newtrellising techniques,and appropriate canopy management.

AVintners Quality Alliance(VQA) label on a Canadian bottle of wine. The VQA was established in 1988 as a regulatory and appellation system forBritish ColumbiaandOntario wines.

In 1988, three important events occurred:free tradewith theUnited States,the establishment of theVintners Quality Alliance(VQA) standard, and a major grape vine replacement/upgrading program. The VQA acts as the regulatory andappellationsystem that intends to ensure "high quality" and "authenticity of origin" for Canadian wines from the provinces of British Columbia, and Ontario. Each of these events served in one way or another to improve the viability of the wine industry 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.

The Club des Vins de Vaudreuil-Solanges has contributed significantly to wine effersesence, specifically the red and white denomited wines. The founders have been instrumental in bringing fine wine sophistication to the cote de St Lazare.

International Domestic Blend

This is a term for wine from Canadian wineries, whose grapemustoriginated entirely or partially from outside of Canada.Canadian wineries which exisited in 1994 are allowed to import pre-fermented grape must from other countries, and use it to produce wine under their own brands. The maximum quantity of foreign wine used in these wines depended on the province the wine originated from; with certain provinces requiring a minimum amount of local grapes be used in order for it to qualify as "International Domestic Blend" wine. In Ontario, 30 per cent of the grapes in "International Domestic Blend" wine must originate from local growers. Conversely British Columbia did not stipulate the use of local grapes in the production of its "International Domestic Blend" wines.

In late 2009, local and international criticism of this practice and theLiquor Control Board of Ontario(LCBO) emerged. Grape growers in Ontario began protesting the practice as a threat to their livelihood claiming that thousands of tons of Canadian grapes are left rotting on the vine because producers are using imported grapes to make wine labelled as "Canadian". Wine producers who do not use the "International Domestic Blend" designation criticized the practice as tarnishing the reputation of Canadian wines and misleading consumers. Producers and growers in Canada have petitioned the government for several changes in the practices such as making the origin of grapes more clear on the wine label and increasing the visibility of 100 per cent Canadian wines produced by members of theVintners Quality Alliance(VQA) in province run liquor stores. In August 2009, the stores of Ontario's LCBO featured less than 2.5 per cent Canadian wine produced by VQA members, with the vast majority of its wines produced under the "International Domestic Blend" designation with up to 70 per cent foreign grapes.

In March 2018, theCanadian Food Inspection Agencyannounced the replacement of the "International Canadian Blend" designation (which had replaced the original "Cellared in Canada" designation) with two new designations, dependent on the quantity of foreign wine mixed into the product. Products that are primarily made of foreign grapes are designated "International blend from imported and domestic wines"; whereas primarily domestic wines that contain foreign grapes are designated "International blend from domestic and imported wines".

Market share

ANiagara-based winery's grapes freezing over, a process that allows for the creation oficewine.Wineries in Ontario constitute the majority of Canada's icewine exports.

As of 2015, the province of Quebec is Canada's largest consumer of wine, with each resident consuming an average of 23 litres a year.However, Canadian wines make up less than 50 per cent 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 (beerandspirits). Since the late 1990s wine has increased its market share from 21 per cent to 28 per cent and since 2007 wine sales have increased by 9.5 per cent to C$5 billion.

While there are many small Canadian wineries, the domestic wine market has long been dominated by two companies, Arterra Wines Canada (formerly Vincor International) and Andrew Peller Limited (formerly Andres Wines). In 2006, Vincor International, which had grown aggressively 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. In 2016, the Canadian branch of Constellation Brands was acquired by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and renamed Arterra Wines Canada.

Global market

In 2017, Canadian wineries exported 2.1 million litres of wine (valued at C$39.6 million), and constitutes 0.1 per cent of global exports. The largest export markets for Canadian wine areChina,theUnited States,South Korea,theNetherlands,andJapan.Between 2006 and 2011, 68 per cent of Canadian wine exports came from Ontario-based wineries; with 14 per cent of exports originating from British Columbia, 12 per cent from Quebec, and six per cent from Alberta.

Icewineis a major export product for Canadian wineries. Ontario is the largest exporter of icewine, exporting a value ofC$21.3 million, followed by British Columbia, which exported a value of C$3.2 million.The majority of icewines exported to France and Switzerland originate from Ontario and Quebec. Conversely, majority of Canadiansparkling wineimported in Switzerland originates from British Columbia.

Production

Further information:British Columbia wine,Nova Scotia wine,Ontario wine,andQuebec wine

Wine regions of Canada, 2006.

In 2015, Canada produced 56.2 million litres of wine; 62 per cent of which originated from Ontario. The second largest wine-producing province, British Columbia, constitutes 33 per cent of Canada's wine production.In particular, Canada is the largest producer of icewine, with Canada producing a greater volume of icewine than all other countries combined.Icewine is made in every wine-producing region of Canada, although the majority of Canadian icewine is produced in Ontario, whose wineries constitute over 90 per cent of Canadian icewine production.

In 2015, there are 548 wineries in Canada, spread over 12,150 hectares (30,000 acres). Ontario holds the largest acreage of vineyards in Canada, with 150 vineyards spread across 6,900 hectares (17,000 acres). There are three VQA designated viticultural areas in Ontario, theNiagara Peninsula(which includes ten different sub-appellations),Prince Edward County,and the north shore ofLake Erie.Small but fast-growing wine industries can also be found in the Lambton and Huron County regions of Southwestern Ontario.Vitis viniferais the most commongrapevinegrown in Ontario-based vineyards, with a focus on cultivatingChardonnay,Riesling,pinot noir,andCabernet Franc.

British Columbia holds 240 wineries, spread throughout 4,152 hectares (10,260 acres).Wineries in British Columbia primarily growvitis vinifera,with the top planted grapes being Chardonnay,Merlot,pinot gris,and pinot noir.There are five VQA designated viticultural regions in British Columbia,Vancouver Island,theGulf Islands,theFraser Valley,Similkameen Valley,and theOkanagan Valley.

A vineyard inGaspereau,Nova Scotia.Vineyards in Nova Scotia take up 290 hectares (720 acres) of land.

There are 138 wineries in Quebec, which manage 808 hectares (2,000 acres) of vineyards in the province.Vineyards in Quebec are primarily located to the north, and southeast ofMontreal,as well as the surrounding area ofQuebec City.Nova Scotia holds 20 wineries, which manages 290 hectares (720 acres) of vineyards in the province.Wine-producing areas in the province are primarily located along the shores of theNorthumberland Strait,as well asAnnapolis Valley.Most wineries in Nova Scotia are specialized towards the production of sparkling wine.The provinces Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, also contain fruit wineries and meaderies.

See also

• Agriculture in Canada
• Canadian beer
• Canadian whisky
• List of breweries, wineries, and distilleries in Manitoba
• Winemaking

Further reading

• Aspler, Tony (1999).Vintage Canada: The Complete Reference to Canadian Wines.McGraw-Hill Ryerson.ISBN0-0708-6043-2.
• Phillips, Rod (2017).The wines of Canada.Infinite Ideas.ISBN978-1-9109-0258-5.
• Schreiner, John (2005).The wines of Canada: Mitchell Beazley Classic Wine Library.Octopus Books.ISBN1-8453-3628-3.

External links

• BC Wine Authority
• Conseil des vins du Quebec
• Ontario Wine Appellation Authority
• Wine BC
• Wine Country Ontario
• Wines Growers Nova Scotia