Canada Flashcards
Most northerly wine region in Canada?
Okanagan Valley- at the 49th parallel, it is one of the world’s most northerly areas
Ontario Wine Law
- % rules for location
- % rules for varietal labelling
VQA: voluntary in 1988, law since 1999
~80% of Ontario wineries participate
GI: 85% from said GI + remainder from Ontario
Sub-GI: 100% from sub-GI
4 appellations, 12 sub-appellations
85% to label varietally
British Columbia Wine Law
VQA: introduced 1999, law since 2005
100% from BC if labelling BC VQA
95% from regional GI or sub-GI
100% from single vineyard, if labelled
85% for varietal labelling
Canadian Ice Wine
- required temp
- residual sugar
- min ABV
- major grapes
“naturally frozen on the vine”
- BC and Ontario state grapes must be attached to vine or caught in nets below
- cannot harvest until temps drop below -8ºC/ 17.6ºF
- RS: Ontario & BC both <100 gl RS
- Min ABV: 7%
- MAIN GRAPES: Vidal, Cab Franc, Gewurz, Riesling, Chenin
- BRIX: no less than 32; avg must be 35 after pressing
Ontario produces 90% of Canadian Icewine
[Canada has signed agreements with Austria & Germany and others to protect definition of Icewine.]
Most planted grapes in British Columbia
- Merlot
- Pinot Noir
- Pinot Gris
- Chardonnay
- Cab Sauv
Ontario’s most planted grapes
- Vidal (concentrated on Niagara Peninsula/ primary grape for Ontario Icewine)
- Chardonnay
- Riesling
- Cab Franc
- Merlot
Okanagan Valley GI
- climate
- mountains
- lakes
CLIMATE: continental. Low-ish rain - 9 to 16in yr. Rainier/cooler in north end (Riesling, Chard). Dry to the south (Merlot, etc)
MOUNTAINS: Cascade and Coastal Mountains = rain shadow. Sits between Cascade & Monashee Mountains
LAKES: Okanagan Lake remains relatively warm even in winter, offering a moderating affect. Drains via Okanagan River into 3 smaller lakes on south end.. Skaha, Vaseux, and Osoyoos Lakes
Okanagan Valley sub-GIs (11) - name as many as possible
- Golden Mile Bench
- Golden Mile Slopes
- Naramata
- Okanagan Falls
- Skaha Bench
- East Kelowna Slopes
- Lake Country (northernmost)
- South Kelowna Slopes
- Summerland Bench
- Summerland Lakefront
- Summerland Valleys (highest elevations)
Similkameen Valley GI
- where
- what separates it from the other major region
WHERE: over the Coast Mountains from Okanagan
TERRAIN: valley runs NW-SE, providing some S-facing slopes
British Columbia region GI’s (9) - name as many as possible
Top 3 for production?
- Okanagan Valley (86%)
- Similkameen Valley (6%)
- Vancouver Island (4%)
The rest collectively account for 4% of total BC vineyard area:
4. Fraser Valley
5. Gulf Islands
6. Kootenays
7. Lillooet
8. Shuswap
9. Thompson Valley
Ontario Viticultural Areas (3) + corresponding lakes
- Niagara Peninsula (Lake Ontario)
- Lake Erie North Shore (Lake Erie)
- Prince Edward County (Lake Ontario)
[alongside Ontario itself]
Niagara Peninsula GI
- location/moderating influences
- regional GI’s
Ontario
- WHERE: western end of Lake Ontario. The lake + the Niagara Escarpment is key to the growing area.
- Two Regional GIs: Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Escarpment
Niagara Escarpment sub-GIs (3)
- Beamsville Bench (smallest in area)
- Twenty Mile Bench (name referes to distance from lake)
- Short Hills Bench (furthest from lake)
Niagara-on-the-Lake sub-GIs (4)
- St. David’s Bench
- Niagara Lakeshore
- Four Mile Creek (largest)
- Niagara River
Ontario’s warmest region?
Lake Erie North Shore
1st Canadian commercial Icewine
Inniskillin, 1984
* made from Vidal
[previous attempts to produce this were ruined by hungry birds]
also interesting - China is the world’s 2nd largest producer of icewine
4 main French hybrids in Canadian wine
Vidal
Baco Noir
Chancellor
Seyval Blanc
