canada Flashcards
what is the climate of canadian wineregions?
- continental
- average annual temp are low
- july and august temp can be very high (daytime)
- large lakes can help to moderate extreme temp
- — winters are cold, temp can fall far below zero for long periods
- —– creating suitable conditions for icewine
what is the canadian wine law ?
1) Vqa Vintners quality aliance
- – two provinces currently use the vqa:
- - Ontario
- - Britisch Columbia
2) each province is broken into smalles Designated Viticultural Areas
—- vqa wines need to ensure that the grapes comes from that province and 100% of vitis vinifera or selected hybrids
what can you tell me about ontario province?
1) its in the east of canada
Niagara penninsula is the dva located on the south west of the lake ontario
– the lake cools down more slowly and heat up more slowly, that means;
—- the grapes have more time to ripen fully in the autumn
—– delays budburst in the spring (good for frost)
2) riesling doing well here: making fresh fruity dry and off dry whites and the finest icewines
3) vidal is commonly used for icewine
- - little character in dry wines
- - but for icewine perfect
- — although without the acidity and aromatic complexity of riesling
4) good quality dry chardonnays are also made here
- - generally with pure fruit and restrained oak
5) some producers are making very high quality wines from pinot noir, but plantings of cab franc, cab sauvignon and merlot are increasing
British columbia has five dvas the important one is:
Okanagan valley:
- this dva lies in a rain shadow between two mountain ranges
– results in very low average rainfall and semi desert environment
– day lengths troughout the growing season are very long due the lattitude
and this prolong the time in which fotosynthesis can take place
— large glacial lakes helps to moderate temp and extends growing season
enable of growing succesfully white grapes in the north: pinot gris, chardonnay, riesling
icewine is also produced from vidal and riesling
