From taste and selection to versatility and value, here’s why we should raise a glass to local vintages.
More than 700 wineries across Canada offer us a taste of home. Yet imports own 70 per cent of our domestic wine market. When I travel to Bordeaux or Tuscany, I can’t find wines outside those region in liquor stores.
Why don’t we drink more of our own wines? Three factors stand out:
We’re not aware of how much Canadian wine has improved in the last five years, let alone in the 150 years we’ve been making it. We still hold prejudices that are as dated as lava lamps. We’re also bound by provincial regulatory barriers that make it difficult to ship a wine from British Columbia to Ontario.
So here are seven reasons to celebrate Canada Day with wine that reflects the richness of our land.
1). Taste. The other six reasons don’t matter unless the wines taste great, and many Canadian wines do. As someone who has reviewed and rated wines for 20 years, I’ve seen and tasted the dramatic rise in Canadian wine quality. These wines also have the international competition medals and scores to prove it. Canadian wines suffer from the Céline-Dion-Shania-Twain Syndrome: They need validation abroad before they’re accepted on their home turf. Well, they’ve been there, done that.
2). Selection. Icewine, the dessert elixir, put Canada on the global winemaking map and remains our leading export. However, dry still and sparkling wines now capture my attention and taste buds as a wine writer. We excel at classic grapes such as chardonnay, riesling, pinot noir, cabernet franc and gamay.
Canada’s geography is one of the largest and most diverse in the world, from the western Rockies to the eastern Bay of Fundy. Therefore, riesling from B.C., Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia will each offer wildly different expressions in the glass. Yet most of them aren’t in the government liquor stores because they don’t produce enough wine to fill the big chains. But small is good when it comes to wine because it’s often artisanal. So buy directly from the wineries, as most will ship to your doorstep. Even better, visit them this summer. They’re located in gorgeous landscapes with lots of other activities from bike rides and ballooning to spa and theatre.
3). Versatility. Canada’s cool climate produces grapes that aren’t loaded with sugar, so they don’t ferment to high alcohol. Low-alcohol wines don’t overwhelm food with heat or sugar, yet still have lots of flavour. When you visit wine country, you can enjoy the pairing menus wineries offer in their restaurants.
4). Value. If you think Canadian wines are expensive, you’re doing it wrong. Comparing our wines to those from warm climates that don’t have to battle frost, mildew and other costly threats is like comparing ballet to football. Our wines will never be the hulking defensive linebacker, but they do have effortless grace to pirouette with pleasure on your palate. Our pinot noir, chardonnay and sparkling wines are one-third of the price of those from France. Yes, they taste different because they come from different places, but the quality is on the same plane.
5). Economy. Wine is the highest value-added agricultural product we produce in this country. Every bottle of 100 per cent Canadian wine contributes $80 to our economy versus only $18 for an imported wine, injecting more than $11.6 billion into our economy every year.
6). Jobs. The wine industry creates 45,000 jobs both directly and indirectly through tourism, restaurants, hotels and manufacturing. These jobs are often in rural areas on family-owned grape farms, most of which have fewer than 20 employees.
7). Environment. Drinking local wines means not shipping wine in weighty bottles thousands of kilometres. Many Canadian wineries farm organically and/or sustainably. Voting with your dollars encourages these practices. Vacationing in wine country often means a drive rather than a flight. It also means that these family farms might survive for the next generation.
There’s room on our table for international wines, but we also have an unexplored country beneath our feet and in our glass. Cheers!