Canada: A land of great wines to discover

Canada has always fascinated me; its culture, its size, its landscapes, the hospitality of its people, and its wine.

Ludovic, my faithful traveling sidekick, was born in Pointe-Claire (in the province of Quebec) and spent the first eight years of his life in the Montreal suburb. These formative years was a part of his life which Ludo was eager to share with me. Especially because two of his three sisters live there today. A family story.

For any wine lover, Canada is essentially synonymous with icewine… but not only that. From east to west the whole country has shown that it is also a land of great dry wines, as evidenced by the whites of Quebec and the reds of Ontario and British Columbia.

Painted Rock – British Columbia. Pictures by Ludovic Pollet

Quebec, a boutique vineyard that plays in the big leagues

Do you know the wines of Quebec and its fantastic people? Quebec represents 125 producers in an area of 234 hectares of vineyards and some two million bottles sold each year. Among them, 73 farmers came together with a shared passion to grow and spread this industry which is said to be refined from vintage to vintage, through the Association des vignerons du Québec (AVQ), established in 1987. And every winemaker welcomes you with open arms. “Here, you are all at home”, Jean Joly, the owner of Vignoble du Marathonien loved to point out.

Vignoble de la Chapelle Ste Agnès – Quebec. Pictures by Ludovic Pollet

Quebec wine is about icewine, but not only that…

Although it is native from Europe (late 18th century in Austria and Germany), the largest icewine production in the world is found in Canada – particularly in Ontario. The climate is suitable for production since the grapes for making icewine are ideally harvested between -8°C and -12°C (beyond this temperature the sugar crystallizes due to the cold and the juice no longer flows). The principle is simple. After the fall of the leaves, grapes – mainly Vidal; sometimes Seyval Blanc – are waiting for the arrival of frost. When sufficient frost is announced (below 7°C) the harvest can take place between late December and late February, often at night and in nets to avoid losses. The production of this precious nectar is so small that each berry counts.

Vignoble du Marathonien – Quebec. Pictures by Ludovic Pollet

In Quebec the method is somewhat different from the rest of the country. The grapes are harvested normally and then suspended in nets until the arrival of frost. This method, which raises (ethical) debates between Ontario and Quebec, doesn’t change the taste of the final wine and produces some of the finest sweet wines in the world.

Evidence for this statement was provided with these five wines which we had the chance to taste:

• Vignoble du Marathonien (2009)
• Vignoble de l’Orpailleur (2011)
• Vignoble de la Chapelle Ste Agnès (2010)
• Domaine des Côtes d’Ardoises (2012)
• Domaine de Lavoie (2012)

Pictures by Ludovic Pollet

Aromas of delicious candied fruit and great balance between high levels of sugar and high acidity offer spectacular wines which are a pure delight for the senses. But it seems that the future of Quebec lies also in the production of other wines. Because as rightly pointed out by Charles-Henri de Coussergues, pioneer of modern winemaking in Quebec and owner of the Vignoble de l’Orpailleur: “the problem here is the harshness of winter, we have to do in 7 to 8 months what is done in France in 12 months. And as the grapes maturation cycles are shorter, it is the white grape varieties that give the best results”.

It is often even necessary to cover the vines during winter using geotextiles to prevent it from perishing which is expensive and time-consuming work.

Japanese beetles. Pictures by Ludovic Pollet

We’ve found a few nuggets for you:-

Saint-Pépin 2013 from Château de Cartes

A surprising dry white. Its owner, Stéphane Lamarre, roasts the seeds of this unusual vine before adding them to the tank “to raise the wine with a nutty taste”. ($20)

Le Couchant 2013 from Les Pervenches

This very tasty 100% Chardonnay vintage demonstrates brilliantly that well mastered vitis vinifera can adapt to this harsh climate. ($32)

Vendanges Tardives 2012 from Vignoble du Marathonien

Another great sweet wine, 100% Vidal, which reminded me on the nose of the parfume of quince pate of my childhood, with aromas of dried fruit and candied apricot on the palate. ($28 for 500ml)

Paille from Clos Saragnat

A non-conformist wine like its producer Christian Barthomeuf – a talented winemaker who married Vidal and Geisenheim in a single cuvée aged two years on the lees. An incredible wine with notes of pastry and a velvet mouth.

Haute-Combe 2012 from Domaine des Côtes d’Ardoises

An unfiltered blend of Gamay, De Chaunac(8) and Chelois(9). A crisp wine, fresh and delicious. ($18)

Pictures by Ludovic Pollet

Ontario, Canadian Giant

With 6,900 hectares of vineyards, a production of 23.4 million litres and a total turnover of 395 million Canadian dollars in 2014, Ontario is by far the largest and best-known wine region of Canada. We decided to focus our visits around Niagara-on-the-Lake, a promising area located an hour and a half East of Toronto. Next time we are going to Prince Edward County, further North, another great place for wine.

Pictures by Ludovic Pollet

We went to the city of St. Catharines, where we were expected at Henry of Pelham winery. We were received with a glass of sparkling wine (please!) – perfect, since we were celebrating visiting our 100th winery of the project. Cheers!

Their Catharine Rosé BrutNV cuvée (70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay) is delicious and full of freshness. We enjoyed the moment with Paul Speck, the president of the family estate. The estate consist of 120 hectares cultivated mainly with international varieties, including Baco Noir, a forgotten grape variety which gives interesting wines with hints of blackberry, plum and spices, like the Reserve Baco Noir 2011 from the winery ($25). And best of all, Baco Noir is one of the varieties richest in resvératrolle in the world. Resvera… what? You know, that famous polyphenol with beneficial health effects. More reason to love it.

Henry of Pelham – Ontario. Pictures by Ludovic Pollet

Then we did a quick detour to visit two of the biggest producers in the country, to see a little more closely what these Canadian giants look like; Jackson-Triggs, with 800,000 cases produced annually, and Inniskillin, one of the leading ice wine producers. The latter surprised us with its incredible Asian attendance. There were full buses of Japanese, Chinese and Koreans who came here to drink sweet wines and then leave the place with dozens of bags and gift boxes under the arms. There is a future for ice wine in Asia, it is a certainty.

We ended our journey at Ontario Lailey Vineyard, one of the (very) few estates in the country to use Canadian oak barrels for aging its wines. The barrels come from the Canadian Oak Cooperage in Ontario, the last cooperage factory in the country.

Pictures by Ludovic Pollet

Derek Barnett, the winemaker of the domain, offered us a beautiful and educational comparative tasting of three wines; Chardonnay 2012, Pinot Noir 2010 and Syrah 2012, to understand the nuances of ageing in Canadian barrels on one side and ageing in French oak barrels on the other side. With hindsight, it seems that the Canadian oak is more discreet aromatically, with very subtle tannins and wines that need more time to open. This is an interesting contribution to the ageing process which clearly highlight the fruitiness of the wine.

On the way back we stopped at the Niagara Falls. I have conjured up such a picturesque postcard of this place in my imagination. In reality it was a shock to see so much beauty transformed into a tourist attraction park with a clearly stated goal: to make profit detrimental to this wild beauty. I stood there to meditate facing these huge waterfalls cascading into the lake in an endless roar, speechless in front of this gift of nature.

Pictures by Ludovic Pollet

British Columbia – a wine region not to underestimate

True to the image of Canada and to our delight, British Columbia is extremely dynamic when it comes to promoting its wines. Our first step in the province brought us to Vancouver, at the time of the “Colour BC VQA Fall Release“ event, which the British Columbia Wine Institute warmly invited us to attend. It was a great opportunity to meet many producers and to discover their wines. We learned for example that the province has 215 domains in five sub-regions: Vancouver Island, Fraser Valley, Similkameen Valley, Gulf Islands and Okanagan Valley.

Osyoos Larose – British Columbia. Pictures by Ludovic Pollet

It was in the latter sub-region that we were expected at the Osyoos Larose winery. After eight hours by bus up the mountain we arrived in a small corner of paradise: the Okanagan Valley. Nature, lakes, mountains, an idyllic and ideal place for making great wines. We visited the vineyards on quadbikes in the company of the managers, Julie Rapet & Mathieu Mercier, a young couple of French winemakers. We traveled through the rows of vines and we tasted randomly selected grapes to control maturities – harvest was only a few days away! The grapes tasted delicious and on our way back we met some malicious black-tailed deers eyeing the grapes with lust. Upon returning from our walk we tasted the wines. The Grand Vin 2010, a Bordeaux blend (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet franc and Malbec) aged for 18 months in barrel was impressive.

The next day we left for Painted Rock, a vineyard nestled on a ledge at the side of the Skaha Lake worthy of a postcard. Each plot is treated with great care. We improvised a tough climb up the mountain that overlooks the vineyard along with Tyson Archer, the manager, to gain height and better understand the implementation and sunshine of the domain. Having sweated profusely, we finally arrived at the top. What a scene…

Pictures by Ludovic Pollet

We toasted to the beauty of the place with the flagship wine of the house, the Red Icon 2012 ($55), another high class Bordeaux-blend. We ended our stay at the domain Le Vieux Pin, experts in the art of making Syrah (and northern Rhone varietals in general – Condrieu, Marsanne and Rousanne). Their Equinoxe Syrah 2011 ($85) is divine. It has hints of violets and black pepper and reminded me of how delicate Syrah can be.

Canada has made us dream and wine-growing potential is definitely there. And although the country is still a (very) small producer of wine on a global scale, we must not forget that with 4.5 million hectoliters drunk in 2012(13) Canadians are at the gates of the top 10 wine-consuming countries in the world. Canada is not only a country of great wines – both dry and sweet – but also a land of connoisseurs.

WineExplorers’cheers, JBA

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