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Canadian wine is
wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
produced in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
and
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
are the two largest wine-producing provinces in Canada, with two-thirds of the Canada's vineyard acreage situated in Ontario. However, wine producing regions are also present in other provinces, including
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
,
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
,
New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
and
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
. 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 wine can 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 several
fruit wine Fruit wines are fermented alcoholic beverages made from a variety of base ingredients (other than grapes); they may also have additional flavors taken from fruits, flowers, and herbs. This definition is sometimes broadened to include any alcohol ...
ries and
mead Mead () is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 3.5% ABV to more than 20%. The defining character ...
eries, found in provinces such as in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, provinces whose local climate is not favourable for grape production.


History

Canadian wine has been produced for over 200 years. Early settlers tried to cultivate '' Vitis vinifera'' grapes from Europe with limited success. They found it necessary to focus on the native species of '' Vitis labrusca'' and '' Vitis riparia'' along 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 into Port- and Sherry-styled wines. In 1866, the first commercial winery opened in Canada, situated on Pelee Island in Ontario. During the first half of the twentieth century, the temperance movement and later consumer demand for
fortified A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
and 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 of alcohol prohibition in Canada in 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 that ''Vitis vinifera'' could be successfully grown in Canada. Other growers found that high quality wines could be produced if ''Vitis vinifera'' vines were grown with reduced yields, new
trellising techniques The use of vine training systems in viticulture is aimed primarily to assist in canopy management with finding the balance in enough foliage to facilitate photosynthesis without excessive shading that could impede grape ripening or promote grape ...
, and appropriate canopy management. In 1988, three important events occurred: free trade with the United States, the establishment of the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) standard, and a major grape vine replacement/upgrading program. The VQA acts as the regulatory and appellation system 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.


Cellared in Canada

Cellared in Canada was a former indicator from 1994 to 2018 for wine products from Canadian wineries, whose grape
must Must (from the Latin ''vinum mustum'', "young wine") is freshly crushed fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace and typically makes up 7–23% of t ...
originated from outside of Canada. Canadian wineries are able to import pre-fermented grape must from other countries, and use it to produce wine under their own products. The maximum quantity of foreign wine used in Cellared in Canada wine products 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 Cellared in Canada wine. In Ontario, 30 per cent of the grapes in Cellared in Canada wine had to originate from local wineries. Conversely British Columbia did not stipulate the use of local grapes in the production of its Cellared in Canada wine products. In late 2009, local and international criticism of the Cellared in Canada practice and the Liquor 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 "Cellared in Canada" 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 the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) in province run liquor stores. As of August 2009, the province stores of the LCBO featured less than 2.5 per cent Canadian wine produced by VQA members with the vast majority of its wines produced under the "Cellared in Canada" designation with up to 70 per cent foreign grapes.K. Ejbich '
Protest Mounts Over "Cellared in Canada" Wines
'' Wine Spectator, August 28, 2009
In March 2018, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced the Cellared in Canada designation replaced by 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

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 ( beer and spirits). 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 are
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, the United States, South Korea, the Netherlands, and
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. 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. Icewine is a major export product for Canadian wineries. Ontario is the largest exporter of icewine, exporting a value of C$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 Canadian sparkling wine imported in Switzerland originates from British Columbia.


Production

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 . Ontario holds the largest acreage of vineyards in Canada, with 150 vineyards spread across . There are three VQA designated viticultural areas in Ontario, the
Niagara Peninsula The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the ...
(which includes ten different sub-appellations), Prince Edward County, and the north shore of Lake Erie. Small but fast-growing wine industries can also be found in the Lambton and Huron County regions of Southwestern Ontario. ''Vitis vinifera'' is the most common grapevine grown in Ontario-based vineyards, with a focus on cultivating
Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...
, Riesling,
pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...
, and
Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being us ...
. British Columbia holds 240 wineries, spread throughout . Wineries in British Columbia primarily grow ''vitis vinifera'', with the top planted grapes being Chardonnay,
Merlot Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of ''merle'', the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the ...
, pinot gris, and pinot noir. There are five VQA designated viticultural regions in British Columbia, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, the Fraser Valley,
Similkameen Valley Similkameen may refer to: * Similkameen Country or Similkameen District, or "the Similkameen", a historical georegion in British Columbia, Canada * Similkameen River, a river that runs through southern British Columbia, discharging into the Okanog ...
, and the Okanagan Valley. There are 138 wineries in Quebec, which manage of vineyards in the province. Vineyards in Quebec are primarily located to the north, and southeast of Montreal, as well as the surrounding area of Quebec City. Nova Scotia holds 20 wineries, which manages of vineyards in the province. Wine-producing areas in the province are primarily located along the shores of the Northumberland Strait, as well as Annapolis 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 Canada is one of the largest agricultural producers and exporters in the world. As with other developed nations, the proportion of the population agriculture employed and agricultural GDP as a percentage of the national GDP fell dramatically o ...
* Canadian beer * Canadian whisky *
List of breweries, wineries, and distilleries in Manitoba This is a list of breweries, wineries, and distilleries in Manitoba, Canada. Breweries, wineries, and distilleries in Manitoba See also * Beer in Canada * Canadian wine * List of breweries in Canada References {{DEFAULTSORT:Breweries, winer ...


References


Further reading

* * *


External links


BC Wine Authority

Conseil des vins du Quebec

Ontario Wine Appellation Authority

Wine BC

Wine Country Ontario

Wines Growers Nova Scotia
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