Discover what’s good and bad about wine in Canada with help from Wicked Tours. We offer incredible wine tours in the Okanagan Valley. Read more.
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What’s Good and Bad About Wine in Canada?
It’s pretty uncontroversial to state that Canadian wine is not one of the international superstars of the wine world. Those in Canada who are in the know love to drink our own wine, but we don’t export our wine as much as other big wine-producing countries and regions, like the US, Chile, Italy, and France. But Canadian wine is genuinely brilliant, and it brings all of us at Wicked Wine Tours joy when we see the look of surprise and pleasure on guests’ faces when they attend our wine tastings. We’ve been writing about Canadian wine recently, and this blog is just the next in the series. If you’d like to read more, check out our blog, “Does Canada Make Wine?” which examines Canada’s wine-producing regions and discusses their terroir.
Let’s discuss what’s good and bad about wines in Canada! If anything here inspires you to try our wine up close and personal, consider our Kelowna Wine Tasting and Tour Packages. And please get in touch if you have any questions.
Canadians Can be a Little Defensive About Wine
We don’t often see enough other Canadian wine enthusiasts putting their hands up and admitting they’re a little defensive about their wine. This defensiveness probably comes because we have to regularly explain to outsiders (and even some insiders) that Canada’s wines are good. Having to do this too regularly makes some of us a little proactive in our defence… However, the truth is that the taste of Canadian wine speaks for itself. Many Canadian wines are delicious and require no justification whatsoever. But then… what is this blog but a defence of Canadian wine? Perhaps, we can consider this blog a love letter to Canada’s wines — especially those grown and made in the Okanagan Valley.
What’s Good About Canadian Wine?
The quick and unsatisfying answer is that there is too much good about Canadian wine to do justice here, possibly. In fact, we’d probably need an entire series of blogs to answer this question in the detail it deserves. So, rather than going into that kind of detail, let’s talk about a few things that make our wine unique.
Ontario is the Greatest Producer of Icewine in the World
Even if you’re a semi-avid oenophile, there’s a chance you haven’t tried icewine yet. This is because they’re a fair deal rarer than your average vintage. This is because the conditions to make Icewine are very particular. First, you need a warm growing season for your grapes to grow plump and juicy. Then you need to leave the grapes on the vine, patiently waiting for a drastic drop in temperature (around 8°C/17.6°F) to freeze the grapes. At this crucial point, while the grapes are frozen on the vine, you must harvest them quickly and begin the winemaking process. Because of the time-sensitive nature of the harvest, grape pickers in icewine areas often wait on standby for the perfect conditions.
This long preamble has a point: Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula is the most significant, consistent icewine-producing region globally. This is using Canada’s colder winters to our advantage. Germany sometimes produces icewines, but the conditions often can’t guarantee a vintage from year to year. However, they make an Icewine yearly in the Niagara Peninsula — it’s that consistent!
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The Okanagan Valley Produces a Fantastic Variety of Wines
While the Niagara Peninsula is Canada’s most famous and prestigious wine-producing region, the Okanagan Valley boasts the broadest range of grapes. The Okanagan does this because it is a unique valley with a different, significantly warmer weather system. Walk through the Okanagan in summer, and you’d be forgiven for wondering if you’d been teleported to Tuscany. The architecture varies widely, and the landscape has a sun-baked stillness, with vineyards in every direction.
There are many different wines from the Okanagan, but some of our favourites include Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, Merlot, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay. Many of the Okanagan’s Chardonnays, in particular, have won many awards. Read our “5 Canadian Wines to Try Before You Die” if you’d like to learn more. And if you’re interested in the most comprehensive Okanagan wine experience, check out our luxury full-day Kelowna wine tour.
What’s Bad About Canadian Wine?
To be honest, the worst thing about wine is its marketing. Somewhere along the way, California marketed its Napa and Sonoma wine perfectly, and Australia has also done an excellent job. Canadian wine is incredibly esoteric, with many people being surprised when you tell them we produce wine.
The second ‘bad’ thing about Canadian wine is that there isn’t nearly as much of it as there could be. We are the second biggest country globally, yet we don’t even make it onto the list of top ten wine production countries, nowhere near. So, the rarity and obscurity of Canadian wine sometimes get in the way. It also means that some people snigger at the idea of a country this far north making wine. So perception is also part of the problem. But this skewed perception also means we get to surprise people by letting them taste some truly exceptional Canadian wines!
There is much more to say about Canadian wine, but I hope this blog has taught you a few things. Take a look at the blog for more inspirational blogs about Canadian wine!
