Niagara Peninsula is the largest and most productive viticultural area in Canada, located on the Southern shores of Lake Ontario. It stretches roughly 55km (35 miles) between the eastern limits of Hamilton city in the west and the left bank of the Niagara River as it flows into Lake Ontario. The VQA covers over 13,000 acres (5,200 hectares) oand produces mainly cool Climate varieties such as Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc. It also produces a large Volume of ice wine.
Indeed, 90 percent of Canada's ice wine is made here, which makes the region the biggest producer of the style on earth. Needless to say, most other styles of wine are covered in Niagara Peninsula, from rosé and Sparkling wines, to Central-ranges/orange">Orange wines and Pét-nats (Pétillant naturels).
The region boasts nearly 100 wineries, producing over 10 million litres of wine annually.
The geographical Niagara Peninsula appears within the strip of land that runs west-to-east between Lake Ontario in the North and Lake Erie in the south.
The "peninsula" is formed by the Niagara River that flows northwards, between the two lakes. The river also marks the international boundary between Ontario, Canada and the US state of New York.
The viticultural zone is confined to the northern half of the Peninsula, however, between the southern shore of Lake Ontario and the land just south of the Niagara Escarpment. The Escarpment, a 650-mile-long (1050km) limestone ridge that runs from upstate New York through the Great Lakes region, has a profound effect on the Terroir here.
Cabernet Franc is one of the oldest red grape varieties in Bordeaux. The Libourne region is its terroir where it develops best. The terroirs of Saint-Emilion and Fronsac allow it to mature and develop its best range of aromas. It is also the majority in many blends. The very famous Château Cheval Blanc, for example, uses 60% Cabernet Franc. The wines produced with Cabernet Franc are medium in colour with fine tannins and subtle aromas of small red fruits and spices. When blended with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, it brings complexity and a bouquet of aromas to the wine. It produces fruity wines that can be drunk quite quickly, but whose great vintages can be kept for a long time. It is an earlier grape variety than Cabernet Sauvignon, which means that it is planted as far north as the Loire Valley. In Anjou, it is also used to make sweet rosé wines. Cabernet Franc is now used in some twenty countries in Europe and throughout the world.
wines from the region of Niagara Peninsula go well with generally quite well with dishes of beef, pork or game (deer, venison) such as recipes of tournedos rossini with port sauce, rabbit in sauce or stuffed rabbit in the oven.
Canada’s wine community is mourning the sudden loss of beloved Ontario winemaker Paul Pender. Passing away at the age of just 54, Pender died ‘unexpectedly under tragic circumstances’ on 4 February, 2022, as announced by sister wineries Tawse and Redstone. Before becoming director of viticulture and winemaking at Tawse and Redstone, he was a carpenter. When he developed an allergy to the dust and solvents, he went back to school to study winemaking at Niagara College in 2004. Pender’s interns ...
The 0.27% of entries awarded Best in Show at this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards reflect the inspiring world of wine and quest for quality among winemakers globally, with 50 wines expressing the best of their categories. An all-time record for wines tasted at the world’s largest wine competition, it’s quite possible that Decanter World Wine Awards 2022 marks the largest-ever wine competition to be held in history. And of the record-breaking 18,244 wines tasted, just 50 were ...
Total sales at the Hospices de Nuits-St-Georges 2022 auction reached €2.49m ($2.74m) from 109 ‘pièces‘ of wines from the Burgundy 2021 vintage, said organisers. Held on Sunday 20 March, sales rose by nearly 30% on last year’s auction, which hit €1.9m from 114 pièces of 2020-vintage wines. One pièce is equivalent to 288 bottles. Sales were €1.6m back in 2020, and this year’s record total is more evidence of Burgundy’s strong momentum on the fine wine market. It also suggests the annua ...
