Ontario is the most populated and prolific wine producing province in Canada. The Long established wine industry here is centered around the Great Lakes of Erie and Ontario, where the continental Climate is moderated heavily by the large bodies of water.
The majority of wines produced in Ontario are Dry table wines (around 60 percent are white and 40 percent red). They are mostly made from Riesling, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir.
However, the province is best known internationally for its ice wines, made mostly from Vidal or Riesling. Sunny summers in Ontario are followed by cold winters, making it an ideal setting for the production of the style.
More ice wine is made here than anywhere else in the world.
A number of curiosities are also produced in the province, including the relatively common mutation of Chardonnay called Chardonnay Musqué, Sparkling ice wine, and a growing trend to produce wines from Dried and semi-dried grapes in an amarone style.
Ontario covers around 415,000 square miles (1. 1 million square kilometers) of land, making it the fourth-largest province in Canada. Four out of the five Great Lakes have shorelines in the province, and the vast Hudson Bay touches Ontario's Northern border.
Ontario subregions and growing conditions
Most viticulture takes place in the Southern Part of the state in three officially-designated regional appellations
Niagara Peninsula Complex and fragmented (see below)
Lake Erie North Shore This includes Pelee Island, Canada's southernmost wine region
Prince Edward County Another peninsula, on limestone.
Originally from Bordeaux, Sauvignon, or Sauvignon Blanc, is reputed to be one of the best French grape varieties for white wine. It is a white grape variety, not to be confused with Sauvignon Gris and its pale yellow color, or with Cabernet Sauvignon which produces red wines. Particularly famous thanks to Sancerre, Sauvignon Blanc is cultivated as far as New Zealand, where it produces great wines whose reputation is well established.
white wines from the region of Ontario go well with generally quite well with dishes of rich fish (salmon, tuna etc), shellfish or vegetarian such as recipes of quick salmon skewers, festive sea pot or leek, goat cheese and bacon quiche.
On the nose in the region of Ontario often reveals types of flavors of vanilla, honey or lychee and sometimes also flavors of non oak, earth or oak. In the mouth in the region of Ontario is a powerful with a nice freshness.
Niagara’s summer? It’s hot, and sticky. I tried a walk near my hotel in mid-July but could only find a large retail mall. It was early; the shops were still shut. Even so, I had to dodge from awning to awning, avoiding the prosecuting sun. I’ve been there in autumn, too, which happened to be mellow and easeful – though it can also be wild, wind-whipped, rain-drenched. The ‘shoulder seasons’ are feared here: you never know what’s coming. The first time I went it was deepest winter. That made an i ...
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 ...
An electronic dart was tossed at us recently by Decanter reader Tim Frances from Kent. It landed on the screen of our magazine editor Amy Wislocki; Amy lobbed it across the virtual room to me, suggesting a column-length reply. ‘Here’s a poser,’ Tim began. ‘How do your experts grade a wine that they find intellectually well made, but that they truly madly deeply dislike? I’ve tasted wines I can admire dispassionately, but would stab my feet with forks rather than drink them. Must be a conundrum f ...
