Page 36 - July Hawaii Beverage Guide

wiNE REgiON
NORTHERN EXPOSURE caNadiaN wiNE iS PRimEd TO EaRN mORE aTTENTiON
By jim clarke
For a long time, it seemed like Canada’s culinary exports were con ned to maple syrup and in vinous terms, its equally sweet counterpart, icewine. But just as poutine has crept across the border as a savory dish, dry Canadian wines are also nding importers in the U.S., to the praise of sommeliers and industry observers. “For Ontario wines,” says consultant Michael Madrigale, “ I feel that if you have an Old World-style palate where you value elegance and freshness over power, then the wines are for you.”
country’s export volume (though it does account for 24% in terms of value). 97.5% of Canadian wine exports are destined for the U.S., and volumes have more than tripled from 2011 to 2015, rising from just over 20 million liters to more than 70 million.
Madrigale says much of the quality of Ontario’s wines, especially those from the Niagara Peninsula, derives from the limestone soils, Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment, a legacy left from the last Ice Age by retreating glaciers. The Escarpment traps the moderating effect of the lake, preventing its in uence from diffusing and disappearing over a wider area (as well as giving us Niagara Falls).
Picturesque Mission Hill Family Estate in West Kelowa is among the wineries putting the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia on wine lovers’ radar. British Columbia’s wineries have mushroomed from 17 in 1990 to 278 today.
Ontario dominates the Canadian wine scene; while producers like Mission Hill are building recognition for British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, Canada’s other major wine region, it’s smaller, with 10,260 acres compared to Ontario’s 17,000. Ontario is also more prominent in terms of interna-
tional awareness thanks to its domination of icewine production; in 2016 Ontario exported $12.5 million worth of icewine, compared to just $1.32 million from Brit- ish Columbia.
Icewine is, however, just the tip of the iceberg, representing only .5% of the
A-2 HAWAII BEVERAGE GUIDE JULY 2017
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