With more than 14,000 acres of vineyards, Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula is fast becoming a household name in the grape and wine industry.
Among the most prevalent varieties grown in the Niagara Peninsula are: whites—Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Vidal; reds—Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Baco Noir. In all, the peninsula produces some 45,000 tons or more each season.
The protection offered by Lake Ontario and one of the world’s biosphere reserves provides growing conditions ripe for producing award-winning wines.
The Niagara Peninsula lies on the Niagara Escarpment—a UNESCO world biosphere. The escarpment was carved by water movement over hundreds of millions of years. Today, this landform consists of a high cliff on one side and sloping hills of rock on the other side. Perhaps the most well known feature in the Niagara Escarpment is Niagara Falls.
“It (the Escarpment) is part of the reason we have the unique microclimate that we have,” Paul Speck, chairman of the Wine Council of Ontario and president of Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery, said. “Lake Ontario is a big lake, it’s a deep lake. In the winter it gives off heat; in the summer it gives off cool air. The Escarpment creates a kind of convection. In the summer it pulls cool air, and in the winter it pulls warm air. It creates a microclimate. It’s also a really unique ecological area. It’s what’s called a Carolinian forest. Because the climate is so unique we have some of the same forests they have in the Carolinas. That’s why we can grow vinifera and other fruits you wouldn’t expect to grow in Ontario.”
Speck said that there are around 500 growers in the Niagara Peninsula ranging from very small vineyards to large ones. The Wine Council, Speck said, is working to ensure a future for all of them.
“We’ve created the 20 year strategic plan that really looks at where we want be in 20 years, and we have a five-year-action plan,” he said.
The council is currently working on generic promotions in television and print to promote the industry. In 1989, they put up wine route signs that point travelers in the directions of the wineries.
“We have a program where we promote the tourism component: wineries, winery restaurants, restaurants in the area—the ‘Napa North,’” Speck said. “People can get on this wine route, follow it to all the wineries and what not. There’s some government funding. It’s also funded by the wineries. This was a huge step. We created a wine route map that we distribute everywhere. People can just focus and go from one winery to another.”
To ensure that Ontario’s wines become a popular choice among wine aficionados, a group of industry representatives got together to implement a set of standards for Ontario wine. Called the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA), the group set rules to determine which wines should be called Ontario wines. In 1989, the VQA started applying its system of standards.
“Basically, it’s our appellation system,” Speck, who also serves as vice-chairman of VQA, said. “These rules govern the production of fine wine in Ontario.”
Speck said that some of the important aspects of the VQA include: all grapes that are used in Ontario wine must be grown in Ontario; the types of grapes are defined by a set of varieties—mostly vinifera and some approved hybrids like Baco Noir.
“Nothing can be added to the wine that’s unnatural,” he said. “There are a number of ripeness conditions and levels you have to achieve in the vineyard.”
Speck said that the thing that sets VQA apart from other appellation systems is that the wine must go through a panel of professional tasters before being approved as VQA.
“They’re from the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario),” Speck said. “Basically, they work for the government retail stores. These guys are extremely well trained and taste wines from all around the world.”
Though the VQA began as a group from the wine industry of Ontario, it has evolved into a government-regulated group governed by a board of directors.
“It is regulated by the government; it’s the law of the land,” Speck said. “If a winery breaks the VQA rules, they break the law of the province of Ontario.”
Not all wineries are required to join VQA; however, if they do not, they are not allowed to use certain terms on their wine labels. Some of these terms include “Ontario,” “Niagara Peninsula,” “Icewine,” “Late Harvest Wine” and “Vineyard.”
“There's very strict rules and regulations in terms of how we manage ourselves so the consumer has real confidence in VQA,” Speck said. “It’s a way to protect the consumers. The consumer knows an arm’s-length organization has monitored the wines—particularly in the fine wine segment. Consumers interested in buying serious quality wines are fully versed in VQA…There’s always more we can do and more people to educate, but it’s at a fairly high state of awareness.”
In all, Speck said the VQA has been a successful way of providing consumers with quality product and educating them on the wine they consume.
“It’s probably one of the most important things the Ontario wine industry did to shed its old image and come into the 21st century wine industry,” Speck said. “It’s been tremendously successful. It’s focused the whole industry—growers, winemakers and consumers—around quality wine.”
Len Pennachetti, president and chairman of VQA and founder of Cave Spring Cellars, said that VQA has been instrumental in marketing Ontario wines.
“We’ve been able to leverage our appellation system for real gains in the marketplace. I think it’s been a real valuable tool for us that way,” Pennachetti said. “It’s really more than an appellation system, it’s a trademark and a marketing tool. It’s helped to foster loyalty for our local wine product. Once you educate consumers to the point where they understand the difference between appellation wine and non-appellation wine, you’ve pretty much won them over.”
For more information on VQA and the Ontario wine industry, visit www.vqaontario.com and www.winesofontario.org.
