O CANADA – The Canadian Wine Tasting

Master of wine and today we're Discovering a fairly unknown wine Producing country together and when I Say together I really mean it as I don't Know all that much about this place Except that it has friendly inhabitants Lots of lakes maple syrup and ice wine Yes I'm talking about Canada so let's do This a Canada is the largest country in the World but it's wine production is Relatively limited and the whites aren't Widely available but a lot of you guys Are from Canada and I want to learn more About your home country my 1985 edition Of the world atlas of wine states that There are 9 000 hectares of Vineyards Planted in Canada but there is not Really a chapter about Canadian wine in A few sentences you writes that people Didn't really take the wines coming out Of Canada serious but he has high hopes For the future of Canadian wine similar To Germany Canadian wine has benefited From climate change as temperatures have Increased the quality of the wine has Also improved but pretty much all of the Wine production is in the South and Close to the coast as temperatures in Winter are less severe in those areas in Total Canada's 12 600 hectares of Vineyards split up in between 616 Different Wineries and the most Important wine growing regions are the

Niagara peninsula in Southern Ontario And the Okanagan Valley in southern British Columbia okay okay I hope that's correct so from what I Understand they are basically two Important territories in Canada when it Comes to Wine one is British Columbia And the other one is Ontario British Columbia is on the west coast north of Washington state which is one of the Most important wine growing states in The U.S and it has 4 500 hectares of Vineyards and the most planted grape Varieties are chardonnay pinot Pinot Noir and Melo a bit of a mix but more Cool climate grape varieties Ontario Lies north of Chicago and New York it's The biggest with 6 900 hectares of Vineyards and it again focuses mainly on Grape varieties like Riesling Charlene Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc so graph Varieties that are more accustomed to Cooler climates Quebec and Nova Scotia Are also notable wine growing regions But they mainly focus on Frost resistant Hybrid grape varieties such as fronter Neck Vidal cevallon and my favorite Lucy Coleman great name since the early 1990s Canada has established itself as the Most consistent source of ice wine made From grapes Frozen naturally in the Vineyard it is basically produced in Every producing region but more than 90 Comes from Ontario and I wonder how much

Of that is actually in a skill I'm not Going to go into ice wine as I've done That in the past instead I'm going to Focus on the dry white and red wines From Canada Leon has put together a Selection and he tried to get in as many Of your recommendations but it was kind Of tricky most of those wines weren't Available over here and we kind of had To make do with what we had so I'm Starting off with the 2019 50th parallel Estate chardonnay from Okanagan Valley In British Columbia the winery is called 50 degree parallel because that's the Degree parallel running through the Estate it's the same degree parallel That you'll find in the Wrangle for Example there's quite a lot of talk in The wine World in general about degrees Parallel but I don't really think they Are very useful they are not really a Very useful reference point because the Climate is influenced by so many other Factors that it doesn't really matter on Which degree parallel you are so this One we was established in 2004 by two Businessmen they are now farming roughly 25 hectares of Vineyards predominantly Planted to Burgundian web varieties and The Chardonnay is made in a pretty Classic way fermented in Barrel there's Some malodactic fermentation going on in Oak and the one is aged for 10 to 12 Months in Barrel so

Let's taste it so this combines caramel Popcorn flavors with lemon Aromas like a Lemon tart almost almost creamy in Flavor on the palette it's actually Quite fresh the acidity is still quite Vibrant and strong it feels like there's Quite a bit of body but it's broken up By the acidity so it's actually pretty Nice I mean it's it's a well-balanced Chardonnay in the oak is a little bit Too obvious for my taste but there's Tension there so it's interesting so I'm Going to rate this 87 points I think It's a really well made wine pretty good It's not outstanding but it is fun and I Like the freshness in the finish the Next one is the 2017 Lakeview sellers View near from Niagara Peninsula the Climate in Niagara Peninsula is quite Different to The Climate along the coast It is much more variable and the Moon That can get really really cold like Minus 60 degrees Celsius on average in January but in summer it gets warm again So it can go up to 22 degrees Celsius on Average in August so there's much more Of a range and those really cold Temperatures they can be dangerous to The vine so the vines may actually Freeze and die this Winery was founded In 1991 and they're working with the Grape variety which I think is actually Quite an interesting grape variety to Work with it is difficult to make really

Good vioni because the ones tend to be a Little bit flabby and too rich if they Are harvested too late and if they Harvest it too early they can just be Like Boring okay this is not really great it Is But it's not overly powerful or boring It's just it feels like it's old it Almost has petrol character here there's Also some flavor of passion fruit but Over ripe passion fruit and yeah it's All a little bit mushy and there's a bit Of Um orange character which I find quite Typical for vienne it doesn't feel like The wine is at its peak it doesn't feel Like the wine should have been aged for Six years on the plus side it actually Has a nice texture the acidity is quite Fresh and crisp the alcohol is at 13 so There's good balance there but yeah Overall I still don't really like it so I'm going to rate it 79 points but I Think a more recent vintage would Actually be more fun this just just Isn't sorry the next one is the 2018 Pearl Molly set Pinot Noir from the Niagara Peninsula I Don't know why but Pearl morose that Sounds to me like the name of a folk Singer from the 70s but it's actually The last names of the two Founders for Who founded this Winery in 2007. so this

Is a Pinot Noir aged in dimimui concrete Tanks and barrels and I'm looking Forward to tasting this all right this Is a really light colored red wine you Know Pinot Noir is a thin-skinned grape Variety so it doesn't produce dark red Wines in general but this is a very very Light oftentimes light colored wines Aren't really regarded as high quality Wines because color is often an Indicator for ripeness and concentration But this actually has quite a lot of Flavor I mean it's quite complex there's Beautiful strawberry notes coming Through Cherry flavors quite a lot of Spice and well minty flavors also and so It's actually pretty complex on the Color it doesn't really show a lot of Concentration there's very little Tenants good freshness but what I don't Really like is the bitterness so the Terence taste a little bit bitter a Little bit unripe which is something That I don't really enjoy overall I Would say this is an interesting Different expression of Pinot Noir maybe A little bit more classic in style maybe A reminiscent of what we use to produce In Germany in the past and it is Interesting it's a it's a it's a nice Nice little red wine I'm going to rate This 87 points I think it is very good It's not outstanding and the bitterness I mean without the bitterness I would

Have rated it a little higher but that Just kind of disturbs me I tasted quite A few cool climate grape varieties but Now we're moving on to a classic Bordeaux blend the 2018 painted rock Estate red icon which is a blend of 56 Merlot Cabernet Franc cabanissono So this one we follows a pretty classic Bordeaux recipe with pumpovers an 18 Months of Aging in barrix with 30 new Oak the one's pretty dark in color it Smells like blackberries black currants A little bit of vanilla and cinnamon and It is quite nice I mean it's Yeah it's powerful but not too powerful On the part of the towns are grippy the Acidity is still fresh there's quite a Lot of texture there quite a lot of yeah Freshness this is 2018 so it still feels Pretty young I don't think this is the One that you need to drink anytime soon Yeah solid I'm going to rate this 90 Points I think it's really good it's Very interesting it's a it's a beautiful Little wine I don't know whether I would Pick this out as a Canadian one as I'm Not a Canadian wine expert I probably Wouldn't and I don't really think it has All that much identity in the Pinot Noir That I had previously Add a little bit more well of its own Character and this is this feels like Like another bottle blend in summary This was an interesting tasting but it

Can only be the beginning I need to Taste more wines from Canada and that's For sure and there certainly something There but I think those wines weren't Necessarily the most representative Selection of what there is in Canada Next time we have to dig a little bit Deeper so thank you for watching I hope You enjoyed this video if you did then Please like it down here subscribe to my Channel if you haven't done so already My question of the day is what do you Think about Canadian wine have you ever Tasted any let me know Down Below in the Comments I hope I see you guys again Very soon until then stay Thirsty [Music]