A Variety of Varieties

Native to Burgundy, aligote has always played second fiddle to chardonnay. Plantings exist in Ontario,but its popularity is not on the rise. Aligote tends to produce a wine that is high in acid with moderate fruit character. It handles a variety of soils well and leans toward high yields.

Developed in Ontario, but more suited to the harsh climate in Nova Scotia. The Annapolis Valley terroir produces crisp whites with lemon and grapefruit character.

Auxerrois is native to the eastern French region of Alsace. It is high-yielding and produces wines lower in acid. It handles the harsh winters well, and its planting has increased over the past few years. Lower yields produce more concentrated wines with apple, pear and floral elements, so there is potential in Canada, given its winter hardiness.

This is a German vinifera crossing of riesling and silvaner and muller-thurgau. It needs to be fully ripe to produce the aromatic wines that make it popular. It is an early ripener, but does not yield generously and is prone to vine disease.

Burgundy's great white grape has a bright future in Canada. It is relatively easy to grow, a range of quality wines are produced here and it remains popular with consumers. Chardonnay requires some vigilance in the vineyard when it comes to protection against spring frost and fungal diseases, but this is attained through modern viticultural practices.
Canadian producers have demonstrated an ability to succeed with dry and fruity unoaked chardonnay as well as medium- to fully-oaked products and sweet wines. Many wineries in the Niagara Peninsula are utilizing the climate and soil of the area to produce classic Burgundian-style chardonnay with complex fruit and mineral components with well-integrated oak. The favourable climate of the Okanagan Valley in B.C. is a given, but the complex terroir of the area is being explored and understood to a greater extent these days.

The origin of this grape is still under study, but it is considered either a more aromatic clone of chardonnay or a natural crossing with muscat. It produces a fruit-forward and floral wine that resembles muscat with its intense quality. The best examples are unoaked and contain a degree of residual sugar.

The Loire Valley in France is the original home of chenin blanc. It produces wines ranging from bone-dry to decadently sweet. The variety receives mixed reviews from Canadian producers in terms of its suitability in certain soils. The best wines exhibit honeyed fruit and floral character with good acidity levels. Many wineries are looking to chenin as a sweet wine producer with ageing potential, given that it is a late ripener with good resistance to wind and disease.

This is a vinifera crossing of riesling and silvaner that originated in Germany. There are significant plantings in B.C. where aromatic and fruity dry wines are produced. Ehrenfelser also makes ice wine with intense tropical fruit character, as it hangs on to the vine well and is not prone to rot.

Though the classic style of gewürztraminer hails from Alsace, this grape traces its origin back to present-day northern Italy. This variety can yield spicy, floral, orange and lychee driven wines, but it is tricky to handle in Canada. It requires low yields, meticulous picking and careful vinification, and is prone to disease. Gewürztraminer also buds early, which makes spring frost a concern, and it has suffered some winter kill in the harsh Ontario winters of 2002 to 2004.

These are the two most prominent clones of muscat in Canada, originally devised in the cooler conditions of the Loire Valley during the 19th century. The wines can be floral and fruity in character, and the grape is well-suited to cooler growing conditions. It clings to the vine reasonably well and offers some potential in Canada for late harvest or sweet wines.

This is a vinifera crossing of riesling, silvaner and muller-thurgau. It is an early ripener that produces sweet wines in B.C. that are often affected by noble rot. The best wines have honey, orange and apricot character.

This is a German crossing of muller-thurgau and siegerrebe that has found favour in B.C. and Nova Scotia. It is well-suited to cooler climates, but must be harvested at the right time or it is too bitter.

This variety hails from Burgundy and is a relative of the pinot noir. In warmer areas, it produces apple and pear fruit with moderate acidity. The wines have good weight, and the riper versions respond to oak. There is a fair bit planted in B.C. but it is losing ground to the more fashionable pinot gris, particularly in Ontario.

This is another relative of pinot noir that hails from Burgundy. It is increasingly popular in Ontario and B.C., where there are plenty of warmer sites with good mineral content in the soil. The best wines have a floral and spicy edge to go with citrus and melon fruit. It produces dry wines with good structure and weight, and may gain even more ground as a late-harvested wine.

This is Germany's contribution to the classic white grape varieties of the world. It is very hardy with strong resistance to low temperatures and severe winters. It makes a diverse range of wines ranging from citrus and mineral, bone-dry versions to classic and elegant icewine.
Riesling has yet to receive deserved recognition from consumers, but its combination of fruit, complexity, acidity and age-worthiness fits the Canadian conditions like a glove. There are substantial plantings in B.C., but the conditions and soils in Ontario are particularly right for this grape.

Sauvignon blanc goes back many centuries in the Loire Valley and Bordeaux regions of France. It makes wines with citrus fruit, herbal and mineral complexity, and responds to sensible oak treatment. The severe winters of the last three years in Ontario have killed many vines, but a few sites closer to Lake Ontario have survived.

A well-known Bordeaux variety that is prone to rot, but can adapt well to cool climates. There are fruity and complex examples coming out of B.C., although it is not well known among consumers as a single varietal wine.

This is an inter-specific crossing of ugni blanc and seibel 4986. It is thick-skinned, frost-resistant, winter-hardy and attains good acidity and ripeness in cool climates. It produces neutral dry wines but reaches a higher level of quality when it comes to sweeter products. The best examples have tropical fruit with counterbalancing acidity, while lesser versions are marred by a vinyl smell that can be prevalent in this grape.

This aromatic variety is native to the Northern Rhone Valley in France. The best examples will have a perfumed nose of apricot and floral notes, and be well-balanced on the palate. It is tricky to deal with in the vineyard, as it is not a generous yielder and will be dull if under- or over-ripened. There are a handful of well-made examples in Ontario and B.C., but many producers avoid viognier as they have sufficient work with their existing varieties.

Baco Noir
(3.5 acres in B.C., 902.69 acres in Ontario)

This inter-specific crossing of folle blanche and a native North American vitis riparia species has done very well in Ontario. It ripens early and is winter hardy, while its dark berries produce rich and smoky wines that can be very good quality with ageing potential. The best producers give baco noir the same respect as vinifera varieties and the results show in the final product. The difficulty is that many consumers perceive it as an inferior hybrid. 

This variety is native to the right bank of Bordeaux, the home of such famous appellations as St-Emilion.
Cabernet franc is at home in cooler climates and is winter resistant. It also responds better in damper clay soils and has thick-skinned fruit that hangs on the vine well for icewine production.
While there are well-extracted examples in warm years, tannin management can be an issue. The best examples will have little or no oak, red berry fruit, herbaceous complexity, mid-weight and the right amount of acidity and tannic grip. The icewine has improved recently, with strawberry jam being the most common descriptor.

This variety originated in Bordeaux where it was known as vidure (hard vine). It is indeed a sturdy vine that withstands cold winters and buds late, thereby avoiding spring frost. Cabernet sauvignon needs a long and warm growing season to ripen sufficiently and this rarely occurs in Canada, particularly Ontario. In excessively warm years, some producers have extracted to the point that tannin management is a problem.
Top-level cabernet sauvignon from Canada will exhibit cassis, plum and black cherry fruit with a touch of herbal complexity. Lesser products will be more bitter and herbaceous. Cabernet will likely continue to be cultivated on a large scale in Canada, since it has found a viable role as a constituent in the impressive Bordeaux-style meritage blends.

Gamay is native to the Beaujolais region of southern Burgundy. It handles cool climate areas like the Loire Valley well, so it is hardly surprising that it is grown in Canada. Gamay presents a marketing challenge here, as many people are either unfamiliar with the name or associate it with Beaujolais.
Over the years, a few examples of gamay - or the clone, gamay droit - have shown what traditional vinification and lower yields can accomplish. Bright red berry fruit, herbal tea, mocha, wood spice and impeccable structure are attainable, so an increase in plantings would be a positive development.

This interspecific crossing of gold riesling with an American riparia/rupestris vine originated in France. It is an early-ripener that is also frost resistant and high-yielding. Like baco noir, marechal foch has an inferior image with many consumers, but examples made from older vines yield dark and complex wines with smoky fruit, biting acidity and ageing potential.

Merlot is native to Bordeaux and is the most widely-planted black grape in B.C. Its fleshiness and plummy fruit lend it to manipulation with oak, and it is also a constituent of meritage.
Not everything is rosy with merlot, as it does not handle cold weather well and was severely damaged by three straight harsh Ontario winters beginning in 2002. It also needs to be planted where the ripening will be slow enough to maintain the right level of acidity. In too many cases, it is an inoffensive but dull wine.

The signature black grape of Burgundy has produced stunning results in the Okanagan Valley, and with a few producers in Ontario. It is well-suited to cool and marginal climates, being that it buds and ripens early. The fickle tendencies of pinot noir are well known, as it produces lousy wine if it is over or under-ripe.
Canadian producers have experimented with different clones with great success. The application of certain clones with different soils represents a crucial development in the industry. When combined with the right climatic conditions and yields, Canada has the potential to make a classic style of pinot noir.

This is an old variety that has possible origins in Sicily and ancient Persia. In Canada, it was planted first in the Okanagan Valley, and is now popular with a number of Ontario producers. When sufficient heat units are matched with low yields, dark, smoky and full-bodied wines are the result.
In recent vintages, several Canadian producers have turned heads with their exceptional syrah/shiraz. Not only is the variety disease-resistant, but it has demonstrated a winter-hardy quality that has encouraged many in the trade. The high quality of syrah/shiraz is one of the most important Canadian red wine stories in recent years. 

This German vinifera crossing of blaufrankisch and St-Laurent gained popularity in Austria. It has been planted in Ontario for many years, likely because a handful of the winemakers are Austrian immigrants. Zweigelt ripens early and is a generous yielder of fairly deep-coloured wines with bright berry fruit and lively acidity. Still, the name is awkward for consumers and is considered inferior by some.