Age and Wisdom

In 2007, a veteran Canadian winemaker joined a time-tested Canadian producer. Nearly four years later, the potency of the combination is evident, with Inniskillin Wines vaulting up the Wine Access Canadian Wine Awards rankings to second place.

Founded by Donald Ziraldo and Karl Kaiser in 1975, Niagara’s Inniskillin was the recipient of the first winery licence handed out in Ontario. The company expanded into the Okanagan in 1994.

“Inniskillin was truly founded on…producing premium wines from premium grapes grown in the Niagara Peninsula,” says Deborah Pratt, a winery public relations spokesperson who has been with the company since the beginning.

“It’s exciting to be recognized and score well, but I think there’s that pride in the continuance of what we started 35 years ago.”

Inniskillin’s icewines have been the winery’s foot-in-the-door internationally, with wide availability and frequent accolades at national and international competitions. Kaiser produced their first icewine in 1984. Today, Pratt says, you can find Inniskillin icewines in 69 countries and on 27 airlines.

Bruce Nicholson came to Inniskillin to serve as senior winemaker after Kaiser retired. Originally from the Niagara region, he had spent more than 20 years working in the Okanagan Valley. In 2006, as senior winemaker, he produced icewines for Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estates, then travelled across the country, landing in Niagara just in time for the icewine harvest.

But Nicholson wants people to know that Inniskillin produces more than just icewine. You can hear the passion in his voice as he talks about the quality of Canadian wine, and he says he wants to make sure that every grape that enters the winery reaches its maximum potential.

“If I’ve got a grape growing here, I want to make sure I make a great wine from it,” he says.

In 2007, his first full harvest in Niagara, Nicholson began his Legacy Series. Designed as a replacement for the Founders’ Series, there is only one Legacy wine released each vintage, and each has a very limited production. Cabernet franc was selected for the inaugural vintage, followed by riesling in 2008. In 2009, Nicholson selected pinot gris as the third grape to join the Legacy Series ranks.

“It was a way to highlight what I believe was the best of each vintage, the very best,” Nicholson says. In early September, he was already considering possibilities for the 2010 installment, his confidence fuelled by the quality of the vintage in Ontario.

“I take great offense at people who won’t drink Canadian wines, who don’t appreciate them, because then I realize that they don’t know,” Nicholson says. “We put out world-class wines and we’ve proven it time and again.”

“I would pour my wines anywhere in the world and be proud to do it.”