A Pocket Guide to Ontario Wines, Wineries, Vineyards, and Vines

John Abbott is a professor of history at Laurentian University’s Algoma University College. He is the co-author of The Border at Sault Ste Marie and The History of Fort St. Joseph.

Never mind its modest dimensions: Konrad Ejbich’s survey of
Ontario’s wine culture is magisterial. It is comprehensive within its
frames of reference, reveals all the virtues of scholarship without the
vice of pedantry, and is far more satisfying to read than Hugh
Johnson’s fabled Pocket Encyclopedia of Wine.

Organized alphabetically so that readers can quickly find essays, the
guide covers Ontario’s wine-growing regions (Niagara, Lake Erie North
Shore, Pelee Island, and emerging Prince Edward County), wineries
(location, contact information, personnel, histories, philosophies, and
practices), and their wines (described and rated on a five-star system
from unremarkable to great, or totally dismissed as flawed or poor).
Almost every vineyard in Ontario, including the most obscure (if
meticulously tended) patch of vines in Prince Edward County, has been
examined, its manager interviewed, and the information distilled into an
informative paragraph. Then there are short essays on special topics
(e.g., a superb essay on the noisome Asian Lady Beetle is wedged between
the entries on Angels Gate Winery and the Atalick Vineyard).

Ejbich explores the mysteries of terroir in the introduction and
throughout the book. The introduction also contains descriptions of all
grape varieties approved for the production of VQA wines, as well as a
short disquisition on the disputatious question of vine densities. He
concludes by printing an Ontario VQA Vintage Chart, 2004–1988, a most
useful aid if used with discernment and discretion by the wine buyer.

Ejbich is thorough (drawing on his own wine library to extend verticals
back into the 1990s and even the 1980s, and including vineyards—most
wineries buy “feedstock,” so vineyard terroir and practices are
important), scholarly (tasting most wines himself, under clinical
conditions in his own tasting room), professional (25 years of
experience as a wine merchant, a consultant, a writer, and an educator),
honest and outspoken (“Black with orange-brown edges. Nose is stewed,
pruney and volatile. Taste is unpleasantly vegetal and cooked.”), and
funny (“Competently made but quite ordinary. Pair with frozen
pizza.”).

This is not a disposable consumer’s guide to the year’s top-20
vinous hits. It does not list prices. It is something far more valuable:
a resource book that allows the intelligent consumer to select wineries
and their wines on the basis of clearly codified criteria, and to taste
current releases and establish personally whether they deliver value for
money.