The Wines of Canada. Rev. ed.

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.

This updated soft-cover edition of Schreiner’s admirable 2005 study of
the Canadian wine scene is one of the volumes commissioned by Mitchell
Beazley, the British publisher of The World Atlas of Wine, for inclusion
in his “Classic Wine Library.”

Schreiner takes us beyond journalistic chitchat with owners and
winemakers into the elements of wine growing in Canada: clonal and
rootstock selection; planting densities; canopy management; and the
peculiarities of geography, geology, and climate that combine in
different locations to define terroir in the broadest sense. He traces
the history of winemaking through the transition from labrusca to
vinifera, to the early experiments with ice wine and its emergence as
Canada’s (and particularly Ontario’s) signature offering on the
world market. European readers will be intrigued by the bizarre
marketing pathologies in Canada, in particular the symptoms evident in
the history of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.

Schreiner allocates two chapters to every wine-growing region in
Canada. The first looks at its historical evolution, introduces readers
to a few important qualities of the terroir, comments on the staple
grape varieties, and makes other generalizations necessary to put the
following chapter into context. The second chapter lists the wineries in
alphabetical order, each ranked according to its interest as a
destination, and provides relevant information gained from personal
observation and in-depth interviews with owners, winemakers, vineyard
managers, and other players in the industry. The result captures the
state of the Canadian wine industry in Ontario’s Niagara, Lake Erie,
and Prince Edward County regions; British Columbia’s Okanagan and
Similkameen Valleys; and Quebec and Atlantic Canada. Readers interested
in fruit wines, cider, and mead will not be disappointed, for the last
chapter explores this subject.

The Wines of Canada is, at present, the best book of general reference
on the Canadian wine industry.