Ontario Wine Country

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.

Of the guides to Ontario’s indigenous wine-growing culture published
to date, this is the most satisfactory. Its coverage is current, even
including, in the case of Prince Edward County, wineries that expect to
offer their products for the first time in 2006 and 2007. Ontario
viticulture is focused in four regions: Lake Erie North Shore and Pelee
Island, between the Detroit River and Point Pelee; Niagara, largely
confined between Lake Ontario and the Escarpment to the south, and the
River and Winona to the west; a cluster at Toronto north of Highway 407,
with an outrider to the west at St. Thomas; and a larger cluster in
Prince Edward County, southwest of Kingston.

The first chapter, “Wine in Ontario, Past and Present,” is the most
integrated appreciation of the historical context of the province’s
winemaking culture yet written for the general reader; its treatment of
contemporary problems and possibilities is a concise and accurate
summary. About two-thirds of the book is devoted to Niagara, where the
acreage under vines (about 15,000), proliferation of wineries, and the
exploration of terroir has defined sub-appellations. Three chapters (one
covering Grimsby and Beamsville; the next, Vineland, Jordan, and St.
Catharines; and the last, Niagara-on-the-Lake, St. David’s Bench,
Niagara River, and Lakeshore) are introduced by an excellent chapter on
the climate, land, and vines of the appellation.

By 2007 the number of wineries in Ontario will approach or exceed 100.
A useful guide must enable the reader to sort the candidates by criteria
important to wine consumers in general, and enthusiasts in
particular—and this one does. Which are the high-volume, full-range
producers, whose offerings range from simple and commercial blends of
foreign juice (cellared in Canada) to high-end, low-production, VQA
wines? Visit the Andres establishments. Are you apt to go home if you
can’t go organic? Start your quest with Frogpond Farm. The ease with
which such questions may be answered reveals the skill with which
Phillips interviewed his subjects and tasted their products.