Lake Erie North Shore

With Gary Killops

June 2010

All Canadian Wine Championships 2010

The All Canadian Wine Championships (ACWC) is Canadian’s oldest wine competition. Since 1981 this annual event has bee held in Windsor, Ontario. The 2010 competition set a new record this year with entries of 1143 wines from 7 provinces across Canada.

173 wineries from across Canada entered their wines into the ACWC. A break down of wine entered by province: British Columbia 577, Ontario 464, Nova Scotia 47, Quebec 38, Prince Edward Island 8, New Brunswick 5, and Alberta 4.

Trophies were award to the “best of the best” in 5 categories. Two trophies going to wineries in British Columbia, two awarded to Ontario wineries and one to a winery in Quebec.

Best Red Wine of the Year
Desert Hill Estate Winery, BC
2006 Syrah Select $34.90

Best White Wine of the Year
Lake Breeze Vineyards, BC
2009 Pinot Blanc $17.90

Best Sprkling Wine of the Year
Huff Estates Winery, Ontario
2006 Cuvee Peter F. Huff $39.95

Best Dessert Wine of the Year
Vignoble du Marathonien, Quebec
2008 Vidal Vendange Tardives $28.00

Best Fruit Wine of the Year
Applewod Farm Winery, Ontario
Madrigal Meade $14.95

While the wineries from the Maritimes were not awarded trophies they did quite well taking home a total of 19 medals.

Nova Scotia: Gold 3, Silver 6, Bronze 5

New Brunswick: Silver 2

Prince Edward Island: Gold 1, Silver 1, Bronze 1

Eight wineries in Southwestern Ontario (Lake Erie North Shore and Pelee Island) were awarded a total of 18 medals including 4 double gold and 4 gold.

4 – DOUBLE GOLD
4 – GOLD
4 – SILVER
6 – BRONZE
18 total

Pelee Island Winery
2009 Blanc de Blanc – DOUBLE GOLD
2008 Late Harvest Vidal – GOLD
Chardonnay Unoaked – GOLD
2008 Cabernet- Merlot – SILVER
208 Baco Noir – SILVER
2008 Riesling Dry – BRONZE
2008 Cabernet Sauvignon – BRONZE

Black Bear Farm Estate Winery
2008 Elderberry – DOUBLE GOLD
2008 Golden Plum – Silver
2008 Red Raspberry & Purple Plum – BRONZE

Aleksander Estate Winery
2008 Chambourcin – DOUBLE GOLD
2008 Baco Noir – GOLD

D’Angelo Winery
Dolce Vita – DOUBLE GOLD

Pelee Island Goes Organic

Pelee Island Winery

Pelee Island Winery which is Canada’s southern most winery and Ontario’s fifth largest has been experimenting with six acres of land to produce their first “organic wine” this fall. The vines planted include Cabernet Franc, Bianca and Riesling grapes.

The winery has just over 700 acres of land on Pelee Island and has set aside the six acres to experiment with. If successful they plan to expand production of organic wines at their winery.

A New Wine For Southwest Ontario?

Hybrids such as Baco Noir and Vidal do very well in this area. They are hearty and can withstand the extreme variance in temperatures this area has to offer.

Viewpointe Estate Winery’s owner John Fancsy has invested approximately $200, 000 into research and development of several grape varietals that will be unique to Southwest Ontario. The unnamed grapes (three at this point) have been blended into a red wine called Colchester Cuvee. I sampled this wine shortly after it was bottled. It’s a red blend, fruit forward taste that reminded my in many ways of Baco Noir with an interesting mineral note.

Fancsy stated this new grape varietals will adapt to the climate of Essex County very well. They can survive the region’s cold winters, and ripen early in the Fall.

Cooper’s Hawk Vineyards, a new local winery that will open soon will plant a mixture of 400 vines of this new local varietal in their vineyard.

Essex County

Weather

Essex County is known for having the longest growing season in Canada. The growing season began this year in mid march after a week where the daily temperatures in Southwest Ontario were warmer than the temperatures in Northern Florida.

Many wineries are reporting that bud break began approximately two weeks early this year and all signs suggest that everything is on track for an exceptional vintage year.

An unusual thunder storm did past through the area on June 6 th. Tornado’s and high winds uprooted trees along the North Shore of Essex County. While no injuries have been reported, property damage and flooding has been an issue. Fields are saturated after a week of daily rains. At this time there has been no reported damage to any winery and their vines.

Coming Events

June 25, 2010

Colio Estate Winery: Launch Party “Girl's Night Out Partyline”

Want to celebrate warm summer nights, good music and kickin' back? Join Colio for the launch of our NEW Girls' Night Out Partyline wine beverages. Get on the party line and gather some girlfriends for a Friday girls' night out. Hang with us for the evening and chill out with a Girls' Night Out Tropical Tango or Strawberry Samba. Relax at the pavilion next to the vineyard and nibble on some great party treats. Did someone mention chocolate covered strawberries? www.coliowinery.com

June 26, 2010

Colchester Ridge Estate Winery: 4TH ANNUAL VINTAGE RELEASE AND BBQ

Savor a new experience at CREW on Saturday June 26th from 2 until 7 p.m. with the vintage releases of our 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, 2009 Gewurztraminer, 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2008 Cabernet Franc along with many others. www.colchesterridge.com

July 2010 (1:00 PM to 4:00 PM)

Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery: Sips, Sounds and Bites!

Live entertainment on their patio overlooking beautiful Lake Erie every Sunday afternoon. Cooking demonstrations will be performed at 12pm by Laura from Caldwell's Grant. www.sprucewoodshores.com

August 08, 2010 (1:00 PM to 5:00 PM )

South West Ontario Vintner’s Association (SWOVA) Annual Vintage Tasting

This year's annual Vintage Tasting will be hosted by Muscedere Vineyards, featuring all the of the SWOVA member wineries latest and best wine releases of the year.

About Gary Killops

Gary writes and reviews wines from Lake Erie North Shore and Pelee Island wine regions on his blog at http://www.EssexWineReview.com Growing up in Essex County he wasn't aware that there were so many local wineries producing excellent wines. A visit to a local winery one Saturday afternoon changed that. Now most weekends are spent visiting wineries, talking with wine makers and enjoying wine from the area.

Gary's report Nov 09, Dec 09 Feb 10 , April 10

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