Lake Erie North Shore

With Gary Killops

December 2009

The details of fall harvest are in and many local wineries are reporting that the yields are more disappointing than they expected. “We were not able to harvest any Syrah this year, the cold winter last year damaged most of our plants” stated a local winery owner who did not wish to be identified. The owner said that their Merlot yield is down by over 50% and that their Cab Franc yields are down as well. The Hybrids (Baco Noir and Vidal) appear to have survived with fair to good crop yields.

It hasn't been cold enough yet for ice wine harvest however many local wineries have decided not to produce an ice wine this year. It's just not that popular and doesn't move off of the shelves. Many of the local wineries belong to SWOVA (South West Ontario Vintners Association). In the past SWOVA has organized ice wine promotional weekends and wineries have discounted their ice wine but it is still a hard sell.

The good news .... leading up to the holidays many of the wineries in the region are reporting that retail sales have been good. I have noticed that on any given weekend customers have been visiting the wineries and are buying. That's good news in an area that has been hit with the highest unemployment rate in the country. People are still buying wine and rather than heading to their the local LCBO to buy some cheap foreign plonk. They are supporting their local wineries. Noticeable missing at the winery retail stores however are day visitors from the United States. Perhaps it is the new passport requirements that are keeping US customers from visiting wineries in Southwest Ontario?

Celebrating 7 Years

On Sunday, December 6th, Harvey and Alma Hollingshead, owners of the family run Erie Shore Vineyard celebrated their seventh year in operation by inviting customers to their winery for D'oeuvres and tastings of their new releases. Their 2006 VQA Vidal Icewine has been picked up by the LCBO and is now available at some LCBO's in Windsor and Essex County.

If you are ever in the area make sure you plan a visit to Erie Shore Vineyard. Chances are very good that Alma will be the one greeting you as you enter their retail store and offering you samples of their wines. Harvey will be around somewhere in the back keeping busy with the daily operation of the winery.

Erie Shore Vineyard is located on County Road 20 (Formerly Hwy 18) and is just a short drive from Windsor. For more information about the winery including direction visit their web site at: http://www.erieshore.ca

Taste Of The Holiday Season

All of the wineries who are members of SWOVA recently hosted a special weekend event called “Taste of The Holiday Season”. Wineries offered free tastings, behind the scenes tours, and gift ideas. The weather was perfect for the event, sunny and warm. Response was excellent on the Saturday as people headed out to the county to visit several local wineries.

Visitors were asked to bring along a can good that would be donated to one of the local food banks.

New Year's Eve

The Cottam Wine Society, an unofficial group of local wine experts from Southwestern Ontario will gather this New Year's Eve to conduct their first annual tasting and to crown the best of the bunch. This year the grape will be Baco Noir. Eight local Baco's from Lake Erie North Shore and one from the Niagara region will be put to the taste test. Here is a list of baco Noir's that will be tasted:

Colio 2008, Pelee Island 2008, Mastronardi Casa Nostra 2008, Erie Shore 2008, Muscedere 2007 Reserve, Sanson 2005 Reserve, Aleksander 2007, D'Angelo 2007 Reserve, and from the Niagara region, Henry of Pelham 2005 Reserve.

Wishing you all the best of the season. Happy Holidays.

Gary Killops

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

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