Celebrate the Rise of Canada’s Cool Climate Wines
February 20, 2020 – New York, NY – Representatives of twenty-nine Canadian wineries from British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Ontario will gather at the Consulate General of Canada in New York on Tuesday, March 24th to showcase over 200 cool climate wines to area media and trade. The event, comprised of a grand tasting and three flash seminars on Riesling, Pinot Noir, and Wild Card Wines, will also include 17 wineries seeking importer representation.
The Canadian wine landscape is thriving, with thirty-one thousand acres of vines currently planted across the country and of these, 17,000 acres in Ontario, 10,500 acres in British Columbia, and 800 acres in Nova Scotia. Its growing regions, all located within close proximity to bodies of water, are situated within the recognized growing zones of 30° and 50° latitude north, with the majority of vineyards located between 41° and 50° north. Renowned for its Icewine, Canada has become recognized for high quality wines from sparkling to red, white, and rosé still wines.
“Ontario wineries are eager to return to one of the most dynamic wine markets in the world. Twenty Ontario producers invite media, trade, importers and distributors to taste some of the best examples of our region’s core varieties and styles alongside wines from the rest of Canada”, said Magdalena Kaiser, Director of Public Relations, Wine Marketing Association of Ontario. She continued, “Ontario’s VQA wines are truly on the cutting edge of cool and we’re thrilled to showcase wines that continually generate global excitement and acclaim.”
Ontario boasts 180 VQA wineries spread throughout three appellations – the Niagara Peninsula (with 10 sub-appellations and 2 regional appellations), Prince Edward County and Lake Erie North Shore (with one sub-appellation). While renowned for producing 95% of Canada’s Icewine, over 100 of its wineries produce high quality sparkling wine, and core regional varieties include Riesling, Chardonnay, Gamay Noir, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc.
Laura Kittmer, Communications Director for the British Columbia Wine Institute, stated “this is an exciting time for the BC wine industry as we celebrate 30 years of BC VQA Wine. We are thrilled to showcase some of the finest examples of our key varietals and the uniqueness of our terroir alongside our Canadian counterparts and build on the international recognition that we have received.”
Home to 929 vineyards, including 282 licensed grape wineries, British Columbia Wine Country – comprised of nine geographical indications and four sub-geographical indications so far – is booming. Core regional red varieties include Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, and Gamay Noir. Core regional whites include Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc, and Viognier.
Two wineries from Nova Scotia, Canada’s smallest and eastern-most wine region situated on the Atlantic Ocean, will showcase a selection of predominantly sparkling wines. Regional climate and soils are well suited to this type of wine production, with the growing season extending to late November due to the moderating effect of the Bay of Fundy, which has the highest daily tides in the world.
For more information on the upcoming event and wineries seeking importation, contact jen.oflanagan@feastpr.com
To register, visit http://www.feastpr.com/wines-of-canada
