Explore Canada With These 12 Wines

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Canada isn't the first country people think of when it comes to wine, but it should. The southernmost regions of Canada fall in the latitude zone, per Jancis Robinson, best suited for growing grapes. Climate change is opening up wine production in emerging regions like Canada, per PNAS and Dr. Lee Hannah.

Viking Leif Erikson ventured onto North American shores in 1002. Finding lands teeming with wild grapevines, he named the region Vinland. Rod Phillips indicates that a German member of Erikson's crew may have crafted wine from the wild grapes, (via "The Wines of Canada"). Vins du Quebéc reports that Canadian founding father, Jacques Cartier, reported wild grape vines in 1535, and early French settler Samuel de Champlain planted vitis vinifera vines in Quebéc, pressing grapes for juice in 1603, notes "The Wines of Canada." Wines of Nova Scotia reports that Louis Hébert planted grapevines in Nova Scotia in 1611. More Nova Scotian settlers planted on the island in the 1630s, making them some of the oldest vineyards in North America, per the Toronto Sun. By the 1800s, vineyards were planted across Ontario and Quebéc, but prohibition destroyed Canada's budding wine industry. Wine growing perked up across the country in the 1970s and 1980s becoming the thriving business it is today, per "The Wines of Canada."

Just southwest of Halifax in the Lunenburg region lies the LaHave River Valley and its idyllic wine region which flanks the southern shores of Nova Scotia. Dating back to the 1630s, its unique terroir consists of hilly vineyards planted in sandy, rocky soils based on slate and gravel. The Petite Rivière Vineyards are close to the ocean, and cooling breezes and foggy mornings temper the grapes, boosting their acidity and leading to quenching bold wines. Petite Rivière Vineyards began growing wine grapes in 1994 and opened its winery in 2004.

Petite Rivière Vineyards produces a range of wines from French-American hybrid and vitis vinifera grapes, alongside ciders and fruit wines. Known for its red wines, the winery also produces orange, rosé, white, fortified, and sparkling wines. Petite L'Orange is a blend of l'acadie, cayuga, and frontenac gris grapes with just enough skin contact during fermentation to give the wine a shimmering orange hue and lush notes of ripe apricot, blossoms, and crunchy green pears. Orange wines are perfect with delicately flavored seafood dishes and white meats or market salads and soft cheeses. 

Winemaking in Quebéc dates back to 1535, according to Vins Du Quebéc. Now, the province is home to approximately 150 wine producers and wineries, per "The World Atlas of Wine, Ed. 8." Quebéc wine growers focus on cold hardy and frost-resistant hybrid grape varietals with a warming climate paving the way for classic European vitis vinifera grapes. Since 1980, Quebéc has 800 hectares under vine in seven established wine regions and produces 2.5 million bottles of wine annually. That is an accomplishment in just a few decades. Culturally and linguistically French, Quebéc looks to its ancestral home France for enological inspiration. Working with French grape varietals alongside French-American hybrids, winemakers strive to produce a range of wine styles, per Vins du Québec.

Château Taillefer Lafon acquired its vineyard in 1976 and planted in 1999. By 2006, its wines were being sold to the public though its French-château inspired winery. Patterned after the opulence of King Louis XVI, Château Taillefer Lafon is a destination winery and vineyard with a dining room, weddings and event facilities, and business meeting spaces. Look for a range of red, white, rosé, fortified, and sparkling wines crafted from European vitis vinifera and French-American hybrid grapes. Try the chardonnay, produced like a French Meursault-style wine French aged in French oak barrels and on the lees, it is a buttery, rich, aromatic wine with baked apple and pear notes.

High school friends Guillaume Leroux, Julien Vaillancourt, and Alexis Perron ventured into winemaking in 2005 when they founded Val Caudalies Vignobles in the Duham wine route region in Québec. Vins Du Quebéc indicates that the Val Caudalies Vignobles vineyards and orchards are located in a bucolic setting near Mount Pinnacle and the northern Appalachian mountain range just outside of Montréal. It is a perfect place for exploring the countryside with a hike or lounging over a picnic under the wooden ceiling of an open-air terrace.

The trio crafts wines, fruit-infused ciders, and vermouth from the fruit grown on the estate. The wine range includes red, white, orange, rosé, fortified, and late-harvest wines produced primarily from French-American hybrid grapes such as vidal and frontenac. The ciders are adventurous with a raspberry sparkling cider, an iced cider, and a sweet liqueur-style cider. Unique to Val Caudalies Vignobles is the vermouth project.

Sweet and dry vermouth are types of fortified wine infused with aromatic herbs, spices, and fruit, that are often used in cocktails as a flavoring, according to The Mixer. Vermouths have been produced in Europe for hundreds of years where they are consumed as apertives to stimulate the appetite and digestives to aid in digestion, per BK Wine Magazine. Val Caudalies Vignobles produces both a dry and sweet vermouth. Blend the sweet vermouth into a negroni or a manhattan and use the dry vermouth for the perfect martini.

Peller Estates Winery, owned by the family of the late Andrew Peller, is an immigrant success story. Landing in Nova Scotia from Hungary in 1927, Andrew Peller ventured west to British Columbia. The visionary founded his first vineyard five years later in the heart of the Okanagan Valley. Hoping to influence Canada with his love of European wine culture, Pellar eventually founded vineyards in Nova Scotia and Ontario. The family opened Andrew Pellar Limited to support small and emerging brands in need of support from a larger, established brand. Currently, they have 15 additional wine brands under their umbrella.

The palatial Peller Estates Winery in Niagara is now the flagship offering tastings, tours, fine dining, and meeting spaces for romantic and business events. Its wine range includes red, rosé, white, sparkling, and ice wines, crafted from a variety of European vitis vinifera and French-American hybrid grapes including cabernet sauvignon, merlot, pinot noir, and baco noir. Peller Estates Signature Series cabernet franc is exceptional. A French grape from the famed Loire Valley and often used as a blending grape in Bordeaux (via Wine Folly), cabernet franc is a parent to its famous offspring: cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and carménère. It is rich and inky with ample dark berry, currant, and plum notes along with cypress, and graphite giving way to silky tannins and a firm structure. Delish.

British Columbia is one of the most promising emerging wine regions in the world. Since its foundation in the 1990s with just a handful of wineries, the wine business has grown to boast nearly 300 wineries and roughly 10,000 acres under vine across nine official wine regions, according to "The World Atlas of Wine, Ed. 8." Wines of British Columbia reports that British Columbia experiments with French-American hybrid grapes and European vitis vinifera. Wines of Canada indicates that British Columbia's nine DVAs (designated viticultural areas) lie at the southern sector of the province between 40 and 51 degrees latitude, and stretch from the Gulf and Vancouver Island in the west to Kootenays in the east. Okanagan Valley is the largest and most prolific region, per "The World Atlas of Wine, Ed.8."

The acclaimed Painted Rock Estate Winery exemplifies great award-winning British Columbian wines. Its aim from the beginning was to produce ultra-premium wines from European vitis vinifera grape varietals. Nestled in the Okanagan Valley, the Painted Rock vineyards are considered to be amongst the best in the entire region. The winery produces a range of wines, but its bold and spicy syrah is unique. The varietal is uncommon in Canada and Painted Rock Winery Syrah is an expression is reminiscent of the French Northern Rhône style with its distinctly floral, bramble, and peppery aromatics.

Cassini Cellars is located on what is dubbed the Golden Mile Bench, a subregion of the Okanagan Valley, per Wines of British Columbia, considered to be some of the best vineyard lands in the entire country. The Golden Mile Bench is slightly cooler, with a unique terroir and microclimate and a western-slope exposure perfect for cool-climate grapes. Passionate about wine and dedicated to perfection, Cassini Cellars strives to produce elegant and European-influenced wines that are distinctly Canadian. Year in Wine reports that Cassini Cellars founder, Adrian Cassini, a Romanian-born generational winemaker, first immigrated to Montreal in 1990, but made his way to Vancouver soon after. Along with his wife, he purchased a lavender farm in the Okanagan Valley in 1996 and set his sights on making wine. His first vintages were crafted from purchased grapes, but soon Cassini acquired access to vineyard lands in Oliver.

Cassini Cellars consistently produces award-winning, small-batch wines. The range includes red and white wines from cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, malbec, merlot, chardonnay, and muscat. Look for Cassini Cellars pinot noir for a unique Canadian wine experience. The pinot noir exudes classic notes of ripe cherry, tangy raspberry, spice, and an earthiness specific to pinot noir. Pair it with game birds, wood-fired pizza, grilled salmon, and roasted vegetables. Or, simply savor it on its own.