Suppose you were invited to a sampling of the crème de la crème of Canadian wines, would you run miles in the opposite direction? Or would you just accept with a lot of interest? As a resolute enthusiast for fine wine, we guess you would settle for the latter. You possibly would ask, how old is the Canadian wine industry? Thirty years, fifty years? Well, here is a depiction for the history of the Canadian wine.
How It Started
Going back to an uncertain start of close to 1000 AD, the Viking Leif Eirikson, stumbled upon the present day “Newfoundland” which he named “Vinland” after he came to realize that there were a lot of wild grapes within that vicinity. It wasn’t until the early 1800s, when an ingenious German by the name of Johann Schiller, first established a vineyard in the Ontario’s Niagara province, that winemaking began. With partial success, he put into practice his skills attained as a worker in the Rhine and started testing “Vitis vinifera” grapes from Europe.
First Profitable Winery
In the mid-1860s, the present-day Claire House estate in the Ontario Niagara province, explicitly located in the Schiller’s winery, became the first profitable winery in Canada. Going on to win a variety of prizes, wines from the Claire House estate unquestionably secured the Ontario Niagara region as a prime centre for commercial winemaking in Canada. To produce sacramental wines, the first grape wines in British Columbia were established in 1859. After that, profitable wineries were founded, bolstering the Okanagan region principally as the prime centre for the growing of fruit, as well as agriculture.
Tourist Attraction
Through the mid-twentieth century, the sobriety responsibilities and the increased demand of the purchasers for refreshing and sweet-smelling wines, plus the growth of wineries to produce quality wines in Canada have led to a resilient position. Hence, in the latter stages of the twentieth century, Canadian wineries and vineyards have become famous tourist destinations up to date. It is with no doubt that the ever-increasing popularity of Canadian wines tourism, plus the outstanding advancement in the quality of wines being produced for commercial purposes, has boosted the industry.
Repeal of Alcohol Ban
The Canadian wine industry frankly began to sky-rocket soon after the repeal of the alcohol ban in 1927, when the three major wine provinces strictly enforced the limitation of the number of warrants to promote wine production. Between 1989 and 2015, the number of wineries in Canada increased rapidly from a mere 13, heading for close to 270, which is basically more than twice over the current number of British Columbia wineries, which can be approximated to 100. At present, overall brewery acres in Canada positions at above 10000.
European Grapes
For countless years, Canadian wines were being prepared from an indigenous variety of grapes, which supposedly only produced sacramental wines. Conversely, due to superior winery administration performances, improvements in machinery and well-being of the plant, along with the increased demand for profitable wines, winemakers replaced the native ranges with the definitive “European” grape varieties.
Key Takeaways
Consequently, with the enhanced value of grapes, growers have been in a position to yield high-quality table wines. At present, the Canadian population is thought to be consuming close to more than 220 million bottles of fine Canadian wine annually. Now that Canada is producing world-class fine wine, it’s undoubtedly a high time that the industry educated Canadians about their own wine.