Are Canadians supporting Canadian wines?

Recent research conducted by market research company Mintel has shown that despite the interest in international wines, Canadians are displaying strong support for locally-made wine. Precise numbers indicate that 49% of Canadians prefer Canadian wines over foreign brands.
Less than one in three Canadians says they still prefer international wines over Canadian brands, while 30% of Canadians say smaller wineries are producing a higher quality product.

(Source: Research Showing Canadians Supporting Canadian Wine)

In real Canadians are supporting Canadian wines. [welldone.gif]

I don’t think they picked out that focus group very well…

Cost.

Just saw this. Really need someone in the business to comment and look closer at the raw data.
I think definitions might be important here. A lot of Non VQA 'Canadian ’ wine isn’t very Canadian- ‘cellared in Canada’ wines can be over half imported juice*. I think it would be important to distinguish the VQA market and the non VQA. The linked article doesn’t give any detail.

  • A little piece of wine geekery… in 2005 following significant crop loss in Niagara from severe cold in the preceding winter the ‘Cellared in Canada’ regs were changed, for one year, to permit up to 99%, yes that’s ninety nine percent, imported juice. Moray Tawse, owner of Tawse winery and strong advocate for quality Canadian wine (and also a Burgundy lover) decided to make a point about regulations. He managed to secure 99 barrels of 2005 Morey-St-Denis, which he blended with one barrel of his own Pinot, and marketed it as Tawse 99/1 “Cellared in Canada”. This was done quite openly as a kind of protest, At around $50, iirc,it was probably the best value burgundy on the market at the time!

For perspective, I live in Connecticut and pay little attention to wines from Long Island or New York State. They all aren’t very good and it seems futile to me. Same goes for Canada?

A bit apples to Oranges. New York/ Long Island total vinifera production is less than 20% of total wine grape production. Hard to get too serious about wine made from those Labrusca (concord) varieties and hybrids.

Wine regions in Canada (Niagara, PEC & B.C.) moved away from those varieties within the past 30 years and non-vinifera wines are a tiny tiny minority.
For perspective according to CT, Canadian wines represent 7.1% of my cellar. France is 61%

Good on him. A few countries allow such deception to occur, including ‘British wine’… a thoroughly awful product made from imported grape concentrate. Confusingly English wine and Welsh wine is genuinely what it says it is. I’m sure its reputation is still harmed by British wine (but also like Canadian wine, cost remains a significant challenge).

Hugh Johnson said it best of “British Wine”, neither British, nor Wine

Somewhat outdated now given the excellent quality of English bubblies. Your English / British distinction is astute. Have not heard much, well anything really, about Welsh. My recollection of the climate there is not auspicious.

Re New York, that’s Finger Lakes, yes? I thought there was fair Riesling made there but must confess I haven’t tasted any.

I did a tour of the Finger Lakes last spring. Sadly- mostly plonk - sweet, to over sweet Riesling. However it seemed to fit the local palate. Tasting rooms were packed with young locals who seemed to be treating the tasting rooms as local pubs. Lots of Bridal parties going from spot to spot in rented limos. Only winery we really liked was Konstantin Frank. Brought back some Blaufrancish (pardon the spelling) Rose and some Riesling but probably wouldn’t again (too expensive with duty).

As for Canadian, good comments above. Low end wine and VQA wine serve different segments. People on this board represent a small segment only. That said, I’ve seen more interest from enthusiasts in the last few years. Personally, I like the occasional LH Cab Franc or Icewine. Chardonnay’s are pretty good and reds can be good in good years (about 1 out of 5 for Bordeaux varieties). When they are good, the price seems to be too high to give good value. There are a few standouts. I now buy Bachelder Chards each year. I’ve heard very good things about Hidden Bench whites.

You got bad or no intel on where to get solid Riesling in the FLX.
Niagara and the Finger Lakes are making great Rieslings. Reds are a different story. Mother Nature is formidable.

With all due respect, I beg to differ. We consulted long time collectors with knowledge of the area, including collectors living in the region or close to. Konstantin Frank was a wonderful visit with lots of tasty, well made wines. After that it was all downhill. It really impressed as a region that is still in development and trying to find its feet as a wine producing region. In one tasting room the server reeked of cheap perfume, something that would never occur at any credible winery. Her knowledge of wine as on par with her knowledge regarding wearing scents while serving wine. That said, for those who enjoy this reason, good for you, glad you like it. For me it’s nice people + vin ordinaire.

Re: Finger Lakes: The quality of the wines we tasted deteriorated so badly as the day progressed that by the time we were heading toward Rochester in the late afternoon, I was craving a decent glass of wine. Thank god for the load of wines I’d shipped in from other places. I couldn’t wait to open a pair of Cappellano Rupestris, 2011 and 2012 at dinner, like a dry man in a dessert.

Hidden Bench tete du Cuvée is probably the only one I’d say is worth drinking, but pretty solid for the price.

I generally avoid any Bordeaux varieties, it’s not worth the gamble at the price points we have available

Cab Franc can be good … Tawse in Niagara, Lacey in PEC to name but too.
Pinot Noir in good vintages. Claystone when Thomas was there, Old Third in the County, etc.
I think the one to avoid is Cab Sauv maybe.
+1 on Terroir Cache too. This winery has several pretty good wines, the Nuit Blanche is usually killer.

I agree that HB’s Tete is probably still top of the charts, but I’ve found a few others that I quite like in Chard–Queylus Estates in particular, but also sometimes Pearl Morissette, Southbrook’s Damy that they do in Damy barrels exclusively and Malivoire’s Moira Chard to name a few. Right now, Westcott Estates is making my go-to Pinot—something I never thought I’d say about that grape in this province. Terroir Cache is usually pretty solid, also like Kacaba’s reds a lot and, although pricey, iCellars is doing good work. For CS, I’ve enjoyed Two Sisters in good vintages. And Pearl Morissette for CF—the 2011 I just opened was sing-ing.

I’ve been to and sampled stuff from P.E. County but I haven’t found anything yet that I can depend on from vintage to vintage there.

There’s a lot of good and interesting stuff coming out of Okanagan and environs in B.C. Just shared out a Syrah from Moon Curser with Tran and some friends that we all enjoyed very much, and they’re having fun (and doing a good job) with Tempranillo and Tannat, among other things. Black Hills’ Nota Bene and Culmina’s wines also come to mind.

Ross–welcome aboard! See, it’s not too bad in here!

Mike