www.littlefatwino.com
The Wines of CanadaJohn Schreiner
a review by lfw: At the same time the book does a good job of taking a concise look at the wineries as a whole, rather than detailing specific vintages of particular wines. This will be in touch much longer for this reason. The book starts with an introduction and a good short history of wine in Canada, followed by targeted articles about Vincor, Viticulture and Icewine. The remainder of the book is taken up by short but informative articles about the various wineries across Canada, starting with 85 (my count) Ontario wineries, 96 BC wineries, 37 from Quebec and a dozen from the East Coast. There are additionaly (after the grape-based wineries) 44 fruit wineries, 38 cideries and 11 meaderies listed and/or discussed. There is a good balance throughout of east and west, big and small, grape and otherwise. A positive view is taken throughout. I find myself in disagreement with some of the one-to-five star ratings (I won't tell anybody my own), but that is what opinion is all about! Among provinces, only Alberta seems to be unrepresented (c'mon guys!) in the book. And I know of people growing grapes in Alberta (as far north as Fort McMurray yet!!) As a final note, I would like to state that this book would have been too heavy to carry if Canadian governments would quit trying to fund everything with taxes levied on factory-built imported wines not found in the countries that dump them on us, and if Canadians themselves would realize that wine is a liquid with both acid and flavour, as compared to what they swirl and sniff most of the time. To make the next edition heavier, try seeking out your closest winery and finding something there that you can support. Most certainly the future of Canadian wine is based on locally-grown products, whether or not they happen to belong to VQA (Vintner's Quality Alliance) or any other producers group...
It is neat to read a well-written book about many people I know myself. It is also great to see a book spend much time on the newest entrants, from John & Virginia at Orofino in British Columbia to John & Trish at Kawartha Country Wines north of Peterborough Ontario, from Glenda and John starting Dark Cove Winery in Gambo, Newfoundland to Raymond Huneault at Clos Baillie in Gatineau Quebec. This is the first book about Canadian wines that I've seen discuss the cold-hardy varieties that may cause the vineyard areas of Canada to expand exponentially (to the dismay of those who control current plantings!) My belief is in many small wineries rather than a few massive corporations.
www.littlefatwino.com