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Anthony Gismondi on Wine
Tuesday, October 8 2019

Canada is not too cold for wine

By: Anthony Gismondi
How the icewine industry began

In the early 1970s, many believed that growing vinifera grape varieties, a staple of the European wine world, wasn't possible in Canada with its long and cold winters.

Austrian immigrant and winemaker Karl Kaiser began experimenting and creating wines in southern Ontario's Niagara Peninsula. He shared his wines with nursery owner Donald Ziraldo, who couldn't believe what he was tasting, and it wasn’t long before the two men combined their talents, ultimately changing the trajectory of the Canadian wine industry.

In 1975 the new partners created Inniskillin Winery and were awarded the first winery license in the region since prohibition. Among Karl Kaiser’s many interests was the belief that he could grow a version of German Eiswein, something he encountered in his native Austria. With great determination and plenty of trial and error, Inniskillin produced its first icewine in 1984. Just seven years later, in 1991, the 1989 vintage astonished the international wine world by winning the top prize at VinExpo, the Bordeaux-based wine trade show that was at the epicentre of wine at the time. Canada was not too cold for fine wine, after all.

In our latest GOW Short Film Series, we explore Canadian icewine in three videos, the first episode, displayed below, looks at the history and genesis of the wine industry in the country and the important role icewine played. Chapter two looks at the trial and tribulations that came with learning how to harvest grapes in sub-zero temperatures. The finale is all about cooking with icewine with Inniskillin chef Tim Mackiddie who demonstrates some of his most popular Icewine recipes using the beverage, and he shares his favourite pairings.

Part Two: Harvesting Icewine

Part Three: Cooking with Icewine

Written By: ag
Anthony Gismondi
Anthony Gismondi

Anthony Gismondi is a Canadian wine journalist and one of North America's most influential voices in wine. For over 30 years, he has been the wine columnist for The Vancouver Sun. The twice-weekly column is distributed across Canada through the Postmedia Network to millions of readers. In addition, Anthony hosts the BC Food & Wine Radio Show, broadcast in 25 markets across B.C. and available as a podcast on major platforms. He launched Gismondionwine.com in 1997, attracting one million monthly users from 114 countries. It continues to be a valuable resource full of tasting notes, intelligent wine stories and videos for the trade and consumers. Conversations with wine personalities are available on his  YouTube Channel.