There used to be a time when a trip to a wine region meant a very long flight, probably across water. Now, we can get in the car and pop over to the Annapolis Valley for a day of touring wineries, tasting wine, and eating very very well. In time, people are projecting that we will one day have many more wineries, and the economic activity that comes with being a mature wine region will be a boon to our overall economy.
Last week, I got the chance to visit two very different wine regions. Both with the same name, but in different countries. Niagara - both Canada and the USA.
This adventure represented a combination of four of the things I've already written about - wine, design, waste management, and Twitter. The wine part is obvious. The wineries, and their new architecture and adaptations provided the design part, observing how they dealt with their waste the third, and as for the Twitter part - the entire thing was basically organized and documented using Twitter.
The attendees were all people who blog or otherwise opine in writing about wine. Some professionals, some hobbyists, and many somewhere in between. The audience was a fun mix of American and Canadian participants.
The format was essentially a tour of large wineries, at which groups of other wineries also had tasting tables to show off their wares. This demonstrated very clearly the collegial cooperation that exists in this industry and I very much appreciated it.
The organizers, working as volunteers, had done an amazing amount of work in scheduling, arranging participating wineries, and logistics. They got some assistance from industry support organizations, and wonderful cooperation from the participating wineries.
What was most interesting to me, though, was the chance to explore and compare the relatively fledgling wine industry on the other side of Lake Ontario in New York State, specifically the area around Lockport stretching down to the lake. It turns out they have similar degree days to Long Island and are warmer than the Finger Lakes. The idea to make wine here on a commercial scale is relatively new, and there are not very many places going full tilt; yet.
We were treated to two packed days of Niagara, Ontario wine tastings. These wines ranged from some marginal but drinkable wines; to Burgundian quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and Mosel-like Rieslings; to varying qualities of Bordeaux blends and varietals, with Cabernet Franc invariably providing the most interest among those. In some wineries, the quality is extremely high, and one can only wonder how they stay in business with the highly managed vineyards and low yields that result.
In New York we tasted tree and berry fruit wine, and hybrid and vinifera based wines, all well made. The status of this area is similar to Nova Scotia, with the exception that our sparkling wines are well ahead of them. But they have a climate that could be very good at growing vinifera grapes like Merlot, Pinot Noir, and the one that surprised me most, Syrah. I do worry about their susceptibility to a late frost, as their vines were well advanced and vulnerable when we visited. One had to admire the dedication of the owners of Arrowhead, as well as their Syrah.
More to come from me on the wines, but regardless of whether I liked them, the entire trip was a great experience and the food we shared was wonderful. The organizers could do this type of event management work for a living and be very well off.
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