MY TOP 20: CANADIAN RIESLING
‘Canada’s best Riesling winemakers are virtuosos of a fine balancing act’
To hold up a single grape variety as Canada’s flagship is impossible. But if I were to choose one that echoes the natural beauty and intensity of this country’s awe-inspiring landscape, it would be Riesling.
Riesling is grown in all four wine-producing provinces, from east to west: Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. Its winter-hearty properties and accomplishment in other cool regions made it a natural choice among intrepid souls who started planting Vitis vinifera varieties in Canada in the 1970s.
Before you make the inevitable leap to ice wine, let the record show that Riesling produces far more table wine. The former is a rare speciality – and consumed rarely. For this tasting, I focused exclusively on the latter, which runs the gamut from bone dry to medium sweet. Of the 138 wines tasted, just five each came from Nova Scotia and Quebec, while the rest were evenly split between BC and Ontario. I tasted them all blind by province, eager to pinpoint the personality of each.
Thankfully there were few relics of the past – dilute, sugary, acerbic swill. The lion’s share was well made and highly drinkable, if straightforward. Those that stood out spoke articulately of a unique climate and,
