My top 20: Canadian Riesling
From a blind tasting of 138 Canadian Rieslings sent in from across the country’s wine regions to be reviewed for Decanter, Michaela Morris picks out her top 20 bottles
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, in some cases, a very specific place. Significantly, no single style triumphed, and most tasted drier than their technical numbers suggested. Canada’s best Riesling winemakers are virtuosos of a fine balancing act.
‘Canada’s best Riesling winemakers are virtuosos of a fine balancing act’
From east to west
Jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean, Nova Scotia is a truly cold climate. Its Annapolis Valley is strongly influenced by the Bay of Fundy’s massive tides, which extend the growing season into November. Still, hybrids dominate, and Riesling occupies a mere 3% of the area planted. They are lean and bracing with a piercing purity. I’d happily have a glass of all five wines I tried, particularly those from Avondale Sky, Grand Pré and Benjamin Bridge.
With wickedly cold winters falling to -30°C, Quebec is the most unlikely wine region.
Heroic efforts are required to protect vineyards from damage, and 90% are planted to hybrids. Of the province’s 800ha, Riesling accounts for 8ha. This was my first tasting of Quebec Riesling, and I was pleasantly surprised by Vignoble Ste-Pétronille and La Cantina. Both are packed with flavour – just like the province’s scrumptious apples.
Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula is Canada’s largest wine region. It’s sandwiched between Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment, where constant airflow between the two regulates temperatures. The mild autumns encourage Riesling to ripen slowly.
While there is a range of styles, Ontario Rieslings are overridingly Germanic, with varying residual sugar and moderate alcohol. I was struck by their arresting prettiness, underlying power and clever interplay between minerally nuances and orchard fruit. I also found some of the best value for money here.
Stretching north from the US border to the 50th parallel, the Okanagan Valley is British Columbia’s principal growing region. While moderated by a string of lakes, the growing season here is compressed and extreme. Arid, hot summers can reach a scorching 40°C in the day, with nights cooling off considerably. The resulting wines are defined by penetratingly intense flavours – and acidity. Overall, they are drier than their Ontario counterparts, and several top examples were exhilaratingly dry.
Regional and stylistic differences aside, I also noted that a number of my top picks hailed from vines more than 25 years of age. They stood out for their depth of flavour and nuance. As Canada’s vineyards continue to mature, this bodes well for its Rieslings.
Beyond its ice wines, Canada’s Rieslings are rarely exported to the UK, so here we show prices in Canadian dollars for ease of comparison. Readers should use a search engine such as Wine-Searcher.com to find local listings, or in the US consult their state’s importers