Thank you!

We wanted to make this post a big Thank You to all of our winery partners. Canadian wineries are at the heart of My Wine Canada and many of the ones that you will see on this website have been with us from the start of our journey. In fact, it is more than likely that we have sat at tasting tables in their wineries while the proprietor has spoken at length about their wines and the unique history of their winery. We consider ourselves incredibly lucky to have the calibre of wines on the site that we do - from award-winning sparklings, tantalizing whites, and summer-loving rosés to smooth, rich reds, sun-kissed dessert wines, and port-style wines to unbelievable Icewines and fruit wines - we hope you enjoy trying each and every one!

Every week on this blog, we will spotlight various Canadian wineries so that you can become intimately acquainted with them and the stories behind their fantastic wines. For today, however, we will simply say a resounding thank you. Today, we raise our glasses of Canadian wine to our winery partners and friends from Nova Scotia, BC, and Ontario.

Thank you L'Acadie Vineyards, Luckett Vineyards, Bartier Scholefield, Bella Wines, Black Widow Winery, CedarCreek Estate Winery, Elephant Island Orchard Wines, Haywire, JoieFarm, Laughing Stock Vineyards, Le Vieux Pin, Meyer Family Vineyards, Moon Curser Vineyards, Mt. Boucherie, Road 13, Summerhill Pyramid Winery, Tantalus Vineyards, TH Wines, Thornhaven Estates,  13th Street Winery, 20 Bees Wines, Creekside Estate Winery, Dan Aykroyd Wines, EastDell Estates, Fresh Wines, Hat Trick, Lakeview Cellars, Oxley Estate Winery, Ridge Road Estate Winery, and Seasons Wines - and cheers!

Confessions of a BC expat

The last thing I did before leaving BC and moving to Toronto was spend four days with friends in the Okanagan. We visited winemakers and the people behind the wines I loved and had sold over the past few years. We stayed at their houses and had dinner with their families. We watched their kids play in backyards that butted against rows of vines. It was a place I knew that made wines I understood. When I came to Ontario, it was a fresh start. I’d had little experience with Ontario wines. The few bottles that do trickle to the West Coast tend to lose their story somewhere along the way. I began to drink as much local stuff as I could, went to tastings and drove a couple times to Niagara. I was carving perceptions around what varieties I liked and where I thought they grew best.

It's been a year and apart from surprises here and there, my first standouts have stuck. This may be old news, but Ontario has the potential to make incredible Riesling. I'm talking about that luminous, tart style. The ones that have a bit of residual sugar, but also so much vibrant acidity where the sweetness isn't obvious. They have a light-on-their-feet quality that comes from low 10-12% alcohol. A style this refreshing and delicious is matched in very few regions around the world. Many people are making good Riesling, but the first I really fell for was the Picone Vineyard from Charles Baker.

Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are two touted grapes that have been successful locally, but everyone already knows that. The less obvious (and less commercial) hero is Gamay. They aren't overly-assertive wines; you feel like drinking more than one glass. They have the refreshing support of cool climate acidity. The fruit is bright and tart with spice and they often show smoky undertones. Like great French Gamay, these wines are made to drink and enjoy rather than think and talk about. The value is almost impossible to beat. Tawse and Malivoire are a couple favourites coming in under $20. Grab ‘em.

Jake Skakun is a writer and sommelier from Vancouver, currently living in Toronto. He can be found most days pulling corks and twisting caps at the Black Hoof. He Tweets and Instagrams @jakeskakun.

The Centre-point

As a wine columnist living right in the middle of Canada — and whose province’s VQA sales are split 50-50 between BC and Ontario wine — I taste a fair number of Canadian wines from both the country’s main wine-producing regions.

This year, however, I’ve probably tasted more Canadian wine than any of the 16ish years I’ve been in the biz. Judging at both WineAlign’s National Wine Awards of Canada as well as the BC Wine Awards provided a chance to visit both regions this year.

What I’ve tasted so far this year has surprised me somewhat and pleased me considerably.

Starting in BC, I was thrilled to taste the true diversity of the province’s wine-producing regions. From the wide range of Similkameen Valley reds and whites to crisp, relatively delicate wines from in and around Kelowna to bigger, brawnier wines coming from south of Penticton, BC wineries really seem to have honed in on what they do best.

In terms of BC wines, it’s really too bad many producers tore out their Chenin Blanc vines some years back, as those that remain produce fantastic fruit that results in stunning wines. The elegant Quails Gate 2012 Chenin Blanc, for example, was a gold medalist at the BC Wine Awards. Oliver’s Road 13 Vineyards, meanwhile, is clearly doing many things right with their old-vines Chenin Blanc program. Their still Chenin Blanc is consistently a fantastic wine, while the Road 13 2010 Sparkling Chenin Blanc took top honours in the bubbly category for its crisp, focused red apple, bread dough and toasty notes, bringing Champagne style at a fraction of the price.

While I was pleased with the Pinot Noir coming out of Ontario, it was the weightier Cabernet Franc — both on its own and as the dominant grape in red blends — that really charmed me. Producers managed to balance ripe fruit with light herbal/vegetal notes and earthier components. The Fielding 2010 Cabernet-Merlot for example, delivers ripe dark berry notes, with ash and leafy components and soft, fine tannin — it’s drinking so well right now.

As producers continue expanding their lines to make wines from specific regions within Niagara Peninsula (Short Hills Bench, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Twenty Mile Bench and so on) their regional diversity will continue to make itself known.

Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson paid his way through school hucking cases at wine shops. He's now the weekly wine columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press, and judges at wine competitions across the country. He Tweets & Instagrams @bensigurdson.

Genesis

“So, I’ve had this idea for a while…”

It was so long ago that my friend Jackie, one of the founders of this website, shared her idea with me that I can’t even pin-point how far back it was. What I do know, is that her idea has finally come to fruition and just by reading this very post, you’re a part of her vision being realized.

When she got into the nitty-gritty, about the concept of a nation-wide e-commerce platform for Canadians to purchase, discuss and read about Canadian wine, I had two immediate thoughts:

Wow, this is going to be a nightmare to develop.

How can I be involved?

Fast-forward months (years?) later and Jackie and I find ourselves in BC wine country for a few days. We’re in a rented Toyota Yaris, crisscrossing and looping Okanagan Lake, Skaha Lake and zipping along the highway stopping in at many a winery sharing the My Wine Canada vision. There may have been a refreshing ale or two at the end of each of these long, hectic days.

So here’s the deal.

My background is managing restaurants in Vancouver, eventually running a couple wine programs, and now find myself consulting with various restaurants, contributing to a host of publications, judging wine competitions and so on. The common thread through all of this has been my unending passion for BC wine and the desire to share my enthusiasm for it.

While I would love to be able to say the same about Canadian wine from other provinces, it wasn’t until last year that provincial borders started to crumble down, allowing us exposure to Canadian wines that have long been the stuff of legend. I’ve been hearing about places like Ontario’s Creekside and 13^th Street wineries for years, and when you tell me about places like L’Acadie in Nova Scotia, well, you may as well have been talking about appellations on Jupiter.

But now, because of a simple-yet-complicated idea, I can finally access these wines quite easily. Not only that, I can learn about them from colleagues across the country who contribute to the My Wine Canada blog, the platform I’m fortunate enough to have the keys to.

This website makes this country a little smaller and our national wine community a little less fragmented. This is tremendously exciting to me.

Thanks for being a part of it, I hope you enjoy exploring this great country of ours as much as I do.

Kurtis Kolt is a Vancouver-based wine consultant, writer, competition judge and enthusiast. He’s not half as fancy/boring as that sounds. He Tweets and Instagrams @KurtisKolt.

Hello, Canadian Wine Lovers!

After years of being an idea, and months of planning and development, we are very happy to launch My Wine Canada! Canadian wine ranks among the finest wine in the world – our wines win gold medals from competitions like Decanter World Wine Awards and the International Wine & Spirit Competition, and admiration from international wine industry luminaries like Jancis Robinson - so we have created an engaging online marketplace where you can shop for and purchase these amazing Canadian wines directly from the wineries.  We’re proud to be your one-stop e-shop for Canadian wine.

Today also marks the launch of our Wine Blog – a lively, oeno-focused hub of information about Canadian wine, wineries, and the industry at large.  Led by notable Canadian wine personality and writer Kurtis Kolt from Vancouver, BC, the blog will feature pieces from a select Editorial team of Sommeliers and guest bloggers that includes Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson from Winnipeg, MB, Michelle Bouffard from Montreal, QC, Jake Skakun in Toronto, ON and Susan Sterling also from Toronto, ON. You can expect to read about new wine releases, tastings and reviews, suggested food pairings, news from our amazing winemakers and winery owners, and the latest industry updates. Check back often as we’ll be posting frequently and there’s sure to be something new and entertaining up there for you.

MyWineCanada.com is a celebration that has been years in the making.  It started by talking to people; we spoke to Canadian wineries about their needs, and we spoke to Canadian wine consumers about their needs - and we performed a ton of research in between when we felt we needed to find more needs!  We started up a company, we campaigned, we fundraised, we groveled, we bootstrapped, we received earfuls of solicited and unsolicited advice, lost sleep and hair over developing the tech platform, and fostered a deep and lasting relationship with caffeine.  Assisted by a team of wonderful supporters in the legal, political, financial, and media fields we have arrived at launch day.

But this is just the beginning…we have special features, additions, bells and even whistles up our sleeves that we can’t wait to roll out over the next several months.  So thank you for joining us, we hope that you’ll be a big part of this fantastic journey.

Thank you for loving Canadian wine!

Jackie

Founder, My Wine Canada