Buyer’s Guide to Vintages March 29th Release

John Szabo’s Vintages Review March 29: Elbows Up with Canadian Wine in Hand; Launch of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano’s Pievi; What do Consumers Think of Ontario Wine?
By John Szabo MS, with notes from Sara d’Amato, Megha Jandhyala, David Lawrason, and Michael Godel

Elbows Up: The Canadian World

Are we still trapped in the Old World vs. New World paradigm? Let’s move on. As David mentioned in the previous report, “It is fair to criticize the LCBO for not being a nimble organization,” but in this case they’ve had years to get with the times and speak to a new generation of consumers (the theme has cycled through every March/April for years). Alas, not so. See my report from last year for an explainer.

Let’s get on with the Canadian World. Since the unprecedented verbal and economic attacks on Canada by a belligerent U.S. administration, and the subsequent pulling of American wines and spirits from shelves and wine lists across the country in symbolic retaliation, we’ve witnessed a rarely seen level of pro-Canadian patriotic sentiment surge.

The wine industry has been quick to take advantage by putting Canadian products front and center. And drinking Canadian-made wines is a simple, symbolic way of showing support. But what do you really think of local wine?

Spring Tune Up: What Do Ontario Consumers Think of Ontario Wine?

This past weekend I attended the annual Spring Tune Up in Prince Edward County, a gathering of local growers and trade to assess the state of the industry and discuss topics of current interest, challenges and opportunities. A blind tasting of County chardonnay and pinot noir vs. international examples was led by sommelier Jay Whiteley, with the aim of situating these two flagship PEC varieties in a worldwide price/quality context. How did they stack up against similarly priced examples from other parts of the world?

The answer for me is simple: the best of the County stand comfortably side by side with equivalents from around the world. These are not inexpensive wines — the economics of producing wines in Prince Edward County don’t permit the production of $15 wines. That’s a model best left to growers in benign Mediterranean climates with fertile soils and cheap labour.

But PEC has another superpower: the region’s cool climate and stony soils can produce deeply flavourful, balanced and fully ripe wines at modest alcohol levels; the average hovers somewhere around 11%. This puts PEC wines naturally on the no/low alcohol spectrum, one of the fastest growing categories worldwide, without sacrificing flavour and pleasure. There are few other places that can do this so effortlessly. And when tasted alongside similarly priced, quality wines from other parts of the world, they actually seem a little underpriced.

Such was also the conclusion drawn by the group in attendance, composed of the choir to be sure, but also realists in the face of consumer feedback and sales. It seems not enough Ontario consumers are aware of, or agree with, the conclusions.

The reality is that most PEC wines do not sell out on release; none are on allocation, as is the case with the best from Sonoma or the Willamette Valley or, of course, Bourgogne. And this despite the fact that production is very limited, a fraction of a drop in the worldwide bucket. Production numbers are counted in bottles, not cases. “Why aren’t people lining up to get these wines?” asks one grower with a mixture of genuine confusion and exasperation. “They should be sold out before they’re even released.” It’s true. High quality + limited production + exceptional value should equal sold out products.

Whiteley, who spent considerable time in the restaurant industry in British Columbia before coming to Ontario, offered some perspective: “In B.C., there were so many great restaurants with 100% local wine lists. Sommeliers would scramble to get the latest releases from the most sought-after wineries. There was huge support for the local industry.”

Another producer at the gathering recounted a recent trip to the Eastern Townships in Québec, where, he said: “All the restaurants were offering Québec wine. Hybrids, vinifera, it didn’t matter. It was amazing to see.”

Another chimed in: “Yeah, and they love their artisanal cheeses, their produce and their meats. There’s a real pride in consuming local.”

But in Ontario, the situation appears to be different. “It’s a struggle to get our wines on restaurant lists,” laments one winery owner. The general consensus in the room was that Ontarians in particular still view Ontario wines with a measure of skepticism.

One attendee recounted a recent visit to an LCBO where a product consultant was pouring wines at the tasting bar. “He was offering several Ontario wines but told me that he hides the label before pouring because most customers have an immediate negative perception if they see Ontario. He’s had much more success pouring them blind and then revealing afterwards.”

“People still seem to see Ontario wines as it was in the 1980s,” says another, as though time has stood still for 40 years, and little has evolved in the Ontario industry.

I listened to this open dialogue with some disbelief. It was like stepping back in time to conversations that were heard 20 years ago, maybe even still lingering ten years ago in some corners. But in 2025? Isn’t it clear by now that Ontario makes excellent wine? We’ve known and celebrated this at WineAlign for years — the National Wine Awards of Canada, during which we taste some 2,000 wines from across Canada each year, is a perfect pulse-taking opportunity, and the Canadian heart is beating strong and steady. We’ve seen the number of excellent producers, and the overall quality of wines inexorably rise over the last nearly quarter-century.

But who am I to argue? These are the people on the front lines, at the tasting bar listening to consumers, on the road selling their wines to restaurants and dealing with the gatekeepers. I suppose Ontarians are not as far down the road of acceptance and appreciation as I would have believed, or as much as these producers and their colleagues province-wide would wishfully hope. It seems there’s still education to be done.

“We should be doing this sort of [comparative] tasting with the trade all over the province,” suggested one winemaker. “We don’t need to be doing this. We already know where we stand.”

If you still fall on the skeptical side, try one of the Ontario wine recommendations below, which include a “quintuple alignment,” a nod from all five WineAlign critics for Thirty Bench’s 2021 Small Lot Riesling “Wild Cask,” as rare as a total eclipse, or a very reliable triple for Cave Spring’s terrific value Estate Chardonnay 2023. And there are hundreds more to choose from on the WineAlign site; look for the National Wine Awards of Canada medal sticker accompanying reviews, which indicates wines that have been vetted by more than a dozen of the country’s top critics.

It’s often said that with crisis comes opportunity. As we rally around the Canadian flag with elbows up, this could be your opportunity to discover the great wines of Ontario, and Canada.

Drop us a line in the comment section with your thoughts.

Buyer’s Guide: New Releases of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2022, Riserva 2021, and the Launch of the “Pieve” Designation

The big news this year at the annual anteprima — preview tastings of the latest Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wines to arrive on the market — was the official launch of the long-awaited Pieve designation. These are essentially Riserva-level wines from one of 12 pievi (singular: pieve) or parishes within the DOCG, the latest and now top-level category of wines for this historic district. Was the wait worth it? For this reviewer the release might have been a bit premature. Read on for details on the new designation and the top wines released under it, so far, from the 2021 vintage.

Also arriving on markets now are the excellent 2022 Vino Nobile annata, a five-star (out of five) vintage with some terrific wines, one of the strongest releases in my 15-odd years of reporting on the region, as well as the 2021 Riservas, which is easily as strong a group as the new pieve-designated wines, some might argue stronger.

Click Vino Nobile di Montepulciano for all of the details and the top wines.

Buyer’s Guide March 29th: Ontario White and Sweet

Cave Spring Estate Grown Cave Spring Vineyard Chardonnay 2023, Ontario, Canada
$21.95, CAVE SPRING CELLARS
John Szabo – A marvel of balance and freshness and an excellent value in any context, a lovely by-the-glass option. As a bonus, it’s made with care and respect for the planet.
David Lawrason – From mature vines, this is a tight and linear chardonnay thanks to the limestone clay soils of the Beamsville Bench. Very well structured. The nose is reserved but complex with yellow apple, wood spice and wet stone are well focused, hitting excellent length.
Megha Jandhyala – This is a lovely Ontario chardonnay, a crisp and invigorating example, made with fruit grown in limestone soils. It is balanced and focused, with appealing flavours of crunchy orchard fruit, juicy lemons, and gentle salinity.
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