From Napa to Niagara: Fun Facts about About the U.S. and Canadian Wine Industries

Join sommelier Erin as she shares fun facts about the wine cultures in Canada and the US, just in time for Canada Day and the 4th of July. Discover the history, regulations, and unique characteristics of wine production in both countries. 

Learn about the first commercial wineries, the differences in wine-growing regions, what AVAs and DVAs are, and why they matter. Erin also dives into the specifics of Icewine production, wine tourism hotspots, and educational opportunities in viticulture. Grab a glass and listen in. 

01:51 New World Wine Classification and Start Dates
03:10 Production and Size
03:47 Regulations and Laws
07:21 Icewine 
09:50 Wine Tourism
11:02 Innovation
13:06 Grape Varieties
13:54 Number of Wineries
15:43 Closing

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Transcript

Erin: 0:00

As July is quickly approaching and Canada day celebrations happening on July 1st. And of course the 4th of July celebrations happening in the United States. I thought it'd be a great time to share some fun facts about both the Canadian and U S wine industries, both countries have rich and diverse wine cultures, and I'm thrilled to be able to share these fun facts with you. Now, many of you will know I'm located in Calgary, Alberta in Canada. And I know many of you listeners are listening in from the United States. So hopefully did eight. You'll learn something new about your own wine industry and maybe the one in the other country, depending on where you're listening in from. So if you're ready to explore some similarities and differences between the Canadian and American wine industries, let's get started and dive right into today's episode. Hi everyone. And welcome to the wine shop talk. I'm your host. Smelly. Erin knows our and I am so happy that you're here with me today. If we haven't met before, it's lovely to have you here. And if we have welcome back. Now for those of you who are new, you should know that I've been a professional smile over 20 years now. And it's my passion, my privilege to make learning about wine, not only fun and easy, but also practical. I want to make sure that you leave every episode with some real life, practical wine tips and information. They are going to help you find wines that you're going to love and enjoy and be able to share with family and friends. I want you to think of me as your very own practical Somalia. And before I dive into all the fun facts that I have to share with you in today's episode, we just want to share that if you are looking for some fun resources and entertaining guidebooks, you definitely will find some of those on the free resource section of my website. And the link is going to be in the show notes below as well as the link to my wine pellet personality quiz. If you haven't yet done, that is my signature quiz. And you're going to find out a whole bunch about your very own pallet. What personality. So you'll find those links in the show notes below. Now let's dive into some fun facts about both the Canadian and American wine industries. The first time fact is let's talk about where we consider them starting out. And while both countries are considered part of the new world. So when we study and talk about wine, we break down countries into both new and old world categories, old world countries being mostly European, both the United States and Canada, we classify as new world wine countries. And the United States has a longer modern wine-making history. And it's first winery to become commercially successful was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in the mid 1830s by Nicholas Longworth. And at this winery, he was making sparkling wine from cat, a one book grapes. Now it's important to say there was wine making happening in the United States prior to this first commercially successful. Winery. But we give credit to this winery is the start of the commercial business. Now, in regards to kid as commercial wine industry, it began much later with most of the significant growth that we know of today happening in the 1970s. Though in 1866, we did have a commercial winery opened on Pelee island in Ontario, which is one of the most Southern part of Canada, and there was a commercial winery that was started in 1866. So you definitely could say that both wine industry started in the mid 18 hundreds, Now in regards to scale and overall production, the United States is recognized as one of the world's largest wine producers. With California alone producing 90% of the country's fine. And in the United States, there's roughly 1 million acres under vine now compare that to Canada, where our wine production here is significantly smaller with about 30,000 acres under vine, compared to that 1 million in the United States. And some of this comes down to geography and obviously our more Northern climate in that grapes cannot survive in all areas in Canada during the winter time. In regards to laws and regulations around wines in both countries in the United States, wine growing areas are called American viticulture areas, or AVAs, you'll see these acronyms on a bottle of American wine. Now, these are designated wine, grape growing regions with specific geographic or climatic features distinguishing them from the surrounding areas. So when a winery or a business wants to register an Ava, an American viticulture area in the United States, they have to define themselves of what makes them different. And they're going to have to talk about what their borders are. How far did they go is important to know that an Ava could be an. An entire state, or it could be as small as an acre of land. So these don't have a size minimal or maximum, but they do have to have very clear boundaries of wire that ABA is. Now in Canada, our wine growing areas are referred to as designated. Viticulture areas. Or DV, AEs. We also refer to them as Appalachians. Very similar to how the European described their wine areas. Now the DVA is, and Canada are also defined just like the United States by unique geographic and climatic conditions. We have to have a strong boundaries when you set them up, to be registered. And on top of our designated viticulture areas in Canada, we do have another layer and this is an optional tier, and this is called our vintners quality Alliance or VQ a it's really important to know that VQ a regionally started in Ontario. We also have some in British Columbia, they are two different wine governing bodies. If you will, specific to the province and an area. Other areas in Canada. But this is an optional program. So a winery can choose to be part of this program. To some people, it shows an extra layer of quality. It does go through a blind tasting and analysis, but just like any other wine classification in the world, just because it has it on the label. So if a Canadian wine has a VQ eight on it, it does guarantee its area of origin. It does not guarantee quality. So to speak, you are going to have to be your own judge. It has been tasted through a panel, but again, it is an optional program. A full bottle does not have it in Canada. It does not mean that it didn't get it or it wasn't approved to have it. The winery may have chosen because of cost or for other reasons not to participate in the VQ way system. So the next time you pick up a bottle of American or Canadian wine, look for Ava on the wine from the United States. And DVA or an Appalachian name on the Canadian bottle. Now to add onto that in the United States, all wine regulations fall under the. The department of alcohol and tobacco tax and trade bureau or the tTB. And it regulates everything to do with wine production, from labeling to bottling size, all of it. And in Canada, the wine regulation is handled by provincial authorities. So this leads to different standards and practices in Ontario and British Columbia and other provinces, such as I just referred to as the ventures quality Alliance, there's some different rules and different regulations in each province, and that can lead to some gray spaces. I'm not going to lie and how it works. But in the United States, you do have one overarching governing body. Where in Canada, we have general best practice, but provincially, it is regulated along the way though. Abs are registered by province, but they are registered with the country in Canada as well. Now let's talk a little bit about Icewine because many people, when they're thinking about Canadian wine will think about Icewine is definitely a specialty that we have here in Canada. And it has very strict rules around it. So to make ice wine and Canada, it has to be harvested from outside in the vineyards. Those grapes have to have been left on in the field and the temperature must be below minus eight degrees Celsius. Or 20 degrees Fahrenheit at the time when those grapes are picked. So there's a very clear temperature regulations that must be met to be able to call a wine Icewine. Now, if for some reason, the winter is warmer, we never get to minus eight. Then you can still have a late harvest wine that could have cooler temperatures. Some of those grapes may still freeze, but you are going to have, you're not going to be able to call it an ice. Icewine if the temperature does not make minus eight degrees. Is also important to know that a hundred percent of the grapes made in Canadian Icewine have to come from the viticulture area that is labeled on the bottle. So if I'm making a bottle of Icewine in British Columbia, in a specific area, all the grapes have to come from vineyards in that area. Now. I just wind can be made in the United States as well. Doesn't have a specific rules and it, many of the ice wines made in the United States are done. Cryogenically in that grapes are left on the vine until they are shriveled. The whole idea of Icewine is that the water inside freezes. So therefore the sugar is left behind and it just condenses that sweet, luscious flavor, even more so in the United States, in the cryogenically created ice wines, you can. Take those late harvest grapes, and then they'll put them in the freezer and then press them that way. So, because especially for making in California, not going to get to those frozen outside temperatures. They can still produce a similar ice wine style wine, but it's done with a little bit of nature and a little bit of enhancements with some freezers in the back of the winery as well. So that's how, if you are at a winery in the United States and you see, they have some Icewine, you'll look on the bottle to see if it is a true outside. So depending on where you are tasting wine, you may have. So if you're in the neck or region or in the New York area, certain areas of the United States. They will have cooler winter temperatures. You may have a nice wine. Made very similar to the ones we have in Canada. Now wine tourism. Obviously, if you're a wine lover, you may want to visit wineries close to home, or one of our fabulous countries. And in the United States, obviously Napa valley is probably one of the most known. Visited wine areas. It's a major area for wine tourism. It attracts millions of visitors annually. And here in Canada, we have two areas. So we do have the Okanagan valley In British Columbia and the nag or peninsula just outside of Toronto are both big tourist spots. All of these author wonderful tasting experiences, beautiful hotels. You can go stay for a weekend, take a cooking class, definitely embrace the full sort of take in the entire experience when you visit And anytime, especially during the summer, if you are going to visit some incredible wineries and take in some tasting events of highly recommend, checking their website, calling ahead, see if you need to book a time. Cause there's nothing worse than thinking. You can stop by and finding out that you do need to book an appointment, especially in some of those smaller tasting rooms. So my tip for you is definitely check the website and call ahead and book a time. If there's a one or you really want to make sure that you're able to visit during your summer travels. Now let's talk a little bit about wine innovation. So the us has been at the forefront of using technology in vineyards and wineries uC Davis in California is recognized as one of the premium wine making schools around the globe. So if you were looking for some wine courses or where would you officially study about wine differently? UC Davis would come up in your search. It's a beautiful campus. If you have an opportunity to go, I would definitely highly recommend they do have some weekend classes that you can go and take in a full learning experience at the university. And here in Canada, if you're looking to study, we have Brock university in Ontario, has an ideology and viticulture program. That's very highly regarded. Okanagan college in British Columbia as well has programs that many people attend. And Vancouver island university as well has some specific wine industry program. So both countries have incredible courses that you can study at and for innovation, Canada will get credit for working with some hybrid grapes, which is basically means because of our climate. We are looking to how we can bring out the best in grape varieties. We'll be bringing two grape varieties together in a lab to see if we can create a grape that does well in a long, cold winter, or it's very drought resistant. So Canada does get credit for their work with hybrid grape Fridays. If you've had an ice wine and the grape Friday on the label has been a V Del. The I D a L that is a hybrid great meaning that it was brought together in a lab for the idea of producing. Uh, grape that was winter Hardy. And it is made of a blend of UT Blanca also known as Trebbiano Toscano mixed with another hybrid variety, which is Ray on the, or, or Steve bell, 49 to 86. The combination of these two brought together is very winter Hardy, grape, and it is able to produce high sugar levels with a moderate high acidity, which makes it brilliant in regards to the production. Of Icewine. Now for great Fridays. California alone grows over a hundred different great Fridays. And just from a global point of view, we have over a thousand different grape varieties. but California has over a hundred different grapes in the ground with Cabernet, Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Pinot noir being some of the most popular in Canada. Common grape Fridays include VDL Blanca. For Icewine. As well as reasoning, Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc, especially those grapes for Ontario, where we have more lake effect climate and in British Columbia where we have more hot, dry heat. You're seeing more Cabernets, Mel Becks, some Italian grape Fridays come as well. Some view. we're seeing different grape varieties. So depending on our climate and how diverse the Canadian wine industry is. Now you may be curious about how many wineries does each of these countries have. Right now it's estimated that the United States has roughly about 11,000 wineries across the country. That number will ebb and flow. And we do have some smaller wineries under bigger wineries, but it gives you an idea of how many, and in Canada, we're talking about 500 wineries across the country. So you can see there is quite a difference. Once in the number of wineries in both countries. Now often when we think about how many wineries are United States compared to Canada, we'll often say if Canada could make wine in Saskatchewan, for example, then we would have enough volume on the world stage to be able to be a bigger player. One of the challenges that Canada faces is because our wine growing areas are in small pockets. We just don't have that much available to be able to share on the world stage. And so. If we could make wine here at home in Saskatchewan, unfortunately the winters are just not going to be. Friendly to most grapevines. Let me give you an idea of what that would look like. So it was a sketch one. For those of you who don't know is a province in Western Canada, and it has approximately two hundred and fifty one seven hundred square miles in regards to size. In comparison, the States of Texas is somewhat similar in size, Texas covers about. 268. 596 square miles. So roughly Saskatchewan. Is a little bit smaller than Texas. So if you want to think about what would perpetuate the growth of the Canadian wine industry is that if we could have the province of Saskatchewan be able to produce wines, you would see many more wines from Canada around the world. I hope you've enjoyed today's episode with some fun facts about both the United States and the Canadian wine industries. There is obviously lots to unpack here, but I did want to scratch the surface and give you a bit of information about both areas as we go into celebrating. The birthdays of both these incredible countries. Now, if you're celebrating either the 4th of July or Canada, I hope that you are enjoying your favorite wine of choice from your country. And you're able to celebrate and have, fun celebrations with family and friends. Now, starting in next week's episode, I'm going to do a series All about the people behind some of the famous brands that, you know, from Kim Crawford to Viv Clicko to Kendall Jackson, a little bit of the stories of the real life people's whose names are on the bottle of wines you enjoy. So you can look forward to that series starting next week. Now through, this is your first time listening in, I want to again, say welcome and let you know that new episodes come out every Tuesday. So be sure to follow along. So you never miss an episode. We would love to have you join us every week. As we dive into a mix of different topics in regards to wine and food and entertaining and all kinds of things. Now, as always, if you have any questions or comments about today's episode, you can reach me at hello, Weikel academy.com or come say hi on Instagram or Tik TOK at wine girl academy. I would love to hear from you. I love to get the feedback. Thank you so much for all of you who reached out and send me such fabulous notes about what you're learning in the different episodes. On that note, I want to wish you a wonderful week. Cheers to you and happy celebrations. If you're celebrating Kennedy or the 4th of July. Bye now.