Canadian wine has spent years earning respect at home. Now, producers from Niagara and the Okanagan are finding a wider audience, and later this month, some of their wines will be poured in a city known for taking food and wine seriously.
For the first time, Canada will have a dedicated pavilion at the Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival, which returns to Victoria Harbour from October 29 to November 1. Eight wineries from Ontario and British Columbia will be there, giving visitors a chance to explore a wider range of Canadian wines than many might expect.
A dinner at Toronto’s Malaparte ahead of the festival offered a preview. Chef Alvin Leung prepared a menu paired with wines from Niagara and the Okanagan, including some I had been curious to try. It was a chance to learn more about the wines and the regions producing them.
There are some exceptional wines coming out of Canada. CheckMate Artisanal Winery’s Little Pawn Chardonnay has earned several 100-point ratings from Canadian wine critic John Schreiner, beginning with the 2015 vintage. It was the first wine he had ever awarded a perfect score, and several subsequent vintages have received the same recognition.
Mission Hill Family Estate’s 2020 Oculus has also made its mark. Schreiner gave the Merlot-led Bordeaux-style blend 100 points, the first Canadian red wine to receive a perfect score from him. About 90 percent of the fruit comes from Border Vista Vineyard in Osoyoos, just a few kilometres from the Washington State border. It is one of Mission Hill’s warmest vineyard sites.
Of course, scores are subjective, but they do draw attention to what Canadian wineries are producing.
The Okanagan is particularly interesting because growing conditions can change considerably as you travel through the valley. Around Oliver and Osoyoos, the warmer climate is well suited to red wines, although Chardonnay is also producing impressive results. At CheckMate’s Jagged Rock Vineyard on the Black Sage Bench, vines grow in sandy, gravelly soils left behind by glaciers thousands of years ago. These conditions can limit yields and produce more concentrated fruit.
Niagara is quite different. Lake Ontario helps moderate the climate, creating good growing conditions for Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc. The wines are known for their freshness and acidity, qualities that can make them particularly well suited to food, including dishes with spice, sweetness and umami.
Canadian sparkling wines are another part of the story. At the Toronto dinner, Big Head Wines’ 2023 traditional-method sparkling Chenin Blanc was paired with mango, pomelo, coconut milk and sago. It was one of the pairings I enjoyed most and a good example of the variety coming out of Niagara.
The evening also included Chardonnays from Quails’ Gate, Southbrook Vineyards and CheckMate, Black Bank Hill’s 2023 Liberté, a blend of Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne, Big Head’s Lipinski Syrah and Mission Hill’s Oculus.
Chef Alvin Leung’s menu featured dishes such as shrimp toast, char siu, Sichuan pickerel with lychee, and duck and lobster ballantine. Tasting the wines with these flavours offered an interesting perspective on how they might be enjoyed alongside the food in Hong Kong.
And Hong Kong is a fitting place to introduce them to a wider audience. Food and wine are a big part of the city’s culture, and the Wine & Dine Festival brings both together along Victoria Harbour. This year’s event is expected to feature more than 300 booths, with wines from around the world and food from Hong Kong restaurants.
Canadian wine is still often associated with Icewine, particularly among people who haven’t had the chance to explore what else the country produces. But there is much more to the story, from Okanagan Chardonnay and Bordeaux-style reds to Niagara Cabernet Franc and traditional-method sparkling wines.
For the eight Canadian wineries heading to Hong Kong, the festival is an opportunity to introduce those wines to an international audience. And for visitors, it is a chance to discover that Canadian wine has a lot more to offer than Icewine.
Listen to Chef Alvin Leung on the latest episode of By Reservation Only.