Always so special to share stories of my father and his impact on the Canadian Wine Industry. Today I spoke about the ‘History of Icewine’ at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Icewine Village and told the story of how my father garnered International Acclaim for Canadian wines in 1991 when his 1989 Vidal Icewine won the equivalent of ‘best of show’ at VinExpo in France, shocking the wine world!
Wine of the Future; It’s time to raise a glass and toast Canada’s sustainable-wine Programs
It is an honour to be Chair of Sustainable Winegrowing Ontaio and be interviewed by James Chatto, contributor to Elle Magazine. ‘To qualify for the certification, both the vineyard and the winery must meet a number of environmental, social and economic standards – or, to put it another way, embrace the three pillars of place, people and profitability.Environmental sustainability is the most familiar and measurable of the three. Water and waste management, material handling and procurement and energy efficiency are all matched against the program’s benchmarks and scored appropriately. Farmers are also judged on soil health and pest management. Social sustainability can be harder to quantify, explains Andrea Kaiser, chair of SWO and the owner of Drea’s Wine Co. in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. ‘But people are understanding it more thanks to the current conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion,” she says. “It’s about being good employers and also good members of the community.” And the third pillar, profitability, is also essential, she adds. “The business itself must be sustainable if you’re going to make this work, preserve agricultural land for the next generation and keep the industry healthy.” '
READ FULL ARTICLE
https://ellegourmet.ca/sustainable-wines-canada/
INNISKILLIN FONDS RECOGNIZED AS CANADIAN CULTURAL PROPERTY
My wine collection was launched in memory of my father Karl J. Kaiser and brings me so much joy in being able to perpetually share his story and legacy. Remembering him today on his birthday with a note of thanks to Mike Balsom at Cogeco Inc. ‘Your TV’ for recognizing the Inniskillin Fonds housed at the Brock University Archives. Loved hearing his partner Donald Ziraldo and Debi Pratt reminisce about the pioneering legacy which is now not only recognized as a significant part of Niagara's history, but as Canadian Cultural Property.
SILVER AT NATIONAL WINE AWARDS
So exciting to have a light shone on my 2021 Sparkling Chardonnay with a SILVER MEDAL and a SCORE 90 at the National Wine Awards! It is a classic brut with elegant fine bubbles made by ‘Traditional Method’ where the bubbles are produced naturally when secondary fermentation takes place inside the capped bottle of wine. The new sparkling wine is then left to rest on the remaining yeast known as ‘lees’ to collect additional flavours and complexity. This wine spent two years on the lees before being disgorged, when we remove the yeast and then cork the sparkling wine. It is made with Chardonnay grapes indicated by the name ‘Blanc de Blanc’, meaning ‘White from White’ and shows classic notes of apple and lemon on nose and palate and of course is bone dry with a bright acidity.
ROSATO SCORES 90 DECANTER MAGAZINE
Lots to celebrate on Canada Day! My unicorn of rosés, Drea’s 2021 Rosato scored a 90 in Decanter as a part of article 'Canadian rosé: Patriotically pink for Canada Day’ and is included in the list of 31 wines to try!
"What's believed to be Canada's only Dornfelder rosé boasts a dark ruby colour in the glass – a stark contrast to rosés currently on trend. A unique nose of muddled raspberry and mint with red plum and violet. The bone-dry palate features delicate tannins amidst flavours of rich red berries and soft herbs. One of a kind from start to acid-driven finish.” Nicole MacKay, Decanter
