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Wine facts
The first long weekend of the spring-summer season is in the books. From what I’ve heard, it was busy. Really busy. And people are already talking about how busy it’s expected to be through the summer.
In an effort to help prepare you while you’re talking to strangers on the street, waiting in line at the grocery store or picnicking at the same beach, here are some details you could work into the conversation when people ask about the local wines.
There are about 35-40 wineries in Prince Edward County.
There are about 500 acres of grapes planted.
As a point of comparison, there are around 120 wineries in Niagara and over 12,000 acres of grapes planted.
Those coming for the wines are in for a treat, because there are some proper boutique wineries here.
And because the wineries are generally small, less than 20 acres on average, with many less than 10, that gives the winemakers an extreme advantage for hands-on quality control.
The oldest vineyards are around 25 years old. Which means that if the wines are great now, they will only improve as the vines age.
Our signature grapes are chardonnay and pinot noir. Every wine region has one. Mendoza, Argentina has malbec, Marlborough, New Zealand has sauvignon blanc, and the County has chardonnay and pinot noir. With the passing of international #ChardonnayDay last week, the wines here could stand up bottle to bottle against many international equivalents. Have no fear if you missed it, you can always celebrate #PinotNoirDay on August 18 this year.
Our signature grapes are also the best ones to use for making high quality traditional method sparkling wine, something this region could slowly become known for. I say slowly because it takes a long time to make traditional method sparkling wine where the second fermentation, which produces the bubbles, takes place in the bottle and then has to rest there for a few years. The longer the better. Plus, with aged vines producing better wine and more wineries possessing extra capital to hold back wines while they age, traditional method sparkling wine is a long game and one that is being played well here. You can find truly exceptional sparkling wines in the County for less than a song and a dance compared to their Champagne counterparts.
Of course, there are few trendy pet nats, traditionally made where the primary alcoholic fermentation finishes in the bottle, and even some tank method wines where the bubbles are created in a pressurized tank and then bottled, but for sparkling wines that compare to traditional method bubbles around the world, the wines here are top class.
There is no ice wine made here. It may sound counterintuitive because of how cold our winters are, but it is important that the vines get buried with dirt or geotextile fabric as soon as the grapes are harvested in October. The farms in Niagara, in contrast, are temperated by the lake in the winter months, helping to keep the sleeping vineyards warmer. With no need to bury the vines, grapes there can hang until the legally required minus 8 degrees for harvesting grapes to make ice wine.
Armed with a few basic facts about the local wines, when friends or tourists come to visit, we can all be County wine ambassadors!
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