Page 58 - Grapevine March-April 2020

International News

Why You Like Ontario Wine But Just

Don’t Know It

By: Alyssa Andres
I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard one’s overall rating. Simple. The prize: a $200 bot-

people say, “I don’t like Ontario wine.” It’s a
tle of Gamble Mary Ann, a Napa Valley Bordeaux
statement I constantly hear, especially in the
Ontario’s Ridgepoint Wines and waited for the
Niagara region, where a lot of wine lists focus on Blend. I quietly uncorked my bottle of wine from
local producers. Every time I hear this sentiment, night to unfold.
I’m a little appalled. It’s like saying you don’t like
Chardonnay. Maybe you just haven’t found the Currently, Ontario is cursed with the same stig-
right Chardonnay for you. So, this year, when I ma that California received in the 1970s before
attended my very posh friend’s annual holiday wine the Judgement of Paris. No one seems to believe
tasting party, I brought along a nice, moderately Ontario vintners are capable of producing great
priced bottle of Ontario wine to add to the mix of wine. Forty years later, California is one of the
thirty bottles we were blind tasting. The premise: leading producers in the world and seen as a pre-
each person brings a bottle of wine and, through- mier destination. However, Ontario winemakers
out the night, tries each one and chooses their are still fighting to make a name for themselves in
favorite. The winner was chosen based on every- the international market, despite having been pro-

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