Wine tasting in Canada
Now all the admin work of my first day in Canada is done. And I finally got my Canadian drivers license. It is time to live a little! On my first weekend here I was out and about a lot, but firstly I want to tell you about my Canadian wine tasting experience.
Up until fairly recently, I had never even heard of Canadian wine. Then I read about vineyards in Okanagan and how the long days there in summer make for nice wines. But that is all the way out on the west coast. Last week I learned that there are 35 wineries in Prince Edward County, Ontario! Not to be confused with Prince Edward Island, which is its own province on the East Coast.
Wine tasting in Canada
My wonderful host took me to the Black Prince Winery near Picton. She’d been there before and enjoyed the experience. And so did I! First we toured the grounds a little on our own. We saw the little storage building where they keep the barrels across from the building with the tasting bar. It looks like somebody made a hobby into a profession. No industrial sized anything, lots of wood, they even make their own barrels it seems. The patio is surrounded by a railing made from old barrels, really setting the atmosphere. Then we went in to try some wine.
They offer 3 wines for tasting for $5, which too good to pass up on. When we walked in we were the only people there, except for the lovely Cynthia who ran the show that day. We must have stayed for about an hour. They grow different white and red grapes, such as Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Merlot and Sauvignon Franc.
Chardonnay and Sauvignon
Look, I am far from an expert when it comes to wine. But even I can tell that terroir makes a difference. I asked to try their Chardonnay and have to say it tasted quite different from the European versions I am used to. Dryer than they make them in the old world. The Sauvignon however, tasted rather familiar.
The surprise Flavor
We got to chatting with Cynthia, who happens to have German roots. So we talked about wine and food and Canadian history over the first glass. While we were still talking and without us having ordered it, she pulled out a bottle and poured to let us try a different white wine. Turns out it was Marijuana wine! Weed is legal here in Canada and apparently you can even make wine out of it. It doesn’t contain any THC though. I tried it. It was somewhat sweet, sweeter than the Chardonnay for sure. And I would call it rounded taste 😀 anyway, it’s not bad! Odd when you think about what you drink, but not bad.
How to find the wineries
I grabbed a wine map on my way out and found out they’re combining their Marketing efforts. So if you are interested, you can visit the Prince Edward County Wine website, facebook page or follow them on twitter at @PECWines. They also participate in a number of local fairs and events between March and November.
Black Prince Winery is at 13370 Loyalist Parkway in Picton.
Would you try weed wine?
This wine is the nectar of the Gods. Mary Jane’s BC Buddy Wine (Red) is equally deliciously smooth!
great choice of words, Roger 😉 and I see there is Gin, too! good start for a party