Inniskillin
Encyclopedia
Inniskillin is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
winery
Winery
A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of...
located in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Niagara-on-the-Lake is a Canadian town located in Southern Ontario where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region of the southern part of the province of Ontario. It is located across the Niagara river from Youngstown, New York, USA...
. Inniskillin, which is mainly noted for their icewine production, has played an important pioneering role in the modern Canadian wine
Canadian wine
Canadian wine is produced in mainly southern British Columbia and southern Ontario. There is also a growing number of small scale producers of grapes and wine in southern Quebec and Nova Scotia. The two largest wine-producing regions in Canada are the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia and the...
industry. Since 1994, Inniskillin also operates a winery in Okanagan, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
(Inniskillin Okanagan) in addition to their original location (Inniskillin Niagara).
History
Inniskillin was founded by Donald Ziraldo and Karl Kaiser and saw its beginnings in 1974. Before embarking on the Innskillin project, Ziraldo was running a grapevine nurseryNursery (horticulture)
A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to usable size. They include retail nurseries which sell to the general public, wholesale nurseries which sell only to businesses such as other nurseries and to commercial gardeners, and private nurseries which supply the needs of...
and Karl Kaiser, a trained chemist, was a home wine maker. The first vines were planted in 1974, and since the duo had the ambition to make better-quality wines, their vineyard was planted with traditional European grape varieties, of the Vitis vinifera
Vitis vinifera
Vitis vinifera is a species of Vitis, native to the Mediterranean region, central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran....
species, chosen from those cultivated in colder European regions. Their first vineyard, of 32 acres (12.9 ha) was planted with Riesling
Riesling
Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...
, Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
and Gamay
Gamay
Gamay is a purple-colored grape variety used to make red wines, most notably grown in Beaujolais and in the Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as long ago as the 15th century...
.
At that time the wine industry in the Niagara consisted of five bulk wineries growing American ("non-vinifera") vines, and no winery licenses had been issued since 1929. Inniskillin's license in 1975, which Ziraldo successfully lobbied for, was therefore the first post-prohibition
Prohibition in Canada
The temperance movement reached its height in Canada in the 1920s, when outside imports were cut off by provincial referendums. As legislation prohibiting consumption of alcohol was repealed, it was typically replaced with regulation restricting the sale of alcohol to minors and imposing excise...
license issued in the region. The company Inniskillin Wines was formally incorporated on July 31, 1975, and the first harvest occurred three years after their first vineyard was planted, in 1977. While waiting for their V. vinifera vines to yield grapes, they produced some wine from hybrid grapes. In 1978, Inniskillin moved to its present location on the Brae Burn Estate. An existing 1920s barn, thought to have been inspired by architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
, was restored for the winery's use, and has become something of a landmark.
Table wine
Table wine is a wine term with two different meanings: a wine style; and a quality level within wine classification.In the United States, table wine primarily designates a wine style - ordinary wine which is neither fortified nor sparkling....
s, but another significant development started a few years later. In 1983, Karl Kaiser and three other Ontario wineries all left grapes on their vines in an attempt to produce ice wine, in order to put the harsh Canadian winter to good use. Inniskillin and their Niagara neighbour Ewald Reif lost their entire crop to hungry birds, while the two wineries Hillebrand and Pelee Island, situated in another part of Ontario, were able to harvest a minuscule amount of frozen grapes. In 1984, Kaiser used nets to protect Inniskillin's grapes and were able to produce the winery's first ice wine. This wine was made from Vidal
Vidal
Vidal is the surname of:* Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca, a Spanish member of the European Parliament, and a radiation physicist* Alexander Thomas Emeric Vidal, British admiral and surveyor* Alexander Vidal, Canadian politician...
grapes harvested at the Brae Burn Estate and was in fact labelled "Eiswein", the German and Austrian wine term. Thus, Inniskillin was one of the first Canadian wineries to produce ice wine, and the first to do so in commercially significant quantities. The international breakthrough of Canadian ice wine came in 1991, when Inniskillin's 1989 Vidal ice wine won the Grand Prix d’Honneur at Vinexpo.
The two founders of Inniskillin practised a division of labour. Kaiser handled the winemaking, and Ziraldo handled the marketing and was president of the company. Ziraldo was also instrumental in creating the Vintners Quality Alliance
Vintners Quality Alliance
Vintners Quality Alliance, or VQA, is a regulatory and appellation system which guarantees the high quality and authenticity of origin for Canadian wines made under that system in British Columbia and Ontario. It is similar to regulatory systems in France , Italy , and Germany...
(VQA) and was the organisation's first chairman.
In 1992, Inniskillin Wines merged with Cartier wines (one of the old wineries of the region, founded in 1889) to form Cartier Inniskillin Vintners Inc. In 1993, Cartier Inniskillin Vintners Inc. merged with T.G. Bright & Co. Limited (founded in 1874 as the Niagara Falls Wine Company) under the name Vincor International Inc. Inniskillin wines continued as a subsidiary of Vincor, with the wines labelled as before and Ziraldo and Kaiser in their old roles.
In 1994, Inniskillin started activities at a subsidiary winery in Okanagan, British Columbia, under the name Inniskillin Okanagan. After that, the original winery was referred to as Inniskillin Niagara. This winery was started in collaboration with First Nation locals, the Okanaqueen Tribe of the Inkameep people, which kept vineyards on their land and supplied grapes to Inniskillin Okanagan. In 1996, Inniskillin expanded their Okanagan activities by buying an existing winery in Okanagan, Okanagan Vineyards, as well as the Dark Horse Vineyard.
In April 2006, Constellation Brands
Constellation Brands
Constellation Brands, Inc., headquartered in Victor, New York, is the world’s leading wine company with a broad portfolio of widely admired premium brands across the wine, beer and spirits categories.-History and description:...
bought Inniskillin's parent company Vincor International Inc., which became Vincor Canada. Later that year Karl Kaiser went into retirement, but stayed on as a consultant for Inniskillin's ice wine activities, and Ziraldo left the winery and his position as president.
Wines
The icewine production, accounting for approximately 10% of the winery's output, is commercially significant to Inniskillin. The parent company Vincor has singled out Inniskillin to be the group's primary icewine exporter, and Inniskillin icewines are therefore among the most distributed Canadian icewines in export markets such as United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
All of Inniskillin's wines are VQA wines and most are varietal
Varietal
"Varietal" describes wines made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label. Examples of grape varieties commonly used in varietal wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot...
, and their range of table wines is marketed in five levels.
- Varietal Series (Niagara and Okanagan), several different varietal wines marked only with their region origin. Unoaked white wines and unoaked or lightly oaked red wines.
- Reserve Series (Niagara and Okanagan), varietal wines of more concentrated flavours from a narrower range of varieties. The Reserve Riesling is unoaked, while other white and all red wines see more oak than the wines in the Varietal Series.
- Discovery Series (Okanagan), varietal wines made from "odd" varieties not commonly cultivated in Okanagan Valley.
- Single Vineyard Series (Niagara and Okanagan), mostly varietal wines sourced from a single vineyard where the combination of vineyard and variety is considered favourable. As for the Reserve Series, Riesling wines are unoaked while other whites and all reds are oaked. Blended MeritageMeritageMeritage is a proprietary term used to denote red and white Bordeaux-style wines without infringing on the Bordeaux region's legally protected designation of origin. Winemakers must license the Meritage trademark from its owner, the California-based Meritage Alliance...
wines are produced in Okanagan.
- Founders' Series (Niagara), limited amounts of oaked Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines.
Vineyards
Inniskillin sources its grapes both from their own vineyards, and from some contracted neighbouring vineyards in the Niagara Peninsula. In Okanagan, grapes are also sourced from the vineyards kept by the Okanaqueen Tribe. The only non-vinifera grape grown is Vidal, used for icewine. The following vineyards are used:| Vineyard | VQA Appellation | VQA Sub-appellation | Size | Predominant grape varieties | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brae Burn Estate | Niagara Peninsula | Niagara River | Pinot Noir, Riesling, Vidal | Owned. The site of the Inniskillin Niagara winery since 1978, includes vineyards dedicated to icewine production | |
| Montague Estate | Niagara Peninsula | Four Mile Creek | 100 acres (40.5 ha) | Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Pinot Gris, Riesling | Owned |
| Seeger Vineyard | Niagara Peninsula | Niagara River | 120 acres (48.6 ha) | Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Gamay, Vidal | Includes Inniskillin's original 1974 vineyard, which was sold to the Seeger family in 1977 |
| Klose Vineyard | Niagara Peninsula | Niagara River | 15 acres (6.1 ha) | Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon | |
| Schuele Vineyard | Niagara Peninsula | Lincoln Lakeshore | 170 acres (68.8 ha) | Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Vidal | |
| Dark Horse Estate | Okanagan Valley | 23 acres (9.3 ha) | Owned | ||
| Bull Pine Vineyard | Okanagan Valley | Owned | |||
| Discovery Vineyard | Okanagan Valley | 3 hectares (7.4 acre) | Marsanne, Roussanne, Pinot Gris, Malbec, Zinfandel | Owned. Dedicated to varieties not common in Okanagan | |
| (First nations land) | Okanagan Valley | 265 hectares (654.8 acre) |