Toasting Ontario Chardonnay in the U.K.

Monday was judgment day for several Niagara wineries.

More than 22 Ontario wineries, including 17 from Niagara, shipped their product to London for a prestigious tasting designed to wow the palates of some of the world’s toughest and most powerful critics.

But it wasn’t Niagara’s usual shining star, Icewine, that took centre stage at Canada House, which is located in the heart of London’s Trafalgar Square. Forty cool-climate Chardonnay table wines were the main feature of the five-hour afternoon tasting that attracted about 60 top British wine writers, including Jancis Robinson, Oz Clarke, Stephen Spurrier and Stephen Brook, a contributing editor to high-profile wine magazine Decanter.

Spurrier was the man behind the famed 1976 Judgement of Paris, which catapulted California Chardonnay to prominence after going head-to-head with wines from France.

Bill Redelmeier, owner of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Southbrook Vineyards and who organized the friendly coalition of Ontario wineries, said he hopes the British wine tasting sends the Ontario wine industry to new heights — both abroad and at home.

The showcase, which was not a competition, has already captured the attention of media across Ontario and the United Kingdom — something Redelmeier hopes will translate into domestic wine sales.

“One of the problems we have, as Canadians, is we don’t think anything we do is as good as an import,” said Redelmeier, speaking by phone from London.

“So to have these great wine writers talking about that we’re making great wines in Ontario, I’m hoping to drive sales in Ontario. That, to me, is the big thing.

“We can talk about it and our domestic press can talk about it, but when somebody reads Jancis Robinson or Oz Clarke or Stephen Spurrier in a European magazine saying great things about Ontario wine, we get people coming and trying them in Canada. That’s where our real market is at this point.”

A panel of top Ontario critics, led by noted wine writer Tony Aspler, tasted 60 Chardonnays earlier this year and selected the creme de la creme of the bunch for the British tasting.

Aspler, who attended the London event dubbed “Seriously Cool Chardonnay,” said Ontario winemakers left a searing hot mark on the British wine scene.

“Jancis Robinson, Oz Clarke, Stephen Spurrier and Stephen Brook all had complimentary things to say about the 40 wines poured …,” Aspler wrote on the event’s website Monday.

“This could be an historic tasting in changing U.K. perceptions about Ontario wine.”

Winemaker Derek Barnett of Lailey Vineyards in Niagara-on- the-Lake summed up his U.K. experience in one word: Fabulous.

“I think we were excited to go in as a group and get reviews,” said Barnett, who was one of about 17 Ontario winemakers and winery owners who made the trip.

“We were expecting that we were, I think, on a bit of a world scale, and this is going to tell us all that we were right.”

Michele Bosc, director of marketing with Chateau des Charmes, said Niagara has established a strong international reputation for its icewine.

“But there’s more to us than just icewine,” said Bosc, whose husband, Paul-Andre, travelled to London to represent the family’s Niagara-on-the-Lake winery.

“The intent behind this whole exercise was to show that. To show that cool climate Chardonnay does extremely well in Niagara.”

The idea came to Redelmeier last year after Niagara’s Le Clos Jordanne winery won over the palates of experts in a blind taste test sponsored by the Quebec magazine Cellier.

Afterward, Redelmeier heard winemaker Thomas Bachelder on the radio say he was thrilled with the win and that any one of five to 10 Ontario wineries could have come out victorious.

All Ontario wineries that produce Vintners Quality Alliance wines were invited to submit their Chardonnay, which is made by an estimated 90% of the province’s 113 VQA producers.

Cool climate wines are defined by a shorter growing season, with falls more prone to frost.

The wines tend to show more acidity and finesse than those from hotter climates, which are normally bigger and fruitier.

For more information about the event and a list of participating wineries, go to www.coolchardonnay.ca

mbeech@stcatharinesstandard.

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