Donald Ziraldo is a Canadian winemaker and businessman, and a Member of the Order of Canada. He has often been hailed as one of the most important figures in Canadian wine history. Here he discusses the uniqueness of the Icewine and the Niagara Region.
Watch My Niagara Experience with Donald Ziraldo:
Transcript:
“Icewine is a very, very unique product. We leave the grapes naturally frozen on the vine, by law, as the freezing and thawing process contributes to the concentration of sugar acid and the ideal balance is the secret to gives you that main the sensation on the palate.
This gives you a rush of sugar when you drink it and then the acidity cleanses your palate and its ready for some food like foie gras or something exotic.
Niagara Wine Region
The Niagara wine region itself is really defined by two things:
- Lake Ontario, which as one of the Great Lakes is very deep.
- The Niagara Escarpment, which create this microclimate we get very hot summers so we get a ripe fruit but then in the shoulders season in December January the temperature drops off dramatically, grapes freeze and we make ice wine.
It’s very unique and it doesn’t happen many other places in the world.
When we won the Grand Prix d’Honneur, Vinexpo, France 1991 award for our Icewine in Bordeaux France, we were given the title of being the best dessert wine in the world.
That’s the nice thing about wine– there’s always that glamorous element to it; where everybody gets dressed up, they go to these galas.
Savouring Icewine
You want to savour all of the different aromas and flavours that are really translating from the terroir and the region that we live in. It expresses the character of the region itself, along with the varieties that we use in the case of Icewine Riesling, Vidal and Cab Franc.
Let us welcome you to Niagara the lake and enjoy the ice wines of the region.
I’m Donald Ziraldo and this is My Niagara Experience. ”
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Learn More About Niagara Wine
Learn more about Niagara Wine, including Icewine at: https://www.visitniagaracanada.com/taste/wineries/
