Wine region | |
Official name | Québec |
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Type | Canadian province |
Year established | 1867 |
Years of wine industry | 1970s (grapes grown since 1608) |
Country | Canada |
Sub-regions | Basses Laurentides, Lanaudière, Québec, Montérégie, Eastern Townships, Centre-du-Québec |
Total area | 1,542,056 km2 |
Size of planted vineyards | 249,3 ha [1] |
Varietals produced | white: Adalmiina, Cayuga, Chardonnay, Delisle, Eona, Geisenheim, Hibernal, Kay Gray, Muscat, New York Muscat, Prairie Star, Riesling, Saint-Pépin, Seyval blanc, Vandal-Cliche, Vidal Red: Baco noir, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon Severnyi, Chambaudière, Chambourcin, Chancellor, De Chaunac, Frontenac, Gamay, Landal noir, Landot noir, Léon-Millot, Lucie Kuhlmann, Maréchal Foch, Merlot, Mitchurinetz, Pinot noir, Pionnier, Radisson, Sabrevois, Sainte-Croix, Seyval noir [2] |
No. of wineries | 49 [3] |
Wine produced | 234 [1] |
Cuisine of Quebec |
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Quebec wine is wine made in the province of Quebec. The grape varieties grown in Quebec, both white and red, all have common qualities needed by the harshness of the winter season, including resistance to winter temperatures, resistance to spring freezes and being early ripening. Some 40 varieties are grown in Quebec, with the most commonly planted being Maréchal Foch, Frontenac, De Chaunac, Vidal and Seyval blanc.
Quebec wine makers have developed a large array of products including dry, semi-dry and fortified wines (including Vin doux naturel styles). Additionally the region produces ice wines, late harvest wines, sparkling wines and fruit wines.
Quebec counts six regions where vines are cultivated. They are the Eastern Townships, Montérégie, Québec, Basses Laurentides, Lanaudière, and Centre-du-Québec.
When French explorer Jacques Cartier sailed the St. Lawrence River, he noted the presence of wild grapes ( Vitis riparia ) on Île d'Orléans and for this reason named it Île de Bacchus, in honour of the Roman God of wine and drunkenness. [4] In 1608, when Samuel de Champlain settled the site where Quebec City would later flourish, he planted French vines ( Vitis vinifera ) and discovered that they did not resist the winter very well. Small productions were nonetheless tried here and there over the years and in the 18th century, the inhabitants of the French colony were in the habit of making wine out of the wild grapes and other fruits. While the production remained small, the import of wine bottles from France was quite important (775,166 bottles in 1739 for an above-15 population of only 24 260 persons). [4]
Following the conquest of French Canada by the British army in 1760, imports of French wine depleted quickly, as Great Britain's colonial policy favoured trade within the British Empire. Spirits (whisky, gin, rum, etc.) thus became the dominant type of alcohol being consumed by Quebecers and remained so until the late 19th century when trade relations between Canada and France were revived as a result of the British adoption of laissez faire. [4]
In 1864, the Quebec government tried to encourage wine production in the province through subsidies. Wild grapes were again tried as well as hybrid varieties from the United States. The emerging industry went through important difficulties, not the least of which was the temperance movement trying to reduce the consumption of alcohol altogether and by the 1920s succeeding at prohibiting alcohol in the United States and all provinces of Canada. Despite the will of Quebecers, who voted at 81.1% against prohibition in the September 29, 1898 Canadian-wide referendum on the subject, the Parliament of Quebec enacted a law of total prohibition, which became effective on May 1, 1919. Shortly after, a Quebec-wide referendum was held in which Quebecers voted the exclusion of beer, wine, and cider from the prohibition list. Quebec remained the sole region of North America to escape total prohibition. [5]
In 1921, an Alcoholic Beverages Act was passed and the Commission des liqueurs du Québec was established to conduct the trade of beer, wine and cider, and eventually spirits too. This state-owned corporation would then on exercise a legal monopoly on all distribution of alcohol in Quebec, which it still enjoys today (though the corporation now bears the name of Société des alcools du Québec). [5]
With the diversification of Quebecers' alcohol consumption habits ultimately came a demand for local products. In the 1970s, some farmers began experimenting with hybrid varieties, both white and red. Early successes at developing quality products, prompted many others to follow and the 1980s and 1990s saw the burgeoning of numerous vineyards all over southern Quebec.
In 1987, the first few Quebec wine growers formed an association. The successes of some of its members ultimately caught the attention of the French and in 1995, the Association des Vignerons du Québec and the Syndicat viticole des Graves et Graves supérieures of the Bordeaux region united in a professional partnership. [6]
The St. Lawrence river valley, south of the province, is a fertile region where wild grapes and other fruits grow naturally and abundantly. However, the four-month-long winter of this humid continental climate zone freezes the land deep enough that most varieties of European vines do not survive. In the 1980s, Quebec wine growers started planting varieties known for their resistance to below-zero temperatures and in certain cases made use of modern techniques to heat up the soil during the coldest days of winter. [7] Quebec wine makers have 6 months to accomplish what in warmer wine regions takes 11 to 12 months to do.
The vine varieties that seem to grow the best in Quebec are those of the Northern France, Germany, and North-Eastern United States. Some 40 varieties are grown in Quebec, with the most commonly planted being, for red wine, Sainte-Croix, Maréchal Foch, Frontenac, Sabrevois and De Chaunac, and for white wine, Vidal, Seyval blanc, L'Acadie blanc, Vandal-Cliche and Geisenheim. In 2008, vines used in red wine made up 60% of the total planted area. [1]
White wine is a wine that is fermented without skin contact. The colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured pulp of grapes, which may have a skin of any colour. White wine has existed for at least 4,000 years.
Alsace wine or Alsatian wine is produced in the Alsace region in France and is primarily white wine. Because of its Germanic influence, it is the only Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée region in France to produce mostly varietal wines, typically from similar grape varieties to those used in German wine. Along with Austria and Germany, it produces some of the most noted dry Rieslings in the world as well as highly aromatic Gewürztraminer wines. Wines are produced under three different AOCs: Alsace AOC for white, rosé and red wines, Alsace Grand Cru AOC for white wines from certain classified vineyards and Crémant d'Alsace AOC for sparkling wines. Both dry and sweet white wines are produced.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a French wine, an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) located around the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the Rhône wine region in southeastern France. It is one of the most renowned appellations of the southern part in the Rhône Valley, and its vineyards are located around Châteauneuf-du-Pape and in neighboring villages, Bédarrides, Courthézon and Sorgues, between Avignon and Orange. They cover slightly more than 3,200 hectares or 7,900 acres (32 km2) and produce over 110,000 hectolitres of wine a year, more wine made in this one area of the southern Rhône than in all of the northern Rhône.
The Société des alcools du Québec is a provincial Crown corporation and monopoly in Quebec responsible for the trade of alcoholic beverages within the province.
Savagnin or Savagnin blanc is a variety of white wine grape with green-skinned berries. It is mostly grown in the Jura region of France, where it is made into Savagnin wine or the famous vin jaune and vin de paille.
French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and American wine-producing regions. French wine traces its history to the 6th century BCE, with many of France's regions dating their wine-making history to Roman times. The wines produced range from expensive wines sold internationally to modest wines usually only seen within France such as the Margnat wines of the post-war period.
Pineau d'Aunis is a red French wine grape variety that is grown primarily in the Loire Valley around Anjou and Touraine.
Pouilly-Fumé is an appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) for the dry sauvignon blanc white wine produced around Pouilly-sur-Loire, in the Nièvre département. Another white wine produced in the same area but with a different grape variety is called Pouilly-sur-Loire.
Ice cider is the cider equivalent of ice wine: a fermented beverage made from the juice of frozen apples. Similar to ice wine, the use of frozen apples concentrates the natural sugars in the apples, resulting in a higher alcohol content than cider made by traditional methods.
Len de l'El is a white French wine grape variety native to South West France. Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) regulation dictate that the white wines from Gaillac must include at least 15% Len de l'El blended with Mauzac, though there has been movements to allow substitution of Sauvignon blanc.
Pierre Galet was a French ampelographer and author who was an influential figure within ampelography in the 20th century and before DNA typing was widely introduced. Beginning in the 1950s, Pierre Galet introduced a system for identifying varieties based on the shape, contours and characteristics of the leaves of the vines, petioles, growing shoots, shoot tips, grape clusters, as well as the colour, size, seed content and flavour of the grapes. The impact and comprehensiveness of his work earned him the consideration as the "father of modern ampelography". He started publishing within ampelography in the 1950s and his Ph.D. thesis was presented in 1967. He has also written popular science books on grape varieties. Galet was active at the École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Montpellier.
Beaumes de Venise is an appellation of wines from the eastern central region of the southern half of the Rhône Valley. It produces wines of two distinctly different types:
Marsannay wine is produced in the communes of Marsannay-la-Côte, Couchey and Chenôve in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy. The Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) Marsannay may be used for red and rosé wine with Pinot noir, as well as white wine with Chardonnay as the main grape variety. Red wine accounts for the largest part of the production, around two-thirds. Marsannay is the only village-level appellation which may produce rosé wines, under the designation Marsannay rosé. All other Burgundy rosés are restricted to the regional appellation Bourgogne. There are no Grand Cru or Premier Cru vineyards in Marsannay. The Marsannay AOC was created in 1987, and is the most recent addition to the Côte de Nuits.
Quebec cider is crafted in the apple-producing regions of Montérégie, Eastern Townships, Chaudière-Appalaches, the Laurentides, Charlevoix and Capitale-Nationale, in Canada. The revival of cider is a relatively new phenomenon, since Quebec's alcohol regulating body, the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux began issuing permits to produce craft cider only in 1988. In 2008, some 40 cider makers were producing more than 100 apple-based alcoholic beverages.
The Quebec referendum on the prohibition of alcohol, held on April 10, 1919, considered the legalization of the sale of beer, cider and wine in the province of Quebec, Canada. The 'yes' side won with 78.62% of the votes.
Swedish wine, in terms of wine produced commercially from grapes grown in Sweden, is a very marginal but growing industry which saw its first beginnings in the late 1990s.
Seyval noir is a red hybrid grape variety that was created in the late 19th century by French horticulturalist Bertille Seyve and his father-in-law Victor Villard from a crossing of two Seibel grapes. The pair used the same two variety to create the white wine grape Seyval blanc making the two siblings rather than color mutations of one or the other. The name Seyval comes from a combination of the two men's names.
L'Acadie blanc is a white Canadian wine grape variety that is a hybrid crossing of Cascade and Seyve-Villard 14-287. The grape was created in 1953 by grape breeder Ollie A. Bradt in Niagara, Ontario at the Vineland Horticultural Research Station which is now the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre. Today the grape is widely planted in Nova Scotia with some plantings in Quebec and Ontario. Some wine writers, including those at Appellation America, consider L'Acadie blanc as "Nova Scotia’s equivalent to Chardonnay".
Ponty Vineyards, also known as Vignobles Ponty, is a wine estate of Bordeaux wine in the Canon Fronsac appellation located on the right bank of the river Garonne, 25 km away from Bordeaux, close to the city of Libourne. Close to the Pomerol and Saint-Emilion regions, Canon Fronsac’s landscape of plateaus and hills snuggle into the confluence of two rivers: the Isle and the Dordogne. Winemaking has been the family business for the Ponty family for more than five generations. The vineyard currently produces five wines: Chateau Grand Renouil, Chateau du Pavillon, Petit Renouil, Clos Virolle, and Blanc de Grand Renouil.
The gros-plant-du-pays-nantais is an appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) wine produced mainly in the Loire-Atlantique department. It is a dry white wine made mainly from the folle-blanche grape variety. In 2008, it covered a surface area of 1,372 hectares in the Pays de la Loire region, mainly south of Nantes, in the Loire-Atlantique département, and extending into the Maine-et-Loire and Vendée départements. In 2010, with 79,380 hectolitres, it was France's leading premium wine by volume.
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