This article originally appeared in the Spring/Summer 2023 print issue of Quench Magazine.

Canada is a young country when it comes to vines and wine.

OLD VINES OUT, NEW VINES IN

Prior to the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA) in 1988, most vines in Canada were vitis labrusca and French hybrids with vitis vinifera accounting for just 10 percent of plantings in Ontario and 25 percent in British Columbia. During this time, Canada offered [protections of some sort] to encourage the purchase of domestic wine. Under the terms of the CUSFTA and in response to a General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) ruling against provincial listing, distribution, and markups that violated fair trade principles (imported wines had a 66 percent markup while Ontario wines were subject to 1 percent), Canada agreed to abandon the protection offered to the domestic industry. While many in the industry believed the CUSFTA and GATT ruling would decimate the nascent Canadian wine industry, flooding the marketplace with inexpensive Californian wine, the industry support mechanisms accompanying the trade agreement had the opposite, transformative effect. Thanks to the federal, British Columbia, and Ontario government funded replanting programs in the late 1980s to early 1990s, the large-scale transition from vitis labrusca to vitis vinifera made the industry more competitive and equipped to make better wines.

Ontario grape growers and wineries received $50 million in compensation and a series of forgivable loans to grub up their labrusca and update facilities and equipment. While vineyard area initially declined, the proportion of vinifera increased from 10 to 25 percent by the early 1990s. In British Columbia, the government supported pull-out of 2,500 acres of labrusca and French hybrids left only 400 acres, the majority of which were experimental plantings of vitis vinifera from the 1960s onwards. Because of the replanting programs, the amount of vinifera increased in British Columbia and Ontario with acreage almost doubling from 11,300 to 22,000 acres between 1993 and 2005.

What labrusca that remains goes into juice and jams, and the tradition of using French hybrids continues. Vidal continues to be used to make a significant amount of Ontario Icewine, while old vine plantings from the early ‘70s of Maréchal Foch at Malivoire and Quails’ Gate are made into bottlings of Old Vines Foch, which have garnered a cult following.

HOW OLD IS OLD?

While there is no set parameter for old vines in Europe, producers in New World countries like South Africa, Chile, and Australia have started to define what “old vines” mean. South Africa’s Old Vines Project, launched in 2016, authenticates vines 35 years or older, with wines made from them bearing the Certified Heritage Vineyards seal. Producers in Chile’s Maule Valley have banded together to create Vigno (short for Vignadores de Carignan) for Carignan wines made from vines 30 years or older.  Producers also recently created the Almaule association to save and spotlight old vine País; they also hope to bring back wine culture (complete with Almaule wine vending machines next to soft drink machines) with approachable wines that are at least 90 percent País from over 30-year-old bush vines. In Australia, the Barossa Valley’s Old Vine Charter sets a minimum for old vines at 35 years, with additional and increasing age categories up to 125 years for ancestor vines.

While provincial appellation regulations in Canada have not defined old vines, with interpretation left to the winery or grower, we do have pockets of plantings more than 30, 40, and 50 years old that chronicle our recent history and experimentation with vitis vines and other varieties.

OLD VINES IN CANADA

Ontario

In Niagara, Ontario, German soldier Johann Schiller planted a mix of native North American vitis labrusca and hybrid varieties imported from Pennsylvania in 1811. A little over 50 years later, Vin Villa on Pelee Island received the country’s first commercial winery licence in 1866, and by 1890, Ontario had 35 wineries. The industry expanded and contracted over the next 60 years and in the 1950s, we started to see experimental plantings with vinifera.

John and Bill Lenko planted some of the first Chardonnay in Ontario—in Canada, in fact—in 1959; it lives on in the Two Sisters Vineyards’ Chardonnays. Meanwhile, the Inniskillin Montague Vineyard Chardonnay draws from the original 2.5-acre block planted in 1979, with newer plantings interspersed among the old vines. Other old vines in Ontario, though not always labelled as such, are Cave Spring Cellars and Vineland Estates Rieslings, planted in 1976, and Old Vines Baco Noir from Henry of Pelham, dating back to the mid-‘80s.

Château des Charmes founder Paul Bosc Sr. planted 50 acres of vinifera in 1978, along with an experimental vineyard with vines from Professor Helmut Becker of Germany’s Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute. Donna and David Lailey founded Lailey Winery in 1970 and planted their vines in 1973. Current owner Faik Turkmen explained that 70% of the vineyards are old vine Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Vidal (though some blocks were replanted in the 1990s and 2000s due to winter damage). Turkmen muses that, in terms of viticulture, “you can train young vines anyway you want, as long as nature allows the methods and yields, but old vines—like it or not—they train you, so best to analyze them over a period and adopt their survival method. ”This may explain why Westcott Vineyards “bet the farm” to purchase the Butler’s Grant vineyard with Riesling, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Franc planted between 1980 and 1989. Hurst also believes that, in addition to soil, clone, and depth of root system, vine age has to matter. “After 40 years of metabolizing from the air, earth, and water of our vineyard,” the vines have adapted to show a sense of place, which Hurst argues is worth preserving.

Thomas Bachelder labels his old vine wines (between 25 to 40 years old) with “vieilles vignes.” He views the term “as a signal there is something going on to take note and a way of paying tribute to the vineyard,” rather than being a marketing ploy or something wineries should feel compelled to use. Bachelder believes old vines in Ontario can weather the extreme temperatures because their deep roots “allow a buffering out to produce wines with more linearity and depth of flavour.” While old vines may be less exuberantly fruity, Bachelder thinks vintage variation is harder to notice, because “the fruit tastes cooler in warm years and warmer in cool years.” Ann Sperling has made wine in British Columbia and Ontario for many years. She thinks vines settle into a steady state of yields and quality at about 20 to 25 years of age, and wine made from these vines is “more consistent, showing less vintage variation, and [more] expressive of the individual site.” In her experience, it takes longer in the Okanagan Valley for new plantings to become uniquely expressive—at least 15 years for single vineyard expression to show—while Niagara shows its specificity after about eight to 10 years. Sperling sees old vines, and the single vineyard wines made from them, as part of regional identity.

British Columbia

British Columbia’s first vineyard appeared at the Oblate Mission of Father Charles Pandosy near Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley in 1859. The earliest attempt at commercial grape growing was near Salmon Arm in 1907 (in the present-day Shuswap GI) and in 1927, horticulturalist J.W. Hughes planted vitis labrusca in Kelowna to sell to the province’s first two wineries. A few more wineries popped up in the 1960s and ‘70s, with significant developments taking place in 1980s.

Some of British Columbia’s earliest plantings of vinifera date back to the 1960s. Quails’ Gate planted Chasselas in 1961 after receiving them by mistake in their order for French hybrids. During the 1970s, there were planting trials of Riesling, Ehrenfelser, and Scheurebe by the Osoyoos Indian Band at their Inkameep Vineyards in the south Okanagan. The BC government hired professor and viticulturist Helmut Becker of Geisenheim to advise on vinifera plantings in the Okanagan from 1977 to 1985; the “Becker Project” vineyards replanted from aromatic whites to Bordeaux reds in 1993 and are still used in Phantom Creek Becker Cuvée.

Nichol Vineyards on the Naramata Bench planted Canada’s first Syrah in 1990, and continue to use those vines for their Old Vines Syrah.

BC wine pioneer Joe Busnardo planted vinifera vines at Hester Creek winery in 1968, with many now in their mid-50s, including Canada’s first and only planting of Trebbiano. Kimberly Pylatuk of Hester Creek explains that, given the winery has “one of the first-established vineyards in the province, we made the conscious decision to brand our wines made from our 50-year-old vineyard as ‘old vine.’” The wines also command a higher price point to compensate for lower yields and higher cost-per-acre to farm. At Tantalus Vineyards, old vines are integral to the history of the site and greater agricultural area that has been under vines (with table grapes) since the 1920s. The Tantalus Old Vines Riesling, Weis 21 B clone, was planted in 1978 on the same day as at neighbouring Sperling and St. Hubertus. They also have Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier from 1985. Stephanie Mosley of Tantalus acknowledges that by “some global standards, their old vines might not be classified as such, but under the lens of our Canadian industry, not to mention our harsher Canadian winters, these plantings from the ‘70s and ‘80s are worth classifying as ‘old’ in our books.” Tantalus winemaker Dave Paterson believes there is an energy, length, and complexity in wines that increase with vine age, and that deeper root systems of old blocks require far less water than younger blocks.

Shane Munn, winemaker at Martin’s Lane, makes Riesling from two small blocks planted in 1978 on their Naramata Ranch and newly purchased Sperling Vineyard properties. The wines are named according to the vineyard with no mention of old vines, “out of humility, and in comparison to other parts of the world.” Munn acknowledges that vine age contributes to complexity and concentration, and older vines have a better natural balance than younger vines, but that they also yield less. Take, for example, the 2022 harvest; yield comparisons between their Fritzi’s vineyard Riesling, planted in 1997, and the Naramata and Sperling vineyards show Fritzi’s producing 6.1 tonnes per hectare, while the old vine blocks yielded 4.8 and 4.6 tonnes per hectare respectively.

Quebec and Nova Scotia

Small-scale vineyards and wineries began sprouting up in Quebec in the 1970s. Christian Barthomeuf, originally from France and inventor of Quebec ice cider, founded Domaine des Côtes d’Ardoise in 1979 with plantings of Foch, Seyval Blanc, and Pinot Noir.

Nova Scotia’s vineyard history started with experimental plantings at the Kentville Research Station in 1913. Commercial vineyards appeared in the 1970s in the Malagash Peninsula and in 1980 at what would become Domaine de Grand Pré. Father-son team, Jim and John Warner, have been planting vineyards in Nova Scotia for several decades, with some of the oldest blocks at Blomidon Winery planted by Jim Warner.

The estate vineyard at Blomidon consists of 25% old vines with L’Acadie Blanc and Seyval Blanc from vines planted in 1986, and a Chardonnay “Old Block” planted in 1996. According to Blomidon winemaker Simon Rafuse, “in our climate, we consider old vines to be around 30 years old.” The only wine Blomidon makes exclusively with old vines is the Cuvée L’Acadie Sparkling, which is no doubt the world’s first and only traditional method from 37-year-old L’Acadie. Rafuse finds old vines to have more regular yields and consistent harvest dates year to year. The resulting wines have more complexity and depth. He also observes that in a new region, like Nova Scotia, vine age is not something consumers think about. They are surprised when they learn Blomidon’s vines were planted in the ‘80s. Rafuse also never thought about putting old vines on the label or charging more before our discussion, but he just might start doing so.

IS AGE JUST A NUMBER?

While old vines do not necessarily equate to quality and, ultimately, the wine in the glass is what matters, there is recognition in Canada, and globally, that old vines are worth protecting and celebrating. Winemakers describe wines made from old vines as more complex, concentrated, and expressive. Yes, they are lower in yields and they should not be kept just for the sake of being old (especially if they’re not producing quality grapes). But when they do produce quality wine, we should preserve them, study them, and learn from them, as we do by reading classic literature or studying art history.

Researchers, growers, and winemakers are discovering that old vines appear better able to cope with the extremes of a changing climate, require less water, and are more adaptable simply because they have been around longer. Whether old vines exist through accidental survival or through proactive regenerative agriculture to preserve part of a viticultural heritage, they are a narrative worth preserving.

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Janet Dorozynski left life as an academic and has been tasting, judging, teaching & communicating about wine, beer and spirits from across Canada and the world for more than twenty years. She holds the WSET Diploma, a PhD from Concordia University and is a WSET Certified Educator.