Ontario VQA Sparkling Wine

Celebrate the everyday by popping open a bottle of VQA sparkling!

Ontario’s cool climate and limestone rich soils produce some of the world’s best sparkling wines. In search of the perfect pairing? Ontario VQA bubbly is incredibly versatile and pairs well with almost anything so it’s easy to match with any cuisine. From dry or “brut”, to sweet or ”demi-sec”, traditional or charmat method, there is a VQA sparkling wine for everyone to enjoy!

“Ontario bubbles have little to envy. After a big tasting of VQA sparkling wines, I’m convinced more than ever that Ontario has the potential to produce, and is already producing, quality wines of the caliber that should make the champenois quiver in their standard-issue vigneron coveralls.”

– John Szabo

Ontario has been a draw for serious sparkling winemakers as far back as 1974 when the Podamer Champagne Company first made Chardonnay-based Traditional Method wines. But the market for serious sparkling did not develop until the late 1990s and early 2000s when Niagara wineries like 13th Street, Henry of Pelham, Trius and Cave Spring Cellars equipped themselves to make sparkling that was fermented and aged in bottle. By the 2004 vintage, Huff Estates in Prince Edward County, led by French-trained winemaker Frédéric Picard, had realized the potential of the area’s even cooler climate and limestone soils. They were followed quickly by Hinterland, who focuses on sparkling winemaking in Prince Edward County. As the thirst for high-quality sparkling expands, so does its production, with over 100 wineries in Ontario now making bubbly.

There are two key methods for making sparkling wine, Traditional Method or Charmat Method (also known as Cuve Close). But all sparkling wines are bottled under pressure which give the finished wine their characteristic bubbles.

Traditional Method

This method of crafting sparkling wine is perhaps the most celebrated, crafting a wine with delicate bubbles, bright acidity, and often bread-like or fine brioche aromas. The key factor in this method is that the secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle, where sugar and yeast are added to the still wine to create CO2, producing fine bubbles. It is often aged in the bottle for several years to create complexity and depth.

Cuve Close/Charmat

In this method, the secondary fermentation takes place in large steel tanks, where sugar and yeast are added to the still wine. The CO2 that is produced from this reaction is trapped inside the tank, creating the bubbles before the wine is bottled and results in sparkling wines that are fresh, vibrant and fruit forward.

Trendy Effervescents

Pét-nat or Méthode Ancestrale, is a method of sparkling wine production. Unlike the traditional method, in which sugar and yeast are added to the bottle to begin secondary fermentation, pét-nat is created by bottling partially fermented wine. The first and only fermentation occurs in bottle and traps the CO2, creating pét-nat’s bubbles, which typically have a light and fizzy mouthfeel. These wines are sometimes cloudy, as they are often unfiltered. They are also lower in alcohol and sweeter, due to naturally unfermented sugars.

VQA Sparkling Wine

Common Labelling Terms

Non-Vintage or NV= The grapes used to make the wine were from several different vintages (years). This helps produce a wine that is consistent, year after year.

Vintage=The grapes used to make the wine came from a single vintage (year). This can be challenging, often times leading to a higher price point.

Blanc de Blanc=The grapes used to make this wine were made up entirely of white grape varieties, i.e. Chardonnay

Blanc de Noirs=The grapes used to make this wine were made up entirely of red grape varieties, i.e. Pinot Noir