Ontario's Turn to Sparkle

With holidays around the corner, my thoughts turn to sparkling wine. 

Sparkling wine isn’t just for celebrations, but when it is time to celebrate, do you really want to drink anything else?  Take a page from Madame Bollinger, as she famously said of Champagne: “I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad.  Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone.  When I have company I consider it obligatory.  I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and I drink it when I am.  Otherwise I never touch it, unless I’m thirsty.”

Seeing the multitude of choices at the LCBO, I turn into a little girl in a candy store.  Veuve Clicquot, Krug, Lanson, Taittinger – thoughts of my holiday budget leave my head!  But wait, how about Ontario sparkling wine?

I feel sparkling wine is the new “it” wine for Ontario wineries, and we do it extremely well!  Because we are a cool climate wine region, our grapes have a naturally high acidity, which is the key to making sparkling wine. And because our grapes aren’t the most expensive in the world, our sparkling wines often cost less than half the price of a bottle of “real” Champagne!  All of a sudden you’re thinking, “Hey, I can now afford to drink like Madame Bollinger!”  With that said, here is my list of favourite Ontario Sparkling Wines currently available at the LCBO:

1. 2006 Château des Charmes Rosé Sparkling ($28.95)
2. 2007 Flat Rock Cellars “Riddled” ($24.95)
3. 2006 Fielding Estate Winery Sparkling Riesling ($28.00)
4. N/V Peller Estates Ice Cuvée & Ice Cuvée Rosé ($31.95/$35.20)
5. N/V Henry of Pelham Cuvée Catharine Brut & Rosé Brut ($29.95)

And an honourable mention to Hillebrand Winery’s Trius Brut ($24.95) for coming from the most unbelievable must-see underground sparkling wine cellar in Canada!

I wish you the very best of the holiday season, and I look forward to hearing what was in your glass!