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CTV News
17 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Canadians are drinking more local beer and wine during U.S. trade war, report suggests
A display of Ontario wine is pictured at the 100 Queen's Quay East LCBO outlet in Toronto on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Laura Proctor As trade tensions simmer between Ottawa and Washington, 'Buy Canada' sentiment has taken off across the country, and new data suggests Canadian wine and beer producers are reaping the benefits. A report published last month from data research consultancy firm CGA, powered by consumer intelligence company NIQ, found that 37 per cent of respondents in a May survey said they purchased an alcoholic drink at a bar or restaurant in the past month from a Canadian brand they hadn't tried before. The most common reason given for the increase was to support local, according to the report, which included survey responses from individuals in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. The report found that 28 per cent of beer drinkers reported consuming more craft beer since U.S. President Donald Trump's administration first imposed tariffs on Canadian products. Among them, 46 per cent said they did so to support local or Canadian brands. When it comes to wine drinkers, 51 per cent reported drinking more Canadian wine than before tariffs were introduced. Overall, 57 per cent of wine consumers reported having tried a Canadian wine brand at a restaurant or bar at some point in 2025. Survey participants were also asked what they'd like to see more of in national bar and restaurant chains, and the second most common response was the increased availability of Canadian beer, wine and spirits. The consumer shift towards local and Canadian alcohol comes at the same time American products are less readily available in Canada. Provinces across the country pulled American beer, wine and spirits from liquor store shelves earlier this year in response to Trump's tariffs. While some provinces have since rescinded that action, others including Ontario, whose liquor control board is one of the largest alcohol purchasers in the world, have not. Methodology CGA by NIQ surveyed 1,200 LDA On Premise consumers across four key provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec). Consumers had to have visited the On Premise in the past 3 months and be aged 19+. An equal number of respondents were collected from each province with each nationally representative on gender and age. Fieldwork was undertaken 2025/05/28 to 2025/05/30.
Forbes
30-06-2025
- Forbes
8 Wines That Will Sell You On Canada's Viticulture Potential
From Pinot Noirs that reflect mountain terroir to explorative Ontario Gamay, the great white north makes great wines. Martin's Lane Winery Recently, the Canadian wine scene has bloomed under a recent surge of patriotism. As retaliatory tariffs and tariff-related boycotts removed American wine and spirits from the country's major markets, Canadian winemakers stepped up. Missing Oregon Pinot Noir? Consider British Columbia. Do you have a California Chardonnay-sized hole in your heart? Niagara can offer some equally exciting options. Curious? It's time to try something Canadian. The following bottles are jumping off points for exploring Canadian wine. Start here, and explore from there. And, it's Canada Day! to tip your hat and pop a cork to your neighbors in the North. In Canada's Ocean Playground, crisp, sparkling wines have a maritime swagger. It's literal—the majority of Nova Scotia's vines grow within a mile or two from the ocean, on soil filled with deposited minerals and ancient sea creatures. The tidal activity is some of the world's most extreme, spraying showers of salt onto the vines. At Wolfville's Benjamin Bridge, sea-kissed sparkling wines come in many forms, from Champagne-like to low-alcohol and fruit-driven piquettes. Founded in 1999, the sparkling wine house played a pivotal role in elevating Nova Scotia's budding wine scene. Mission Hill's Award-Winning Oculus This is Canada's gold standard - the first 100-point wine the country has turned out. Looking at the winery it's easy to understand how vines and wine thrive from the land. Mission Hill sits on a grand hill above the Okanagan Lake, with the vines unfolding on the green slopes. Deer weave in between and under the vines, working away at the ground cover. When Anthony von Mandl opened Mission Hill in 1981, the valley was better known for its stone fruit — he was a strong, and sometimes sole, advocate for the valley's viticultural potential. He was right. When they first launched Oculus in 1999, it quickly became cult wine, a Meritage, Bordeaux-by-way-of-British Columbia bottle well worth the three-figure price tag. And it is, in its youth, muscular but tamed and elegant, with the bolder cedar box and blackberries softening under notes of wild flowers and violets. Let it age to fully explore Canada's potential. Thomas Bachelder's Curious Gamays Thomas Bachelder is known for his Chardonnay and Pinot Noir—inquisitive and exacting interrogations on the Burgundian grapes conducted in Niagara soil. He's made this apparent at both Le Clos Jordanne and his namesake winery, where he champions Burgundian grapes through a sustainable lens. On his own time, he's also a micronegotiant, pulling grapes from microplots and specific soils to look at what Niagara can do. Appropriately, his list of SKUs is dizzying—Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Gamay from here, there, and everywhere. Bachelder examines all them, where they're from and why they're worth knowing. Then, he ushers them through vinification, pulling lessons from his time in Burgundy and Oregon to puzzle together a wine that best represents each plot. I love all of them, but I am always most excited by the Gamays, which offer up many different personalities, and all of them well worth knowing. Checkmate's Exacting Chardonnays Checkmate, perched on an Oliver bench, specializes in two things: Chardonnay and Merlot. Which, in the wine world, is an odd coupling—both grapes are seldom grown in similar regions. In the Okanagan, it works. The cool climate and influence of the lakes and mountains allow both grapes to have long, elegant growing seasons (well, if the frost holds off). Checkmate approaches their wines by taking each vineyard and looking at its personality – the story of each microclimate. Which sounds like more of a cerebral exercise, but consider where Checkmate is. The winery sits on the Golden Mile bench, at the foot of an Oliver mountain. Its highest vineyards are at 1,200 feet – crisp, cool and kissed with mountain air. Other vineyards (like where the 'Little Pawn' is made) are on the adjacent side of the Valley, which is dry, hot, remote and arid. Showcasing each is an exercise in terroir, and a flex of winemaking prowess but mark my words, all of Checkmate's Chardonnays are beautiful and benchmark, threaded together by their draping acidity and tension. Martin's Lane Precise Pinot Noirs Despite what the Kiwi accent may suggest, winemaker Shane Munn has a deep-rooted understanding of Canadian terroir. His focus is Pinot Noirs and Riesling, which speaks volumes about his precision - those are two of the wine world's most prestigious and prickliest grapes. He constantly sticks the landing, turning the mountain air and ancient forests of his surroundings into intuitive, cerebral, special single-vineyards Pinot Noirs. The winery itself is designed in wood and corten steel to mirror the cliffs hovering over the winery and the soaring pines that surround the winery. It's a tiny property, producing only 2,000 cases per vintage and the majority gets snapped up by the wine club (which is wait-list only, sorry).
CNN
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
This country has the best wines in the world for 2025
How's your tuxedo looking? Our travel news roundup this week is an award show spectacular. Read on to find out the winners of the world's most liveable city, the best airline for 2025, the world's best restaurant and the country with the finest wines. Knives out, everybody, it's foodie award season and only the very best will get their just deserts. First, an aperitif before dinner. The winners of the Decanter World Wine Awards 2025 were revealed Wednesday and one country triumphed as the grape GOAT. France took home 3,200 medals in total (1,000 more than its closest competitor) and 14 Best in Shows, which is surely worth celebrating with a glass of Champagne. (The famous sparkling wine won 27 honors alone.) Italy won 2,204 awards and six Best in Shows, improving its position with 31 more top-tier honors than in 2024. Spain fortuitously won 2,025 medals in 2025, including five Best in Shows. International wine-lovers should consider a trip to the Rioja region: Not only did it win three platinum medals and 21 gold, it's the least visited area of Spain. It's a great way to avoid the high-season crowds in Andalusia and Catalonia. The rest of the top 10 medal-winning countries were (in descending order): Australia, Portugal, South Africa, Argentina, Croatia, Canada and Chile. Canadian wine, you say? Yes, their ice wine can go for up to $250,000 a bottle. Prev Next The pisco sours will be flowing in Lima this weekend as the Peruvian capital celebrates two of its restaurants being named among the world's top 10 on Thursday. Maido, owned and run by chef Mitsuharu 'Micha' Tsumura, was crowned the best on the planet on the 2025 list of the 'World's 50 Best Restaurants.' It serves Japanese-Peruvian fusion food known as Nikkei cuisine. US restaurants were honored Monday night at the 2025 James Beard Awards, with a Boulder eatery being named Outstanding Restaurant and a Minneapolis spot making waves as Best New Restaurant. To round things off, June 21 is World Martini Day (let's hope you've recovered by now from National Martini Day on June 19). Espresso martinis — vodka, espresso, coffee liqueur and sugar — aren't technically true martinis, but they are, however, a lip-smacking delight. Our partners at CNN Underscored, a product reviews and recommendations guide owned by CNN, have this guide to everything you need to make espresso martinis at home, according to top bartenders. The upcoming nuptials of billionaire Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez are proving to be the final straw for many Venetians who are tired of their city being a tourist playground. Protesters against the wedding this month have threatened that they'll 'block the canals,' but others in the city welcome the 'cash influx' that the event will bring. Rising waters and overtourism are killing Venice, critics say, a city where the 30 million tourists annually dwarf the local population of fewer than 50,000. 'There's not going to be another Venice,' said one local businessman. 'Once you have helped change this place forever, it's not coming back.' There were anti-tourism protests across southern Europe last weekend, with Barcelona being the epicenter of the unrest, where water pistols are the weapon of choice for spraying unwelcome visitors. Cities are being 'turned into theme parks,' complained a Spanish government minister last month, addressing the housing deficit exacerbated by the rise of Airbnb and vacation rentals. Time to book that Rioja trip instead. Northern border-hugging US states such as Vermont and New York have long enjoyed an annual surge of Canadian tourists, but travel has dipped amid international tensions. Now US businesses are trying to woo their northern neighbors with 'Canadians only' deals, with perks ranging from cheaper stays to free activities. 'We wanted to make a meaningful gesture that says, 'We see you, we value you and we want you here,'' said one Vermonter. With many Canadians boycotting the States, some American travelers are worried about the reception they might face in the land of the maple leaf. Canadian tourism boards have launched campaigns to reassure Americans of a warm welcome, but how do everyday Canadians feel? CNN Travel investigated. North America is by no means the only place where escalating disputes are harming international travel. The air map of the world is currently filling up with no-fly zones and airlines are scrambling to reroute amid increasing global conflict. Nonstop flights between Hong Kong and London are now two hours longer, for example, and short-haul flights between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf are particularly affected. Three-year-old Australian girl Kinga might not speak Japanese, but she's loving her time in southern Japan's Wakayama Prefecture. Her family joined a preschool exchange that's giving them a kid-first window into Japanese culture. A viral video has prompted a mass cleanup of caves near China's famed 'Avatar' mountains. The astounding footage shows a decade of garbage buildup. An 80-year-old man drove down Rome's Spanish Steps and got stuck. He told police he'd taken a wrong turn. And there are more international awards that people have been going crazy for. The world's best airline for 2025 was named by Skytrax. Lastly, a European capital stole Vienna's crown as the world's most liveable city for 2025.
Globe and Mail
28-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Eight Canadian wines to drink now
Winemakers are riding a wave of optimism heading into the summer. The Buy Canadian movement continues to boost demand for homegrown wine, with increased sales of still and sparkling wines reported across the country. The added exposure is hoped to boost winery tourism by anti-tariff staycationers as well as international travellers in the coming months. Vineyards are budding, which is an especially welcome sign of recovery for grape growers in British Columbia after damaging winter conditions in 2023 and 2024. Reports from Poplar Grove in Penticton, B.C., anticipate a 60 per cent crop this fall after losing last year's harvest to frost, while Le Vieux Pin in Oliver posted photos of flowering viognier, sauvignon blanc and roussanne vines with an enthusiastic caption: 'The 2025 vintage has begun – strong, resilient and full of promise.' Adding to the excitement are compelling new releases like this week's recommendations. These authentic, homegrown wines are sure to stimulate your senses. The lineup includes four stellar chardonnays that show how suited that variety is to vineyards across the country. There are also a couple of rosés, a surprising pink-hued white and a charming and generous red blend from a popular British Columbia family estate to buy now. Burrowing Owl Athene 2021 (Canada), $41 Rating: 93 Always a stand-out in Burrowing Owl's extensive portfolio, Athene is a syrah and cabernet sauvignon blend produced from the Wyse family's estate vineyard on Black Sage Bench in Oliver, B.C. The grape varieties are co-fermented, which results in a complex and concentrated red wine that delivers satisfying cherry, plum, peppery spice, earthy and floral notes. This is harmonious and inviting right now but has the structure and intensity to mature gracefully in the cellar. It has 14 per cent ABV and 2.5 g/litre r.s. Drink now to 2034. Available direct, Coteau Rougemont Versant Rosé 2023 (Canada), $17.85 Rating: 86 This rosé from Quebec's Coteau Rougemont is made from a cunning mix of frontenac gris (70 per cent), petite perle (20 per cent) and vidal (10 per cent), hybrid grape vines prized for their ability to endure cold temperatures. The lightly musky aroma points to use of hybrid varieties, while the silky texture combines with persistent (tart and sweet) mixed berry flavours that makes for an expressive pink wine to sip this summer. This has 12.5 per cent ABV and 1.6 g/litre r.s. Drink now. Available at the above price in Quebec or $16.65 direct, Featherstone Pinot Grigio 2024 (Canada), $17.95 Rating: 88 Featherstone's new owners Rayla and George Myhal and founding winemaker David Johnson continue to offer a range of crowd-pleasing and affordable wines from their Vineland estate vineyard. This white wine carries a pinkish hue from extended skin contact prior to pressing the grapes (ripe pinot grigio grapes are grayish-blue in colour). The winemaking approach also brings peach, pear and citrus flavours into the mix, which add to the appeal of this easy-going, off-dry wine. This wine has 12.5 per cent ABV and 8 g/litre r.s. Drink now. Available in Ontario. Malivoire Vivant Rosé 2024 (Canada), $21.95 Rating: 91 One of the trio of rosés made, each vintage at Malvoire, Vivant is produced from 100 per cent pinot noir grown on the Beamsville, Ont., estate vineyard. The dry and zesty style lives up to its name and presents an enticing mix of cherry, berry and ruby grapefruit flavours. It's serious and refreshing, which makes it a good option to enjoy with a meal or on its own. This has 13 per cent ABV and 2 g/litre r.s. Drink now to 2027. Available at the above price in Ontario or direct, Meyer Family Vineyards McLean Creek Road Chardonnay 2023 (Canada), $32.26 Rating: 93 Chardonnay continues to be a strong suit for Meyer Family Vineyards as witnessed by the stylish and sophisticated wines produced in the 2023 vintage. Made from the vineyard planted in 1994 beside the winery in Okanagan Falls, the McLean Creek Road Chardonnay broadcasts juicy citrus flavours with bright acidity and rich oak-derived notes. Vibrant and exciting at this early stage of development, this promises to develop into a rich and rewarding white wine for patient collectors. This has 13.5 per cent ABV and 2 g/litre r.s. Drink now to 2030. Available direct, Tantalus Reserve Chardonnay 2022 (Canada), $56.52 Rating: 94 Following the inaugural release from the 2018 vintage, this is the second release of a reserve chardonnay from Tantalus in Kelowna. Based on grapes from vines planted in 1985 and 2006, this presents a savoury, restrained character that is beautifully balanced and opens to reveal a mix of pear, citrus and green apple with flint and nutty accents. It's delicious now but built to last. This has 13.2 per cent ABV and 1 g/litre r.s. Drink now to 2032. Available direct, Trius Showcase Wild Ferment Watching Tree Vineyard Chardonnay 2022 (Canada), $38 Rating: 93 Originally planted by the Oliveira family in 1989, the Watching Tree Vineyard in Beamsville has been a consistent source of top-quality chardonnay for Trius's Showcase label. The current release is developing nicely, with focused citrus and peach flavours rounded out by complex nutty, toasty and spice notes. Made in a medium-bodied style, with a succulent texture and refreshing finish, this offers richness and refinement. This has 13.8 per cent ABV and 2 g/litre r.s. Drink now to 2029. Available at the above price in Ontario or $34 direct, Wending Home Estate Vineyard Chardonnay 2020 (Canada), $34.95 Rating: 92 Wending Home co-founder Ron Giesbrecht is one of Niagara's veteran winemakers, with a string of vintages dating back to the 1980s. Chardonnay has long been one of his specialties and this rich and refreshing example from the St. Catharines, Ont.-based winery is no exception. There's a ripe core of peach and pear that's enhanced by vanilla, nutty and buttery notes. The style is satisfying and round, with a a long lingering finish. This has 13.8 per cent ABV and 2 g/litre r.s. Drink now to 2027. Available at the above price in Ontario or direct,
