Love the Grapes

The new Wine Visitor and Education Centre

The Niagara College Teaching Winery prides itself on its high-tech approach to oenology, with all the latest gadgets and thingamabobs in the lab. But it also instructs students that a good bottle of wine is a work of love.

“For sure, there’s a preciseness about creating the right sweetness and acidity,” says professor of applied oenology Terence Van Rooyen. “But we do need romanticism in winemaking. It’s part of the mystique of creating a product that makes people feel good. I’d like to think that two people might be falling in love over one of our bottles.”

The love fest begins on the 38-acre, eco-friendly vineyard beside the college, where students harvest the nine grape varietals that produce 16 vintages, which are aged in Canadian oak barrels. Throughout the fermentation process, Van Rooyen samples his students’ work, checking for not only the correct composition but a good dash of creativity.

“A good wine is 85 percent chemistry and 15 percent artistry,” he says. “You become artistic when you start using your senses to create good wine.”

Van Rooyen, who looks like a jolly grandpa, holds two bachelor of science degrees and a master’s in oenology from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, one of the top wine schools in the world.

Under his guidance, students produce between 4,500 and 5,000 cases a year, which is generally not enough to supply Liquor Control Board of Ontario stores (up here, the province owns and runs the liquor stores). So the college has to market its wares.

The college’s retail business is break-even at best, says winery manager Steve Gill. “Because we’re a teaching winery we tend to do a lot of everything, so we don’t have a lot of one type of wine,” he says. “Our product is our winemakers, not our wines.”

Since 2000, when the Niagara College Teaching Winery was established, the facility has been producing small batches of delightful vintages that have been winning gold medals at wine events across Canada. Students come from all over the world to attend the two-year program, and graduates are now working in Chile, New Zealand, Switzerland and Germany, among other locales.

So if you want to try the college’s wine, you must visit the beautiful campus, located at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment, a tree-covered slope that was once the shoreline of Lake Ontario. A five-minute walk from the winery is the Niagara Culinary Institute dining room, where world-class chefs train cooking students and the public dines on great cuisine at rock-bottom prices. And if that isn’t enough, the campus also houses Niagara College’s aesthetician program, which offers affordable spa services.

But back to the vino. The Wine Visitor and Education Centre, where wine tastings are held, opened in fall 2009 with a visit from Prince Charles. The brown brick facade faces the parking lot; the back wall is composed of floor-to-ceiling windows that offer panoramic views of the vineyard and escarpment.

A small patio complements the facility, which won the Community Design Award from the Niagara Economic Development Corp. Inside, a circular granite wine-tasting bar invites visitors to try the Meritage, Chardonnay, an exquisite Cabernet Franc ice wine (in season) and other vintages.

Canadian readers: Buy to your heart’s content. American readers: If you’d like to take home a few bottles to impress your friends, please remember that you may bring back one liter (one bottle) duty free. For more than one bottle, you must pay an IRS tax of 21 cents per liter at the border.

And for those of you who prefer suds over wine, there’s good news: The Niagara College Teaching Winery is launching a brewery program in September — just in time for football season.

Perfect Pairings

The Niagara College Teaching Winery suggests these wines with your entrees:

Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2008 ($18.95 CAD): This full-bodied white wine, rich in aromas of peach and apricots with underlying butterscotch and vanilla, pairs well with pan-fried foie gras or prune-and-cranberry-stuffed pork loin.

Gewürztraminer 2007 ($13.95 CAD): This slightly off-dry white wine with exotic fruit flavors has a nose of lychee, peach and dried rose petals. Serve with a variety of Asian dishes, especially Thai, such as spicy prawns with pineapple.

Pinot Noir 2008 ($15.95 CAD): The medium-bodied, ruby-colored wine tastes of plum jam, cherry liqueur, vanilla, nutmeg and tea leaves. Serve with duck breast, salmon and lightly sauced pasta dishes.