|
Growing
winter hearty grapes has always been
difficult for wineries outside of
the Niagara region, but in the last
couple of years, John and Trish have
been able to introduce a number of
grape-based wines; a red blend called
Kawartha Vintages, a Cabernet Franc,
a Merlot, and new for 2008, a Pinot
Grigio.
For
the Kawartha Vintages, John explained
that they have two locations in the
Peterborough area that they get their
grapes a blend of two specific varietals
and, whole bunch of grapes that are
just known as numbers right now. "Wine
and grape producers are constantly
developing and creating new varietals
of grapes that can withstand colder
winter temperatures those below negative
23 degrees Celsius - and we currently
use some of these to produce our Kawartha
Vintages wine," he explained.
I
didn't need to know the type of grape
used, I just knew I really liked it.
My untrained palette found it to be
a very smooth wine, with just a bit
of black pepper mixed with the berry
flavours. I bought a few bottles to
work on my description of this wine!
As
we took a tour of the winemaking area,
Trish explained that a fresh batch
of raspberries had just arrived and
needed to be processed before they
started to turn. It takes about 1,000
pounds of fresh fruit to produce just
1,200 litres of wine. A percentage
of the fruit is grown on the property,
but the majority of fruit they use
is brought in from a local fruit producer
and other fruit growers across Ontario.
Kawartha Country Wines makes and sells
about 20,000 litres of their wine
each year.
Kawartha
Country Wines is not available in
your local LCBO or wine store; yet
you may want to make plans to take
an afternoon to drive to Buckhorn
just to taste the different wines
they offer. First time visitors are
pleasantly surprised by the various
flavours and quality wines produced
here. In fact, as Trish and I were
talking, it was quite amazing to see
the ever-circulating visitors to the
winery and everyone left with at least
one bag of fruit-based bounty. The
store also offers various wine accessories;
local cheese flavoured with their
merlot, wine jellies, wine stoppers
and unique wine racks. There is just
a little bit of something for everyone
here.
Kawartha
Country Wines is sold from the winery
and from orders placed through email
and their website. Trish and John
are happy to ship orders anywhere
in Canada. In fact, they have quite
a number of customers that order quite
regularly from the Calgary, Alberta
area.
When
asked about golf, Trish a high school
phys-ed teacher - explained that most
of their time is taken up in the winery
during the months she could play golf,
but she did admit to sneaking away
every now and then to get a round
in at 6 Foot Bay in Buckhorn. "My
life, right now, is about producing
the best wine we can; I am very pleased
to think we do! "
Kawartha
Country Wines can be found at 2275
Country Road 36, Buckhorn, Ontario.
Their website is www.kawarthawinery.com
and the telephone number is 705-657-9916.
When
you make this journey – just
a few hours north of the Greater Toronto
area - please say "Hello"
to Trish and John from The Traveling
Golfer.
|
