|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Beer Festival20th Annual Festival Of Small Breweries
Amsterdam - Oktoberfest As usual there will be much more to come from the usual suspects. A Short History Of Canadian Wineby Mark Hutchison
The business of wine in Canada began with Johann Schiller of Cooksville (now Mississauga). He was the first to commercially produce and sell his own wine in Canada around 1811, but had little financial success. Later on in 1864 a group in the same area established the Vine Growers Association. The Association was granted a charter by the Parliament of Upper and Lower Canada. Meanwhile, on the west coast, B.C. had their own Father of Wine, Father Charles Panosy. Vines were planted at the Obate Mission he started in 1859 near modern-day Kelowna. J. W. Hughes planted the first commercial wine grapes in the Kelowna area in the late 1920s. From these very humble beginnings the wine industry in Canada had many obstacles to overcome. The biggest obstacle was from the temperance movement, which grew strong enough to force Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier to hold a referendum on prohibition in 1898. The majority voted in favour of prohibition but was "not large enough to warrant passing a law". The Laurier government's position didn't deter the temperance movement, which successfully made the Alcohol Laws a provincial issue. Eventually prohibition was enacted through provincial laws during the first twenty years of the 20th century. After only a few years all provinces repealed their own prohibition laws but the effects of prohibition was long lasting. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario was established 1927 to sell alcohol under heavy government supervision. The wine industry across Canada was heavily stifled and Ontario didn't grant a license to open a new winery until 1975. In 1975 Donald Ziraldo obtained the first license to start a winery in Ontario since 1930. The new winery was named Inniskillin. This was a monumental benchmark in the Canadian wine industry. It opened the doors for many more wineries to start up in the good growing conditions of the Niagara region. This also marked a time when there was a global push for higher quality wines. Another serious obstacle to the new wave of quality winemakers was the success of the established industry in marketing lighter sparkling wines such as "Baby Duck". In 1980, Baby Duck was downgraded from a wine to a "refreshment beverage" but it's status as an icon of Canadian wine quality lives on to this day with many consumers. The following decades marked many changes in the Canadian wine industry. Expo 86 held in Vancouver highlighted the lack of quality wines from B.C. and after the 1988 vintage the provincial government paid to have two-thirds of the vineyards ripped out and re-planted with higher quality vinifera vines. Ontario was undergoing a similar transformation. Measures were enforced to increase the quality of wines and stay competitive in the new more open market of post NAFTA Canada. With the new emphasis being placed on quality, the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) was set up in the late 80's as a way of guaranteeing the appellation, grape variety, vintage and quality of Ontario wines. These standards were enshrined in law in 1999 by the Ontario government. While Canadian wines, such as Ice Wine, are beginning to be critically aclaimed abroad it is domestic sales that still fuel this growing industry. Canadian wine sales have grown to over 40% of the home market. From it's humble beginnings, Canadian wineries have began to produce wines that measure up to the promise that Leif Erikson and Jacque Cartier foresaw. C'est RSS
If you don't yet know what a RSS feed is, check out the very accessible Google RSS Reader Great Real, Get It Live Annelise Norhona & the Safe Word Project + Certified Healer
The cult following of her dark music, along with a resume of sharing the stage with such artists as Ron Sexmith, Danny Michel, Dayna Manning, The Rheostatics, Selina Martin, and the Skydiggers, prompted Annelise to write and record a new record, entitled, Send is a Four-Letter Word, with fellow writer Byron Wong, under the group name, The Safe Word Project. Other interesting things? Thursday September 25, Doors 9:00 pm, Show time 9:30 pm, Advance tickets are available for $6.00
|
C'est What's 20th annual craft beer festival takes place on 
Wine has served as the bookends of Canadian history. The first Europeans to set foot on the new found land were the Vikings led by Leif Erikson, who looked at the vegetation growing and announced; "VINLAND". 500 years later Jacques Cartier found red grapes growing on an Island in the St. Lawrence, which he promptly named Ilea de Bacchus after the Roman God of wine. Wine in Canada has grown from such humble beginnings, a mere glint in a thirsty explorers eye to a thriving world-class industry.
Keeping up with our connected times, we have set up two RSS feeds to keep the eternally curious up to date with all things C'est What. The first, C'est What News http://www.cestwhat.com/rss/news.xml, keeps you up to date with our propaganda so you know when there is a new beer on tap or can be edified by one of our stories or rants. The second, C'est What Events And Artists http://www.cestwhat.com/rss/music.xml, is for the music fan notifying you of new events, shows, and performer biographies.
Toronto singer/songwriter Annelise Noronha is embarking on a tour in support of her new album. Her previous 2001 self produced / engineered CD My Dog is You, had received much critical praise, of which the song "Saviour" had gained notoriety on the Internet Movie Database among curious fans of Clement Virgo's movie Lie With Me, where the song ran through the closing credits. This popularity has resulted in a resurgance of sales and a more global fan base.
