Corks Out

we accept the following:

view larger image

Price: £58.95 (£50.17 ex VAT)

Qty

 

< Back to Selection

product details

Karl Kaiser, the studious, Austrian-born chemist, and Donald Ziraldo, the young Italian Canadian agriculture graduate, both grew up with wine at the family dinner table. While tasting Ontario Wines in the early 70’s, they realized a gap existed in the premium market segment. They seized the opportunity to fill that gap and set out to break new ground to produce premium varietal wines from premium grapes grown in the Niagara Peninsula. Both Karl Kaiser and Donald Ziraldo believed their future in the wine business was dependent on using the Vitis vinifera grapes, the preferred family of grapes used to produce the fine wines in the great wine regions of the world. When sourcing these limited grapes became a challenge in the early 70’s, Ziraldo took the lead and planted a vinifera vineyard which included Riesling, Chardonnay and Gamay and formed the quality base for Kaiser to work with.

On July 31, 1975, Inniskillin Wines incorporated and its founders Karl J. Kaiser and Donald J.P. Ziraldo were granted the first winery license in Ontario, Canada since prohibition.

Kaiser and Ziraldo tirelessly tested the new ground of Niagara with better vines and superior winemaking techniques, grafting old world wisdom in the new world terroir. An early mission statement captured this spirit — “Inniskillin: Not so much bound by tradition as inspired by it”. The first Inniskillin winery was far from glamourous — a converted packing shed at the Ziraldo family nursery. Ziraldo and Kaiser received much attention for their quality wines. Then in 1984, Kaiser made the most of the extreme Canadian winter to produce his first Icewine — a pivotal point for Inniskillin.

Ziraldo and Kaiser continued their hard work keeping standards high and producing wines that garnered the attention of the international wine world. This attention came through many awards, participation is wine shows such as Vinexpo and Vinitaly as well as the placement of Inniskillin wines on the shelves and wine lists of the finest wine stores and restaurants around the world. Inniskillin Icewine had even found its way to the cellars of the Imperial Palace of Japan.

Kaiser, the quiet master winemaker, toiling behind the scenes and Ziraldo, a one-man worldwide campaign for the excellence of Canadian Wines kept Inniskillin vibrant and viable. In pursuit of industry-wide excellence, Ziraldo was the founding chair of the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA). After extensive research of existing appellation systems around the world and drawing on the technical expertise of his partner Kaiser and others, Ziraldo introduced the VQA system to the industry in 1989. This gave Ontario Wines a much needed level of credibility by setting high standards for quality and identifying appellations of origin for Ontario’s main grape growing regions. This system was also adapted in British Columbia, helping secure a stronger presence for Canadian Wines domestically as well as in the ever growing export market.

Inniskillin’s founders are also major supporters of wine research. An example is their involvement at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. Inniskillin Hall, which houses the school's Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI), was named in their honour. As new generations of Canadian winemakers graduate, it’s widely-acknowledged that the achievements of Inniskillin’s founders are integrally linked to the burgeoning success of the Canadian Wine Industry. This has led to Canadian wines of unsurpassed excellence being enjoyed in greater numbers at more tables than ever before at home and around the world.

Nectarines and apricots dominate the nose with a hint of lychee. On the palate, the wine shows a very delicate by lively effervescence which is balanced beautifully by the generous natural acidity. Serve as an aperitif or with fruit based desserts.