Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Canada’s intensely sweet dessert ice wines have won well-deserved kudos over the last decade, but who knew that Ontario produces some first-rate dry whites and reds?

I’ve long been a fan of wines coming out of British Columbia in the Pacific Northwest, but on a recent trip to Toronto I was amazed that good wines made from European vinifera grapes could be made in Ontario’s bone-chilling climate. Until recently, wines in the region were made from hardy old native labrusca varietals like Niagara and Concord, or French hybrids like seyval blanc and baco noir.

“It’s true that we have a harsh winter climate,” said Taylor Thompson, director of wine at Reds Bistro & Wine Bar in Toronto. “But there are in fact microclimates that make growing European varietals, even pinot noir, feasible.”

To prove his point, he served me a Henry of Pelham Cuvee Catherine sparkling wine, a Thirty Bench Wood Post 2007 riesling, and a Clos Jordanne Claystone Terrace 2006 Pinot Noir -- all of them well-made, clean and remarkably true to their varietal flavor.

Thirty Bench is located on the Niagara Peninsula and only uses grapes from its own 57-acre vineyard. First planted in 1980 with riesling, a varietal that can take the cold, Thirty Bench tried merlot, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir and other vinifera starting in 1995.

“Niagara Peninsula is actually very well-suited to chardonnay, merlot and pinot noir,” said Thirty Bench’s winemaker, Natalie Reynolds, 39. “Virtually every year has been very good for them. Maybe two years in a decade the cold may be a problem for cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc.”

Frost Fear

Knowing how California vintners freak out at the very mention of frost, I asked how the Canadians work with the weather.

“There are different ways of planting close to the ground and trellising the tender grapes to get the most heat and to protect them from the cold,” she said. “At night some wineries use windmills to move the air around. To get intensity and sugar we let the grapes hang until well into November.”

The Speck family’s Henry of Pelham Estate Winery in St. Catharines had its first vintage only in 1988, with vinifera grapes exclusively from Ontario -- chardonnay, riesling and cabernet sauvignon, which old-timers in the area warned the Specks would never grow there.

They mix modern technology to help overcome the climate problems with ancient techniques like putting egg whites in the vats to clarify the wines.

Like Champagne

The estate’s Cuvee Catherine is a beautiful sparkling wine, made using the Champenoise method and aged 30 months. It tastes very close to a non-vintage Champagne, with lovely mineral notes in the bouquet.

Canadian winemakers like Pelham Estate and Thirty Bench are quick to point out that their wines are made exclusively from local grapes because Canadian wine laws permit labels to read “cellared in Canada,” meaning that the wine in the bottle could have come from anywhere in the world.

British Columbia requires no Canadian grapes to be used in such bottlings; Ontario dictates 30 percent must be. The label was concocted in the 1980s, when the old labrusca vines were being replaced with vinifera and not enough Ontario grapes were available.

Most Ontario wineries have vociferously campaigned to ban the “Cellared in Canada” bottles, which are usually much cheaper than the indigenous Canadian wines.

They have the clout. There are more than 100 wineries in the province, producing wines from 17 “vQa” appellations, and generating a significant tourist trade. Even Canadian hockey great Wayne Gretzky has a winery, No.99 Estates in Vineland, named after his jersey number.

Ice Wine

Over three days in Toronto I drank nothing but Ontario wines, including a superb Vinelands Estates Vidal 2006 ice wine that won a gold medal at this year’s Florida International Wine Challenge. It’s made from vidal grapes that have literally been frozen and shrunk to raisin size.

The wines were a revelation. Yet, they will remain obscure until the Canadians can figure a way to distribute worldwide. Meanwhile, hunt them down in Toronto, where they are cheaper than the massively taxed imported wines and where there are a lot of terrific restaurants in which to enjoy them.

(John Mariani writes on wine for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: John Mariani at john@johnmariani.com.

Last Updated: November 2, 2009 00:01 EST