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W i n e s & V i n e s s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 4 73 WineEast V ineland, Ontario—Ontario researchers are exploring a variety of methods for enhancing local wineries' production of appassimento-style wines. Ontario's climate is more humid than that of northern Italy, where appassimento wines have enjoyed popularity since an- cient times. The wines are defined by the fact grapes are dried post-harvest, which reduces the water content and results in wines of intense flavor and body. The allure of the wines captivated Len Crispino during a three-year stint in Milan as Ontario's chief trade representative to Italy. With his wife Marisa, he purchased 40 acres in 2000 with a view to launch- ing Foreign Affair Winery, which opened in 2008. The venture was a way to con- tinue enjoying a wine they had grown to love in Italy, but with a local interpreta- tion that would offer something unique to the marketplace. "We loved our experience in Italy and we wanted to see if this could be done in Canada," Crispino said. "We don't have the same varieties—we don't use Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara. We have very differ- ent climatic conditions, so this is about innovation. It's about asking ourselves the questions, 'Can we do this style of wine, utilizing some of the principles, by utiliz- ing our own vinifera varietals that we grow here in Ontario, given the different cli- matic conditions?'" So far the answer has been a resound- ing yes. Progress Since producing its first lot of appassi- mento-style wine in 2004, Foreign Affair has grown to 11,000 cases of wine an- nually—one of at least nine wineries in the province now making the wines. A gathering of industry members convened in early 2010 to discuss the wines and attracted 30 participants—and interest continues to increase with at least a half- dozen wineries developing variations on the theme. While a small amount of appassimento- style wine is also made in British Co- lumbia's Okanagan Valley, where growing conditions are typically warmer and drier than in Eastern Canada, Ontario winer- ies have embraced the method both as a means of diversifying their offerings as well as concentrating flavors in cool- climate wines. This originally attracted allegations that the method was meant to mask deficiencies in the grapes. "A lot of people are looking at this method as a kind of panacea. We don't see it as a panacea," Crispino said. "We think that's going to simply add value to the industry. "It's now led to the production of a new product for the Canadian market- place, which gives the consumers a lot more choice." Various techniques Drying of grapes—often a Bordeaux variety such as Cabernet Franc or Merlot—is per- formed at temperatures of up to 85°-95° F (30°-35° C) in a variety of spaces, from old tobacco kilns and barns to chambers designed expressly for the purpose. Green- houses have even been tested, eliciting mixed results. "It's not simply duplicating something that's being done somewhere else," Crisp- ino said. "This is a Canadian wine, it's not an Italian wine." His own method follows a 68-step pro- tocol and has been applied to produce Canada's first white ripasso-style wine and its first appassimento-style rosé. Ontario Hones Appassimento Wine Style of winemaking draws from Italian tradition with a Canadian twist By Peter Mitham "This is Canadian wine, it's not an Italian wine." L e N C r I S P I N o F o r e I g N A F F A I r W I N e r y Jamie Slingerland, director of viticulture at Pillitteri estates Winery, harvests grapes for appassimento-style wines in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ontario.