Discover Canada's local wines and brews

Raise a glass
Raise a glass -- of locally produced wine, ice wine, single malt whisky or liqueur made from plums, saskatoon berries, ground cherries, apples or black currants -- to your nose and try to describe it. Is it smoky, nutty, fruity, peaty? Does it taste sweet, sour, good or bad? Forget the fancy tasting techniques and terminology -- do you like it? If so, enjoy it!

Unique tastes
Food travel is a great way to experience local wines, beers and other drinks that are not widely available in retail stores. Have you ever tried saskatoon berry cider, ground cherry liqueur, rhubarb wine or late-harvest wine made from mouldy grapes -- mouldy to impart a unique flavour? What is the difference between a baco noir grape and a pinot noir grape?

Explore locally crafted drinks
Have fun exploring locally crafted beverages. While certain regions of the country -- such as Ontario's Niagara Region and the Okanagan Valley in B.C. -- are well known for their wines, wine and other drinks are also produced across the country, sometimes in surprising places. Here's a glimpse of what you could do:

Eastern Canada
Learn the art of wine-making, admire the breathtaking view of the Bay of Fundy and enjoy apple and grape wines at Domaine de Grand Pré in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, where some of the grapes grown were developed especially for the local climate. Discover North America's only single malt whisky at Glenora Distillery in Cape Breton, N.S., and learn about milling, the kiln, storing, aging and bottling. What do greenhouses have to do with wine? Tour Rossignol Estate Winery on Prince Edward Island, where greenhouses are used to protect the more tender vines from the harsh climate and wines are also made from strawberries, rhubarb, cranberries, raspberries and blueberries. At Les bières de la Nouvelle France near Trois-Rivières in Quebec, taste a unique brew like the rice-and-barley-based Claire Fontaine Ale, then learn about the history of beer, its manufacture, and how the malt house makes this a unique operation.

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