Ontario wine is in a boom phase – and this winemaker says there aren’t enough grapes to keep up | Canada Voices

Norm Beal has been making wine in Beamsville, Ont. since 1999. A Hamilton native, Beal worked as an oil trader for Shell Canada, BP and the Switzerland-based Glencore before opening Peninsula Ridge Estates Winery and an accompanying restaurant. Notably, his winery has helped establish pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc as popular wine styles in Ontario, along with others made from traditional European vinifera varieties, such as riesling, chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon.

Beal controls more than 80 acres of vineyards and has long-term contracts with growers, such as Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Lepp family and Vineland’s Wismer family. However, he couldn’t grow or procure enough grapes last year to meet the surge in demand for homegrown wines.

Consumers around the world are looking for alternatives to popular Californian brands, and Ontario wineries are benefiting from having new places to sell their products. Nonetheless, the wine industry is naturally ill-equipped to handle rapid transformations. Wine production takes years, especially when planting a new vineyard, which can cost $20,000 to $35,000 per acre in Ontario in the first year (not including the cost of the land itself) and doesn’t produce a full marketable crop until the fourth or fifth year.

Beal is the chair of Ontario Craft Wineries, an organization of more than 100 producers who see quality, locally grown grapes as essential to the long-term health of the province’s grape and wine industry. He told The Globe about how Ontario’s industry needs to increase its grape supply and boost tourism traffic to continue winning over customers, even after the U.S. trade war ends.

What challenges are you facing at Peninsula Ridge after production increased to 40,000 cases from 25,000 cases because of sales growth in the past two years?

There are five varietals that I believe we are desperately short on, including pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc and pinot noir. We are facing a shortage of chardonnay grapes for the first time in over 20 years. We have always made terrific chardonnay, but we have always had a surplus. Peninsula Ridge has sold grapes every year, except during the short crop years, as I am always overcontracted to protect against cold winters and crop loss. I had hoped to get an additional 50 to 75 tonnes of chardonnay last year, but I wasn’t able to get my hands on more grapes. Nobody could.

How are Ontario wineries adapting to increased demand for local wine while facing a shortage of available grapes?

At Peninsula Ridge, we’re planting vineyards for the first time in 20 years. This industry has undergone a monumental change in a short period, and many of my members [in Ontario Craft Wineries] are still trying to figure it out. They want to participate in the expanded retail landscape, which means they need grapes, but there are no grapes available.

When you planted your vineyards at Peninsula Ridge in the late 1990s, vinifera grape vines were the most profitable crop to farm in Niagara. Why did things change?

Grape prices in Niagara have remained relatively stable for years. I think inflation has surpassed any price increases the growers have received through negotiated collective bargaining, until last year’s shortage. Grape prices went to arbitration and grape growers received the largest price increase we’ve seen – 7.1 per cent – and I think that’s been long overdue. We need that to incentivize growers to start planting more vines. If you are a tender-fruit farmer, why would you choose to plant vinifera grape vines when you can plant peach trees and make more money?

Is there a concern that the current grape shortage in Ontario could turn into a surplus once popular California brands return to the shelves?

I believe that if U.S. products are put back on the shelf tomorrow, we will see some market correction. But the support for them will not return to the level it was at before they were removed. Many consumers who switched will likely continue to support VQA wines. That’s exciting, isn’t it?

Are sales increases at the retail level attracting more visitors to Niagara wineries?

Looking at our numbers at Peninsula Ridge, we are still down from pre-COVID levels. Winery tourism has not rebounded. We know that tourism overall in Ontario increased last year, but Niagara did not see a significant benefit from that bump. We have some hard work to do to encourage Canadians to visit wine country. We have not done a good job of defining a tourism strategy. Despite having a beautiful landscape, stunning venues and a wealth of historic and cultural attractions to offer, we need to better articulate these assets as part of a tourism program that truly resonates.

This interview has been edited and condensed.