By Walter Kish

The past decade has seen a rapid growth in the number of wineries opening up in the Niagara Region, the heart of Canada’s grape growing country. At least two of these wineries are owned by Ukrainians, and on a recent sunny October Saturday, the Toronto branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Asssociation organized a wine-tasting tour to sample the product and learn about the fine art of wine-making.

First stop was Kacaba Vineyards, a small winery located on the slopes of the Niagara Escarpment near Vineland. It is the labour of love of Michael Kacaba, a Bay Street lawyer (Kacaba & Associates) with Ukrainian roots, who has had a life-long passion for wine-making. Essentially a small family operation, Michael, his wife and daughter take a hands-on active role in the making and selling of the premium and ultra-premium wines that Kacaba Vineyards produces. Kacaba Vineyards has some 33 acres of land next to a particularly scenic ravine, with some 20 acres currently under cultivation. Michael employs two professional wine makers and has a strong focus on producing only the highest quality VQA wines. His wines sell in the $20 to $30 range and he has no difficulty in finding ready buyers. Most of his production is snapped up by top of the line Toronto restaurants such as Canoe, Le Papillon, Herbs and Centro. He also sells through a small retail outlet located beside his vineyards. He does not sell through the LCBO, citing the excessive cut (58%) it takes on wine sales.

Despite the hefty price tags that his wines command, Michael laughed when asked about the profitability of his operation, noting that he didn’t know whether the winery would ever be profitable. Though his operation is quite small in comparison to most of the other wineries in the Niagara Penninsula, the set-up costs were steep, running into the millions. To produce quality wines you can’t skimp on the details. As an example, the oak barrels used to age some of his wines are imported from France at a cost of $1000 a piece, and can only be used four times before having to be replaced.

After an informative tour through his vineyards and production facilities, the visit concluded with a tasting of some of Kacaba’s premium wines. Particularly impressive was his un-oaked Chardonnay and exceptionally pleasant Merlot. Despite the prices, tour members did not hesitate in snapping up several bottles of their particular favourites from the Vineyard store.

Joseph’s Estate Wines, our second stop, located on the main road between St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake, was quite different in both size and style from Kacaba’s. Whereas Kacaba’s measures their production in the hundreds of cases, Joseph’s output is in the neighbourhood of some 25,000 cases per year. The Joseph in the name stands for Joseph Pohorly, who is a colourful character and well-known veteran of Niagara’s wine industry. Originally a Civil Engineer by profession, it did not take him long to realize that making wine was his true talent and passion in life. His first foray into the wine industry was the creation several decades ago of Newark Wines. When he eventually sold majority interest to a German winery, Newark was renamed Hillebrand Estates, though he continued to run the operation for some time after. Joseph holds the distinction of being the first Canadian vintner to produce “Ice Wine” in 1983.

Joseph’s latest venture known as Joseph’s Estate Wines was started in 1996 and employs eight full time staff, with Joseph in the role of chief winemaker. In contrast to Kacaba, Joseph concentrates on making quality wines at affordable prices, producing some twenty different varieties mostly in the $8 to $15 range.

Though relatively new, Joseph’s wines have earned an impressive 50 medals in various Canadian and International competitions. A tasting of several of Joseph’s selections confirmed his thesis that good quality wine does not have to cost big bucks.

Like Kacaba, Joseph is no fan of the LCBO and their 58% take on all sales, so he sells his product directly to restaurants and directly to the public through his winery’s retail outlet. His wines can be found in some 300 different restaurants throughout Ontario and as far afield as the Philippines, where the locals have taken a particular liking to his Ice Wines.

Ever the innovator, Joseph has extended his production to include a line of fruit wines made from peaches, pears, apples, strawberries and various other fruits. A popular favourite is an award-winning apple “Ice Wine”. A visit to his winery’s retail outlet will have you “wining” for more.!

More information on these two outstanding wineries can be found on the Internet at www.kacaba.com and www.josephsestatewines.com .