What does VQA mean on wine bottles?

What does VQA mean on wine bottles?

Vintners Quality Alliance
When you see VQA Ontario on a bottle, it means the wine is made from 100% Ontario-grown grapes, which have been approved through a strict quality-assurance program. VQA stands for Vintners Quality Alliance.

What does VQA mean in Ontario?

Wines of Origin
VQA Means Wines of Origin Appellation defines Ontario’s viticulture. As steward of Ontario’s appellation system, Ontario Wine Appellation Authority is responsible for building appreciation and maintaining the integrity of Ontario’s wines of origin by ensuring claims of origin are accurate and meaningful.

What is Canada icewine?

Icewine is a unique sweet wine made from grapes that have been left to freeze naturally on the vine. Pressed while still frozen, the grapes yield a sweet concentrated juice that is highly flavourful.

Does ice wine have expiry date?

“Some ice wines can last for 20 to 30 years.” Also impact the survival prospects of your wine is its quality, the vintage and the grapes used. The better the wine, the longer it will last. Ice wines, like most dessert wines, tend to store well because of their residual sugars and lively acidity, Kaiser-Smit says.

When was VQA established?

BC VQA (Vintners Quality Alliance) is the appellation of origin and quality standard for British Columbia wine, established in 1990.

What country uses the classification system VQA?

Canadian
Vintners Quality Alliance, or VQA, is a regulatory and appellation system which guarantees the high quality and authenticity of origin for Canadian wines made under that system in British Columbia and Ontario.

How many VQA wineries are in Ontario?

160 Ontario wineries
There are over 160 Ontario wineries producing VQA wines of various appellations – all backed up by VQA Ontario’s assurance of origin and quality.

How do you serve icewine?

How to Drink Ice Wine. Ice wine can be served chilled to around 55 degrees, or at a “room” temperature of 70 degrees. If serving during the winter months or at a holiday table, some people will warm it up like hot cider. Being a super sweet wine, it’s best paired with foods that have high-fat content.

Who invented icewine?

Ice wine was first produced in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia by German immigrant Walter Hainle in 1972. This ice wine was the result of an early and unexpected frost, and yielded 40 litres (8.8 imp gal; 11 US gal) of wine, which Hainle originally did not intend to sell, although he did so in 1978.

Can you age icewine?

Icewines can be enjoyed in their youth or aged for many years.

How do you store ice wine?

Keep icewine with your regular wine bottles in your cellar or wine fridge. Be sure to keep them lower than room temperature and not in the freezer. Once you open a bottle of icewine, I recommend keeping it in the fridge to preserve its longevity. Icewine can last upwards of a month or more when kept in the fridge.

What is the best Ontario wine?

Top 4 Ontario Chardonnays

• Leaning Post Senchuk Vineyard Chardonnay 2018, VQA Lincoln Lakeshore ($45)
• Tawse Chardonnay Quarry Road Vineyard 2016, VQA Twenty Mile Bench ($37)
• Stratus Chardonnay 2019, VQA Niagara-on-the Lake ($49)
• Cave Spring Cellars CSV Chardonnay 2018, VQA Niagara-on-the Lake ($30)

Can you release a VQA wine without approval?

You cannot release any wine using VQA terms until the approval process has been formally completed and the wine’s status has been changed to approved. Selling a VQA wine without a formal approval is an offence under the VQA Act, independent of whether the wine might be compliant.

How do I apply for VQA approval?

Submitting an application A request for VQA approval may be made by a registered VQA winery through the Ontario Wine Appellation Authority’s secure website. Once logged in, the application process is accessed under “Wine Approvals”.

How does the Ontario wine appellation authority check the quality of wine?

The Ontario Wine Appellation Authority conducts regular sampling of approved wines after release and performs chemical analysis to confirm that the wines are the same as the samples submitted for approval. Regular label checks are also conducted.

Why choose icewine from Ontario?

With almost ideal climate conditions for the reliable production of Icewine – warm summers to ripen the grapes and cold but not too cold winters – Ontario is now a leading Icewine producer and has earned global acclaim for its Icewines. Icewine is a unique sweet wine made from grapes that have been left to freeze naturally on the vine.