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Dan Aykroyd’s Niagara Crush
With his namesake label, Aykroyd will join wine-struck stars around the world who, for vanity or for nobler purposes, are attracted to the world of grapes. And when the stars buy in, people take notice. It happened during the early days in the now gargantuan wine regions of California and Australia. Francis Ford Coppola, perhaps the most famous of famous winemakers, bought his Napa winery in 1975. On retiring from the role of TV’s Daniel Boone, Fess Parker launched a respected winery under his own name. Golfer Greg Norman has an extensive line of Australian wines and has recently expanded to California, while Ernie Els has had a winery since 1999. As Canada’s biggest wine-producing region, Niagara is the natural celebrity draw. Canadian links master Mike Weir launched his signature wine with a 2001 chardonnay. He partnered up with Creekside Estate Winery, owned by Peter Jensen and Laura McCain-Jensen, she of the McCain Foods mega-fortune. Proceeds go to Weir’s children’s foundation, but altruism aside, the wines have garnered acclaim from Canadian critics. His 2002 cabernet merlot won the Best Meritage Award at the 2006 Cuvée Awards. Recent stirrings in the region range from the miniscule to the massive. Now that competitive fishing is the new NASCAR, it’s not such a leap for professional fisher Bob Izumi to take direct aim at his demographic by teaming up with the Coyote’s Run winery to produce a small supply of Izumi-branded, “fish-friendly” wines selling for around $20. A portion of each bottle sale helps preserve fishing resources in Ontario through the Fishing Forever Foundation. Barenaked Ladies’ Stephen Page used to be a partner in Vines magazine and has speculated about one day owning a winery. Actress Sonja Smits co-owns Closson Chase, a cult winery founded in 2004 in the up-and-coming region of Prince Edward County, 200 kilometres east of Toronto. At the high end, the multimillion-dollar Stratus winery, financed by David Feldberg of Teknion furniture manufacturing fame, produces only ultrapremium $30-plus wines. Earlier this year, Canadian wine conglom-erate Vincor, Canada’s largest wine company, was snapped up by inter-national beverage concern Constellation Brands, now the largest such company in the world. And a new winery called Le Clos Jordanne, designed by starchitect Frank Gehry, is planned as a joint venture between Vincor and Burgundy’s La Famille des Grands Vins Boisset, the third largest wine merchant in France. That celebrities are buzzing around the Canadian wine industry is def-initely a vote of confidence in the product, says wine writer Tony Aspler, author of The Wine Atlas of Canada (2006). “Fifteen years ago, you couldn’t even attract a stand-up comic from Yuk Yuk’s [to endorse the wine] because they were all putting down the product.” The kick in the pants came in 1988 after much public ridicule and the threat of the North American Free Trade Agreement spurred the creation of the Vintners Quality Alliance, a set of rules governing quality wine production. In 1990, there were 21 wineries in Ontario. By the end of this year, there could be as many as 125. |
