Canada: A real mouthful

Chef Ethan Robinson prepares dishes for a wine-pairing dinner at the Canadian embassy in Beijing during the fifth "Eat Drink Canada China".[Photo provided to China Daily]

"Today, Canada has 671 grape-based wineries in operation," says Saint-Jacques, "with almost 1,700 grape growers producing quality fruit on approximately 30,000 acres of vineyards－mostly in Ontario and British Columbia, but with increasing production in Nova Scotia and Quebec." French-speaking Quebec is the ambassador's home province, and while the ambassador says the region is proudly Francophile, its wines are not deliberately French in style.

While the tasting was designed to show that Canada's vineyards produce excellent wines beyond its famous ice wines, those sweet vintages stole the stage at the end of the tasting. So did British Columbia, wowing both tables with Ex Nihilo merlot ice wine from Okanagan Falls.

Later, Beijing-based wine guru Fongyee Walker and her fellow professionals toasted the embassy for demonstrating the quality of Canadian wines at the tasting and follow-up dinner. Wine in China magazine partnered with the embassy and the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia to sponsor the event, and the magazine will feature the professional tasters' comments in an upcoming issue. My own faves (surprise, they're from BC's Okanagan valley): Quails' Gate chardonnay and the robust dry red Perseus Invictus.

Embassy chef Ethan Robinson orchestrated an elegant five-course feast that he matched with several wines. The menu naturally included Canada's well-respected lobster and beef.