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August 4 - August 11,2002 |
Icewine tastes the sweetness of gold
Niagara vintner wins 5 gold medals at international competition in Bordeaux, France
By Mariella Policheni
Originally Published: 2002-07-21
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Royal De Maria Wines\' owners Giuseppe De Maria and Charlene Stephenson
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Giuseppe De Maria, of Royal De Maria Wines, first made wine, or better icewine, in 1998; in making it he made a mistake. That mistake turned into an icewine that won five gold medals at Les Citadelles du Vin 2002, a competition held recently in Bordeaux, France.
"I'm happy, so happy," enthused De Maria from Vineland, in the Niagara peninsula, where he lives; "This is the first time in history that a winemaking company has won five gold medals in the same category!"
De Maria and his icewines brought Canada to a bright spot: his wines made in Ontario are a pride for the Canadian high-end wine market and they are available in LCBO stores and Toronto's best restaurants.
Great emotion filled Giuseppe De Maria and his wife Charlene Stephenson when the judges awarded prizes for best icewines to their 2000 Vidal Icewine, 2000 Gewurztraminer Icewine, 2000 Pinot Gris Icewine, 2000 Gamay Icewine, and 2000 Chardonnay Icewine, in a competition including 547 wines from 20 countries.
"My secret?" said De Maria with a smile. "Well, I can't reveal that now, can I? I can only say that winemaking is my passion, a great passion born out of chance."
During a visit to some friends living in the area ,Giuseppe De Maria, 41, a barber by trade, tasted wine made with grapes that had been allowed to sit on the vines until frost had hit them: "It was so exquisite that I thought that I wanted to learn how to make it," he remembered. "I spent three years in locating these 25 acres, and I bought them to enact my decision to jump into this industry I knew little about; I even studied the climate and conducted the necessary research. Then I started making must for icewine and selling it to other companies."
In 1997, with 5,000 litres left over, De Maria decided to try making wine himself: "I learned on my own, I had never made wine before" remembered the owner of Royal De Maria Wines, which won 82 medals in three years of international competitions. "I was immediately fascinated by the art of winemaking. I think that, in order to make good wine, one must first love wine."
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