Dessert Wine Ice Wine Canada Israel

Canada has been producing quality wines for over two hundred years, and has hundreds of established wineries producing characterful and easily recognizable wines from the many imported grape varietals which flourish in the cool climate and excellent soils which typify the region. The primary wine producing regions of Canada are all located in the south of the country, and benefit from the consistent climate found there. The two largest wine producing regions is Canada are the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, and Niagara Peninsula, in Ontario. Both of these regions produce large quantities of the ice wine Canada is famous for, where the grapes are allowed to freeze on the vine during the early frosts, and thus have their sugars and flavors concentrated, resulting in highly aromatic and often very sweet wines.

Since biblical times, Israel has been an important production center for wine, and continues to be so to this day. All over Israel, the Mediterranean climate the country enjoys ensures that grapes grow to full ripeness, and the vineyards are helped considerably by the mineral rich limestone soils which typify the geology of the wine regions. Interestingly, in Israel, up to fifteen percent of all wine production today is used for sacramental purposes, and the vast majority of the wines produced there are made in accordance to Jewish kosher laws. Israel is split into five major wine producing regions; Galil, The Judean Hills, Shimshon, The Negev, and the Sharon Plain, and in recent years the wine industry of Israel has brought over twenty five million dollars per annum to the Israeli economy.