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Tuesday, November 28, 2023
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The D'Angelo family brought their winemaking
tradition over from Italy to Canada in the 50s. Sal D’Angelo
started helping his father with making their wines in Ontario
as a very young boy, learning how to process the grapes.
As a young man, Sal returned to Italy to spend time with
his grandfather, Salvatore. Sal fondly remembers the many times
he would follow his grandfather out into the fields, often
starting at four in the morning, where Salvatore would teach
his eager student how to properly care for and renew the vineyard
soils. |
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| In 1979, Sal D’Angelo began his search for the land
on which to plant his vineyard. As an accomplished amateur winemaker,
his ambition was to start his own winery within the heart of Essex
County, in Southern Ontario. In 1984, he bought fifty acres in
Amherstburg, just south of Windsor. Later, during that auspicious
year, he planted
his first acre of grapes. Today, the magnificent vineyard covers
forty-two acres of the fifty-acre property. |
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By this time, Sal had read every book he could
get about wine, thoroughly studying all aspects
of growing and making it. He was becoming evermore aware of
the impressive winemaking history of the beautiful Okanagan
Valley. After he was presented
with the Grape King Award 1999, the top honour for the year
in Ontario for having the finest vineyard, he knew it was time
to expand, and he purchased the best property he could find
in the Okanagan Valley. |
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| The year 1999 was also the D’Angelo Estate Winery’s
tenth anniversary as a wine producer. Sal has a unique philosophy
as a vintner. “Quality is grown” are the words he lives
by. Throughout the vineyard, only the finest French vinifera grapes and
hybrids are planted. The Ontario wine list consists of Cabernet,
Marechal Foch, Vidal, Chardonnay, select late harvest and ice wine. |
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Sal is the first individual grower-vintner to
produce wines in both Ontario and British Columbia. The first
D'Angelo
Estate
Winery Okanagan vintage is expected in 2005.
Since the first vintage in 1989, The D’Angelo Estate
Winery in Ontario has won almost sixty awards and medals. Specializing
in Ice Wine has lead to several awards, including the trophy for
'Best Dessert Wine in Ontario' for two consecutive years. The D’Angelo
Estate Winery holds the distinction of being the only |
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| winery to
win back-to-back gold medals for Ice Wine at the Cuvee Awards.
The 1996 D'Angelo vintage of icewine won a double-gold medal for
'Best Dessert Wine' at the Great Lakes Wine Competition and the
D'Angelo 1996 Foch was ranked in the top 100 wines in the world.
One of Sal's most cherished awards was the 'Best of the Best' award
for his 1993 Pinot Noir. (Courtesy of D'Angelo Estate Winery) |
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The
opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada. |
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