By Rick VanSickle
Karl Kaiser’s legacy is already cemented in Canadian wine history, but his daughter Andrea wants to make sure it stays that way.
In 1974, Kaiser and his partner Donald Ziraldo co-founded Inniskillin Wines, Canada’s first estate winery, and then went on to acquire the first winery license since Prohibition in 1975. Sadly, Kaiser passed away in 2017.
The history of Inniskillin and the two men who built it is well documented, but it’s Kaiser’s daughter, Andrea (above), who set out immediately after her father began to make his last wine for family and friends (but was finished by Andrea and the team at Reif), to release a 2017 Sauvignon Blanc under her Drea’s Wine Co. brand, made from winemaking equipment in his garage, who is keeping his rich legacy alive.
The last commercial wine that Kaiser (below) made was the most expensive icewine ever made at the time — a commemorative 2004 oak-aged Cabernet Franc icewine that went on to sell for $450 a bottle. But what many people may not know, Kaiser was just as happy making wines for himself, his family and his pals from purchased grapes and equipment he acquired throughout his career. He made about 45 cases of Sauvignon Blanc and a Bordeaux-style blend and divided it up with three friends every year.
Which is why Andrea Kaiser created her own Drea’s Wine Co. wine brand (her father affectionately called her Drea) to honour her father and what he meant for the Canadian wine industry. The varietals she chose to champion are the grapes her dad loved to work with best.
“I selected this varietal for my first release as each vintage my father would make my mother and I a special ‘batch’ of Sauvignon Blanc in his home cellar,” Andrea Kaiser explains. “He knew this was our favourite. And each year he was so determined to make it to our liking and was always nervous when we sampled it for the first time. Just before tasting each vintage, he would remind us that we needed to remember the wine was still young and that over time it would become more integrated and balanced.”
Andrea Kaiser said that her dad would “wait patiently while we tasted, and I think he knew I was always ready to tease him. I would immediately declare “ ‘but Papa, I told you before we don’t like any residual sugar — remember we like our wines fermented bone dry.’ He would shake his head with a small smile and say ‘but Drea, it needs some sugar for body on the mid-palate and to balance the acidity.’ And then each year I would sigh and say, ‘Well, OK, Papa, if you say so, but remember your promise not to age it in oak again, you know Mama and I don’t like any oak in our wines. He would then grin and with a little chuckle say ‘I know, I know that was only one year that I made it with oak.’ ”
Andrea Kaiser said “it was an annual ritual that unfortunately came to end in 2017 when my father was making his last vintage of wine in his home cellar, so it seemed a fitting tribute to launch my own Sauvignon Blanc in his memory.”
Since that first 2017 vintage, Andrea Kaiser has made four other vintages of Sauvignon Blanc and added Cabernet Franc, rosé, Dornfelder and two sparkling wines to the evolving portfolio, all made with her famous father as her inspiration.
I recently tasted a vertical of five vintages of the Sauvignon Blancs going back to the original bottling along with a vertical of four vintages of the Cabernet Franc. Her portfolio of wines reflects her father’s favourite grapes to work with in Niagara.
“I selected the Cabernet Franc grape variety for my first classic oak-aged red wine as it was one of mine, and my father’s, favourite grapes for Ontario,” said Kaiser. “We both love Cabernet Franc for its bright fruit flavours and gracious acidity. Cabernet Franc is a most noble variety believed to have been established in the 17th century and in the late 1990s was recognized as the ‘father’ of the well-known Cabernet Sauvignon grape. Unlike a big Cab, however, Cabernet Franc wines are medium-bodied with a savoury mouthwatering taste and are a very versatile food pairing wine.”
You can get Drea’s wines online here Here’s what I liked from the two verticals of Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc:
The Sauvignon Blancs, 2017-2024
Drea’s Sauvignon Blanc 2017 — My original review of this debut Sauvignon Blanc from Andrea Kaiser showed much fresher notes on the nose and palate. Eight years later, it is showing what happens with age — a bit more of a golden colour in the glass, preserved lemons, ripe pear, flinty notes, more rounded with mulled herbs but still lively on the finish. I would normally recommend drinking Sauv Blanc in its youth, but if you saved a bottle or two of this for late drinking, you will be pleasantly surprised with the 2017 version.
Drea’s Sauvignon Blanc 2019 — This vintage struck me as pure and herbaceous with lime peel, gooseberries and tropical fruits when first reviewed. Six years later, it still shows racy saline notes, kiwi, white flowers, and wild herbs on the nose. The palate leans toward a New Zealand style with kiwi, grapefruit, eucalypt and lovely freshness through a bright finish. Still going strong.
Drea’s Sauvignon Blanc 2022 — The 2022 is just now coming into its own. Such wonderful balance between the florals, herbaceous notes, citrus fruit and kiwi/passionfruit with just a hint of tropical fruits. It has a more rounded, elegant feel on a luxurious finish.
Drea’s Sauvignon Blanc 2023 — A more reserved vintage with a subtle nose of white flowers, pear skin, herbs, kiwi and saline notes. It’s bright and lifted on the palate with citrus, quince, passionfruit, wild herbs and mouth-watering acidity on the finish. No rush to drink up.
Drea’s Sauvignon Blanc 2024 ($27, new vintage, new release, 92 points) — Sourced from the Watson Vineyard in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the latest version of Drea’s Sauvignon Blanc is a more classic, leaner style with a nose of summer herbs, kiwi, passionfruit, green pear, fresh mowed grass and a racy vein of saline. It’s bright and lifted on the palate with grapefruit, passionfruit, grassy/herbaceous notes, pear and kiwi with a lifted, finessed finish. Can cellar through 2030.
The Cabernet Francs, 2020-2023
Drea’s Cabernet Franc 2020 — This was the debut Cabernet Franc from Andrea Kaiser. It was aged in three French oak barriques for eight months and was awarded 93 points when originally reviewed by Wines in Niagara. It has only gotten better with five years of age in bottle. Wow, what a knockout! Such a harmonious nose of pure black currants, brambly raspberries, macerated cherries, mulled herbs, black peppercorns and toasty oak spices. It’s mouth-filling on the palate with polished tannins and a smooth texture to go with a medley of ripe and pure red berries, smoky cedar, herbaceous accents, anise, pepper and a tangy, long, and lifted finish. Can keep cellaring to 2030.
Drea’s Cabernet Franc 2021 — A much lighter shade of red in the glass and a more muted nose of currants, anise, fresh cherries, cocoa and spice. It’s lighter in body (typical of the 2021 vintage) and showing more mature notes of dark berries, black licorice, mulled herbs, and some spice notes with light tannins and juicy acidity through a lifted finish. Can drink up over the next couple of years.
Drea’s Cabernet Franc 2022 — When Cabernet Franc aficionado Allison Slute first reviewed this wine for Wines in Niagara, she called it a “knockout, a quintessential Niagara Cabernet Franc that is brimming with dark berried fruits and classic notes of rosemary, cedar wood, sweet, cured tobacco, with an added delicate menthol-esque note reminiscent of boxwood or eucalyptus.” I whole-heartedly agree with Slute in every aspect, a gorgeous “Niagara” Cab Franc that sings on the finish and promises to reward even further with cellaring through 2032.
Drea’s Cabernet Franc 2023 ($35, new review, available now, 92 points) — Kaiser and her winemaking team have done well steering this Cab Franc through the uneven 2023 vintage. The grapes were sourced from the Huebel Grapes Estate in the Four Mile Creek sub-appellation planted in 1999. It was aged for right months in mostly older French oak barriques. It shows a lighter shade of red in the glass with a nose of dark cherries, brambly raspberries, pomegranate, anise, black currants, and savoury herbs and spices. The palate reveals the wild side of Cab Franc with fresh red berries, anise/licorice, subtle bell peppers, minty herbs, ground black pepper and toasted vanilla and spice with mouth-watering acidity on a long, echoing finish. Can cellar to 3032. Andrea Kaiser says her “favourite pairing is with my father’s version of Sooke Harbour House Ontario rack of lamb seasoned with Keen’s dry mustard, dried mint, coarse salt and fresh ground pepper.”
Note: A portion of proceeds from Drea’s Wine Co. sales are donated to the Karl J. Kaiser Memorial Fund at Brock University, “from where he graduated, taught and helped build and foster the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute.”
Historic anniversary wine pack available
It was 50 years ago that Karl Kaiser and Donald Ziraldo started a partnership that changed Canadian wine forever. Andrea Kaiser is celebrating that legacy with a very special collaboration — the Drea x Ziraldo 50th Anniversary Gift Pack.“
This limited-edition set brings our families and stories full circle, featuring three small-batch, single-vineyard VQA wines crafted in Niagara-on-the-Lake — right where it all began,” Andrea Kaiser said in a release.
Each gift pack includes a bottle of each of: 2024 Small Batch Sauvignon Blanc, 2023 Small Batch Cabernet Franc and the 2022 Ziraldo 2022 Vidal Icewine.
Every gift pack includes a free digital copy of Icewine: Extreme Winemaking, written by Donald and Karl Kaiser. The cost is $150 and can be purchased here.
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