How Canada’s Icewine Pioneer Turned a Frozen Niche into a Major Asian Export

Icewine is probably best known in Canada, which produces more of this sweet dessert wine than all other countries combined. 

Across Asia and China, the beverage is still quite niche, but Pillitteri Estates Winery is doing its best to nurturing a taste for alcoholic nectar on this side of the world. The family-run business, with 150 acres in the Niagara-on-the-Lake region, in the province of Ontario, may not rank among the biggest icewine producers, but they’re certainly one of the most respected. 

They are also paving the way in Asia as icewine pioneers. Through hard work and persistence for close to 30 years, Pillitteri has carved a significant market for themselves across Korea, Japan and China. It is especially popular at this time of year, heading into the festive season of gatherings and gift-giving. 

“People use it for a celebration wine for Chinese New year. After they’d finish their dinner, they’d have it as toast. Also, it’s enjoyed for birthdays and celebrations,” says Richard Slingerland, Vice President of Sales and third-generation member of the Pillitteri family in the icewine business. 

Early tastings confirmed what the family would later build its export strategy around. “When we did tastings with customers, we found the best reception and most interest was from Asian customers. We found that every single person coming to us from China, Taiwan, Korea, or Japan, were asking, ‘how many bottles can I bring back on the airplane?’”

The Pillitteri clan emigrated to Canada in 1948 and started its own winery in 1993. Before that, they made wine for generations in Sicily. As Canadians, they produce a range of table reds and whites but the icewines are its standout products. In addition to Vidal grapes, Pillitteri has been innovating with a fascinating range of varietals including Cabernet Franc, Riesling, Corvina, Gewurztraminer aged in oak, as well as a sparkling ice wine and a fortified Tawny. 

“We’ve really tried to build a special collection,” Slingerland explains. “My grandfather was one of the first to make icewine (in Canada). From a very early stage at our winery, we decided to specialize in icewine.”

The key to ice wine vinification is harvesting in the dead of winter when the grapes are frozen on the vine. Doing so in bone-chilling cold weather, picking with frost bitten fingers, is certainly not easy work. It also requires three to four kilos of the concentrated grape juice to produce just one 37.5 millilitre bottle.  

“Minus 10 Celsius is what we’re looking for. Minus eight is the minimum. We have to make sure that the grapes are going to be strong and healthy enough because they have to hang for an extra two, sometimes three months,” Slingerland notes.

Founder and elder patriarch Gary Pillitteri – Slingerland’s uncle – first started selling icewine to Taiwan in 1995 and they still work with the same importer today. They entered the Mainland China market in 1999, introducing the sweet dessert drink in Shenyang, in the Northern Liaoning Province.

“Our largest export market is China. Out of our total production, about 60% of it is exported. Out of all of our exports, about 50% goes to China, so it’s a big part of our business. So far this year, we’ve bottled 45,000 cases of icewine. By the time the year is done, we’re going to be over 50,000 cases, so that’s over half a million bottles.”

By Slingerland’s calculation, that’s 300,000 bottles of icewine sold just on the Mainland, running from $55 to $150 a bottle. Beyond China, South Korea is their next biggest customer, followed by the Japanese. 

“These are very highly educated wine markets, looking for newer vintage, newer things, like our Corvina ice wine and the sparkling ice wine. A lot of (customers) are also people who have visited Canada and they take the wine back home.

“In our house here at Niagara-on-the-Lake, people constantly contact us when they realize we can do  winery tours and tastings in Mandarin and Korean. We now have three staff members that speak Mandarin and one in Korean.”

The brand also has a presence in Hong Kong, through retailer Watson’s Wine Cellar. 

Next for Slingerland is to continue opening up new territories in Asia for icewine. He plans to travel more within the region, attending trade fairs and wine shows. He has already confirmed Pillitteri will be at the China Food & Drinks Fair (CFDF) in Chengdu, in March. 

“I’m trying to travel there more often,” he suggests. “Last year, I did Thailand and Vietnam, trying to open up those markets. We were able to open up The Philippines, which is doing fantastic in high end wine shops.”

However, Slingerland notes it is still a difficult battle in markets still relatively unfamiliar with the luxurious smooth beverage. 

“The biggest challenge we have is that we are still trying to make a name for our industry,” Slingerland admits. “The Canadian wine industry is very young. Pillitteri is one of the oldest wineries and we’re only 32 years old. We may have generations of wine making experience but a lot of people find it hard to put Canadian top end, award winning wines besides French, Italian, Chilean or Australian products. 

Counterfeits are another concern. “The other challenge is, half the wines in the market that say they’re Canadian, are not. There’s still a lot of imitation wines in the China market. A bottle of ice wine should not be RMB 99. RMB 350 to 500 is more realistic. That should be a red flag right away that the product is fake mixed with sugar and juice. People should be able to weed those out.”