Vinalia x Malivoire, Gamay

Martin Malivoire founded his eponymous winery in the 1990s following several decades in the film industry, working as a special effects director in beloved films like A Christmas Story. Among the pioneering generation of Ontario’s small artisan wineries, Malivoire is recognized as the leading authority in Canadian Gamay. Martin Malivoire also enacts what he calls a “three-legged stool” approach to sustainability, with equal weight placed on the “three Ps”: planet, people, and prosperity.

Viticulture in Ontario began in 1811 when Johann Schiller planted the first vineyard near Toronto, focusing on native American and hybrid vine species. The landscape transformed in the early 1950s when Brights Winery introduced Chardonnay, proving that vinifera species could thrive in the region’s cold climate. By the late 1970s, more wineries, including Cave Spring, embraced vinifera. Today, the Niagara Peninsula, shaped by the Great Lakes and Niagara Escarpment, is renowned for cool-climate varietals and its acclaimed icewines, crafted from frozen grapes.

Gamay is nearly synonymous with Beaujolais, the southernmost region of Burgundy where the grape covers nearly all vineyard area. The great wines of Beaujolais are composed entirely of Gamay, though throughout Burgundy Gamay may be blended with Pinot Noir to create Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains. In Canada, Gamay has become one of the core varieties in Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula. Its wines are celebrated for their purity, fresh berry flavors, soft tannins, and lighter body.