Everything you always wanted to know about ... Canadian wine

Contrary to parochial images of horse-riding Mounties and beer-drinking hicks, there are folk trying to prove that Canada is also the true northern home and native land of terrific wine. Eh?

Import firm The Canada Emporium hosted an epicurean event on Friday at the Aberdeen Boat Club, eager to showcase its products, especially those produced by David Harder of Legends Estates. The tough job for the pair is that Canadian winemakers are still about as well known as ice-hockey players from Hong Kong.

'Some hotel sommeliers tell us they just don't know anything about Canadian wine, other than ice wine,' managing director Mandy Wu (right with Harder) admitted. 'The biggest factor is knowledge. Also, Hong Kong people are conservative. In Japan, Canadian wine is quite popular now. They're willing to try. They're also not as price-conscious, whereas here some people just look at the price, not the quality.'

Although they were promoting the event as a tasting, 10 courses were prepared for the event by the club's chef along with Six Senses Cooking Studio's Denice Wai, using wines to cook. Then, each dish was paired with another Canadian vintage. Three different desserts with three different ice wines rounded out the feast. If not for the Jumbo Floating Restaurant outside the window, guests who drank a little too much might think they were enjoying a feast in Vancouver harbour. OK, maybe not. If you're a yachting member at Aberdeen, you too can try the club's Canadian wine and food menu until the end of the month.