TORONTO to JASPER: Part 2

In addition to just gazing at the scenery, Rail Canada provided two Canadian wine tastings and one for beer.

Breakfast.

Canadian beer tasting.

A typical stop.  This at Saskatoon.

Excellent pork chop dinner.

There was a second Canadian wine tasting.

Not much, but free.  There was also Bingo, and I won the first card.  A nice prime rib dinner.

Thought we'd go up to domed car to watch the sunset.

One of the marvels of technology are those freight car trains.  They are up to 2.5 miles long and consist of over 150 cars.  And there are longer ones.  I tried to take a video of one of them at this sunset videoing.

A continuition. 

To close, what do you know about Canadian wines?

• I don't remember drinking a wine from this country ever, until this trip, although I've been through Canada maybe a dozen times in my life.
• Ontario and British Columbia produce two-thirds of Canadian wines, with Ontario responsible for 62% of them.
• Ice wine in particular has some noteworthiness, and Ontario makes 90% of that type.
• Wines were first made in 1611 by Louis Herbert in Bear River, Nova Scotia.  Vitis labrusca and vitus riparia were not particularly popular because they had a "foxy" taste.

• 
  First commercial wines came in 1866 on Pelee Islands, Ontario.
• Alcohol prohibition from 1927 were dropped in 1974, leading to higher quality wines from Vitis Vinifera vines.  
• Canadians drink 23 liters/person/year.  This can be compared with around 10 liters/person in the U.S.
• There are about 800 wineries in Canada, compared with 11,450 for the U.S.
• 
  The top wines of Canada are red and come from British Columbia, save for ice wine from Ontario.
• #1  Mission Hill Family Estate Oculus (Okanagan Valley, BC), produces a Bordeaux-style red blend.
• #2  Inniskillin Cabernet France Ice wine (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario).
• #3  Poplar Grove The Legacy (Okanagan Valley, BC).
• Vineyards of Canada.

-