The Rural Voice, 1980-12, Page 25Gordon Hill savours a glass of the
'original'. red wine he and his wife
Ruby make each year from Niagara
Penninsula grapes.
Carl Seeger. who was raised on
apple cider. is now an experienced
winemaker and grows the grapes for
his white wine on his Auburn - area
farm.
THE RURAL FAMILY
Winemaking farmers agree
The best wine
is homemade
BY HERB SHOVELLER
Carl Seeger and Gordon Hill share the
same interest, but neither knows the
other. When Carl talks about his favorite
hobby, he bubbles over the youthful
enthusiasm. Gord is more subdued when
addressing the same topic, but a gentle
and persistent smile leaves you in little
doubt of his enthusiasm. What they have
in common is pride and enjoyment of a
special project, dedicated to the glory of
the grape. For Carl, who hails
from southern Germany, wine making
would appear to be an intrinsic part of his
past but, in fact, while growing up he
was more familiar with another fruit
product, apple cider. (He still makes
cider, and operates a custom cider
pressing business. )
A more likely reason for these two men
developing this hobby is that Canadians
are gradually gaining an understanding
and appreciation for wine. That might be
reflected in the strides Canadian, and
closer to home, Ontario wines, are
beginning to make around the world.
Gord's interest was partly spurred while
he was serving as president of the
Ontario Federation of Agriculture from
1970 to 1977, and it clearly hinges on a
sense of national and provincial pride.
A LOT OF CRITICISM
"One of the things that started my
interest was the criticism of Ontario
wines," said the self -described. semi -re-
tired Varna farmer. "I was supposed to
be defending our Canadian and Ontario
agricultural products, and I resented the
criticism of our home product. So 1 had to
find out what they were talking about.
"When we were in restaurants, " he
added, "we pretty well had to order a
bottle of imported wine. They had none of
the better Ontario wines." That was ten
or fifteen years ago, he explained, when
Gord and his wife Ruby began drinking a
little wine. Since then, their taste in wine
has developed hand-in-hand with their
interest and support of top quality
Canadian wines. " 1 wouldn't buy an
imported wine today," he continued. "I
might buy an imported wine in a
restaurant, but I would only do it after
complaining strenuously because there
was no Ontario wine on the menu."
(lord's respect for our growing wine
industry illustrates a difference between
him and Carl. Carl doesn't like domestic
wine, but he has no interest in imported
wines either. "I have had 'bought'
wines," said Carl, "but I don't like them.
For example, when you go over there
(Europe) and go to a vineyard, and you
try their wine there, there's no compari-
son." Carl thinks that somehow the
quality of wine deteriorates between
where it is produced and the store
shelves. Or. perhaps, Carl suffers from
the ailment suffered by other home wine
makers; the uncontrollable urge to rate
one's product highly, "Oh, he brags
about it," his wife Kathe pointed out.
INTEREST IN WINE
So each man, one raised on apple cider,
the other in surroundings where wine was
not a central part of the culinary culture,
came by his interest in the fruit spirit in
different ways. Carl started making wine
15 years ago, and today he grows his own
grapes on his farm near Auburn. He
began making wine when he and his
family were living in Toronto.
"There were a couple of people
working for me and they made their own
wine," Carl remembered. "1 told one of
the fellows to make me five gallons, and it
turned out terrible. My son said he had a
friend who made wine out of concentrate,
and we tried it. It was a hell of a lot better
that the wine I got front the other fellow."
"We had a friend in Rochester who
grew his own grapes," Carl continued,
"and he gave us the ins and outs of doing
it. When we moved here that was one of
my first priorities."
Gordon and Ruby also make their wine
from fruit althougn they aon't grow their
own grapes. They too got their start with
concentrate. Their interest, starting
about eight years ago, began to accele-
rate as they talked to more and more
people. "We started talking to friends,"
explained Gord. "and we realized others
were making wine (from concentrate).
We tried them and didn't like them. We
talked to a grape grower, and then we
talked with a friend who is quite a
connoisseur of good wine. We learned
THE RURAL VOICE/DECEMBER 1980 PG. 23