Fall arrived this week, and Ottawa evenings are cooling even while the afternoons stay warm. That in-between stretch calls for wines that swing both ways. Here are five to pour over the next couple of weeks, opening with a Canadian Fracette and closing with a Niagara red. Two are Ontario-grown. The least expensive is under $12. The last is a Cabernet Franc built for roast chicken as the weather turns.
Canada now has Fracette, a sparkling style that VQA Ontario recognized as its own category. The name folds “frozen,” for the Icewine that finishes it, into “facette,” for the layers in the glass. It’s a dry and complex sparkling wine. The Chardonnay behind this Fracette comes from grower Bill George’s vineyard, just a hundred metres from the Lake Ontario shoreline near Vineland. Orchard fruit and a citrus aromas lift open the glass, floral notes rounding out the middle. The texture stays bright and lively, with real tension keeping the finish from feeling soft. Few sparklers show off Niagara’s cool-climate style this clearly. Try it with baked brie and walnuts or fresh peach with honey.
Dry • 12% • LCBO 53350 • $23.95 • 92 points
Kim Crawford and Erica Crawford founded Loveblock as an organic and biodynamic expression of what Marlborough can produce when conventional intervention is stripped away, using green-tea tannin extract in place of sulphur dioxide as a preservative. This extra-dry Sauvignon Blanc opens with white grapefruit, fresh gooseberry, crushed stone, and a cool herbal note before delivering a precise, textured palate with a long mineral finish and bright food-friendly acidity. Serve it with Asian-inspired dishes, seared tuna, salads, or vegetable kebabs.
Extra Dry • 13.5% • LCBO 14568 • $29.95 • 93 points
The name is Spanish for the pet, or the mascot, and the wine climbs from high-altitude Mendoza in the foothills of the Andes. Those vineyards sit about three thousand feet up. It’s aged nine months in French and American oak, and the craft shows. Look for buttery notes and crisp pear, with a lovely thread of lemon blossom underneath. The palate is round and generous, and it holds long on the finish. Pour it alongside grilled chicken and corn on the cob.
Extra Dry • 14% • LCBO 126870 • $16.95 • 92 points
Bicicleta means bicycle in Spanish, and the bike on the label honours the vineyard workers who ride out among the vines each morning. Cono Sur is a certified B Corp that ships carbon neutral, and it once sponsored the Tour de France. At under $12, it costs less than a good bike lock. Expect fresh white peach, apple and orange blossom. It’s aromatic and crisp at once, a rare trick for a Viognier to pull off. Serve it well chilled with Thai coconut chicken skewers off the grill.
Dry • 13.5% • LCBO 64287 • $11.95 • 90 points
As the evenings cool, this Niagara red earns a spot at the table. It opens with bright strawberry and raspberry perfume over a core of dark berry and savoury-herb complexity. The tannins are supple, and the savoury finish lingers. Cabernet Franc is one of the parents of Cabernet Sauvignon, and it thrives in Niagara’s cool climate. Pour it with herb-roasted chicken or grilled pork chops as the season turns.
Extra Dry • 13% • LCBO 47830 • $19.95 • 90 points
Natalie MacLean offers Ontario’s most popular online wine and food pairing courses, tasting classes, expert reviews and mobile apps at nataliemaclean.com. Follow her on Instagram at @nataliemacleanwine. She is the author of Wine Witch on Fire: Rising from the Ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much, and a 2026 finalist for the International Wine and Spirits Competition Wine Communicator of the Year.
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