It's good times for Ontario's wine industry

Toronto

ROW after row of delicate young vines line the long driveway leading to Peller Estates Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake. It's a cool spring morning and the expansive lawn in front of the winery is edged by a patio that will host parties and tastings all summer.

John Peller, chief executive officer of Andrew Peller Ltd, is jovial as he surveys the vines that helped turn the company into Canada's biggest publicly listed winery. Mr Peller, 59, credits his Hungarian-immigrant grandfather for his foresight. "When my grandpa started the business in 1961, he had this vision of bringing the culture of wine and food from Europe to Canada and we laugh because it was the right vision, but he was 30 years too early," Mr Peller said at the winery last month.