Mark Glover with son Brian
As part of my 30 days of blogging, I asked several other folks active in the Ontario wine community to guest post. Some are writers/bloggers already, some are thinking about it (like Mark), and others have no interest. Mark has an upcoming feature post, so I thought it was time to introduce him!
I first met Mark Glover through the Twitter-based #ONWineChat and Debbie and I have met up with he and his spouse Bre at several events over the last couple of years. Mark and Bre were active participants in The Great Canadian Wine Challenge and they hosted several open Canadian Wine parties for participants at this place outside Hamilton.
Despite the challenges of a full-time job and a new baby, Mark has also taken up home wine-making (on a rather large scale) based on local grapes, and having sampled several of his wines, I can say that he has natural talent!
Q&A
Q1: How and when did you first get interested in Ontario wine?
A1: I first got interested in Ontario wine about ten years ago when I realized how close the wineries were to me and the fun to be had by visiting and tasting them. My passion though, was sparked at the first ‘Bring your Boots’ event at Vineland Estates Winery when winemaker Brian Schmidt was talking about terroir and how every subtle change in soil, elevation, and slope has a profound impact on the wine. It was at that point where I decided I needed to make wine and figure this out on my own.
Q2: What do you find most interesting about the Ontario wine industry?
A2: The people. They are such an amazing mixture of passionate people, generally all with different views.
Q3: Which Ontario wine regions have you visited?
A3: Niagara and PEC. Haven’t had a chance to get out to LENS yet.
Q4: Any favourite wineries? If so, what makes them your favourite?
A4: My favourites are for various reasons. Vineland for the people whom have become friends, but in general I prefer the small to medium sized ones where they appreciate my visit and take the time to engage in good conversation.
Q5: What do you see in the future for the Ontario wine industry?
A5: In it’s current course.. a very slow, expensive and painful road to privatization.
Q6: If you had any advice to give Ontario wineries, what is it?
A6: Switch gears and concentrate on marketing to the general population and exporting to the US. The most popular wines by sales volume are purchased by a market that do not read wine reviews, they get recommendations from their peer group (who also likely don’t really know much about wine).
Q7: What’s your social media channel (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, etc.) of choice?
A7: Facebook and Twitter. (Ed note: Maybe a blog soon?)
Q8: What was the last bottle of Ontario wine you opened?
A8: Ha! My own 2014 St. Urban Riesling!