Proposal will feature Essex County wineries on local TV

Leamington's local television station is planning a special series on Essex County wineries.

CFTV 34 hopes to achieve the programs in collaboration with the Southwestern Ontario Vintners' Association (SWOVA) when it begins filming Essex Uncorked.

The CFTV 34 - SWOVA effort will create 30-minute shows featuring each winery to be televised on CFTV 34 and Digital Cable 79.

Each show will be composed of three segments: a "pairing" of the SWOVA winery with a local food preparation; 'Wine 101', an educational wine appreciation short; with the main focus on each winery's product/services, location, facilities and vineyard. A 'pairing' is the traditional method of marrying food and wine.

If all goes well, "Essex Uncorked" will be broadcast in the summer of 2009 with re-broadcasts in the fall/winter months.

Wendy Gilmore, writer/producer said the show's conception "was designed and crafted to provide information to people such as a Windsor chef, who went to Toronto to buy Leamington peaches; the LaSalle couple who went on a wine tour in Niagara because they didn't know the local wineries existed; for the lady who used to drive past the local winery on her doorstep and then miles out of her way to the LCBO to buy a bottle of wine for a dinner party; and for the event planner who said 'You have wineries there? I never knew...!"

She boasts that Essex-Kent has excellent vintners - and now the show will certainly help consumers find them and experience their fine wines and vineyard services.

The 13 wineries in the Lake Erie North Shore and Pelee Island lie at similar latitudes to world famous wine growing regions in Navarra, Spain and Abruzzi, Italy. It enjoys a longer growing season than any other wine region in Canada and Ontario produces the largest percentage of Canada's finest world class wine.

The temperate continental climate in the Great Lakes, which created the Carolinian Forest and its national treasure of rare plants and animals, also created a truly world class grape growing environment. SWOVA's wineries have been designated by the Vintners Quality Alliance of Ontario (VQAO) as a 'viticultural' area of finer quality grapes. Canada's first commercial wine growing operation began on Pelee Island in 1866 with the opening of the VinVilla winery.

CFTV 34 and SWOVA have jointly applied to the Ontario Market Investment Fund of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Rural Affairs for funding. The project was outlined to local MPPs Pat Hoy and Bruce Crozier; Leamington's Deputy Mayor Rob Schmidt, and the County Warden and Kingsville Mayor Nelson Santos. They have helped arrange letters of support to accompany the application.

Gilmore noted that we have excellent wineries here that have "world class products and the television show will positively brand the appellation." Additionally, in a tight economy, the project has the potential to put the region on consumer/tourist radars as a significant 'signature event destination' for its wines, foods and hospitality.

As a byproduct of 'Essex Uncorked' the shows will enhance other 'buy local' regional initiatives when it 'pairs' locally grown foods, many of which can be found under the 'Foodland Ontario' branding campaign of OMAFRA.

CFTV 34 welcomes those restaurants, food growers, producers, and processors wishing to participate in the project to contact Tony Vidal, President, CFTV 34 in the Princess Centre, Leamington, at 326-4000, or Wendy Gilmore by email at: Gilmorewl@aol.com.

CFTV 34 is a not-for-profit community based television station operated locally by Southshore Broadcasting. SWOVA, is a not for profit organization formed to represent vintners in the Lake Erie North Shore & Pelee Island.