The Ontario Wine Appellation Authority is proposing a new regional appellation named "West Niagara".
It would involve amending boundaries of the existing Niagara Escarpment regional appellation to include St. David's Bench.
"West Niagara" would include the Niagara sub-appellations Beamsville Bench, Creek Shores, Lincoln Lakeshore, Short Hills Bench, Twenty Mile Bench and Vinemount Ridge.
The new "Niagara West" regional appellation would encompass all sub-appellations west of St. Catharines.
The change brings names in line with the physical boundaries of the escarpment.
These changes will make the Niagara appellation framework similar for the east and west areas of Niagara and more consistent with consumer perceptions, tourism and marketing conventions linked to regional travel, the authority said.
The authority also wants to add Frontenac Noir, Frontenac Gris and Frontenac Blanc to the list of approved hybrid grape varieties that can be used on labels.
As well, the grape variety Hibernal would be moved to the list of hybrid varieties permitted to be used in varietally-labelled hybrid wines.
