This is my third article reviewing Canadian Wine Trends that happened over 2024. In this article, I will review our interest in Old World (e.g. Europe) vs New World (e.g. North and South America) wines. Did we get more interested in European wines? I used Google Trends to produce graphs for our interest in Old World and New World wine areas, showing overall monthly trends and total query results by province.
Remember that Google Trends does not give an absolute number. It is scaled to 100 for the largest amount and then everything scales as a percentage. So you cannot compare absolute numbers between wine regions.
Canadian Interest in Old World and New World Wines
In these graphics, I selected four Old World and four New World areas. For the Old World, I picked Bordeaux, Burgundy, Tuscany (Chianti Classico), and Rioja. And for the New World, I picked Argentina, Australia, California, and New Zealand. I felt that these areas represented the most popular wine regions outside of Canada.
Old World Wine Region Interest
In general, all provinces, except Saskatchewan have a broad interest in Old World, European wines. Bordeaux has the strongest interest, with an overall strong graph through the year and stronger bumps over the summer holidays (bbq and Bordeaux) and the Christmas holidays. Burgundy (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay) interest is low during spring and summer but ramps up in the fall into the winter holiday season.
The Chianti Classico region shows a consistent level of interest throughout the year and bumps up at the winter holiday season. I think the general acidity, red fruit flavours and medium body of many Chianti Classico wines go well with cuisine throughout the year, so we get that consistent level of interest.
Rioja is known for full-bodied red wines. There are peaks in the summer and in the winter holiday season and then times with little/no interest. I cannot come up with any good ideas for the low interest sections this graph.
If we check interests in the Old World wine regions by province, British Columbia comes out on top with three out of the four regions. Quebec had the most interest in Chianti Classico wines in 2024, closely followed by British Columbia. It looks like Ontarians prefer fuller-bodied red wines as they show up higher in the Bordeaux and Rioja charts.
New World Wine Region Interest
When I review these graphs for New World wine regions, only California wines appear to have sustained interest for Canadians. It is also the only region to have interest across all provinces. The territories are again not showing interest in New World or Old World wines. British Columbia has the strongest interest in all my New World wine interest graphs and three out of four of the Old World wine interest graphs.
The graph for Argentina show large gaps in interest with a peak in the summer and then peaks in the fall and winter season. Does this show that Malbec is losing some of its luster for Canadians, or it is viewed as a wine to enjoy at specific times of the year?
Australia is also showing peaks, but they are more tightly arranged throughout the year, with then slightly higher around winter months. Maybe Canadians prefer fuller-bodied Australian Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon wines over the winter months more than during the spring and summer times?
California wines have the most consistent interest across the months, but a dip around the start of summer could be a statistical blip. There is also a Christmas holiday peak in December. Overall, I’d say that Canadians love California wines.
New Zealand is my last New World region and I was quite shocked to see several winter peaks then a large gape with a single peak in mid-summer. The map for Canadian interest in New Zealand wines also just shows four provinces with data. The maritime provinces may be drinking their Tidal Bay wines or beer for the spring and summer months. Saskatchewan and Manitoba may as well be more into beer in those summer months. I will be posting an article on trends, investigating beer interest in Canada, so maybe there will be some confirmation to my hypothesis. Another possibility is that Canadians know which New Zealand wines they like, e.g. Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, so have no need to query Google about New Zealand wines.
Concluding Remarks
Overall, I would say that outside of BC and Ontario wines, Canadians show more interest in French and Italian wines from the Old World, over New World wines, except for California. If you have any insights into these wine regions, please post your comment below. Cheers.
