The question
If America's signature grape is zinfandel, what is Canada's?
The answer
It's impossible to come up with a precise equivalent because Canada has no strong parallel to zinfandel. The answer in this country is bound to be more subjective and questionable.
You're correct in citing zinfandel in the case of the United States. It's often called "America's heritage grape" because it's been grown south of the border for almost 200 years and was a popular source of vino during the California Gold Rush. Although it's of European origin (specifically from Croatia), the vine flourished in California decades before it did so in southern Italy, its other major growing zone today, where it's known as primitivo.
In the 19th century, vines that thrived in Canada would have been of the winter-hardy, native North American variety, long before there was much wine drinking going on. Mainly we're talking about members of the vitis labrusca species, such as concord, which makes lousy wine (but delicious Welch's juice!) and vitis riparia. They stand in contrast to the tender species known as vitis vinifera, which is responsible for almost all of the world's quality wine today and which evolved around the Mediterranean and eastward toward Iran and parts of Asia.
So, good Canadian wine is based on vitis vinifera grapes that enjoy a much closer association with other countries. Riesling, for example, excels here but its spiritual homeland is Germany and the nearby French region of Alsace. You can't fairly call riesling Canada's signature grape.
That said, one could make the case for baco noir. It was developed by a Frenchman, Francois Baco, as a cross between grapes from both vitis vinifera and vitis riparia – a mutt, basically (or "hybrid" as it's known in ampelography circles). North America has become baco's main stomping ground, and such producers as Henry of Pelham in Niagara and Summerhill Pyramid in British Columbia have done an impressive job of polishing the gutsy variety's rougher edges. A similar case could be made for maréchal foch, another red hybrid from Europe that has found fertile ground here.
Another contender: chardonnay musqué, a Niagara specialty. It, too, is French in origin but it's virtually unknown as a wine in France. The sticking point here, though, is that it's not a full-fledged variety but is rather a clone, or genetic mutation, of chardonnay that was propagated with success by Paul Bosc Sr. of Château des Charmes. The flavour is decidedly, and wonderfully, different from standard chardonnay, with a musky, spicy and more exotically aromatic smell. It may not be a variety in its own right, but it sure is a wonderfully Canadian signature in my books.
E-mail your wine and spirits questions to Beppi Crosariol. Look for answers to select questions to appear in the Wine & Spirits newsletter and on The Globe and Mail website.