FARE OF THE COUNTRY; Wine From Young Vines in Southern Ontario

NOT far from Niagara Falls in southern Ontario, venturesome wine-minded travelers will discover a region rich with young wineries. Like the Napa Valley of the early 1970's, the peninsula between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie is fertile territory for new, ambitious estates with big ideas. They are coaxing good wine from young grapevines and impatiently awaiting the nuances that come with older vines and more cellar experience.

Some 25 wineries -- 21 of them established since 1979 -- are cultivating grapes on 15,000 acres luxuriant with European vinifera vines. Entrepreneurs are so optimistic that applications for licenses to start 12 more wineries are pending before the provincial Liquor Control Board. Land values and planted acreage have risen. New buildings, German wine presses and sleek Italian bottling machines are appearing. And rising reputations are nudging revenues upward: Since 1990, sales of the peninsula's premium wines have increased 100 percent.

The region's top wineries are spread across a fruit belt that one enters minutes after crossing the bridge into Niagara Falls, Canada. All welcome visitors, and have inviting tasting rooms. It takes little time to go between wineries on the uncrowded roads.

Fields of apricots, apples, peaches and pears, punctuated by farmstands, come into view across a broad plain bounded on the north by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Niagara River and on the south by a ridge called the Escarpment. Most of the vines are scattered across the plain, with choice grapes also cultivated on the ridge's low slopes, which winegrowers call "the bench." The huge lake is the winegrowers' ally. Its air currents butt against the ridge, plunge downward over the benchland and circulate back across the plain. During the warm growing season, this rotation cools and dries the vines, preventing rot; in the spring, the cool air delays budding and prevents late frosts; in the fall and winter, the never-freezing lake moderates the peninsula's temperatures, preventing severe damage to vines.

Canadians joke that Americans, expecting tundra, are stupefied by the peninsula's vast vineyards. Such whites as chardonnay and riesling, the region's strongest suit, and reds like cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and pinot noir now feed a modern industry born in 1975. That's when the provincial government gave Inniskillin, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the first winery license since 1929, opening the way for more boutique wineries and ending the era of low-grade wines that date from the late 1800's.

Concentrating on the European grapes, these estates have radically altered Canadians' taste formed by simple mass-market wines made from native grapes like Concord and Niagara. Competition forced giants like Brights and Andres to follow suit. In 1988, the boutiques' victory was sealed when the provincial government banned the use of Concord and Niagara for still wines.

The best time to visit Ontario's wine region is mid-May through October. A non-meandering drive across the grapevine zone takes less than an hour, but it's more enjoyable to extend the trip by stopping at several wineries. Wine-route signs direct visitors to estates for a tour and tasting. Most wineries will give visitors an ounce of each varietal to try free of charge. Americans can bring home a liter of wine duty-free; most come back with two bottles, more than a liter, and are not usually charged extra duty and tax for the two. Wines range from $7 to $15 a bottle. (Prices are based on an exchange rate of $1.25 in Canadian currency to the dollar.)

At the nine leading wineries I visited in March -- Chateau des Charmes, Cave Spring, Henry of Pelham, Hillebrand, Konzelmann, Inniskillin, Marynissen, Reif and Vineland -- first-year oak barrels perfumed the air and stainless-steel equipment looked newly minted. (However, apart from the comfortable, woody tasting rooms, the esthetics were generally low-budget.)

"Ontario is in a very big experimental stage," said Karl J. Kaiser, the wine maker at Inniskillin. "I'm betting on pinot noir." He uncorked a zippy '92 auxerrois and a meaty '92 petite syrah, which visitors can try in the tasting room in a converted barn near the cool, spacious winery.