Could an Ontario red perform at this high level—up on the 54th floor at Canoe, under the nose of crackerjack sommelier Teresa Alampur? She swirled the gleaming, garnet pinot noir and brought the glass to her nose. An “oooh!” escaped, as if the wine had left her suddenly winded. The Niagara pinot, Le Clos Jordanne 2004 Le Grand Clos, also wowed 35 Bay Street wine lovers that evening—as did a half-dozen other under-the-radar rarities from Canoe’s impressive Ontario list. The province’s wine industry has always rosily promoted its bottlings without distinguishing the mediocre (and yes, there’s plenty of it) from the best. But any great wine region floats on the cred of its top-echelon wines, so it’s time to single out the high achievers, political correctness be damned. This winter, I visited 15 Niagara and Prince Edward County wineries that make the province’s finest reds, and I tasted their top 2004s and 2005s. The very best celebrate our cool climate, packing finesse, structure and food-coddling complexity. And their prices truly reflect their quality (as opposed to locality), comparing fairly to the red Burgundies and Bordeaux they most resemble. Granted, they’re not all easy to find, and some are made in minuscule quantities. But they’re well worth seeking out. Of the 50-odd top Ontario reds I tasted, here are the 10 best.

1. Le Clos Jordanne 2004 Pinot Noir Le Grand Clos
2. Stratus 2004 Red
3. Flat Rock 2005 Gravity Pinot Noir
4. Malivoire 2004 Moira Vineyard Pinot Noir
5. Tawse 2005 Lincoln Lakeshore Pinot Noir
6. Stratus 2004 Cabernet Franc
7. Rosehall Run 2005 St. Cindy Pinot Noir
8. Daniel Lenko 2004 Syrah
9. 13th Street 2005 Gamay Reserve
10. Henry of Pelham 2004 Cabernet-Merlot Reserve