Inniskillin, a historic Canadian wine

Neatly pruned rows of vines stretch away from the boutique shop in Oliver, BC, the Canadian wine capital. This estate winery represents Jackson Triggs and Inniskillin.

Inniskillen, the proprietor explains, has a long history going back to the War of 1812. The winery began on the Niagara escarpment, Canada's only other grape-growing area.

The name was derived from the island town of Enniskillen in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, home of the Inniskilling Dragoons.

This regiment helped to repel the Americans from Queenstown in the War of 1812, and later its leader was granted Crown land in the Niagara area. That farm was called Inniskillin, and later became the site of the Ontario winery. The BC winery was added later.

The Inniskillin label covers some award winning wines, some of them decorated with an aboriginal design of a warrior on horseback, commemorating the old cavalry regiment.