(Decanter) - Human beings love to simplify. All simplifications, though, are fallible; they sacrifice nuance on the altar of clarity. A recent visit to the vineyards of Canada’s Ontario, back in early October, made this point several times over.

Winemaking in Ontario is considered (for example) to take place in the extreme north, and to be a radical example of cool-climate viticulture. Given that the province produces 80 per cent of the world’s Icewine, that has to be true, right?

‘We’re not a northerly region,’ points out Angelo Pavan of Cave Spring. ‘We’re on the same latitude as Florence.’ (Actually a slightly lower latitude: Florence is 43.77˚N whereas Niagara Falls is 43.06˚N.)