Opening i4C’s School of Cool, Rivest argued authenticity, hospitality and connection will shape Canadian wine’s next chapter
Over the past 16 years, the International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration (i4C) has evolved into far more than a wine festival. What began as an ambitious idea to showcase the potential of cool-climate chardonnay has grown into one of the world’s leading forums for conversations about terroir, sustainability, innovation and the future of wine.
Each July, Niagara welcomes winemakers, sommeliers, writers and wine lovers from around the globe for four days of tastings, vineyard experiences and thought-provoking discussions centred around one of the world’s most expressive grape varieties. But before the corks are pulled and the celebrations begin, i4C traditionally opens with the School of Cool conference—a gathering where the industry’s brightest minds come together to explore the challenges and opportunities shaping wine today.
This year’s keynote, delivered by Canada’s celebrated sommelier Véronique Rivest, proved to be a fitting start.
While chardonnay remained the common thread throughout her address, Rivest’s message reached well beyond the grape itself. Speaking candidly about changing consumer habits, declining wine sales and the pressures facing hospitality, she acknowledged the uncertainty that many producers and restaurateurs are feeling today.
Yet rather than dwelling on those challenges, she offered something far more refreshing. Optimism.
Veronique Rivest speaks to an engaged audience at the School of Cool in Niagara-on-the-Lake. (Courtesy of i4C and Alina Zherdeva Photography.)
“The COVID years were almost easier to navigate than what we’re facing today,” she admitted, reflecting on the changing landscape of hospitality. But despite the uncertainty, she remains convinced that the industry’s greatest asset hasn’t disappeared.
“The desire to connect hasn’t disappeared, and it never will.”
It’s a deceptively simple observation, but one that became the central thread of her keynote. Wine, she argued, has never been merely about what’s in the glass. Its true value lies in its ability to bring people together. COVID reminded us of that.
“We missed sharing meals and opening bottles with friends,” Rivest said. “We missed sitting around a table with no agenda other than just being together.”
Hospitality, she reminded the audience, isn’t simply a business model. It’s part of being human.
That perspective feels especially relevant today. While countless headlines continue to focus on declining wine consumption, Rivest challenged the narrative that consumers have fallen out of love with wine. Instead, she suggested they’re simply engaging with it differently. They are drinking less, perhaps, but drinking with greater intention. They’re searching for experiences rather than transactions. Stories rather than sales pitches.
In many ways, that shift presents an opportunity.
A sold out audience listens to the keynote address at i4C. (Alina Zherdeva Photography).
For decades, Canadian wineries worked tirelessly to prove they could produce world-class chardonnay. That debate, Rivest believes, is over. Canadian chardonnay no longer needs validation.
“We’ve stopped emulating others,” she said. “We’re asking a much better question: What does Canadian chardonnay sound like when it’s not trying to imitate anything else?”
It’s a remarkable evolution, and one that mirrors Canada’s growing confidence on the world wine stage.
Canadian wines are increasingly appearing on restaurant wine lists in cities like New York, Paris and London—not because they’re Canadian, Rivest noted, but because they belong there. They’ve earned their place through quality and a distinct sense of identity.
That idea also speaks to how far i4C has come. In its early years, much of the conversation centred on whether Canada could produce chardonnay capable of standing alongside the world’s finest. Today, that question feels almost outdated. The festival has become a showcase not of Canada’s potential, but of its confidence. The focus has shifted from comparison to expression and from proving quality to celebrating the distinct voices emerging from Niagara, Prince Edward County, British Columbia, Québec and other cool-climate regions around the world.
That identity, Rivest believes, is rooted in place.
“Chardonnay just happens to be the world’s greatest translator of place—if we let it.”
It may well have been the keynote’s defining line.
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For an event built around exploring the many expressions of cool-climate chardonnay, the statement perfectly captured i4C’s purpose. Chardonnay isn’t simply a grape variety. It’s a storyteller, capable of reflecting climate, soil, geography and culture with remarkable clarity.
But producing great wine, Rivest argued, is only part of the equation.
Winemakers representing the world of chardonnay speak during one of three educational panels during the i4C School of Cool. (Alina Zherdeva Photography)
The greater challenge facing Canadian wineries today is telling those stories in ways that resonate with consumers.
“Our great opportunity isn’t making better wine,” she said. “We’re already making outstanding wines. Our great opportunity is telling better stories.”
That means moving away from intimidating language and exclusionary attitudes that have too often surrounded wine. It means creating experiences that invite people in rather than making them feel as though they need a glossary before ordering a glass.
Whether it’s encouraging guests to describe a wine in their own words or simply bringing ice with a smile when someone asks for it, hospitality begins by making people feel welcome.
Perhaps Rivest’s strongest challenge came when she turned her attention to authenticity.
“I don’t think consumers are rejecting wine,” she said. “I think they’re rejecting bullshit.”
Today’s consumers, particularly younger ones, aren’t searching for polished marketing campaigns or generic tasting notes. They’re looking for authenticity, transparency and sustainability. They want to understand who made the wine, why it was made, and what values it represents. They connect with people far more readily than brands.
That message extends well beyond the winery gate. Rivest encouraged producers to collaborate with local restaurants, artisans, cheesemakers, hotels and artists to create destinations that celebrate a place rather than simply sell a bottle.
Visitors don’t travel to wine country looking only for wine. They come searching for connection. Perhaps that’s the greatest takeaway from this year’s i4C.
The celebration has never simply been about chardonnay. It’s about the people behind the wines, the places that shape them, and the conversations that happen when bottles are shared around a table. In many ways, the festival itself has become the embodiment of everything Rivest described: authenticity over artifice, hospitality over intimidation, and connection over consumption.
If every great chardonnay tells the story of a place, as Rivest believes, then perhaps Canada’s greatest opportunity isn’t convincing the world we can make exceptional wine. It’s making sure every bottle tells a story that only Canada can tell.
– Carmelo Giardina is the principal editor of VineRoutes
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