I was fortunate enough to head to Nova Scotia wine country with a fellow new CAPS certified Sommelier, Billy. We spent 3 days, 2 nights exploring what N.S. wine country had to offer and trust me, we were both impressed.
We flew to Halifax from Toronto, rented a car and drove one-hour north-west to Wolfville. This was in the heart of the Gaspereau Valley which is a subregion of the much larger Annapolis Valley.
It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the Bay of Fundy. What makes the Annapolis valley special is its ability to warm up and grow fruit, specifically grapes. Most of the wineries are located at the north-east tip of the valley on the Minas Basin, a part of the Bay of Fundy. This basin helps to bring in moderating air which helps to keep things cool on hot days and warm on cool nights.
That being said, let's focus in on L'Acadie Vineyards.
Bruce Ewert and his Nova Scotian-born wife Pauline Scott moved their young family to Nova Scotia in 2004 and founded L’Acadie Vineyards. Bruce has over 25 years of experience in winemaking; managerial and hands-on roles at a variety of small and large wineries in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario, California and Australia, and it shows. The fun thing about L'Acadie Vineyards is they were the first to produce a sparkling wine, the first fully certified organic vineyard in N.S. and the winery is geothermal.
Anything else I'm missing?
Next the rose, a blend of two hybrids Marechal Foch and L'Acaie which was fresh, vibrant and a tad crunchy. Perfect for a spring salad of arugula and fresh grilled prawns served on a patio.
The 2016 Vintage Cuvee sparkling wine made from three grapes, L'cadie, Seyval and Chardonnay. This was really well balanced with 7 G/L dosage. It was dry enough to satisfy the extra brut crowd and yet approachable for the inexperienced sparkling wine drinker, well done. Classic brioche notes good stone fruit, good minerality and even some of that slight ocean salinity, excellent. I've had the Brut Reserve before which is one step up from their vintage Cuvee and trust me, you should try it!
The 2016 Rose Brut made from 100% Marechal Foch and much like their still Rose, crisp, fresh, a tad crunchy but perfect for a spring salad. Personally, I'm not dying for Marechal Foch but that's just me as many do love it. I guess I'm just a stickler for those Vitis Vinifera grapes like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and not these hybrids.
The last we tried was their 2015 Passito made from Marechal Foch and Leon Millot which was interesting, to say the least. The appassimento method is a style from Veneto Italy of drying grapes on racks after you have picked them to improve concentration. The grapes slowly start to shrivel as water leaves the grape but the sugar remains the same so when you ferment you have a much more concentrated liquid which can really help enrich a wine. This is how they make their powerful "Alchemy" brand wine.
They then pour the juice from the two hybrids for their Passito wine over the skins left over from their Alchemy production to help concentrate this wine. The Passito wine was aged in American oak to pack an extra little punch.
We were very lucky to check out their facility where they hand riddle sparkling wine done in a boutique, low quantity style. I'd certainly recommend their Vintage Cuvee and Brut Prestige which at about 7G/L and 2G/L respectively, they offer some tremendous quality.
This is what is so beautiful about Nova Scotia wine county and yet slightly tragic. Its current tragedy is its very cool climate which prevents them from growing warmer climate varietals well. The beautiful part, however, is that their same cool climate is what will help place itself on the international map in the future. With alcohol levels and ripeness surging higher and higher due to a warming climate these pockets of cool climate viticulture will surely shine brightly into the future.
For now, Bubbles remain king but I think you'll start to see single varietal Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and even bigger reds like Cabernet Franc in the future as winemakers slowly fade out these hyrdbrids.
We also had a chance to make it to Blomidon Provincial Park at low tide, simply stunning. I highly recommend you check it out!
Where else can you drink world-class locally grown sparkling wine, walk on Mars and then eat some of the freshest seafood you've ever had?
Why Nova Scotia Wine Country of course!
Happy Sipping,
Ryan Sullivan
No comments:
Post a Comment