| 01 January 2010
Winter 2008-2009 produced the most severe vineyard conditions experienced in many years. At one point, in the Gaspereau Valley, the temperature plummeted to -26˚C. Several tender varieties took a major hit. It was certainly a wake-up call after a long run of relatively benign winters. Interestingly, though, not all vineyards experienced the extreme cold. Notable exceptions were Blomidon Estate vineyards on the Minas Basin and Bear River in southwestern Nova Scotia. Temperatures in both locations dropped no further than -16˚C.
Nova Scotia is still a very young wine region and growers continue to learn just how important it is to choose the right vineyard site and, equally, to select varieties that will thrive best in each location. Still, viticulture has advanced sufficiently enough over the last 25 years or so that growers have a much better understanding of how to manage adverse conditions. While yields for some varieties will definitely be down this year, favourable conditions through the rest of the growing season could still produce some exceptionally good wines.
For the most part, the established wineries continue to do well. Nova Scotia’s wines now enjoy much wider distribution throughout the local system and are featured more prominently on restaurant wine lists. This year, two new kids arrived on the block, with others planning to open their doors in the next couple of years. Among them is local personality and entrepreneur, Pete Luckett. Luckett is widely known in the Maritimes for his Pete's Frootique specialty grocery stores. He also runs an immaculate farm in the Gaspereau Valley, which includes an eight acre vineyard. Plans are well under way for construction of a winery building to be opened as soon as next year.
| 30 December 2009
I still remember it as if it was yesterday. The date was September 16th, 1996. The event was my first day on the job at a Niagara-on-the Lake winery. Wet behind the ears, and eager to learn all things vinous, I was expecting glamorous tastings, tonnes of leisurely strolls in the lush vineyards and a plethora of discussions with wine lovers. Ah, youthful naiveté!
Not even five minutes on the job, and the first tourist bus pulled up. My boss whispered in my ear, “Watch this.” And out came 50 Japanese tourists on a whirlwind tour of Canada. They stepped up to the tasting bar and proceeded to purchase Icewine, by the case, at $500 a pop! Fifteen minutes later the tornado left and restocking began. My exact words to him, after returning from my proverbial Kansas were, “What the hell just happened?” He told me that ever since Inniskillin had won the Grand Prix d’Honneur at Vinexpo for its Icewine, Japanese consumers, seeking the best in all things libation, have been knocking on Canada’s viticultural door. Making it even more attractive for them was price — $45 a bottle at the winery, versus $300 back home. By the end of the day, another eight buses had pulled in and out, with the same results.
I asked Debi Pratt, director of Public Relations at Inniskillin, if the same conditions still exist today. “Gone are those good old days,” was her response. “At that time, we had groups of large buses with, for the most part, Japanese tourists. In fact, we had up to 30,000 per year, about 10% of our visitation. However, in early 2000, the Japanese economy started to decline, and then with 9/11 and SARS, the number of Japanese tourists declined as well. So now, we not only see smaller buses being used, with capacities of 15 to 20 people, but our clientele also includes Chinese and Korean visitors.”
| 09 December 2009
An Introduction to the ’05 Vintage, Part 1 of 2
Written by Randall Grahm and posted on the Bonny Doon Vineyard website.
We’ve been making Le Cigare Volant since 1984, back when I thought it would be an interesting and fun thing1 to make a blend of the principal grape varieties of Châteauneuf-du-Pape2 grown under California conditions. I didn’t quite realize at the time that Cigare would become so synonymous with Bonny Doon and vice-versa, nor that I would ultimately come to identify so strongly with the wine itself. It has become the truest lens of my current winemaking ideas, aspirations and obsessions, a reflection, of where I am going as a winemaker and where the company itself is headed.
So, just to set things straight: The Cigare is not a vin de terroir, not by a long stretch. Most significantly, it derives from multiple, geographically disparate vineyards, so in a real sense, it is a vin d’effort, a composed wine. But the last several years, I feel that we have made some great breakthroughs with the wine, and while Cigare is not yet expressive of a particular place, it evinces incredible refinement and complexity, and something like a strongly defined distinctive style and aesthetic.3
| 22 September 2009
There’s an old adage that goes, “Getting winemakers to agree is like herding cats.” Hmm, maybe that referred to wine writers. I’m so confused. I was never good at keeping old adages straight. What I’m getting at is it’s impossible to get winemakers to agree. I asked 14 winemakers from Niagara about their top three grapes of the 2007 vintage, and got 14 different answers. I was just looking for grape names; imagine if I had been asking about philosophy of winemaking, technique or what closure they prefer — I could be writing all day. Though there was one thing upon which they all agreed: 2007 was an absolutely stunning vintage.
“… so good we would like it to repeat again and again,” say Elayne and Bruno of Alvento. “An extraordinary vintage,” explains Jaime Evans of Stonechurch. “There is little doubt the 2007 vintage was one of the best ever recorded in Niagara,” relays Michele Bosc, Chateau des Charmes. Thomas Bacheldar of Le Clos Jordanne calls it, “An aberrational year that made slightly atypical reds, but what a beautiful aberration!”
Yup, every winemaker agrees it was quite the year in Niagara. As for their favourite grape of 2007, that’s a different story. I asked for a top three, and no top three matched. The highest vote went to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir, followed closely by Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Chardonnay. From the newbie to the grizzled veteran, whatever the grape, winemakers knew they had something very special on their hands.