This year’s record-breaking warm, dry summer gave grape-growers and winemakers a sweet taste of what climate change has in store for Nova Scotia. That heat came just after a freeze in early June—late in the season for a frost so severe—offered another, bitter, glimpse at what climate change will look like in our vineyards. “There […]
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A Festival of Wines Grand Tastings survival guide
Festival of Wines Grand Tastings Saturday 28-29, 1-4 & 7-10 pm Cunard Centre, 961 Marginal Road $65, ticketatlantic.com For the first time, the Festival of Wines will expand its focus beyond one country, this year featuring wine made all over North America. At the fest’s four grand tastings this weekend, more than 350 wines will […]
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Avondale Sky’s blank canvas
Avondale Sky Winery 80 Avondale Cross Road Newport Landing When Justin Floyd was tasked with designing the menu at Avondale Sky Winery’s patio restaurant, he settled on a simple concept. “I wanted to make food that I would eat while drinking wine, on a deck, on a sunny day, in a beautiful place,” he said, […]
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Headline brews: the Canadian Brewing Awards land in Halifax
If you’re wondering why the Canadian Brewing Awards are such a big deal, consider the numbers. Over six days earlier this year, 48 judges weighed in on 55 categories and nearly 2,000 entries representing every province and territory (save for two) to land on the winners of the 16th annual industry awards. Those 48 folks […]
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Limestone Group pours up a taste of the islands
Want to win a trip to the Caribbean? Well, hopefully, a contest comes along soon. Until then, you can get a taste of the islands in the breezy brews being crafted by up-and-coming small-batch beer producers Limestone Group. Founded in Halifax by Bahamian students Giovanni Johnson, O’Neil Miller and Damian McCartney, Limestone Group began as […]
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Lake City Cider blossoms this summer
Lake City Cider 35 Portland Street Opens in June Poet Comeau had a realization just over a year ago, when the company she worked for dissolved. “I was lucky. The company that took on our company gave me a job,” she explains. Comeau worked in alcohol retail, education and sales—mostly imports—for 12 years. “But I […]
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Sourwood Cider plays with unfiltered, raw flavour
“I get pretty obsessed and nerdy with everything I get into,” says Jake Foley, half of up-and-comer on the craft scene, Sourwood Cider. “I stumbled on some apple trees in Ottawa and took my first stab at it in 2011. The tree I found, it was this cool old tree with red flesh and small […]
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In a sour mood? Here’s 7 superb beers you have to try
“People’s taste buds evolve and the trends evolve,” says Jeremy Taylor, head brewer and co-owner at 2 Crows Brewing. “A few years ago it was all about the super big IPAs that have a billion IBUs, and then in the past year or so it’s more on the juicy IPAs with less IBUs and people […]
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Fab beers to sip in the spring sun
1. Mojito Kettle Sour Roof Hound Brewing Co. (4.3% ABV, 17 IBU) Available now “We have made it before, but it has been reinvented with a new souring technique and a warm fermenting Norwegian yeast strain that creates citrus characters,” Roof Hound owner Les Barr explains via email. This beer is kettle soured, dry-hopped […]
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Benjamin Bridge is a force of nature
The tide is high in the Bay of Fundy. The highest in the world. The power of those tides is as if half the planet’s horses were kelpies caught in a thunderous, watery gallop through the channel. The tides are strong enough to create bores that surge against the current and can change the direction […]
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Annapolis royalty: a first look at Lightfoot & Wolfville
L ightfoot & Wolfville is a winery that was planted by a farm, a wonderful expression of what can be grown in Nova Scotia. For eight generations, hundreds of years, the Lightfoot family has been farming in the Annapolis Valley. Winemaking just felt like a natural evolution. “Growing grapes on our ancestral land, land with […]
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Thinking outside the vines
T he Annapolis, Gaspereau and Avon River valleys and their concentrated cluster of wineries contribute undeniable richness to Nova Scotia’s wine landscape. But flanking this heartland, smaller sub-regions spice up the wine scene, presenting new flavours and textures for our kitchen tables. This diversity in wine is owed not only to Nova Scotia’s varied geography, […]