Atlantic wine awards give plenty of coastal gold

Atlantic wine was put on a pedestal this past weekend when
results were revealed for the first annual Atlantic Canada Wine Awards.
Thirteen wineries walked away with awards and most winners,
unsurprisingly, were from Nova Scotia.

About two-thirds of the 119 wines entered in the Atlantic Canada
Wine Awards won at least a bronze medal, and 21 scored high enough to
deserve gold. Most interesting were the medals for the two new
producers: Muir Murray Estate Winery won gold for baco noir, and bronze
for rosé and foch; Annapolis Highland Vineyards won Silver for
pinot gris and bronze for Dechaunac. That’s impressive for wineries
just out of the gates. (See the sidebar for a full list of Nova Scotian
golds).

Because this recent competition dealt only with regional wines, one
has to look at the results in context. If that sounds like I am already
making excuses for our wines, let me explain. Context is what good wine
is all about. Terroir, referring to the environment in which a wine is
made—its soil, geography, climate and even culture—is an often
used, but never tiresome or trite, term.

Just as the terroir is unique in France’s Burgundy region, our
Atlantic terroir is unique and it defines us. Judging wines from the
same terroir means a more accurate evaluation: on the judging panel, we
picked out regional nuances rather than judging on broad caricatures,
which can happen in national contests.

Comparing our industry to other Canadian regions can be difficult.
For one, we use different grapes. Choosing grapes here is important;
they must ripen properly. That’s why the winning grape varieties were
typically not household names like shiraz and chardonnay but other
grapes, like baco noir, Marechal Foch, L’Acadie blanc and New York
muscat.

The coastal wines of Europe are mainly refreshing whites and the
same applies here. These varieties ripen well in our climate and
produce fruity wines with crisp acidity that pair well with food,
especially local white wines with local seafood; that’s why announcing
the winners at last weekend’s first CATCH Seafood Festival made good
sense.

When we do grow the same grapes as other places, such as riesling,
cabernet franc, chardonnay and pinot noir, they are leaner, with more
acid. This plays well with some judges, but not all.

Overall, our Maritime acerbic personality hasn’t hurt much at
national competitions. Last May, Nova Scotia wineries won 28 medals at
the 2009 All Canadian Wine Championship. Six of those were “double
golds” (Best in Category). Jost Vineyards, based in Malagash, won three
double golds: for their complex 2005 baco noir, aromatic 2008 Habitant
Blanc blend and 2007 Valley Road Marechal Foch. Other double golds
included L’Acadie Vineyards’ Soleil dessert wine made from dried
grapes, Gaspereau Vineyards’ Vitis red blend and 2007 Barrel Select
Lucie Kuhlmann.

This is the first year for this competition, so we’ll see if the
wineries can turn the medals into increased sales, encouraging
consumers to go coastal.

Nova Scotian gold

Jost Vineyards
Trilogy red blend, Pinot Noir and
Frontenac Gris

Gaspereau Vineyards
Muscat/Chardonnay blend, L’Acadie Blanc, Muscat,
Riesling

Domaine de Grand Pré
Muscat Ice Wine, Seyval Blanc, and Pomme D’Or apple dessert wine

Blomidon Estate
Seyval Blanc and Vidal Icewine

L’Acadie Vineyards
Traditional Method sparkling Brut and Seyval Blanc

Sainte Famille Wines
Marechal Foch

Craig Pinhey is a certified beer judge, sommelier and
freelance writer. Visit him at frogspad.ca.

This article appears in Jul 2-8, 2009.