Myth: Red wine has more sulfites than white, which is why I get a headache when I drink red wine. Truth: Red wine generally contains less sulfur dioxide than white wine, not more. If you get headaches from red wine but not white, this is likely because you are reacting to histamine, produced by lactic […]
Fall Wine Guide
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A fall wine to-do list
Nova Scotia Harvest Wine Festival Inspired by harvest season, and our fruitful local wine industry, this six-week event—presented by Taste of Nova Scotia and Wines of Nova Scotia—has restaurants, wineries and tour providers working together to host experiences across the province. Since September 15, Nova Scotia Harvest Wine Festival has been toasting the various growers […]
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Six fall foods and the local wines to drink with them
Sandals season isn’t completely over (so sue me) but technically fall has arrived—it’s just about time to wear rust-coloured sweaters, eat tiny chocolate bars and avoid turning the thermostat up. As the slow-cooker meals and blended soups start to trickle their way into our minds and onto our weekly menus, we reached out to three […]
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The fantastical Nicole Raufeisen
Nicole Raufeisen, manager and sommelier at Little Oak (recently named one of Canada’s Best 100 Restaurants for the second year in a row) and The Ostrich Club, sure can sell a person on wine. Her enthusiastic, unexpected fantastical or pop-cultural descriptors can bring the mere idea of a drink to vibrant life before a drop […]
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Mermaids and Merlot’s no-pressure, no-pretension guide to wine
The first rule of Jessica Babin’s wine club is that there are no rules. You don’t have to be an expert, or have any intention of being an expert, drink with her. Bar Kismet’s WSET-certified wine director runs Mermaids and Merlot based on a simple piece of advice she got from a teacher—life is complicated, […]
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Weathering the storm: How the changing climate affects our vineyards
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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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, […]
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Five new-to-Nova-Scotia grape varieties
As an emerging wine region, Nova Scotia faces constant questions about what grapes to plant and nurture for wine. Growers who have been at it for more than a couple decades are beginning to get a sense for what works and what doesn’t—emphasis on beginning. Many factors are at play for any vine in a […]