Lesley Quinn, sommelier at The Barrington Steakhouse & Oyster BarDrink of choice: 2015 Mercator Sauvage Sur Lie “It’s one of the first white wines in Nova Scotia that I feel has shown real complexity. I love Tidal Bay, it’s easy to drink and delicious, but this has texture, minerality— it’s just got a lot going […]
Fall Wine Guide
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Warner Vineyards—Nova Scotia’s grape god
It’s been a dry summer. As John and Anne Warner walk around their vineyards, the grass crunches underfoot like gravel. Leaves and fields are tinged with yellow and dust picks up on the country roads with each breeze. Cereal crops planted in between the grape trellises struggle to make their way through the cracked dirt. […]
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The Wine Lover’s Guide to Atlantic Canada reads between the vines
Moira Peters knows a lot about wine. A trained sommelier, wine columnist and the owner of Unwined Tasting Parties, she doesn’t just talk about the juice—her life is all about it. Even more so now, as she adds her latest badge of vino know-how: Writing the book on local wine, literally, as co-author of The […]
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NSCC raises a class
The Nova Scotia Community College’s campus in Kentville is bearing more fruit than ever before. Almost 10 years ago, the school was approached by provincial wine industry organizations—folks like the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture and the Grape Growers Association of Nova Scotia hoped the college would look into the training needs of the industry. […]
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Viticulture shock
Sean Myles has been working on breeding new grape varieties since 2011, when he partnered with Hans Christian Jost—the then-owner of Jost Vineyards—on a cross of Muscat and L’Acadie Blanc grapes. An assistant professor at Dalhousie, Myles works in the Department of Plant, Food, and Environmental Sciences and is the Canada Research Chair in Agricultural […]
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Message in a bottle: 5 wine picks from local experts
So far, this fall isn’t really all that fall-like—not that we’re complaining. And neither is Nicole Raufeisen, the sommelier and manager at the waterfront’s 27-seater bar Little Oak. She’s easing into the season, sipping on mostly lighter reds, as well as sherry. “I know people don’t think of sherry as a wine because it’s fortified […]
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Drink up the Fall Wine Festival
Winemakers Dinner and Auction Wine is at the heart of this event but a performance from Symphony Nova Scotia and a four-course meal are the added bonuses. A silent and live auction are also part of the fun, with proceeds supporting SNS. Thu Sep 24, Cunard Centre, 961 Marginal Road, $180 Port of Wines Festival […]
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Port of Wine Festival toasts two decades
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Port of Wines Festival, and they’re celebrating in style. “For the past 20 years we’ve focused on a single country,” says Tim Pellerin, the NSLC’s vice-president, marketing and merchandising, “where about 20 to 25 percent of wine was from the country of origin.” This year, the four […]
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Just try me: local wines to drink this fall
Domaine de Grand Pré, Haskap Sparking Wine $23.75 Haskap, a berry native to our province, gives this wine just a hint of body and sweetness. Made in the traditional Champagne method, this is a wine versatile enough to span whatever fall feast you have up your sleeve. “This wine is about as Nova Scotian as […]
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Not all homemade wines
Don’t judge a wine by its homemade label—yeah, the one that’s just “Merlot” scrawled on a jagged strip of masking tape. It’s a lesson for even the unsnobbiest drinkers, and sage advice that Noble Grape’s Shean Higgins is quick to share with hesitant first-time winemakers. Not all homemade wines are that watermelon shiraz your friends […]
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The Tidal’s high
While the Nova Scotia wine scene has traditionally been a straggler when it comes to fame and accolades, our first official wine appellation, Tidal Bay, has managed to turn that all around in a matter of only a few years. A blissfully aromatic white wine that hovers around 11 percent, it ranges from sharp, crisp […]