Nova Scotia’s Sparkling Future
It’s an interesting fact… Nova Scotia has been growing wine grapes since 1611 when Louis Herbert, an early French settler, planted a small vineyard in Bear River in the hopes of making fine wine. Mr. Herbert and his colleagues went on to learn some harsh lessons about Nova Scotia’s climate and the notion of fine wine production disappeared from the province’s collective consciousness for almost 370 years.

Fast forward to 1980 when the Nova Scotia wine industry was once again set to pursue the production of fine wine. Roger Dial is credited with producing Nova Scotia’s first commercial vintage at his Grand Pré winery in 1980.  Shortly thereafter, Jost Vineyards would become Nova Scotia’s second winery and since then the Nova Scotia vineyard landscape has evolved with new wineries opening and new styles of wine emerging all of the time. 

The quality of Nova Scotia wines has increased dramatically over the last three decades, and particularly over the last five years. Much of this success has been due to industry standards set to ensure wines labeled as Nova Scotian are made exclusively from Nova Scotia grapes. With increasing consumer demands and knowledge continually challenging wineries, the industry is stepping up to meet those challenges and is producing wines to higher standards year after year.  

Here are some tips for choosing a Nova Scotia wine for your next occasion:

1)      Look for wines with the Nova Scotia symbol (a lobster holding a glass of wine). This symbol will tell you the wine is made from 100% Nova Scotia-grown grapes.

2)      Consider a sparkling wine.  Nova Scotia is emerging as one of North America’s best sparkling wine producers. These stylish wines make wonderful aperitifs and are perfect pairings to oysters, smoked salmon and a range of Nova Scotia seafood.

3)      Look for one of Nova Scotia’s signature grapes.  Nova Scotia’s cool climate is ideally-suited to the production of dry white wines. L’Acadie Blanc has emerged as Nova Scotia’s signature white grape, but a number of unique white varietals, such as the very aromatic New York Muscat, are also doing well in Nova Scotia. Classic vitis Vinifera grapes such as Chardonnay and Riesling are also being produced by select wineries in the province. Nova Scotia white wines tend to pair well with Nova Scotia seafood.

 4)     Don’t discount a good red.  While it is more challenging to produce red wines in Nova Scotia, a number of good red wines are being made from French American hybrid grapes. Some of the best varieties include Baco Noir, Marechal Foch, Leon Millot and Luci Kuhlmann. Some wineries are also having limited success with internationally recognized grapes including Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc. Try not to overwhelm the delicacy of Nova Scotia red wines with rich fare. Lighter meats such as pork and chicken are solid partners and some Nova Scotia red wines even pair well with rich seafood such as tuna or grilled salmon.

5)      Treat yourself to an Icewine.  Nova Scotia Icewine is considered some of the best in the world. Nova Scotia Icewine is ideal as an aperitif or can be served with blue cheese and fruit based desserts; especially those made from Nova Scotia grown apples.