Tidings Magazine

Every emerging wine region needs a magnet. Something to draw us city folk into wine country. In British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, it is the magnificent temple to Dionysus that Anthony von Mandl built at Mission Hill. In Quebec, it’s the Chapelle Ste. Agnès Vineyard, a tiny piece of the Rhône in the Sutton Mountains of southern Quebec, established in 1997 by Montreal antique dealer Henrietta Antony. In Ontario, it could have been the proposed Frank Gehry winery for Le Clos Jordanne, until Constellation put the project on the back burner after they purchased Vincor. Currently in Niagara, the draw is such architectural eye-openers like the ones of Stratus, Tawse, Flat Rock Cellars and Jackson-Triggs.

For Nova Scotia I predict that the crowd-puller will be a new winery in the Gaspereau Valley called Benjamin Bridge that is set to open in an interim building early next year. In keeping with the new wave of Canadian wineries Benjamin Bridge’s owner Gerry McConnell made his fortune in another field (mining) before getting his feet into the vat, so to speak.

Given Nova Scotia’s climate he wisely decided to concentrate on sparkling wines, but he has set his sights ambitiously high. McConnell wants to make sparkling wine up to the standard of Champagne’s grandes marques. To this end, in 1999, he purchased a 50-acre property with an 1845 barn and did an initial vineyard planting of 10 acres. He then hired consultant Peter Gamble. When he told Gamble of his vision, the former winemaker for Hillebrand suggested that if one wants to rival Champagne one needs to have a Champenois winemaker — which is exactly what McConnell did.

Oenologist Raphaël Brisbois has worked at Piper-Heidsieck in France, Omar Khayyam in India, Mount Dome in Washington and Blue Mountain in BC. Gamble and Brisbois have been experimenting with sparkling blends since 2002, using Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Vidal and Nova Scotia’s signature white grape L’Acadie. Gerry McConnell has given them carte blanche to leave the wines on the lees as long as they feel is warranted.

Currently, the wines are partly being made in the cellar of the old barn and partly in a more modern barn across the road. Design is well underway for a spanking new facility that will also feature a hospitality centre. This will be the magnet for the region.

I was in Nova Scotia in June to taste the wines. They are, without question, the best sparkling wines I have tasted in Canada. Gerry McConnell is about to realize his dream. Watch for these wines. They’re worth the trip to Nova Scotia.