L'Acadie Vineyards Blog

Wine Library Releases

Library Releases

Aged wines from cool climates are ideal for exploring

 

Our wine library is extensive and delicious. We hold back bottles from every vintage and age them in ideal conditions for our own reference and for periodic library releases to wine club members and key wine accounts. Past releases include 10-year aged Estate L’Acadie to show off how these minerality-dominant dry organic wines age and develop, our cool climate consistently granting a seamless longevity statement every vintage, and 10-year aged appassimento reds with tannins and flavours of their youth developing into supple tannins with dried fruit and jammy directions, yes jammy, a descriptor usually reserved for hot climate reds. 2014 Estate L’Acadie and 2012 Passito are currently available at Peacock Wine Bar in Halifax. Traditional method sparklings tend to develop richer characters when aged on cork and we have 2007 Prestige Brut Estate planned for a release. Best way for updates is receiving our newsletter.

This year our Gaspereau winery will be releasing 2008 Alchemy from the library exclusively for wine club members. Alchemy was Nova Scotia's first appassimento Amarone-style red, a worthy style for our cool-climate region, and refers to early scientists, or alchemists, searching to transform ordinary metals into gold. We did 5 years of research with Italian researchers and Kentville Research Centre to hone our grape drying technique and our inaugural release of the 2006 vintage won gold at the All-Canadian Wine Championships, quite fitting. 2008 Alchemy is an exceptional red wine carefully aged on cork for 14 years after 2 years in barrel and boasts complex, developed flavours of black cherry, toasted oak, & licorice.

Sign up for wine clubs here

Update from the Vineyard

 

Climate change continues to impact wine regions across Canada, more recently in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley with record January lows of -28C wiping out possibilities of any crop this year. Nova Scotia had a comparatively less severe polar vortex in February 2023 and the main difference in impact is due to BC’s plantings of sensitive vinifera grape varieties compared to our region’s predominantly hybrid varieties. At least we had crop from L’Acadie Blanc and Leon Millot last year, reasonable yields from our certified organic and biocyclic vegan Gaspereau vineyard, but young vinifera Chardonnay and Pinot Noir got hit hard and vineyard practice has to be focused on renewal for future years by carefully training new trunks.

Read CBC article Cold snap causes catastrophic loss for BC's wine industry

 

Chardonnay new shoots in May 2023 after polar vortex: L'Acadie Vineyards

Happy to report that we don’t expect any winter damage this year after a fairly mild January and February. It’s still early to clink glasses together and we’ll wait until threats of late spring frosts are over – a spring frost/freeze in 2018 impacted our inventories of aged sparkling wine. The vines do not need another year of stress and we continue to inspect for signs of damaged trunks from the polar vortex.

Pruning started on Leon Millot and L’Acadie Blanc and we are leaving 3-4 fruiting canes - one as a kicker cane to delay budbreak, to be removed after spring frosts are over. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and our coveted little planting of Sauvignon Blanc will need minimal pruning as we train new shoots/trunks... and possibly get a very small crop this year. Perhaps we’ll toast with a glass of our upcoming new first release of 2021 Sauvignon Blanc traditional method sparkling!

Read a related blog, Climate change and organic farming

 

Climate change resilience and organic farming

We have long been supporters of Atlantic Canada Organic Regional Network ACORN, and they have good information on their website - a small excerpt shared below.

Climate change affects vineyards with extreme events such as severe winter damage to vines in British Columbia for the past two years, polar vortex in Nova Scotia last year with similar damage, and droughts in other wine regions of the world. Organic farming  builds resilience AND contributes to a solution, as ACORN describes so well. 

A couple notes about our organic and vegan practices:

• living soils - symbiotic fungi expand root zone influence by 2-10x for more water and nutrient availability, read more
• regenerative agriculture - cover crops between vineyard rows create biodiversity and pull carbon from the atmosphere and store it in soil, watch video about our cover crops
• livestock greenhouse gas generation - we are certified Biocyclic Vegan, no animal products from soil to glass, read more

 

 

Biocyclic Vegan and Organic. Veganic

 

You may know that all of our wines are certified organic, but did you know that we are also certified Biocyclic Vegan?

In 2021, in addition to our long-standing organic certification, we became the first certified Biocyclic Vegan farm in North America. This progressive German-based organization has developed a rigorous & holistic standard to which we hold ourselves to. The Biocyclic Vegan ideology goes beyond most vegan certifications to include biodiversity, soil vitality, regenerative agriculture & social equity. We have been farming and winemaking veganically (vegan + organic) for quite some time and in 2021 found ourselves with a growing desire to seek certification to offer consumer transparency for our eco-conscious & plant-based fans. All the stars aligned when we discovered the Biocyclic Vegan standard!!

We love what they do, we love what we do, and we wouldn’t do it any other way. When you enjoy a glass of wine from L’Acadie Vineyards, you are guaranteed a certified organic & vegan wine, from soil to glass. 🌱🥂 

📸: Alex Douglas

#biocyclicvegan #veganic #vegan #veganwine #organic #organicwine #veganagriculture

Disgorging Vintage Cuvee

Economic impact of farm wineries in Nova Scotia

Cultivating a unique sense of place

L'Acadie Vineyards, as trailblazers in Nova Scotia's sparkling wine scene two decades ago, not only pioneered sparkling wine production and earned international accolades but also played a crucial role in developing our region's identity as a noteworthy wine destination. This success exemplifies the importance of farm wineries in cultivating a unique sense of place, fostering economic growth, and establishing Nova Scotia as a prominent player in the global wine industry. 

Read more about how farm wineries are growing Nova Scotia

 

Drink Less, Drink Better

 

January is a good month to reset, reflect, plan and develop new healthier habits. Many are aiming to drink less alcohol and being more mindful of choosing wines when we do enjoy a glass. Vegan and organic wines are a delicious positive choice for the environment and your health.

There is plenty of research and information on vegan and organic farming benefits to soil, groundwater, air quality and bigger picture climate change, as well as individual health. In Europe, government funding for agriculture in most countries is tiered based on sustainability, with organic agriculture on the top pedestal. Recent examples include the Spanish region, Penedès, requiring all wineries to be organic, and the Italian government ruling that biodynamic farming, a largely animal-based practice, is not as sustainable as organic.

Read blog Why we are biocyclic vegan

Read more DO Penedès: new rules and aiming for Spanish wine’s top-tier

Read more Biodynamic farming favoured by Sting sees bill blocked in Italy

Most wine regions in Canada have identified economic impact study benefits for choosing local wine. In Nova Scotia, a local bottle contributes $76.73 and an import only $16.57 – very dramatic reasons to buy local. We should extend studies like this to include health benefits of sustainable wine and put monetary value on consuming less pesticide residues in your glass, reversing climate change from less carbon emissions, healthier soils and cleaner water and air. Governments have identified rising health care costs associated with certain lifestyles and, much like European governments supporting organic farming, they offer incentives for healthier choices. A “Health Impact” study for organic vegan wine could help guide their programs.

Organic coupled with local is always better especially when your local wine region is a cool climate producing naturally moderate alcohol wines. Instead of reaching for an organic Malbec from Chile at 15% alcohol, try an organic sparkling wine from Nova Scotia at 11% alcohol. Make your Tuesday night wine or your Friday night wine a celebration of health.

Read about our Vintage Cuvee in Vine Routes article  6 favourite vegan and earth-friendly wines

 

Decanter- Canada Calling: The wines exciting the experts now

 

 

Proud to represent Nova Scotia wine in this Decanter article highlighting 15 Canadian wines that scored 95 points or more at the Decanter World Wine Awards earlier this year. Prestige Brut Estate 2017 award winning sparkling wine with an impressive 95 points and gold is the first ever Decanter gold for Nova Scotia wineries. It is an organic and vegan wine.

Learn more, or order 2017 Prestige Brut Estate

Read related blog about our big win Gold at Decanter world wine awards

Read Decanter article Canada calling: The wines exciting the experts now

Year in review 2023

Year in Review - 2023 curveballs

 

 

 Mother Nature threw many curve balls at us this year. We are thankful on many fronts and perhaps most promising are the early indicators of resilience from farming our Gaspereau vineyard organically.

The polar vortex in February reduced our viable buds and we adjusted our pruning and other cultural practices. L'Acadie Blanc and Leon Millot had reasonable yields but not so with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. Hopefully new trunks that we carefully nurtured this year will give us good growth next year in these vinifera blocks. There was some vine loss with these more cold sensitive varieties but not nearly as much as we anticipated and perhaps attributed to deep reaching roots in our gravelly soil coupled with living organic soils rewarding us with a measure of early resilience in these young blocks.

Read our blog about climate change resilience from living soils

Then the rains came. The resulting high mildew pressures were very risky all summer and our organic viticulture was put to the test! Happy to say that we avoided significant diseases with the great work from our new vineyard supervisor, Chris.

See video of Chris explaining our organic and vegan vineyard practices, 

Harvest started September 21 and we couldn't have been happier with finally getting dry, warm, shorts and t-shirt weather. And good timing for flavour development too! Everything was hand picked and whole cluster pressed with a gentle sparkling press program for best quality juice. The only exception to this daily routine was L’Acadie blanc fermented on its skins for our next release of Orange Wine coming from our Gaspereau winery in the spring.

The iconic signature in Nova Scotia didn't waver even with all the curveballs - consistent ripe grapes with great acidity and moderate sugar levels. We see it every year, no compromises, and it is this significant attribute of our cool climate that constantly validates our emerging sparkling wine region. Look for structured, lower alcohol and refreshing sparklings in future releases, and a dry crisp whites in the spring!

We earned many wine awards this year with Prestige Brut Estate and Vintage Cuvee leading our portfolio with golds from Decanter World Wine Awards and National Wine Awards of Canada, respectively. Very thankful for media attention and accolades for the first Decanter gold ever for Nova Scotia, throwing a spotlight on organic vegan wine quality.

Read our blog about Gold at Decanter World Wine Awards and Decanter's article Canada Calling: The wines exciting the experts now

Winter solstice resets our thoughts to reflect and calm as we plan the new season, the new cycle of life, for our 20th year. Very grateful.

 

~Bruce, owner winemaker

Top 10 reasons to buy L'Acadie Vineyards wine

 

Top 10 reasons to buy L’Acadie Vineyards wine:

1. Supporting local keeps money in Nova Scotia.
2. Lower alcohol of cool climate wines is better for your health.
3. International and national wine awards. The first Nova Scotia winery to earn international awards for sparkling wine.
4. Wine quality and authenticity have always been our business model demonstrated by consistent 100% Nova Scotia grapes.
5. 100% organic wine with organic logo on all labels to assure traceability and transparency. Better terroir flavours and avoid pesticide and chemical residues in your glass.
6. Vegan wine certified to Biocyclic Vegan Standard guarantees no animal inputs soil to glass.
7. Organic and vegan vineyard practices protect soil, water and air quality to help save the planet.
8. Prices are competitive with conventional wines.
9. Convenient distribution with online, onsite retail, NSLC, private wine stores.
10. Geothermal winery since inception for environmentally-friendly heating, cooling and hot water.