L'Acadie Vineyards Blog

Sustainable Wine - how far have we come?

 

 

How far have we come? Sustainable wine may sound like a buzzword created by corporate wine executives to sell more wine and give impressions that all wineries must already subscribe to the concept because it's repeated in marketing so much and seems attainable but there remains a large gap between wine producers. You’d think the wine industry would have progressed the most since the beginnings of the environmental movement in the 1960’s, their marketing is so visible, seductive and competitive. But like climate change, microplastics and bee colony collapse there continue to be issues that our society has been slow to understand and act on.  Why aren’t we more advanced? The alarm sounding, environmental catalyst classic Silent Spring by Rachel Carson was published in 1961 and the culture at the time was that synthetic insecticides will save the world. Her dystopian outlook for the environment affected by these persistent chemicals such as DDT threatened that culture and she was attacked and muffled by stakeholders and the misinformed. Scenarios repeated time and time again for the last 60 years.

Wine, the beverage of ingredients. If mother nature doesn't provide during the growing season, well there’s an ingredient for that. And the range is great – Mega Purple for colour, potassium sorbate for stability, crushed chestnuts for more tannin, gelatin for less tannin, citric and tartaric acids for more acidity, potassium bicarbonate for less acidity, even ethanol for more alcohol, and water for less alcohol. There are animal inputs like egg whites, gelatin, milk protein, and synthetic inputs like PVPP (plastic) and a broad range of synthetic pesticides. I introduce vineyard inputs here because whatever is added to the vineyard ends up in your glass as residual chemicals. Similar to Silent Spring’s explanation of the relationship of aerial spraying DDT on Elm trees and the residue on leaves killing robins via earthworms. Many pesticides are systemic, they protect the vine from within by being absorbed into tissues, vascular system and berries, and even contact pesticides are absorbed into the plant, like our skin absorbs. Most provincial liquor boards require a pesticide residue analysis before listing a wine because there are limits set. Limits that are recognized to be safe doses, not carcinogenic. But pause here and think about the last 60 years and how we seem to have learned so little. The World Health Organization (WHO) classified Roundup, a too common glyphosate weed killer used in vineyards, as probable carcinogen but changed it to possible carcinogen in the 80's after chemical industry lobby pressures. It is now back to probable carcinogen.

Read Organic diets quickly reduce the amount of glyphosate in people's bodies

Raise your hand if you are interested in sustainability. In protecting our precious environment and your health, and your community’s health. Brock University recently conducted wine research: An Exploration of Consumer Perceptions of Sustainable Wine. Over 700 people surveyed.

“Consumers with high involvement in sustainable wines tend to be younger, better educated, more involved in wine in general, and spend more per bottle than those with low involvement.” Pickering, Best, 2023

“Results show that sustainability-related cues are somewhat valued by consumers when making purchase decisions, but have low importance relative to the other cues examined. Environmental dimensions of sustainability have high saliency, in contrast with social and economic dimensions, and a significant minority of respondents report no or very limited knowledge of sustainable wines.”

There is change happening and it is generational – millennials and Gen Z are leading consumers. In Europe the changes are most apparent. Spain’s Denomination of Origin Penedès in Catalunya (DO Penedès) recently announced an extensive roadmap up to 2030, taking into account sustainability and establishing the region as a high-quality wine producer in Spain. Most immediately, all grapes for DO Penedès wines must be from fully-certified organic vineyards by 2025. 

Full article: DO Penedes Organic Wine Plans by Decanter 

 European government funding for vineyards is based on level of sustainability, with certified organic being king. And as noted, quality is a large motivator for this Spanish region. Climate change resilience is a benefit too with cover crops, diversity and minimal tillage protecting the soil.

The organic approach is only natural inputs into grape growing and winemaking with every step monitored for traceability and transparency by rigorous third party inspections. Biodiversity of cover crops between rows create habitats for predatory insects such as parasitic wasps and dragonflies and protects the surface of the soil so that soil fungi and earthworms can cycle nutrients to roots which helps sequester carbon in a uniquely living regenerative agriculture system. Living soils are the goal of organics and nurturing it with composted grape pomace teeming with fungi extends vine root zone influence by as much as 10 times with symbiotic fungal filament networks. Vegan viticulture excludes animal manures that can lessen living soils and cause pollution of underground water systems. Vegan certified producers extend this concept to winemaking with no animal inputs. A common ingredient is gelatin and this is made from slaughthouse waste. Other ingredients not allowed in organic winemaking include synthetic preservatives, irradiated and genetically modified ingredients.

I’m in! How to find organic wines. Read labels and find organic vegan wines here! In Canada, only organic wines from soil to glass can bear the Canada Organic logo on the label. Wines that are made from organic grapes but not organic winemaking can not have the organic logo because the treatment of the wine after growing is unknown, and the integrity of chain of custody of grapes that went into bottles is equally unknown. Certification to the Biocyclic Vegan Agriculture standard, based in Europe, ensures wines have no animal inputs from soil to glass. This has far reaching benefits to climate change mitigation and animal welfare.

               

Discovering Rocks

 

Discovering Rocks

Our journey to find our unique terroir started when were still living in BC’s Okanagan Valley. Vacations to visit family in Nova Scotia always included visiting local wineries such as Domaine de Grand Pre and enjoying their delicious L’Acadie Blanc still wines - beautiful dry fruity wines with balanced crisp acidity that reminded me of the ideal structure for sparkling base wines that I pursued in Okanagan and sometimes failed to find. These wines were grown on typical heavy soils with loamy clay on south slopes and today I believe fruit expression from those sites is partially from soil water holding capacity and vigour. We were looking for a property to grow Nova Scotia’s first sparkling wine, so sipping wine and discussing soils late into the night centred on sparkling and where for OUR L’Acadie Blanc. I had experienced the effects of site and soil on wine characteristics in my BC career many times, a good example is Pinot Noir made from sandy soils of the hot Black Sage Bench sub-appellation compared to the more luscious juicy Pinot Noir from heavier soils and cooler days in adjacent Similkameen Valley, and I also understood the importance of harmony in a sparkling base wine – the balance between fruit expression and bottle aging toastiness. Guiding all of our discussions was a conviction to do it organically, for better flavours like I had seen winemaking at Summerhill Pyramid Winery, and for our family and neighbours' health.

We found our 30 acres of Gaspereau paradise online in BC. It was listed as a tourist accommodation business, hobby horse farm and residence, and the horse pasture caught our eye for grapes with thankfully no interventions on the land for years and protected from conventional agriculture with robust buffers. Many investigations later revealed rocky well-drained soil on a bench sloping 5% northwest, a uniquely different aspect and soil than the vineyards on other side of Gaspereau Valley and counter to the manta of the time “need south slope, need south slope”. Bubbling up from mixed local wine grower opinions was the long-standing history of good producing apple trees by the Duncanson family 50-100 years ago and our knowledge of matching soil, varietal and wine style. We took a chance that the terroir would give us the sparklings that we envisioned.

Next year marks 20 years and our decision to plant organic L’Acadie Blanc on these soils has been validated with numerous international sparkling awards. It hasn’t been easy for the vines as they slowly stretched their roots straight down deep through schist, sandstone, slate and gravels. Now they are strongly rooted with symbiotic networks of fungal filaments that further their reach for nutrients, making them more resilient to climate change and, more immediately apparent, sourcing and expressing their terroir very clearly. Wine judges have been noticing our flavours especially in organic wine Prestige Brut Estate sourced from a block that has more topsoil and more vigour.

 “Open and powerful nose with grilled hazelnut, pineapple, lemon and honey” 2010 PBE, Effervescent du Monde, silver

 "A floral, apple nose with chalky lemon and creamy pear on the refreshing, mineral palate." 2013 PBE, Decanter, 92 points

"Complex apple, peach, nut and citrus bouquet with a toasty palate and fine mousse" 2014 PBE, Decanter, 92 points

 "Perfumed with rose, white peach and toast; and a bright palate of zesty lime zest and apple." 2015 PBE, Decanter, 88 points

"Pretty and attractive, with white fruit, honey melon, chalky green apple and lifted floral aromatics lead through to a palate of vibrant acidity, citrus curd and a fine, saline finish." 2017 PBE, Decanter, 95 points

Minerality and more focused terms such as electricity, vibrancy and zesty can be used to describe our terroir and as well as an underlying descriptor of slight saline related to ancient seabed origins of our mainly sedimentary rocks. We continue to build the soil and rhizosphere with vegan viticulture inputs of composted grape pomace teeming with organisms and humus to nurture topsoil and below. This topsoil on top of rocky profiles is analogous to Champagne’s Grand Cru parcels with their topsoil over chalky soil and provides a living window to the surface contributing crucial elements such as atmospheric nitrogen fixed by clover and other plants in our cover crops. 

To say we are excited about the future gifts our vineyard will yield is an understatement. Roots will get deeper and source more flavours, and we have expanded the estate to include new plantings of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc.

World Soil Day

World Soil Day - December 5, 2023

 

Happy World Soil Day. Why have a day dedicated to something as common and seemingly mundane as dirt? 95% of our food comes from it - it’s as important as sun and water. The United Nations has chosen a soil and water theme this year to showcase that healthy soil is a natural filter to hold and purify water as it makes its way into our drinking water. There is a symbiosis between soil management, microorganisms, water and soil structure that is critical for life and organic and vegan farming is the best way to sustain it.

Compaction, erosion, pesticides and more contribute to soil degradation and climate change is accelerating impacts. Human activity has to change to preserve soil.

Some our organic viticulture and vegan farming practices that sustain our soil:

• Soil structure – humus is decayed plant and animal matter and helps soil retain moisture, think of forest floor soil. Vegan farming doesn’t use animal manures, only plant-based composts are used to increase humus levels. We are certified to the Biocyclic Vegan Standard. Animal manures can contaminate water systems because they are added in early spring to allow enough time to become readily available to plants, very often leaching through the soils to water aquifers.
• Regenerative agriculture – one of organic farming pillars is keeping bare soils protected with cover crops. Winter wheat, fallow fields of clover and constant perennial plants between vineyard rows are examples. Combined with minimal tillage, soil retains and absorbs carbon, is more resistant to erosion and delicate microorganisms are preserved.
• Living soil – when plants made their evolutionary step from nutrient-rich marine environments to terrestrial they had to make alliances with soil microorganisms. Mycorrhizal fungi, for example, can increase a plant’s root zone influence by 10x with its filamentous network. Benefits of a living soil include climate change resilience, better terroir flavours for organic wine, healthy plants, biodiversity and less nutrient additions. Plant-based composts from grape pomace are teeming with microorganisms, inoculating the soil and vines. Our living soils are then preserved with minimal tillage, cover crops and not using pesticides. 

Watch this video Making Compost Tea.

Sparkling Wine Club

Wine clubs are for wine enthusiasts that want to have access to special wines. Sparkling club members get two gold medal wines, two pre-release wines and two rose sparklers.

 

 

Our vineyard supervisor, Chris, explains our organic and vegan practices

We have been an organic winery from inception and certified vegan vineyard and winery since 2021, although our vegan winemaking goes way back. Biocyclic Vegan is our certifier from soil to glass and our vegan wines from our Gaspereau winery have been turning heads and winning national and international awards for over a decade.

As our vineyard supervisor, Chris, notes in this superb video, vegan vineyards do not use animal manures and instead management nutrients with composted grape pomace from harvest. It nourishes our living soils with organic matter teeming with mycorrhizal fungi that sequester carbon and does not pollute water systems like animal manures. Biodiversity and regenerative agriculture aspects are discussed as well.

Related blogs,

Why we are Vegan

First Biocyclic Vegan winery and farm in North America

 

Vintage Cuvee wins at Canada's Great Kitchen Party

We are delighted to announce that Vintage Cuvee has earned a spot at the Canadian Culinary Championships after winning at Canada's Great Kitchen Party in multiple cities!

Canada'a Great Kitchen Party, aka Canadian Culinary Championships, is an unforgettable gourmet experience held in cities across Canada of thrilling battles for top spot on the podium and earning a spot at the national championship. Guests savour dishes at each competing chef’s station, along with beverage pairings showcasing some of the finest Canadian wines, craft beers, and spirits. Only gold medal winning wines were asked to compete this year.

Vintage Cuvee is a gold medal award winning wine earning 92 points at the National Wine Awards earlier this year, and has earned 90 points or more for four consecutive vintages. An organic wine and vegan wine that has become Canada's ambassador for Nova Scotia wineries.

"Surprising amount of fruit in this Blanc de Blancs based on L'Acadie Blanc with (13 percent) Seyval Blanc. Fine aromatic grip surrounds a mix of stone and also green fruit but what is most special here is the intensity of the bubble and fine purity of the lees. Would never see this as autolytic, oxidative or yeasty but only in terms of salty, marine airy excitement. Oysters are an ideal match. Drink 2023-2029." Michael Godel

"Fresh white floral aromatics with an umami lean on the nose. The wine communicates refreshment on the palate with bright, crunchy acidity. There is a lot of talk about hybrids these days with climate change and a great example of how the bar is being raised every vintage with these varieties." Jenna Briscoe

 David Lawrason, influential wine advisor for the events at cities across Canada, describes in a post from Vancouver, "It's on a coast-to-coast mission to impress"

Canada's Great Kitchen Party 2023 wine awards for Vintage Cuvee:

1. Gold in Vancouver
2. Silver in Ottawa
3. Secured spot at the culinary championships in February.

Here is what David had to say about Vintage Cuvee in Ottawa,

"One of the most important sparkling wines Canada has ever produced", David Lawrason, wine judge, wine advisor for Canada's Great Kitchen Party.

Short video of David's podium speech, https://youtube.com/shorts/gNqkvIC9_Zk?feature=share

 

Hybrid vs. vinifera - let's market our region instead

Our wine region is based on hybrid grapes, grape varieties originating from plant breeding programs that blended the winemaking characteristics of European varieties called vinifera with North American varieties known for winter hardiness and disease resistance. An example of vinifera is Chardonnay and a local hybrid is L’Acadie Blanc, Nova Scotia’s signature grape variety. Many hybrid varieties were pulled out in other warmer regions of Canada in the 1980’s and replanted with vinifera, almost all grapes in BC and less in Ontario, and they were known for high cropping and a quality level that suited consumer preferences of the day – I was in BC at this time in my early winemaking career making Hochtaler and Baby Duck. Myth and stigma continues for hybrid grapes but wines in cool climates like our region are high quality from excellent viticulture and turning heads, and we have to learn to market them without making excuses.

L'Acadie Vineyards recently earned a Gold medal and 95 points at Decanter World Wine Awards in London for a 100% L’Acadie Blanc sparkling wine called Prestige Brut Estate. It has been three months since the announcement and our Gaspereau winery is having an enjoyable ride of media coverage and sales. In our favour are competitions such as this prestigious one where the sparkling cartegory is not varietal specific, and tasted blind. After a period of reflection my opinion is that Decanter’s take on the win is similar to when a California wine first won at this prestigious European wine competition in the 1970's, dramatized in the film Bottle Shock. Very much appreciate their words about us, but the focus is tilted towards hybrids,

"Canada is a cool climate region that knows a thing or two about the benefits of hybrid grape varieties, and for the first time a single varietal L’Acadie Blanc, a hybrid crossing of Cascade and Seyve-Villard, was awarded a Gold medal in its rendition as a sparkling wine for L’Acadie Vineyards, Prestige Brut 2017 from Gaspereau Valley in Nova Scotia. A noteworthy first-ever Gold for the region too." Olivia Mason, Decanter June 7, 2023. 

They focussed on the "shock" of a hybrid grape winning but isn’t the real news, the “bottle shock”, that Nova Scotia won? Or our winery, our organic wine. It's feeding the myth that hybrids are lesser quality but with notable exceptions like this one bubbling up from the bottom now and then. If a wine from Portugal’s Douro Valley appellation won a similar award would the news be about a relatively obscure regional varietal like Gouveio, Malvasia Fina, Rabigato, and Viosinho or would it simply be the Douro region? I think the latter and much better for marketing the region especially since they rarely label their wines by varietal. And what if a Tidal Bay wine won a big international award? Would the focus be on the hybrid varieties in the blend? Much better marketing for our region would be to promote the appellation brand and Nova Scotia.

How do we change the narrative? Let’s start close to home. I have heard it so many times from wineries in Nova Scotia,

“we have the hybrids pruned and now starting the viniferas”

“how much do you pay for hybrids?”

And more recently, “congratulations on your Decanter gold, especially since it is for a hybrid”

Let’s start talking about varieties as just that, varieties, without categorizing them into a class system. Each variety has unique winter hardiness and disease resistance and we even saw an exception to the myth rule this past winter after the polar vortex -  Riesling fared better than hybrid New York Muscat. 

 

There has been much effort to plant vinifera varieties in the last 10 years under the impression that wine trade will take our region more seriously if we produce varietals such as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The polar vortex was a sobering call and perhaps it’s time to change our mindset, and change wine trade’s narrative. And there are individuals in wine trade that are already our “freedom riders”,

“I’d rather have a ripe Marechal Foch than an underripe Pinot Noir”, well known local wine lover Jeff Pinhey

"I used to turn my nose up (literally) at North American hybrid grapes as a young and foolish sommelier. Now, I'm putting my money where my mouth is! #lovelacadieblanc !", Kristen Perrin, sommelier

Gold for Vintage Cuvee

 

Gold for Vintage Cuvee 92 points!

 

New release 2020 Vintage Cuveé recently won a gold award with 92 points from Wine Align, the National Wine Awards of Canada! This award marks the fourth year in a row of 90 points or more for our Vintage Cuvée and we are very proud of this long-time favourite.

 

Here's what the judges are saying:

"Surprising amount of fruit in this Blanc de Blancs based on L'Acadie Blanc with (13 percent) Seyval Blanc. Fine aromatic grip surrounds a mix of stone and also green fruit but what is most special here is the intensity of the bubble and fine purity of the lees. Would never see this as autolytic, oxidative or yeasty but only in terms of salty, marine airy excitement. Oysters are an ideal match. Drink 2023-2029."

~Michael Godel

 

"Fresh white floral aromatics with an umami lean on the nose. The wine communicates refreshment on the palate with bright, crunchy acidity. Tasty wine, not terribly complex. There is a lot of talk about hybrids these days with climate change and a great example of how the bar is being raised every vintage with these varieties."

~Jenna Briscoe

 

This top-selling Nova Scotian traditional method sparkling wine is a premium blend of organic Estate L'Acadie Blanc & Seyval Blanc. With characteristic aged brioche from 2 years on the lees, this organic wine displays fine bubbles from natural fermentation in the bottle. Crisp apple & juicy orange with lemon zest on the finish. Pairs well with our famous maritime seafood and as a celebration on its own!

Available for purchase at our Gaspereau winery wineshop & online, as well as at Bishop's Cellar, Harvest Wines, Liquid Assets & select NSLC stores.

Available by the glass in Wolfville at Juniper & Troy, and in Lunenburg at the Grand Banker & Old Fish Factory.

Cheers!

Presentation at Kingston International Wine Festival

 

"Zoomed in" to sparkling wine masterclass at Kingston International Wine Festival by Savvy Wine

Winemaker Bruce Ewert talks about our winery, terroir, organic and vegan practices, and why Nova Scotia's climate is ideal for sparkling wine.

 

Is your wine organic or certified organic?

If you look at our website you’ll notice that we use the term “organic” often, and only when we reference our certifying body do we say “certified organic by Pro-Cert”. We can say “organic”, and we do many times because all of our wines are organic, but we can not say “certified organic” by itself, according to the current Canada Organic standard. We disagree with this requirement.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulates the Canada Organic standard and have a draconian regulation that restricts organic operations like our winery to not use the term “certified organic” unless we say who we are certified by. I’m even inviting an official non-compliance letter from them for writing this blog with that term. Why do they have this regulation? They argue that it sounds like a higher level of organic status compared to someone claiming organic. And here is where it gets even more unfair – a non-organic operation can claim organic on their website and other marketing media as long as not where their product is sold. Here’s an example of a website for an imaginary conventional winery not making organic wine: “We follow organic practices in our grapegrowing to make quality wine. Buy our wine here”. They don’t sell grapes, so no offence there. They sell wine, but are not claiming that the wine is organic, so no offence there either.

 We need changes at the five year review of the Canada Organic standard this year so that we and other organic producers can use the term “certified organic”. We are certified, not merely making a general claim, and deserve to use the term to stand out in a crowded and noisy marketplace. We spend many dollars every year to have rigorous inspections, traceability audits and mass balance audits all to prove to CFIA that we follow the organic standard. Organic operations in United States are allowed to use the term. It’s time to update the Canada Organic standard so we can use it as well.

Read more about the benefits of choosing organic wine,

Transparency and Sustainability:the benefits of choosing organic and vegan wine

Terroir and organics