To gauge the region’s potential, he sampled a range of older vintages from around the province assembled for the team by Mr. Jost, finding promise in a still wine made from the hybrid l’acadie grape. But the key, they all felt, was to grow the vinifera varieties of Champagne, namely pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay and to pray the vines could survive the punishing winters.
Mr. McConnell, who concedes that he lacks an expert’s palate, recalls having a moment of doubt leaving a group tasting of some of the first, unaged wines years ago. “I got in the car with my wife and said, ‘I don’t know where this is going.’ ” The wines were awful, he told her. “She said, ‘Didn’t you hear them? They’re the experts.’
Top-quality Champagne must age for many months, in the best cases several years, in individual bottles as opposed to large tanks. Close contact with yeast produces fine bubbles as well as a prized dough-like essence. That’s why the flagship 2004 Brut Reserve and Blanc de Noirs bubblies, carefully tended by full-time winemaker Jean-Benoit Deslauriers, were released only last November. It was clearly worth the wait.
Will Predhomme, senior sommelier and wine buyer for Toronto’s Canoe Restaurant & Bar, with one of the finest domestic-wine selections in the country, sat in thrall as he took his first sips. Earlier this year, he had assembled a Twitter group of industry professionals and amateurs to taste through 38 domestic sparkling wines, including two bottles of Benjamin Bridge’s Brut Reserve.
“Out of the whole 38 we tried, those are the ones that really blew me away,” Mr. Predhomme said. “I thought, ‘How is this not famous? How is Nova Scotia not known for this style of wine?’ ”
That may soon come to pass. Of the province’s 15 wineries, at least three are said to be considering adding bubbles to the mix. And L’Acadie Vineyards, founded in 2004 by former B.C. sparkling wine veteran Bruce Ewert, beat Benjamin Bridge to market with Nova Scotia’s first award-winning Champagne-method wine three years ago. Though made from the hybrid l’acadie grape, its Prestige Brut, which I reviewed favourably last year, captured gold at the 2010 Canadian Wine Awards.
It may come as consolation to bubbly fans with deep pockets that, in addition to the planned release of more bottles from the 2004 vintage this year, Benjamin Bridge has been ramping up production, with 10,000 bottles of the 2010 vintage now aging in cellar – awaiting release in about five years.
“Two months ago, I tasted everything [in the cellar],” said consultant Mr. Brisbois. “I was surprised that the wines are so good. ... I know that people would be absolutely stunned. I didn’t think it would turn out like this, but it did.”
