Winery Association of Nova Scotia

“People coming here look at our view and say it’s spectacular,” says Suzanne Corkum. “It reminds them of France: a lot of vineyards, rolling hills in the distance and the lushness of the crops. I can’t think of a nicer place to live.”
 
Corkum is describing the view of Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley from Sainte-Famille Wines, her small, 28-year-old vineyard and winery near the Avon River in Falmouth. She speaks with hometown pride, but in fact, Corkum is from the Willamette Valley in Oregon.
 
“Every year I have gone back to visit my mother, who is still in the Willamette Valley, and I keep coming back here saying, ‘Wow, I really appreciate where I live,’” she says. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
 
This is Nova Scotia’s wine country, where cool climate growing conditions and a rich agricultural history result in new world wines with complex flavours and delicate aromas. It’s fast catching up to the quality of more established Canadian wine regions. In fact, Nova Scotia is now Canada’s third most developed wine region.
 
“The wineries are all seeing increased visitation,” says Janice Ruddock, managing director of the Winery Association of Nova Scotia. “For example, Gaspereau Vineyards just had its biggest one-day visitation they’ve ever had, and they didn’t even have an event going on.”
 
Bruce Ewert is another West Coast transplant. He is the owner and winemaker at L’Acadie Vineyards, Nova Scotia’s first certified organic winery. Bruce’s wealth of winemaking experience comes from years in the industry in California, Australia and British Columbia. He and his wife Pauline Scott were living and working in the Okanagan Valley when they decided to move to Wolfville.
 
“We love Nova Scotia,” says Ewert. “Pauline is from here, and we wanted to raise our kids here. We wanted to be part of the young and growing wine industry.”
 
He was particularly interested in making traditional-method sparkling wine from L’Acadie grapes, a tart green variety not usually planted outside the Maritimes. Ewert first planted vines at L’Acadie in 2005, and the winery opened last spring.
 
The Winery Association of Nova Scotia was set up to represent the interests of Nova Scotia wine producers like Ewert and Corkum. In 2005, it adopted the Nova Scotia Wine Standards, the industry’s standard of excellence. The accompanying symbol of quality, a stylized lobster claw holding a glass of wine, identifies the top-quality wine produced here. The association also works to create partnerships and attract potential investors, and to put the wines of Nova Scotia onto the world stage.
 
While the association is still in its infancy, the history of growing grapes in Nova Scotia goes back to 1611. That’s when French settler Louis Herbert first planted a small vineyard in Bear River. Nova Scotia’s first commercial vintage started in 1980. Twenty years later, a Nova Scotia wine, Jost’s 1999 Vidal Ice Wine, took home Canada’s Wine of the Year Award. In 2009, Nova Scotia wines took home 28 medals at the All Canadian Wine Championships.
 
These successes came about thanks in part to two key ingredients: the quality of the wines and cooperation between winemakers. There are 11 wineries producing wine in the association today: Bear River Vineyards, Benjamin Bridge, Blomidon Estate Winery, Domaine de Grand Pré, Gaspereau Vineyards, Jost Vineyards, L’Acadie Vineyards, Lunenburg County Winery, Petite Riviere Vineyards, Sainte-Famille Wines and Muir Murray Estate Winery.
 
“All of us collectively had to set aside our differences and decide to work together to make this happen,” Corkum says. “People in other provinces can’t get over the amount of cooperation that we show each other. We’re competitors, yes, but we also recognize that we have to work together to make this thing work.”
 
Through the Winery Association of Nova Scotia, the vineyard and winery owners worked together to develop recognition in the tourism sector, she says. When people think of Nova Scotia and realize grapes grow here, they can appreciate how mild the weather is -- a big attraction.
 
They also worked on developing relationships with the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation. To encourage local wine production, the NSLC reduced its markup on Nova Scotia wines. That has resulted in more local wines on NSLC shelves and more opportunities for consumers to try them.
 
Local chefs are also offering support. Nova Scotia wines made a splash on the international scene a few years ago thanks to Michael Howell of Wolfville’s Tempest Restaurant, who served them while he was guest chef de cuisine at James Beard House in New York.
 
“Our chefs have said that Nova Scotia wines are good and that they go with our cuisine, which is mainly seafood here,” says Corkum. “That recognition has grown in the last three to four years, and it’s grown by leaps and bounds.”
 
Since 2006, local chefs and winemakers have paired together fabulous food and wine during the annual Nova Scotia Fall Wine Festival, developed by the Winery Association of Nova Scotia.
 
“Last year we had 35 events over a two-month period,” says Ruddock. “It was very well received.”