---

Valley of tipples

By Tony Aspler

Discover some of North America’s finest wineries just an hour's drive from Halifax.

The verdant, unspoiled Annapolis Valley runs 135 km (84 mi) from Wolfville to Annapolis Royal. The route along the Evangeline Trail follows the Fundy Coast, winding through fishing villages and alongside rocky shorelines, sandy beaches and salt marshes replete with birdlife. You’ll see old apple orchards, farms and fortresses that date back 400 years. And wherever you go, you’ll find wineries whose wares grace the wine lists of hotels as elegant as the Blomidon Inn in Wolfville. With their natural acidity, Nova Scotia wines go beautifully with locally caught seafood, especially Digby scallops and clams.

High tides, high class
The elegant Blomidon Estate Winery started out as part of an experimental vineyard in 1986. Take a sampling tour for $4, which notably includes the first Chardonnay made in Nova Scotia – you’ll enjoy its crisp green-apple intensity. There’s a retail shop onsite, and picnic tables where you can savor your sandwiches and the spectacular view over the Bay of Fundy, where the tidal range is the highest in the world. Many bus tours visit the winery, but better still, take the boat from Digby.

Recommended wines: Estate Chardonnay, Estate Baco Noir

Visitors are welcome from mid-June to late fall between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.

A glass raised to Europe
Owner Hanspeter Stutz invested several million dollars in replanting the vineyards and constructing a showplace winery and cellar in the province’s oldest winery, Domaine de Grand Pré. Cobblestoned walkways inlaid with giant grape leaves of granite lead you to a cottage-style restaurant (Le Caveau) that serves a Swiss-style menu using seasonal Nova Scotia ingredients. A large picture window in the art gallery below the tasting room gives you a panoramic view of the wine cellar with its intricate stonework and subdued romantic lighting. And don’t miss Stutz Hard Apple Cider, made from local apples. (“Hard” refers to its 4.5% alcohol content, but it’s light and refreshing on the palate.)

Recommended wines: L’Acadie Blanc, Marechal Foch, New York Muscat Icewine

Guided tours are offered daily from May to October at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

International influences
Officially opening in May 2008, L’Acadie Vineyards is an organic winery located five minutes outside of Wolfville in the center of Nova Scotia’s warm Gaspereau Valley. Proprietors Bruce Ewert and his wife Pauline Scott have channeled Bruce’s extensive winemaking experience in California, Australia and British Columbia’s Okanagan regions into crafting a premium, bottle-fermented sparkling wine as well as a range of table wines. The sparkling wine is made from the Acadie Blanc grape, a full-flavored winter-hardy varietal unique to Nova Scotia. Other wineries produce L’Acadie Blanc as a still wine. Tasting it puts you in mind of a crisp Chablis or a Granny Smith apple. Take a self-guided tour of the winery and enjoy free tastings – a small fee is charged for the sparkling wine. The winery is near some of Atlantic Canada’s most beautiful scenery, nestled in pristine forests with a brook running through the property. Guest cottages are available on the grounds (cottages@lacadievineyards.ca).

Small pleasures
In addition to owning the largest winery in Nova Scotia (in Malagash), Hans Christian Jost operates the smallest winery in the province in the Gaspereau Valley, an hour’s drive from Halifax. “When I first saw this incredible piece of land in 1996,” says Jost, “it was an apple and beef farm with a south-facing slope, fertile soils, good air flow, drainage and heat units. I knew it was perfect for growing grapes.” Gaspereau Vineyards produces a mere 2,000 cases a year. Taste the wines made on this 35-acre vineyard in the small red barn housing the winery. For something really different, try Gaspereau Vineyards Maple Wine, made from local maple syrup fortified with brandy. If your taste runs to dry, I recommend the Dry Muscat, an exotic wine with flavors of rose petals, melon and pink grapefruit.

Recommended wines: DeChaunac, Lucie Kuhlmann, L’Acadie Blanc, Dry Muscat, Vidal Ortega Icewine

Open daily May to October, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week; off-season 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (call to confirm). Tours and tastings are complimentary, with tours at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Getting here

Blomidon Estate Winery, 10318 Hwy 221, Canning, NS, 902-582-7565, blomidonwine.com
Domaine de Grand Pré, 11611 Hwy 1, Grand Pré, NS, 1-866-479-4637, grandprewines.ns.ca
L’Acadie Vineyards, 310 Slayter Rd., Wolfville, NS, 902-542-3034, lacadievineyards.ca
Gaspereau Vineyards, 2239 White Rock Rd., Gaspereau, NS, 902-542-1455, gaspereauwine.com
Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 1-800-565-0000, www.novascotia.com

Tony Aspler, a.k.a. The Wine Guy, has been writing about wine for over 30 years and is the author of The Wine Atlas of Canada.

Photo: Nova Scotia Tourism, Culture and Heritage