When in Nova Scotia

Halifax Harbor September 14, 2007 (click to enlarge)

Continuing on the theme of picking up affordable road bottles that come from local sources, I want to share a new discovery from Nova Scotia. This quick trip landed me at the Halifax airport and took me over to Moncton, New Brunswick and back to Dartmouth (across the bridge from Halifax). Along the route, the exit to Pugwash included a sign for Jost Vineyards (rhymes with toast) which is located in Malagash.

Even with the tempering winds of the Atlantic it surprised me that you can grow red wine grapes this far north in the land of Christmas trees. I didn't get a chance to visit the winery but I did get to the Provincial package store and pick out a bottle of Jost. The label says Cote de Bras d'Or Nova Scotia Marechal Foch 2005. A dry wine of 12% alcohol, it's light and surprisingly very much a delight as well. The color is ruby, the body light, and the flavor is brimming with berries like the berry-laden fresh fruit cups they sell at Canada's Sobey supermarkets (another discovery from my recent excursions north of the border).

I only paid $11 Canadian for this little gem with a cork, in a store alongside Yellow Tail that costs nearly $15.

It turns out Marechal Foch (don't ask me to pronounce it) is, as you might expect, a hybrid grape that winters over well and ripens fairly early. But it's being put to good use here. And what's more, this Marechal Foch was grown in Cape Breton, which is further north and out there than Halifax. The story goes that John Pratt (Johnny Grape) was the first to grow grapes commercially in the area, which proves the old adage, "where there's a will there's a way".

You probably won't hear people going on about Nova Scotia's wine industry but give it a try next time you drop in to Halifax.

This trip also revealed that my Sirius radio works up here, so I happened to hear Friday's NPR program "Forum" with Michael Krasny, and the topic was "wine snobs". Fred Franzia, whose Bronco Wine Company makes Two Buck Chuck and markets a host of anti-wine-snob geek-slapping generic-looking labels, was the most outspoken of the guests. He was joined by Julia Flynn Siler of the Wall Street Journal (author of "The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty") and Leslie Sbrocco, wine author, consultant and host of Check, Please! Bay Area on KQED television. Fred pounded away at his message that wine is wine or if there is any difference, his wine "is probably better than Opus One". The callers were mostly on his side although it seems most don't want to do away with "geek speak", the language of wine.

I suspect my feelings are pretty close to the middle on this subject. I don't want to spend much for most bottles of wine. I might overspend for a label just to mark a special milestone or close a deal. But I need variety, I like to know a wine's story even if it is contrived, and presentation makes a difference to me. At the end of the day I like to talk about wine as well as enjoy drinking it. The good side of the Two Buck Chuck story is that there are now more competitors making better cheap wine, a trend that I hope continues. But just because it's cheap, it doesn't have to be devoid of personality or come with an unwritten rule that it can't be talked about in purple prose.

Maybe next year will bring the debut of my new line of value wines positioned for affordable anti-wine-snob enjoyment: Steak Wine, Chicken Wine, Burger Wine, Spaghetti Wine, Seafood Wine, Lobster Wine, and Barbecue Wine. We've got varietals and appellations, but what could be simpler than wine made to go with what you're eating. One second thought maybe I need to get back to Nashville tomorrow. This cool Canadian air has clearly gone to my head.

Comments

[Olivier Magny]

Good info and some neat photos, thumbs up!

Cheers,
Olivier

[Andrew]

Jerry,
Fred Franzia side stepped a lot of tough questions at the "Forum" with Michael Krasny. During the coversation, Fred could not justify why his 2 buck chuck is better than the Opus One except kept finger pointing at other winemakers for overcharging their products.
Also, he admitted that the wine that won the medal was a "special cuvee" and thereby cannot be reproduced "consistenly" for the mass market. Moreover, Fred kept side-stepping the issue of terrior in wine. Maybe his goal is to produce a "coca cola" type wine where selling to the mass market is more important than telling a story of the winery with each vintage.
I also want to argue that cheap wines "usually" taste like something that comes out of a chemistry lab. Maybe that is what a lot of people wants, but for you and I, is that how we want to enjoy this beverage?
Andrew

[Mary]

It's pronounced mar-esh-shall-fosh, it's been yonks since I've had any and I least expected to read about it here.

The Malagash peninsula has a wee microclimate going on and, although you might not think so during the depths of winter, it enjoys slightly gentler conditions from its location on the Northumberland Strait (as opposed to being right on the Atlantic). You'd never expect the water (if you ever go swimming at the beach just down the road from the winery..) temperatures to be about as warm as that at Myrtle Beach SC.

Good on you for trying the local grapes.
cheers!