I’ve been visiting my parents in rural Nova Scotia for Christmas. It definitely makes the pursuit of wine a bit more challenging! It also doesn’t help that my parents aren’t really wine people – nor are any other family members beyond an aunt and uncle who are fortunate enough to reside approximately five minutes from the Naramata Bench in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.
The closest large town from here is called Amherst – and that is the closest large liquor store. I was sent in for one bottle, I came out with four. I couldn’t help myself. I was excited to see some offerings from Toasted Head on the shelves but was distressed to note that the unforgettable Toasted Head Merlot was not included. I was certain that Toasted Head Merlot would show my parents how exciting wine could be! One of my favourite parts of the Amherst NSLC (Nova Scotia Liquor Commission) store is the “pour your own wine” section at the back of the store: there are large vats (that are apparently up to five feet tall) in the storage area that funnel directly to four spigots that allow the consumer to bottle their own wine, by the case, for prices under $6/bottle. They also have little plastic wine glasses set up so that you can taste each wine before making a decision on which to bring home by the case. I don’t recall ever seeing this in Ontario at an LCBO store but I will definitely need to keep my eye open.
I had to visit the NSLC in their small town in order to pick up a more appropriate red wine for dinner one night. There were two pinot noirs on offer in the entire store. *sigh* I really don’t consider myself to be a wine snob, but I always like to find more challenging, interesting bottles. I love to try small production wines or ones that I haven’t encountered before. I hate seeing dozens of bottles of the same wines over and over and over again.
I’ve already decided that if I come to Nova Scotia this summer I must head out to their “wine country” and visit as many vineyards and wineries as possible. There are some wineries that are already receiving major praise in the Canadian wine publications – I think that Jost is probably the most famous Nova Scotian wine at the moment or at least the largest winery. It’s hard to stumble into an NSLC without finding one of their many varieties. I found some sort of Jost icewine hidden away in a drawer in the house yesterday – that bottle has three days to be consumed or it will find a new home in Ontario!
The Wines of Nova Scotia website is very well done and definitely shows the visitor an entirely new world of wine. When I was visitng in May, shortly after quitting my job and moving cross country, I spoke with a woman at the NSLC out in Bayers Lake. I told her that I planned to pursue the sommelier program in Ottawa and she was almost offended that I was doing the program in Ontario. She was doing an in-store demonstration and was eager to tell me all the great things that are being done in Nova Scotia’s wine world. After reading about Benjamin Bridge, a small upstart of a winery that is already gaining cultlike status down here, I can see what she means.
I seriously feel as though I’m going to finish this sommelier program with a better understanding of these non-traditional wine areas than of the traditional ones. Especially since I sadly don’t see a wine-oriented trip to the Old World, South America, California or Australia coming up in the next year or two. But – as 2009 is in its infancy, who knows what the next twelve months or so will bring?!
Happy New Year!
