New lab to boost Nova Scotia’s growing wine industry
Posted Mar 30, 2016 09:23:54 AM.
Last Updated Mar 30, 2016 09:25:37 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – Past the rocky, ocean-battered coastline of Nova Scotia is an unlikely tale of success: a burgeoning wine industry producing palate-pleasers that connoisseurs say can rival what Champagne, France has to offer.
The lush heartland of Nova Scotia’s wine industry is the Annapolis Valley.
Toronto wine critic Tony Aspler says the province’s wineries excel in sparkling wines and aromatic whites.
Benjamin Bridge winemaker Jean-Benoit Deslauriers says part of Nova Scotia’s strength lies in its long grape-growing season.
The province’s other strength is a collection of keen winemakers and proponents working behind the scenes to grow the industry.
Yesterday, Nova Scotia and Ottawa announced funding for a new wine research lab in the heart of the valley at Acadia University in Wolfville.
About $480,000 will be spent over two years on the project, with Ottawa contributing the lion’s share.
The lab is expected to open this summer.
It will bring together food scientists, dietitians, biochemists, plant physiologists and food and beverage producers.
There are 23 wineries and 94 grape producers in the province, which generated about one million litres of wine and $15.4-million in revenue last year.
Gillian Mainguy of the Winery Association of Nova Scotia says the province’s industry has come a long way in the past couple of decades and is poised for growth.
She says people who haven’t sampled Nova Scotia wine in a while will be pleasantly surprised.
