It’s not Napa. It’s not even the Okanagan or Niagara. With roughly 162 hectares of grapes under cultivation, Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley is in its infancy when it comes to wine production.
But size is proving no impediment to a growing number of visitors who are discovering the charms of the area’s boutique wineries. Growers and promoters, meanwhile, are awakening to its potential as a tourism destination.
“If visitors have the least interest in wine they will seek you out,” says Susan Corkum of Sainte Famille wines in Falmouth, N.S., one of the first vineyards to become a stop on local wine tours.
Sainte Famille, which boasts the oldest commercially producing Marechal Foch vines in the province, was among the first to develop a family-focused harvest wine festival that is drawing increasing numbers of local and international visitors 17 years later.
“We tour the vineyards, sample the grapes, walk through the cellars. There’s live music, harvest fest food and grape-stomping contests,” says Corkum.
The Nova Scotia Winery Association, which represents a growing list of local producers, has since launched a month-long harvest festival and has even begun extending the wine lovers experience into winter with an annual celebration of Nova Scotia’s award-winning icewines.
Sommeliers Sean Buckland and Mark DeWolfe were among the first to jump into the fray in 2004 by starting their own wine tour business, which they’ve since sold to Ambassatours Gray Line.
The tour can be a small, intimate affair in a nine-passenger van or a corporate day out on a bus that seats 55.
“We begin with what we call our smell game, giving guests a variety of different scents like citrus or vanilla to help prepare them for the wine experience,” says Buckland.
The tour might also involve a stop at a local artisanal cheese maker or lunch with paired local wines at Domaine de Grand Pre’s Le Caveau or chef Michael Howell’s Tempest restaurant in Wolfville, about an hour’s drive northwest from Halifax.
Buckland is upbeat about the local industry’s future.
“I really think that the Annapolis Valley will become the next Niagara of Canada,” he says.
On the web
• www.st-famille.com
• www.ambassatours.com
• www.novascotia.com
