Wine is in Boucier’s blood
If she weren’t a winemaker, Sandrine Boucier could easily be a painter.
With just a few words, delicately said with a slight French accent, she painted scenes of her youth in Northern France where she first recalls her relationship with wine.
Boucier has been with Henry of Pelham Estate Winery since 1997. She fully took over the reigns of head winemaker Ron Giesbrecht when he left in July 2013.
After high school, she studied biology and chemistry but admits she was looking for more, and the pieces of the puzzle came together as she was growing up.
“Long ago, I think it happened,” says Boucier.
“I used to go to my aunt and uncle’s who had a little vineyard, it was so much fun.”
She recalls being the youngest of all the cousins, all boys.
“We were out there (at harvest) it was such a fun day, the people from the village would come together and do one harvest and move to the neighbour’s vineyards.
“At the end of the day we would gather up and eat together, it was just friendly, no fuss, just a really good time.
“I remember I was too short to get the juice. My cousins would try to scoop it (she cups her hands).
“I was raised with wine, it was always part of dinner, so when I got to that stage, having those degrees, this really fit, I knew this is what I want to do.”
She remembers the soil, chalky in the area north of Lyon.
And she remembers walking those well-worn steps to the cellar, where they would go “every day with your bottle and just fill it up.”
She easily transports me to that place and time.
We sit across from each other in the loft of the winery.
Three glasses each in front of us with a variety of the Chardonnays that she has produced from the standard to the Speck Family Reserve 2015.
“It’s interesting to go from here to here to see what we’ve done,” says Boucher of the three levels of the same varietal.
To my eye, the colour of each is very similar, light with a more golden than green hue.
The first is expressive and a good example of cool climate Chardonnay without extensive oak. It’s clean and fresh and tasty, but it’s not the wine we’re here to talk about.
“Blending is an advantage, there’s a lot going on here,” she adds on the three wines. “Not on a varietal level but on the block or the clone, the yeast that is used or bacteria that are used.
“Our wines are of quality, whatever we put out there, we’re proud of. There’s a great deal of consistency.”
When we get to the final bottle, the Speck Family Reserve, the difference is significant. A judicious use of barrel fermentation adds a level of complexity and a wonderful “mouthfeel.”
The grapes are all hand-harvested from three blocks of the best grapes.
“Whole cluster pressings, so everything comes into the bushels by hand, and I tend to use a sparkling cycle on the whole cluster. You get better juice, you don’t get much juice, but that’s not what it’s about.”
In fact, she says only 200 cases of this product were made.
“If we feel that if the quality is not there, we won’t do this.”
The wine is soft, balanced and complex. And it has nice trailing acidity.
She leaves me with one quote as we finish the tasting.
“There’s wine for every time or every dish, I would say.”
And I agree, whether a wine by itself, like the “regular” Chardonnay or the Family Reserve that will elevate your experience. btymczyszyn@postmedia.com Twitter: @bobtym