Vineyard owners harvest fruits of their labour
Thousands of vines planted for future growth at Carleton, Yarmouth County, vineyard
Marlene and Jean Guy d’Entremont at d’Entremont Vineyards.
It all began in 2011, after a 30-day trip to Italy for their 30th anniversary — one day for each year they’ve been married.
Marleen and Jean Guy d’Entremont were so impressed by the vineyards they saw, they decided to plant their own, despite the fact nothing comparable had yet been established in south west Nova Scotia.
Bolstering their decision were the findings of a climate study backed by CBDCs in DigbyClare, Shelburne and Yarmouth with the Applied Geomatics Research Group, part of Nova Scotia Community College's Centre of Geographic Sciences in Lawrencetown, and the
Grape Growers Association of Nova Scotia.
Much of the study data dispelled the popular perception that southwest Nova Scotia is a foggy place.
The d’Entremonts took a bus tour to vineyards in the Annapolis Valley and met with Pete Luckett, owner of Luckett vineyards. They shared their plans and agreed to meet with him after work progressed.
PLANTING THE VINES
They then hired Perennia, a provincial development agency, to help determine their soil type and what was needed to amend it. Climate data was studied and then Perennia suggested the best varieties to plant.
Three years ago — after 16 tandem loads of composted mink manure along with 85 tons of limestone were added to a gently sloping, three-acre south-facing hill — Chardonnay vines were planted. If they grew well, they could potentially make 2,400 bottles of wine.
Trained horticulturists Rita and Stephan Dolder were hired as vineyard managers and this year 9,600 more vines were planted. In 2020, another 4,000 vines will be added. In 2021 the d’Entremonts have plans for another 5,000 vines.
COPING WITH CHALLENGES
Planting was the easy part, however.
Deer gazed longingly from an adjacent graveyard at the cover crop of clover between the vines. An eight-foot fence was added to provide security.
Then there were the birds, an ever-present threat to bunches of ripening fruit. Net “socks” designed for protection helped, as well as a hawk kite that JeanGuy kept ready to fly.
Too much rainfall in the spring, followed by a summer hurricane, were worrisome factors. The grapes needed heat, and lots of it, to raise the brix, which is a measurement of the sugar content of grapes, indicating the degree of the grapes' ripeness (meaning sugar level) at harvest. A measurement between 15 and 18 brix was the goal.
On Sept. 11, the measurement was 11 brix.
Would there be enough sunny, warm days to raise the level high enough for a successful harvest?
On some nights the temperature dropped uncomfortably close to freezing and bales of hay were burned at the bottom of the rows to warm the air.
On Oct. 20, friends and family arrived to help with Les Vignobles d’Entremont Vineyard’s first harvest. After receiving instructions they started at 10 a.m.
Luckett Vineyards winemaker Mike Mainguy says he was very pleased with the quality of the d’Entremont’s grapes. and by mid-afternoon had picked close to 6,000 pounds from 3,900
Chardonnay vines. There was an Italian feast afterward, with cold meats, cheeses, hamburg soup and more set out on a hay bales and plank table. For supper there was steak and chicken, salads and a six-foot-long Black Forest cake, with pastries.
Everyone received two bottles of wine, purchased from Valley wineries.
CONTINUING RESEARCH
Karine Pedneault, an assistant professor in Biology at Université Sainte-Anne in Church Point, Digby County, took samples from the d’Entremont’s vineyard throughout the summer. In March, the university received $295,205 from Research Nova Scotia Trust for a new lab where she and Gustavo Leite are conducting studies on wine production. This includes making 36 different wines for research purposes.
Pedneault’s studies are oriented toward understanding the relationship between grape ripeness and terroir, which is how a particular region's climate, soils and aspect (terrain) affect the taste of wine.
Vineyard start-ups are accelerating in this region, says Pedneault.