Three Nova Scotia wineries received the Lieutenant-Governor's Award for Excellence in Nova Scotia Wines during a special ceremony at Government House in Halifax on Wednesday.
“The honour is so significant,” says winery co-owner Lorraine Vassalo. “It’s the top three wines in the province.”
The Avondale Sky Winery in Windsor won an award for its dessert wine, the Martock 2012. Vassalo attributes the win to the skill of their winemaker and an ideal climate.
“We have warm days and very cool evenings. That maintains the acidity in the grapes and that’s what gives it the crispiness,” says Vassalo. “We can balance out with the sugars and have an excellent product.”
Wineries from around the province were invited to enter the competition. Each winery was allowed to submit up to three commercially-available grape wines, as long as they were 100 per cent produced and sourced in Nova Scotia.
Judges spent four hours sampling the wines in a blind tasting, and after lots of sipping, Simon Rafuse’s 2010 Cuvee L’Acadie from the Annapolis Valley’s Blomidon Estate Winery came out on top.
“I think it was a perfect storm of a lot of hard work,” says Rafuse. “A great vintage, and obviously we’re thrilled and honoured to win the award.”
Jurg Stutz of Domaine de Grand Pre also took home an award for his 2013 Riesling.
“This particular award, they gave it away in British Columbia and Ontario as well, so to have it in Nova Scotia is really amazing,” says Stutz.
Lt.-Gov. J.J. Grant says this kind of recognition will help expand Nova Scotia’s wine industry.
“The lieutenant-governor in British Columbia was telling me they have over 100 wineries that enter their competition,” says Grant. “So we have a little ways to go, but we certainly have a growing industry.”
With files from CTV Atlantic's Alyse Hand
