Canada’s Maritime Provinces: A New Wine Frontier

BY IAN D’AGATA | OCTOBER 12, 2016  

Believe it or not, the Maritime provinces of Canada’s eastern seabord (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island) are not just producing wine, but in some cases very good wine. In particular, a combination of extremely cool climate and suitable geology have made this part of eastern Canada a region of note for sparkling wines.

Who would ever have thought just a few decades ago that the Maritime provinces of Canada (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island) would one day be viewed as potentially distinguished wine-producing areas? Recent developments in eastern Canada are not really that surprising, as we have seen this happen time and again. As a result of the world’s burgeoning interest in wine and trailblazers planting new vineyards on every suitable piece of soil (and at times on less suitable ones too), not to mention the positive effects of climate change, places that were once better known for beer, rugby, French fries, windmills and tulips are now becoming bonafide wine-producing areas. For example, England is now producing excellent sparkling wines. Not just locals but even prestigious Champagne houses have bought land there recently, attracted by the chalky soils and cool climate of areas like Surrey and Kent. Did you know that Belgium and the Netherlands now boast hundreds of wineries? At the opposite end of the temperature spectrum, wine is now being produced in Equatorial Africa too--in Senegal, no less. Clearly, wine can imbue men and women everywhere with wondrous levels of passion, commitment and energy.

Benjamin Bridge vineyard in Gaspereau Valley

While wines produced in some of these far-flung, unexpected locales can at times be of suspect quality, this is not the case with Canada’s Maritimes, a truly bucolic landscape the rugged beauty of which is hard to translate into words. Once associated mainly with salmon fishing, lobstering and a love for ice hockey, the Canadian Maritimes are now producing still wines from numerous grape varieties as well as some of the country’s most interesting sparkling wines. That this part of Canada is capable of coming up aces in sparkling wine production shouldn’t be surprising, given the generally cold climates of these provinces.