he sun blinds me on a cold winter's morning, reflecting off the snow on the sloping fields as I make my way along the winding White Rock Road through Gaspereau Valley, in search of the 1830's barn that signifies my arrival at the future site of the Benjamin Bridge Vineyards winery complex.

It is a relaxing, slow drive, quite different from the harrowing escapade the day before, when I drove from the Digby Ferry to Wolfville. A 1.5 hour trip stretched to almost three, on icy, snowy roads, with trucks zooming by my VW Beetle, temporarily obscuring the view with sprays of wet snow, and striking fear in my otherwise wine-healthy heart.

Don't kid yourself. Nova Scotia's winters are far from mild, even in the relatively balmy Annapolis Valley, the fruit belt of Nova Scotia.

But it is this winter, this cool climate (and that's not just marketing talk about "warm days and cool nights" - just try a Google search on that term) that is starting to get attention from people who are serious about super-premium sparkling wine. People like winemaking consultants Peter Gamble from Ontario and Raphaël Brisbois from France, and Benjamin Bridge owners Gerry McConnell and his wife and partner Dara Gordon.

They want to produce top level sparklers. Correction: They are producing top quality sparklers. At least the test samples say as much to my nose and palate, and to that of the other tasters standing around in the temporary winery that sits on the hill across from the old barn and 10 acres of sloping estate vineyards, now blanketed in ice and snow. By 2009, there will be a riddling cellar and a hospitality centre complete with a patio overlooking the vineyards. A quick look at the initial architect designs starts your heart beating faster. It won't be showy, though. McConnell and Gordon are sensitive to the local residents and farmers, who wouldn’t look too fondly on a big snobby winery.

The most attractive aspect of the design is that the original barn is incorporated into the structure. They started out with a big barrel cellar in the original design, but that was thrown out. They realized that, since they are a traditional method sparkling winery, the showpiece should be the bottle storage/riddling room.

Peter Gamble, an International consultant and former Hillebrand winemaker, well known to those in the Ontario wine business, fills us in on the background of the site and the wines, and proceeds to open samples, providing the proof that we wine geeks always want, crave, need. Sure, tell me about it all you want, but please, just pour some in my glass!

A Taste of the Wacky Blend

Our first sip is a 2004 vintage Traditional Method sparkler. It has a nice nose, some bready character, and green apple acid on the palate. It's a bit sharp, but very impressive. It will get better with time. We tasters eye each other sideways, with the odd eyebrow raised and suppressed smile. This group of sommeliers, wine insiders and writers look at each other with eyes wide open. Are we tasting the future of Nova Scotia wine?

What is this stuff, anyway? Turns out it is a wacky blend: 20 percent Pinot Noir, 20 percent Chardonnay, plus some Vidal, L'Acadie, & Seyval. But it works. Gamble has a theory why it works. It's not really a theory, actually, as specific requirements for making good traditional method wines have been "fairly well documented" in Champagne.

"In Champagne, they want 2.9-3.1 pH, 18-20° Brix, but physiologically ripe grapes," explains Gamble. Champagne is a cool climate, and the grapes barely get ripe from the standpoint of making a table wine, like a typical Chardonnay. But, for sparkling wine, the key flavours originate in the bottle conditioning, so you don't want a super ripe, overtly fruity base wine. Acid gives refreshment, and the biscuity, bready character from the lees provides the balance.

From what they've seen at their Gaspereau site, the grapes are ripening to Champagne standards, hitting the specs. "We have brown stems and seeds," enthuses Gamble, which means the wines should be free of harsh green notes, even though the Brix levels are low.

This is great news to McConnell and Gordon, as McConnell related what they said to Gamble when first exploring this project, "If we can't make a sparkler at the Grand Marque level, then we are out."

McConnell is a lawyer, and also president and CEO of the mining company Etruscan Resources Inc. He is originally from Miramichi, New Brunswick, but went to St. Frances Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, playing varsity hockey, a perfect beginning to elbowing his way around the wine business. McConnell has high expectations, and so far the project seems to be meeting them.

Having Raphaël Brisbois in on the project is a major coup. Brisbois was born and raised in Champagne, and has a Master's degree in Viticulture and Enology from École Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie in Montpellier. His Champagne credentials include 10 years at Henri Maire and a stint at Piper Heidsieck.

After that he made bubbly in India and for Iron Horse in California, before starting his winemaking consultancy. He consults on several winemaking projects in California, including Piper Sonoma, as well as in Canada, Chile and France.

Our next sample is another Traditional Method sparkler, from 2002, so it has plenty of autolytic character. It's bone dry, a touch rough around the edges, but full of leesy, bready notes. This fizz is a blend of L'Acadie, Seyval and Vidal, untainted by vinifera.

Next came the wine that is closest to what will be their signature sparkler. It's a 2002, made mostly from Nova Scotia Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (note that grapes for these wines were sourced from other growers, as Benjamin Bridge's vineyards were not yet producing). The first whiff is laden with yeasty, bready notes, and it has an austere palate, with structure that will carry it for years. We're told it has undergone 100 percent malolactic fermentation, and comes from 60-65 percent Chardonnay and 20 percent Pinot Noir. This is a "wow" moment. More will come. They are currently growing estate Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier for use in estate sparklers.

Nova Scotia Sparkler, Sure, but Sauvignon Blanc?

Does Nova Scotia really need to compete with Champagne? Not really, but it is a comforting thought that our sparklers can be of that quality level, and probably at a lower price (let's hope). Atlantic Canada is not just an icewine producer, although we do that well. Our table wines are very good, sometimes great, and hey, our sparklers might just be awesome.

The next wine is a shocker. All tasters are blindsided by a 2005 Estate Sauvignon Blanc, which happens to be Dara Gordon's favorite. She smiles demurely as we smell the wine, and, again, look at each other incredulously. It's excellent, with that lemon and mineral nose with hints of capsicum that I associate with the Loire, and a fine, crisp palate that would match perfectly with a simple white fish dish. I don't spit it (I didn't spit the 02 sparklers either). I let the acid linger on my palate, considering the implications.

"How much of this do you have in the ground?" I ask, like a schoolboy, knowing that this is the first ever Nova Scotia Sauvignon Blanc. They have a very small planting, a few rows only, but they plan to try more, and why not?

We move on to a red. Their 2005 Marechal Foch has an unusually silky texture for the region, round and smooth, and is, overall, a very pleasing wine. We speculate that Gamble's wife Ann Sperling (who made waves with her Foch at Malivoire in Ontario) may have been involved somewhat. Gamble smiles. Next is the Reserve Foch, also from 2005. It's a "Barrel Select" wine, not preordained in the vineyard, more complex than the regular Foch, gamey, with raisin and dark fruit notes.

Benjamin Bridge will also release icewine, acknowledging that Nova Scotia is perfect for it. "Vidal is much better here than in Ontario," offers Gamble, explaining that the natural acid is higher at harvest, typically around 18 g/l, whereas in Ontario it is usually 9 g/l, so they need to add acid for balance.

We finish the day with the wine they plan to release this summer. They are still waiting on their premium sparklers, and they want to age the other wines further, or increase quantity, before release. Therefore the only 2008 release (via the NSLC) will be an aromatic sparkling wine in the Asti style, only made from a blend of Pearl of Csaba and New York Muscat. This off-dry sparkler is wonderfully creamy and exotic, with a splash of cool climate acid. It underwent a short bottle conditioning, so does not display any autolytic character. Smiles abound among the tasters. The aromatic fizz, christened Nova by Benjamin Bridge, is just another in a string of pleasant surprises. There will only be 300 cases of this wine released in 2008, but the plan is to get to 10,000 annually, counting all brands, eventually.

I left that day with a warm feeling about Nova Scotia wine. My experience of the night before, tasting another excellent traditional method sparkler just down the road at L'Acadie Vineyards, didn’t hurt. Although I don't think the wine industry of Nova Scotia or Atlantic Canada will be anchored on sparkling wine, it is another brick in the building of the reputation of our small region. The good reviews that will surely arise from these new wines will no doubt induce curiosity in wine lovers across Canada, maybe even around the world. This in turn should encourage Canadians to buy and drink their own wines, and not just icewine and sparklers. Premium sparklers could build a bridge from the fringe to the core of our industry: table wines to drink with food.

I think Benjamin Bridge might be going somewhere with this.

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Photos by Benjamin Bridge