The rise of sparkling wine in the County
Global wine consumption (like for most alcohol) is dropping in almost all categories. Sparkling wine is one of the few exceptions with annual growth running in the +7% range (growth expected to continue into the next decade). The best conditions for growing grapes for sparkling wine are cooler climates with slow ripening, lots of summer sun, and limestone, clay, or chalky soils. Grapes with naturally high acidity and low sugar levels will derive the freshness and full flavours that we want, and that we expect from a high quality sparkling wine.
So is it any wonder that sparkling wine production in Canada and Prince Edward County is on the increase? Or that we’re producing some of the best quality to price ratio sparkling wines in the world now? It shouldn’t be a surprise. It’s why more and more producers are devoting bigger sections of their vineyards to sparkling wine grapes, and harvesting earlier in the season to get these grapes at their peak for making sparklers.
A quick primer on making sparkling wine before we dive in further. To make a sparkling wine we want to introduce enough carbon dioxide into the wine to make if fizzy. All wine has some level of carbon dioxide, but it is generally not detectable. The amount of fizz in a wine is determined by the level of carbon dioxide, and how much pressure it is under.
Carbonated soft drinks are at a low pressure. Thus the bubbles are large, there aren’t a lot of them, and they are quickly gone after opening the sealed container. We have all experienced how quickly a soft drink goes flat after we open it. Carbonated water is blended with flavoured syrup to make a soft drink. Sparkling wines could be made this way, but they aren’t.
There are three commonly used methods for making a sparkling wine. Note that to be achievable, the first two methods relied on glass quality and thickness to withstand the high pressure of fermentation, and on cork and cage evolution to keep the corks in the bottles (test out for yourself what happens if you remove the cage from a bottle and leave it sitting on the counter for a while before pulling the cork). Thus both methods are barely 200 years old. There is wine world debate as to which one came first.
Méthode Ancestrale (ancestral method) is when grape juice is fermented much like still wine, but fermentation is halted by cooling the fermentation tank (keeping residual sugar and yeast for further fermentation). The liquid is then moved to bottle and fermentation is allowed to continue. At completion the result can be filtered and rebottled, or simply left alone in bottle with all of the residue and sediment. The latter approach is what produces Pet-Nat (Pétillant Naturel) which is cloudy, fresh, fun, and lower in fizz. These wines are not typically age worthy. Buy them and drink them.
In the Méthode Traditionnelle (traditional method) aka Champagne or Cava, wine is fermented in the usual way. At the conclusion of fermentation the winemaker will create blends (possibly from multiple vintages), the resulting wine is bottled, and yeast and sugar are added to initiate a second fermentation in bottle. Bottles will be stored on their sides (generally from 9 months to 5 years) at cooler temperatures to allow the wine to slowly ferment and mature, and slowly accumulate carbon dioxide. Bottles are then periodically rotated horizontally and vertically (a process known as riddling) with the bottle eventually being upside down, and sediment collected in the neck of the bottle. The sediment is then disgorged by either lightly freezing the neck, opening the bottle, and popping out the sediment plug. Or by removing the plug with a thumb or finger. The bottle will then be topped up with a wine and sugar mixture (called dosage), and the bottle resealed and stored. The amount of sugar in the mix is determined by the winemaker to achieve a desired style. With champagne classifications, this could range through a number of residual sugar levels from the Brut Nature to the Doux category. The bubbles in these wines are fine and plentiful. And they do age well - from years to decades.
The Charmat method is relatively new in comparison, and much less costly than the traditional method (at the expense of flavour, intensity and fizz longevity). Prosecco is the best known of these wines. The wine is fermented in the usual way in tank, and then transferred to a second pressurized tank where more sugar and yeast are added for the second fermentation. The second fermentation is carried out at low temperature, and the wine is fined and filtered while still under pressure. It will be topped with a wine and sugar mix (winemaker determined to achieve a preferred style) and bottled. Generally these wines are not age worthy, but can withstand some short term aging (unlikely to result in much improvement in wine quality, and more likely to result in the loss of fruitiness and fizziness).
All three methods are utilized in Prince Edward County for making sparkling wines. And the number of wineries making sparkling wines continues to grow. As does the breadth of the sparkling wine portfolio at each of these wineries.
Hinterland was the trailblazer in the County for sparkling wine production, and to this day it remains their specialty. Vines planted in 2004, first harvested in 2007, first wines released in 2010. Every County winery that has since ventured into sparkling winemaking has relied on the expertise of Hinterland’s Jonas Newman for coaching, and many utilize the specialized sparkling winemaking equipment at Hinterland (especially for disgorging traditional method wines at scale). Jonas makes sparkling wines using all three methods, but has earned his reputation for the quality of his traditional method wines.
You can now find traditional method wines at Lighthall Vineyards, Rosehall Run, Trail Estate, Broken Stone, Huff Estates, Last House Vineyard, Grange of Prince Edward, and others. I think the notable thing is that all of these wines are punching well above their price tag in quality compared to what you’ll pay for the Champagne name on a bottle. They still aren’t cheap wines, nor should they be. Given that chardonnay and pinot noir are the corner stone grapes in the County and in Champagne, and that the soils and latitudes are similar, it is not surprising that the results are comparable. Most of the County’s traditional method wines fall into the Brut Nature and Brut categories of sweetness, and like most of the still wines here are dry to very dry. There is not a great deal of propensity in County winemaking for high levels of intervention. Winemakers here want to produce what the vineyards deliver.
Most of the wineries I named above also produce Charmat method wines. Add Three Dog Winery, Closson Chase, Karlo Estates, Exultet Estates, Sugarbush Vineyards, Harwood Estates, and others to the list as all are making at least one Charmat method wine. Prices are extremely reasonable, and generally around the $30 price point (with varying degrees of sweetness).
Given that they both specialize in natural wine making styles, both Trail Estate and Traynor Vineyard have both dived right into making Pet-Nat wines. And the winemaking style that both employ also leads to some lighter levels of fizziness in many of their other wines. Lots of very interesting results for those that want to veer off the beaten track and taste something different. Don’t mind the cloudiness in these wines either - it’s the lingering sediment that gives these wines much of their unique character.
We’ve reached the point where almost every winery in the County now produces at least one sparkling wine. Many are producing multiple sparkling wines using multiple methods. Every year we’re seeing more sparkling wines in the tasting rooms, and notably I’ve been watching the purchases by our clients matching the global trend each year. Some clients leave the County only buying sparkling wines. Without a doubt something that no visitor to the County should be missing out on during their next visit. A wine category that is bound to only get better here.
