french wine expert says nova scotia has all the winning ingredients for a world-class destination
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stefan badet (second from left) a wine economist for the french government, was in nova scotia for the past week touring the province's wineries and vineyards, and says they are well set up to be successful and grow themselves and the tourism industry. with him during his tour were (from left) grape growers association of nova scotia past-president steve ells, katarina vucic, a viticulture specialist with perennia food and agriculture, and association president anne-marie muttart.
ian fairclough
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the chronicle herald
the wine industry in nova scotia is poised for great things and well-positioned to benefit from and contribute to tourism in the province.
that’s the assessment from stephane badet, a professor of agricultural economics and management from the agrocampus bordeaux in france and representative of that country’s department of agriculture and food sovereignty, who specializes in wine economics, sustainability, regional development and collaborative growth models in the wine industry.
badet has spent a week in nova scotia, visiting wineries and vineyards across the province as part of a trip arranged by the grape growers association of nova scotia.
“you have a full destination. as we say when we teach tourism, wine is an opportunity for tourism, and tourism is an opportunity for the wine,” badet said monday at steve ells’ ellslea vineyards in sheffield mills.
“here, clearly, you have a full destination. people can find nature, sport, heritage, a lot of history, unesco monuments and very good pairings between wine and local food.”
he said there is a lot in place to capture the domestic market but also visitors to the province like those who attended sailgp in halifax over the weekend.
“you just have to promote and communicate, not go abroad or try to export, which is difficult and expensive . . . so you just have to catch the opportunity you have here in this beautiful landscape.”
badet said, “having never been here before i want to stay longer.”
he hails from the bordeaux region of france, which is famous for its wine. but it was also 42 c there sunday.
climate change’s major effect on the wine industry
nova scotia is an emerging region in the wine industry because of the effects of climate change, he said.
“nova scotia will be part of the winners, clearly,” he said. “we know the vineyards in the world are moving north: sweden, belgium, denmark and the u.k., and the provinces of canada.”
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he said people are looking for wines that are “trendy” like white wines that are fresh and easier to drink with lower alcohol levels.
“you are producing these types of whites, so you have something here. . . . you have great potential here.”
a worker at benjamin bridge vineyards in wolfville trims vines.
supplied
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anita macpherson
badet said vinifera vines like those that produce pinot noir, chardonnay and merlot are important for areas that want to be well-known in the world, “but you also have hybrids here, and some very original wines are produced here by hybrids that are not anywhere else in the world.”
he said that includes l’acadie, which is what he considers the flagship wine.
“some wine lovers need to discover new wines, and i think that’s something to promote. you have some different wines. this is not another chardonnay or another pinot noir coming from an emerging region. you have this identity, your cool climate and some great varieties that are very original,” badet said.
“there are some great varieties here i never drank before, so for people who want to come for four or five days or tourism, local foods, new wines, the region could be very interesting (to them).”
‘must be 100 per cent nova scotian’
he said the next important steps for the province’s wine industry are to promote more, find a way to produce more wines and be able to say that nova scotia wines are made 100 per cent from grapes from the province.
“i know that’s really important for the customer and the wine lover. if you buy a bottle of nova scotia wine, it must be 100 per cent nova scotian,” he said. “i know that’s a political subject, but from my position i can tell you there is no other choice. in france, in europe, in the world, we cannot imagine that if i buy a nova scotian wine it is not 100 per cent nova scotian.”
in 2024, nova scotia grape growers and wineries railed against a provincial decision to use new provincial pricing policy that encourages the use of imported grapes.
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in november, members of the association will be heading to bordeaux to attend the vinitech-sifel conference in the hopes of gaining tips and knowledge that can be applied in nova scotia.
anne-marie muttart, president of the association, said international visitors to the province often tell the association that nova scotia “has a winning combination with our location, our local food and our hospitality, and that these are our greatest assets when it comes to our wine industry.”
she said the association “has heard a lot lately that we have what everyone wants and what the world wants, and this week we’ve had further reinforcement that we have what people want for our wine industry.”
steve ells, who is the association’s past president, said that over his 15 years in the industry “we’ve talked ourselves out of being successful more than we’ve talked ourselves into being successful, so it was really something to have stephane here (to reinforce the success) because bordeaux and nova scotia are both along the 45th parallel.”
“we can take the next step and come into what they’re doing. we can do it here, we just need the confidence to do it and apply the knowledge,” said ells.
also this week, acadia university and the university of bordeaux have made a connection and expressed an interest in collaborating on research projects.
grape growers association of nova scotia president steve ells holds a cluster of grapes in sheffield mills.
jason malloy
/
annapolis valley register
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