Did you know that there are vine growers in Quebec? Lets make it clear from the start that we are not talking Bourgogne or Bordeaux or even California wines. Nonetheless there is a region south east of Montreal where the climate and the soil are appropriate to the growing of grapes. I had the opportunity to visit that region last weekend and I want to share my experience with you.
We visited four vineyards. The first one, being the largest has the fanciest equipment. From tractors that bury the plants each fall and unearth them each spring to lab like installations inside. You might wonder how anyone can grow grapes in a country as cold as Canada. First of all they select the hardiest varieties, they also bury them each fall under four feet of dirt, and this particular vineyard even has set up a system that warns them of unexpected late frosts. In early spring, if the temperature drops unexpectedly after the plants have been uncovered, workers are called back in (as this usually happens at night) and they light up hundreds of small burners throughout the plantation to maintain a temperature that is above freezing. Speaking of freezing one of the specialties of this vineyard is ice wine. This is a very sweet and syrupy wine produced from grapes that have frozen on the vine. It is somewhat similar to Sauternes wines.
The second vineyard is much smaller so, in order to attract visitors, they offer a wicker picnic basket complete with tablecloth, cutlery and real glasses. It is filled with French bread, local cheese and paté, freshly picked apples, bottled water and home made cookies. You buy the wine of your choice and head off to one of their picnic tables scattered throughout the vines.
The third vineyard is set on a small hill and has an incredible view of rolling hills and tiny church steeples.
This is the vineyard we were assigned to work in. So we were taken into the field and handed a bucket and some scissors. The task is simple: find the grape and cut it off. The challenge resides in the fact that vines are kept trimmed low and the grapes are hidden among the foliage. Blue grapes are easier to spot but green grape bunches are much bigger thus fill up a bucket must faster.
You work bent in half or crouched. I knew it is hard on the back but the challenge of getting oneself back up after sitting in a trench is not an elegant one to tackle.
The fourth vineyard was like dessert: the owner has transformed the gardens around the house into an art gallery. A sculpture gallery! You have pieces of all kinds: stone, wood, metal, clay and they are distributed among the trees and flowers with the rows of vines as backdrop. It is truly spectacular!
There is a fifth vineyard that some in our group got to visit which boasts a “calèche” ride through the vines and an interesting mini farm of exotic animals.
We went back to the first vineyard for supper. We were show how to “sabrer le champagne”. The word sabrer comes from the word “sabre” as this is the tool used to open the bottle. The sabre is run a few times along the neck of the bottle and then a sudden sharp hit to the swelling of the neck close to the cork and the bottle literally breaks open. It is quite spectacular as the cork flies out and the frothy liquid spills out. In this photo you can see that the neck of the bottle has been cut off. Tradition has it that one must retrieve the cork so don’t do this in a dark place…also aim away from fellow revelers.
The next day was rainy so we decided to look at the region from another angle. We visited local artists. On select weekends like this one they open their studio to the public. We saw beautiful painted silk, pottery, jewelry and paintings of all styles. Many studios had lovely fall decorations such as this composition of pumpkins under a tree.
The region is also famous for it’s ducks: the “Lac brome ducks” and there is a gastronomical tour that one can take to get to taste all the local specialties. We did not have time to go visit although we got to taste some of their products. We did see some geese at one of the vineyards though and I could not resist taking their picture.
This weekend was a wonderful discovery for me. If you ever decide to try it out just follow the signs:
