N.B. wine via New Zealand, Nova Scotia

With a friend in town from Ontario who is a big supporter of Canadian wine, we took the opportunity midweek to make an appointment and take a drive to Motts Landing Vineyard. The New Brunswick winery opened last year and recently released its latest vintage. Located at 3506 Lower Cambridge Rd. in Cambridge-Narrows, Motts Landing is a tiny winery by international standards, but worth a visit for the beauty of the area alone. Tasty wine is a bonus.

If you are coming from Fredericton and north, I suggest going via Gagetown, taking the ferry to Lower Jemseg, after which it is a short drive to the winery. You can also go that way coming from Moncton, but a more direct route would be to exit and get on Hwy. 10, then turn on Hwy. 715 (which becomes the Lower Cambridge Road at Bridge Drive) working your way to the winery from the east along the North bank of the Washademoak Lake. Coming from the south, from the Saint John area, you can either go to Norton and drive the Highway 695 until you get to the 715, or you can take the scenic ferry route, on the Gondola Point ferry, then the Belleisle Bay ferry, connecting to the 705 which then leads to Hwy. 710 and eventually 715. Whichever way you go, you will see some of the St. John River Valley's most heralded scenery.

From the winery building at Motts Landing, you can look down across the road to their vineyards and then further to the lake. It is simply gorgeous.

The couple behind the winery are Sonia Carpenter, who is the winemaker, and David Craw, who mainly handles the grape growing. They have been experimenting with more than 20 grape varieties since 2002, and are gradually narrowing down to the ones that work best for them. This work is well documented on their stylish and witty website (mottslandingvineyard.com).

Carpenter must be New Brunswick's first "flying winemaker." This term was coined mainly for Aussie winemakers who travel the world to make wine in other regions, applying the strong technical approach that gave Australian wine an edge for so many years. Carpenter flies to New Zealand each winter to holiday and also work, making wine there, in the country where she studied winemaking. She has done very well down in Kiwi country. Last year, she won a silver medal for her Sauvignon Blanc, and also made a delicious Malbec. She is attempting to bring her New Zealand wines into New Brunswick with help from NB Liquor. Motts already enlisted local designer Ian Varty to create a label for the Malbec, with the brand name "Te Ata Po," meaning "First Light" in New Zealand's native Maori.

Carpenter's New Zealand wines are of real interest and I hope to see them on local shelves soon. But what sort of wine is she wrestling from her native soils?

My favourites from their portfolio are the Chantilly Rosé Rhubarb Strawberry blend ($13) and the Reserve Sabrevois red ($22). The rosé has a pretty, yellowish pink hue and a distinct strawberry nose. The wine had great "rhubarby" acid and decent body; it is a really good dry rosé, especially at that price. Sabrevois is a "Minnesota Variety" developed by the legendary Elmer Swenson, famous for producing many hardy grapes now popular in North American cool climate regions. Carpenter's Sabrevois has an oak element but is noted for its red fruit, elegance and dry palate. It is definitely a good food wine, perfect for meat dishes.

The 2008 Sabrevois and Reserve Frontenac, aged in American oak, were released last weekend at the "Life at the Lakes" celebration in Cambridge-Narrows, and are moving fast. These wines are produced in limited quantities; there are only about 20 cases left of each.

Other wines include their "Cranpagne" ($20), a dry sparkling wine that blends New Brunswick cranberries with New Brunswick grapes, and a Frontenac Gris ($16), which Gagetown area sommelier Doug Watling describes as "Big and luscious, with some herbaceous elements and mint/lime on the finish. A very individualistic wine."

I'm impressed with what I've tasted thus far from this fledgling winery, and I expect more good things in the future. If you want to take a trip to taste local terroir, this is a great place to start. Their store is open in the summer and fall on Saturdays and Sundays, noon until 6 p.m., or by appointment.

Craig Pinhey is a writer and Sommelier, available for private tastings. Visit him at www.frogspad.ca.

Note: to view this article on the Telegraph Journal's web site, click here.

Motts Landing Vineyard profile (written by Dave Gamble, appearing in the trade publication Canadian Grape To Wine, Spring 2009)

The New Brunswick wine industry expanded to ten wineries last year with the opening of Mott's Landing Vineyards at Cambridge Narrows east of Fredericton in September.

David Craw and Sonia Carpenter have more than six acres of vines on their scenic property which is on the shores of Washademoak Lake. The Mott's Landing wharf the winery was named after, one of thirty wharves that were used in the past to service the area, is located just off the property.

A building on the property was converted into a winemaking and storage facility and a tasting room and wine cellar was built into the basement of their house. A future new facility, which will be gravity driven and solar powered, is being planned closer to the lake.

David and Sonia started the venture in 2001 when the first 1.5 acres of vineayrd was planted to Leon Millot, DeChaunac, Auxerois and Seyval Blanc. This was followed by another 3.5 acres which added Louise Swenson, L’Acadie Blanc, St. Croix, Frontenac, and 10 additional varieties. They now have 6.5 acres of tile drained vineyard.  

Last year Sonia attended a winemaking school in New Zealand to make her a fully qualified winemaker, winning awards for Sauvignon Blanc and Malbec. Her initial Nova Scotia releases included 'Blanc', a white table wine; three varietal reds including a DeChaunac, St. Croix and Sabrevois; a Rosé; a Rhubarb fruit wine and a  favourably reviewed 'Cranpagne' which is a sparkling wine made from cranberries and grapes. Following the opening in September all that was left by Christmas was some of the Cranpagne.

The next releases will be made in July including their white blend and rhubarb wine. In the autumn they will be joined by three reds; Sabrevois, Frontenac and DeChaunac. The Cranpagne will be available for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

In addition to their six acre estate vineyard they also own land on nearby Colwell's Wharf road and three acres have already been tiled and made ready for planting. Their eventual goal is to have 18 acres of vines.

David and Sonia have a well designed website which includes full backgrouind information about Mott's Landing Vineyards including four years' of climatological data for their vineyard site. Compiling this data came naturally for Sonia who is an environmental technologist who has been a driving force behind an Agriculture Environmental Management Initiative. As well as compiling and studying weather data the initiative identified pests and diseases, and collecting information on grape varieties and grape-growing developments in New Brunswick.

for more information about Canadian Grape To Wine, visit their web site at http://www.trailspublishing.com/index.php?id=20

The Grapevine (Written by Doug Watling and appearing in the Gagetown Village Voice, September 2007)

Well, I've gone on about this in the past, but I can't help myself. Soon, in the not-too-distant future, New Brunswick will fulfill its potential and become a once-unlikely wine Shangri-La. A case in point: this past weekend, I ran into David Craw and Sonia Carpenter, the proprietors of Motts Landing Vineyard in Cambridge-Narrows. I've written about them here before. They have six-plus acres of vines on the Washademoak, just below Route 715.

To make a long story short, Craw and Carpenter now have their website (www.mottslandingvineyard.com) up and running. It's a slick little effort that includes four years' worth of climatological data for their particular site - very illuminating, both for nay-sayers and for those with a genuine interest in growing grapes. Go to the website, click the "Varieties" tab, and you'll also get a list of the 16 hybrids and hardy varieties that Craw and Carpenter are growing. The grapes are thriving, by the way, and Motts Landing should be selling its wines sometime next year.

For my money, Motts Landing Vineyard is a local success story in the making, made possible by people with a vision. This area's confluence of watersheds makes it one of the prime areas in the province for growing grapes. For a snapshot of recent activity here and elsewhere in New Brunswick, go to www.nbgrape.ca, click on "NBGGA Map," click again on the map that appears, and you'll get an overview of 19 vineyards operated by members of the New Brunswick Grape Growers' Association, superimposed on a backdrop of New Brunswick hardiness zones. We're in Zone 5A, ideal for growing hardy grapes. Trust me, the momentum is building. If you're interested and want to get in on the action, do it now while land is relatively cheap.

Former pilot harvests new career in province (images and story by Ian Varty, printed in the Daily Gleaner, December 26, 2006)

David Craw of Cambridge-Narrows used to live onboard a 13-metre trawler in Hong Kong harbour before he became a winemaker.
 
He earned his living as a senior captain, flying large Airbus jets for Cathay Pacific to remote and exotic locales. After he was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat in 1998, his wings were clipped. He was forced out of the skies and into retirement at age 50. He sold the trawler, packed up his earthly possessions and moved to New Brunswick. He had no relatives or friends here and he had no knowledge of farming or winemaking, yet he boldly purchased a 110-acre property in Cambridge-Narrows. The pilot project had begun.

The first vines were planted in 2002 and many didn't make it through the winter. Although disheartened, Craw was well aware of the many obstacles he would face. New hardier stock was planted in 2003. Excavators were brought in to break up the bedrock under the shallow soil. Fields were tile drained. Post holes were dug and miles of wires were stretched across the trestles. Weeds were pulled. Pests and disease were battled. Fencing was erected to keep deer and raccoons from raiding the crop. Bird netting has kept feathered friends at bay. The learning curve has been steep for Craw.

The Motts Landing wharf punctuates the waters of Washademoak Lake just one kilometre from the vineyard. Decades ago the steamships would pull up to the wharf and local produce would be loaded for Saint John markets. In honour of this agricultural tradition, Craw has named his business the Motts Landing Vineyard. His home is a modern take on the traditional farm house.

A small harvest this autumn yielded about one ton of grapes . From this initial harvest wine will be made. Harvests will grow exponentially each year as new vines come into production. De-stemming equipment will be purchased. Crushers installed. "We should break even by selling wine at $1000 per bottle", David chuckles. Jokes aside, establishing a sizeable vineyard is an expensive proposition.

David Craw is currently the vice-president of the New Brunswick Grape Growers Association. This group represents the concerns of many vineyard owners. Roger Tremblay, small fruit specialist at the New Brunswick Department of Agriculture, estimates vineyard acreage in the neighbourhood of seventy. Motts Landing Vineyard accounts for six of those acres and has plans for another five acres of vines. Nova Scotia boasts over three hundred acres. The industry is growing in both provinces.

The Maritime climate sits on the edge of suitability for commercial grape growing. Global warming and new, winter hardy rootstocks are making the region more viable.  David Craw is proving that it can be done. He expects to have a marketable wine ready in 2008.

Grape Expectations (written by Doug Watling and appearing in the Gagetown Village Voice, September 2006)

Hop aboard the Gagetown Ferry, take 715 East at Dykeman's Store, and drive a few kilometres toward Cambridge Narrows. Keep looking right. Just past the Trebble vineyard  is a second, very ambitious vineyard that sports almost 6000 vines. This plantation is Mott's Landing Vineyard, the brainchild of David Craw and Sonia Carpenter, who plan to have a full-blown winery in operation by 2009.

Until recently, vineyards in these parts have been few and far between. Rod Gillis opened Gillis of Belleisle in 2003, and a few scattered souls have been planting vines in the area in recent years, but Mott's Landing Vineyard ups the ante considerably. Craw and Carpenter currently have five acres planted, but they also own a sizeable chunk of land near the Colwell's Wharf road, three acres of which have already been tiled and made ready for planting. The eventual goal is 18 acres of vines. Those are big plans. To facilitate those plans, Craw and Carpenter have invited oenology students from France to stay at the site next summer. The goal is to utilize the students' expertise while the students gain some exposure to cool-climate viticulture and winemaking.

Meanwhile, the cool-climate debate continues to rage. Can you successfully grow grapes in this area? Fear not – Craw and Carpenter have done their homework. Carpenter, an environmental technologist, has been the driving force behind an Agriculture Environmental Management Initiative that has been compiling and studying weather data, identifying pests and diseases, and collecting information on grape varieties and grape-growing developments in New Brunswick. Not so incidentally, the project is also aiming to foster knowledge about the potential for grape-growing in the province.

Craw, for one, thinks that the possibilities in this particular region are enormous. He says, "This  is the most dynamic spot in New Brunswick. Grape-growing here could rekindle an interest in agriculture, and give the entire valley a boost. This area could be just like the Annapolis Valley and parts of Europe." His location on Washademoak Lake gets up to 1050 degree days a year, enough to ripen his hardy varieties, and the lake moderates winter lows. Craw says, "We literally didn't lose anything last winter," a remarkable feat in these parts. Craw and Carpenter's most recent plantings – 3600  vines this year – include Frontenac, Louise Swenson, Swenson White, and Vandal Cliche, not household names for most wine-drinkers, but cool-climate vines with a real pedigree that can also make very good wine.

Two years ago, Craw and Carpenter planted ES 6-16-30, Sabrevois, ES 5-14, Prairie Star, and St. Croix; Craw says that they've been "thrilled" with the results. Most of those varieties, by the way, are cool-climate varieties created by legendary Minnesota grape breeder Elmer Swenson. More, like Frontenac Gris, are ready to make an appearance, thanks to the University of Minnesota, whose work has followed in Swenson's footsteps.

So, what's in the offing for Craw and Carpenter? They've just applied for a cottage winery licence, which will allow them to sell wine at farmer's markets next year. Craw says, "We'll be harvesting over a ton of grapes this fall, and selling our rhubarb wine next year." Meanwhile, winemaking experiments continue. A building on the property is currently being converted into a winemaking and storage facility, and plans are underway for a tasting room and cellar beneath the house. Down the road? A gravity-fed, solar-powered winery closer to the lake, and who knows what else. Craw envisions the entire watershed (Gagetown included) full of vineyards. "I'm a goal-setter. We're trying to support drive-by tourism. If we could encourage just one high school graduate to stay in the area, we'd consider ourselves successful." 

Quite a vision for a former pilot who lived far away on a converted trawler in Hong Kong and who has resided here only since 2001 (Carpenter is fifth-generation Cambridge Narrows). However, with traditional New Brunswick agriculture declining by 2/3 in the past 20 years and global warming providing a boost, who says that Cambridge Narrows and Gagetown can't become the focus of a new Niagara? If apples and a compatible climate are any indication, this region could be poised for a revival. Just ask Sonia and David.