The dynamic transformation of Nova Scotia’s wines

‘You can close your eyes and taste Nova Scotia,’ Gina Haverstock tells me while describing the wines produced in Canada’s beautiful maritime province.

Now the chief winemaker for three wineries, Haverstock represents a broader trend.

Notes and scores for wines from Nova Scotia below

A new generation embracing the ‘cool’

A generational shift is underway in Nova Scotia’s wine industry, led by passionate, skilled leaders, many of them women. This transition signals both maturation and growth for an industry that began only a few decades ago.

Geena Luckett now leads operations at Luckett Vineyards, building on her father’s legacy. Rachel Lightfoot of Lightfoot & Wolfville oversees operations focusing on biodynamics and premium vinifera production, which was commenced by her father, Michael.

Not all transitions occur within families: Haverstock, who caught the wine bug 20 years ago, has been driving quality at Jost, Gaspereau, and Mercator Vineyards since 2018.

Together, they represent a dynamic shift toward world-class wines as the region embraces its cool-climate potential on a warming planet.

Better climate

Coolness is indeed the name of the game here. Early attempts at viticulture, such as that by early French settler, Louis Hébert, as early as 1611, failed due to the freezing winters.

Modern viticulture began with Grand Pré Vineyards in the 1970s and Jost Vineyards in the 1980s. The industry sputtered until the early 2000s but is now thriving.

At Luckett Vineyards’ bistro, Geena Luckett describes the industry’s growth as we overlook rows of vines and the magnificent Bay of Fundy, which helps moderate winter temperatures.

‘We’re seeing more growing days and a longer season,’ she says.

Luckett Vineyards focuses on provincial sales but has begun limited exports. Its traditional method sparkling wines, currently blended from hybrid varieties, will soon include a limited Chardonnay offering.

World class potential

Nova Scotia wines have taken great strides in just two decades. When I moved there in the late 1990s, production relied entirely on hybrid grapes.

Today, the new generation is bringing Nova Scotia wines to new heights, much like in New York’s Finger Lakes region last century.

Rachel Lightfoot, of Lightfoot & Wolfville, notes that, ‘a growing environment that was very much on the edge’ in the 1990s has become recognised for its potential.

She sees a natural generational shift, with younger leaders stepping up alongside newcomers choosing to make Nova Scotia home.

The result is ‘fresh perspectives and reinforcing the idea that this is a place with real potential to make world-class wine.’

Women leading the way

As a restaurant wine director, I noticed rapidly increasing wine quality in the 2010s.

A key aspect of this shift is the increasing prominence of women. Keltie MacNeil, Director of Sustainability & Community Engagement at Benjamin Bridge, says that, ‘more women in leadership are stepping into the spotlight, although they have always been toiling behind the scenes’.

She notes that more women now engage in operations, vineyard management, production, and winemaking. ‘We’re doing our best to elbow open those doors for young girls and gender-diverse people coming up right now,’ she adds.

Lightfoot also highlights female leadership, naming Beatrice Stutz at Grand Pré, Geena Luckett at Luckett Vineyards, and Ashley McConnell-Gordon at Benjamin Bridge as key figures in an industry where producers cooperate.

Haverstock exemplifies this trend. Last year, she won the Karl Kaiser Canadian Winemaker Award, the first recipient outside of British Columbia and Ontario and the first woman to receive the honour.

At Benjamin Bridge, twins Ashley and Devon McConnell-Gordon assumed leadership in 2009. Since then, Nova Scotia wine has entered a new phase.

‘A new generation from several wineries is taking over or getting more involved at higher levels,’ MacNeil, their first cousin, observes.

Vinifera and quality on the rise

Haverstock, a Nova Scotia native, first worked for Jost and later helped launch Gaspereau Vineyards, where she and Hans Christian Jost introduced Riesling in 2006. She believes, ‘both hybrids and vinifera can express Nova Scotia’.

Local expert Mark DeWolf, editor of the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale magazine, considers Gaspereau’s Reserve Riesling particularly successful.

The word is spreading. Blomidon Estate Winery’s 2021 Chardonnay won Gold and 95 points at the 2024 Decanter World Wine Awards. In 2023, L’Acadie Vineyards made history when its Prestige Brut Estate 2017 fetched the same honours.

Indeed, beyond still wines, Nova Scotia’s brightest spot internationally is its traditional method sparkling wines.

Lightfoot emphasises that: ‘Traditional method sparkling has already proven to be world-class.’ But, with its tiny population, ‘Nova Scotia can’t be the domestic market for these wines.’

Instead, they look to national distribution, as well as further afield in Europe, and Asia. Benjamin Bridge envisions its wines continuing to find a place on top restaurant menus in Canada, Japan, and the UK.

‘Nova Scotia wine will continue to refine and strengthen its identity,’ Lightfoot says. ‘Traditional method sparkling will showcase our region’s potential, and the Tidal Bay appellation will evolve as a true signature style.’

With a new generation leading the way, the future of Nova Scotia wine looks brighter than ever.

Tasting notes for four wines from Nova Scotia:

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