We’ve lived and worked in many wine regions, but we felt the tremendous lure of Nova Scotia’s sparkling potential, and a growing desire to raise our family here. Pauline’s roots in Nova Scotia go deep, with nine generations of family farming.
On our many visits to Nova Scotia to visit family we got to know the region’s signature grape variety, L’Acadie Blanc, and we’d talk long into the night about whether and how we could make it into a world-class sparkling wine.
So we moved our young family to Nova Scotia in 2004 and founded L’Acadie Vineyards. It was a gutsy move, leaving a successful winemaking career in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, trekking across the country with three kids under seven years old and a beloved Newfoundland dog…
We discovered our 30 acres of paradise in the heart of Gaspereau Valley, choosing the north-facing side of the valley hills for its well-drained, warm schist and sandstone, a highly mineralized ancient seabed. And the potential for sparkling wine..
Our kids grew up picking grapes in the fall and sledding down our slopes in the winter..
We released the region’s first traditional method sparkling wine in 2008, our first commercial release after experimenting with small lots going back to 2004. Our Prestige Brut received a Gold and was Top Scoring Sparkling at the leading 2010 Canadian Wine Awards. Only three sparkling wines had ever achieved gold in the history of the competition. At the prestigious Effervescents du Monde competition in France, our 2007 and 2010 Prestige Brut were awarded silver medals. International, national and regional awards and recognition have been significant in our success.
“Bruce Ewert released Nova Scotia’s first Champagne-method sparkling wine back in 2008. The local industry owes much to his foresight” -Beppi Crosariol, Globe and Mail
“French champagne has traditionally been the benchmark for sparkling wines, but Nova Scotia is carving out a niche for itself through the efforts of traditional-method, bottle-fermented sparkling wine pioneers such as Bruce Ewert of L’Acadie Vineyards in the Gaspereau Valley”
– Bruce Erskine, Chronicle Herald
Sparkling wine from ancient seabed soils
With each type of club you will enjoy a regular shipment of our organic and vegan wine delivered to your door or you can choose to pickup at the winery.