Tiny bubbles

Hinterland’s Vicki Samaras at the winery.

Feds assist County winery to invest and grow

County wines are gaining fans and followers around the world—but did you know the County is developing an equally strong reputation for sparkling wines? According to Vicki Samaras, a principal along with partner Jonas Newman in Hinterland Wine Company in Hillier, the County’s distinctive climate and terroir are enabling growers to produce grapes with just the right amount of sugar (low) and acidity (high) at picking to create exceptional sparkling wine.

Several County wineries offer a sparkling wine as part of the portfolio but Hinterland is the only winery in Canada whose entire production is dedicated to bubbles.

“A lot of critics really like the County’s sparkling wines,” said Samaras, “considering it some of the best in Canada—if not the best. We are earning an early and strong reputation for making really, really good sparkling wine.”

In the Champagne region of France, producers are permitted to adjust for sugar content or acidity, but not both. In five years of making sparkling wine in the County, Hinterland has not adjusted for either.

“We have the right natural balance,” said Samaras. “Great sugar. Great acidity. This is why County sparklings are tasting so good—flavourful, concentrated wines with no compromise.”

Toronto Life wine writer David Lawrason says “County sparkling wines are incredible: you’d swear you were drinking champagne.” Of Hinterland’s 2007 Les Etoiles he writes that Newman and Samaras have “crafted a standout pinot-based sparkler” that “radiated purity and brilliance.” Last November, noted wine columnist Konrad Ejbich named Hinterland’s Ancestral his wine pick of the month.

Making sparkling wine, however, requires specialty processing equipment—equipment that isn’t available in Prince Edward County. So Hinterland and other County sparkling wine producers must transport their wine to a cooperative processor in the Niagara region.

“It was hugely expensive, potentially damaging to the product and, because we are so small, we had to work to their schedule,” explained Samaras.

With the bulk of their net worth tied up in the vineyard and winery, Samaras and Newman needed help to acquire the necessary processing equipment for their winery. They reached out to the federal government’s AgriProcessing Initiative, which provides partial interest-free loans to growers seeking to develop or enhance processing capacity to serve their markets better.

It took several months of waiting and worrying but earlier this month MP Daryl Kramp called to say their application had been approved.

On Tuesday MP Daryl Kramp, representing federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, went to Hinterland to announce the deal.

“We are very grateful,” said Samaras. “Especially to our MP Daryl Kramp. It is a huge deal for us. We were getting desperate to hear about whether we could do this or not. He personally dug into the file and learned that our application had been approved.”

Left to right: Vicki Samaras, MP Daryl Kramp and Jonas Newman.

Hinterland began in 2004 planting vines. By 2007 they began producing wine but only opened the winery in 2010.

With their own processing equipment they will be able to time the release of their wines to take advantage of opportunities created by the wine, the season or by the market, said Samaras.