News Release Archive
NS LIQUOR COMMISSION--NOUVEAU WINES ARRIVE ------------------------------------------------------------ November may be the time of year that heralds the start of a long, cold winter...but for wine lovers it is the time to celebrate the arrival of the first bottling from the northern hemisphere's 1995 grape harvest. France's Beaujolais Nouveau from Mommessin and Roland Bouchacourt, Italy's Vino Novello and Nova Scotia's Jost's Nouveau Rouge will arrive in Liquor Commission outlets Thursday, Nov. 16----the traditional third Thursday of the month. These wines bring with them the excitement and liquor store traffic that has been associated with the wine since the style was introduced by the French in 1947. Harvested less than nine weeks previous, the new wines are light and fresh with a fruit essence that is reminiscent of juicy strawberry or cherry. These characteristics are accentuated when the wine is served slightly chilled. Peter Rockwell of the Nova Scotia Liquor Commission says the wines are meant to be consumed when they are young, often reaching maturity by the Christmas holidays," making them perfect stocking stuffers." What makes the wines so lively and aromatic is the utilization of the carbonic maceration method of fermentation. "To minimize the acid and tannin, and increase youthful fruit, the juice must avoid prolonged exposure to the outer grape skin. Great care is taken not to damage the fruit so that fermentation can be encouraged to occur within the skin," Mr. Rockwell said. During the carbonic maceration process, the grapes are not pressed. Whole bunches, including stocks, are placed in stainless steel vats. The weight of the upper bunches crushes those towards the bottom while natural or added yeasts start the formation of the exposed juice. Carbon dioxide, a by-product of fermentation, begins to rise to the top of the vat. The expanding CO2 exerts downward pressure, forcing yeast through the skins of the unbroken grapes and initiating fermentation from within. Ultimately, the pressure causes the remaining grapes to burst. While normal unpressurized maceration takes between 10 to 12 days, carbonic maceration lasts about 48 hours, with the extracted juice creating a wine with a full berry hue and a velvety, fruit flavour. "Some try to pass off the Nouveau experience as promotional hype, but nothing is further from the truth," said Mr. Rockwell. "Through not a true barometer of the vintage as a whole, individual regional micro-climates make that impossible....these wines have an identifiable personality that transcends their lightweight reputation." "Furthermore," he said, "they provide a yearly infusion of wine awareness which often acts as a catalyst for many wine drinkers to discover the attributes of red wine...also they provide a reason to talk about wine and a chance to celebrate as winter starts to sink in." -30- Contact: Peter Rockwell 902-425-5667 NOTE TO EDITORS: The following replaces the previous release (NSCS404) which contained a spelling error (Nouveau). trp Nov. 14, 1995