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THURSDAY, March 31, 2016
NATIONAL NEWS City of Kamloops
www.kamloopsthisweek.com
Next Canadian wine district? Beyond rocky shores of Nova Scotia is a burgeoning wine industry
Activity Programs
Activity Programs MELANIE PATTEN For registration please call (250) 828-3500 and please quote THE CANADIAN PRESS program number provided. For online registration visitnumbers Please pre-register. Programs are canceled if the please minimum https://ezregsvr.kamloops.ca/ezreg are not met. HALIFAX — Past the Programs are cancelled if the minimum numbers are not met. rocky, ocean-battered Modern Contemporary Ballet $75 Saturday Morning Club coastline of Nova Scotia Ages: 14-20 Theprogram Saturday Morningdancer. Club an poise, is an unlikely tale of This is for the advanced Workoffers on technique, exciting ofworkfun, activity-based and flexibility. array Dancers will on the barre and centre floor. success: a burgeoning programs inspired by the wonderful world
wine industry producing palate-pleasers connoisseurs say can rival what Champagne, France has to offer. Fairy Tales and Musicals $175 Winemakers in the Ages: 9-12 Photography: $30 lush heartland of Nova Children will work on building skills while acting, singing, and Introduction to Digital Scotia’s wine industry, dancing. Stage crafts are also part of this program. Join the gang at Photography the Annapolis Valley, Rainbow for a fun afternoon this summer. This class is intended for new digital are embracing what cameras users or102186 for anyone who is Jul 14-18 Course: might appear as an considering purchasing 3:00 am to 5:30 pma new digital impossible set of concamera. TheRainbow session will address topics School of Dance ditions — cool temsuch as digital versus film photography, peratures and rocky, City of Kamloops Oronge’s Girls Only Skatewhat Clinic to look for in a $20 megapixels, and acidic soil — to create No boys allowed! It doesThe not matter never a digital camera. classif you willhave look atstepped the on award-winning white skateboard or have been skating for years. We will help all skill levels various types of digital cameras, postand sparkling wines master Activity street, transition, Programsand all the fun skateboarding tricks. Bring processing, and storage. capturing international your helmet, skateboard, water bottle, snack, and a positive attitude. Please pre-register. Programs are canceled if the minimum numbers Heritage House Do not are miss not out met. on all the fun. HELMETS ARE MANDATORY. attention. » Apr 20 9:00-11:00 AM “There’s this cardiModern Contemporary Ballet $75 255032 JulWed 11 Ages: 14-20 Course: 99738 nal rule that basically This program is for the advanced dancer. Work 9:00 am to 11:00 am on technique, poise, dictates a great wine and flexibility. Dancers will work on the barre and centre floor. McArthur Island Park always has the abilJul 14-18 Course: 102233 Greenhouse Tour FREE ity to highlight the 1:00 am to 2:30 pm Aug 15 Course: 99739 5+ yrs Rainbow School of Dance strengths of where 9:00 am to 11:00 am Explore the City’s greenhouses, which Fairy Tales and Musicals $175 it comes from,’’ said McArthur grown Island Parkfrom seed and have Ages: 60,000 plants 9-12 Benjamin Bridge work on building skills while acting, singing, and over Children 100 willhanging baskets. Bring your dancing. Stage crafts are also part of this program. Join the gang at winemaker JeanRainbow forfor a fun afternoon summer. Horticulturalist. questions the this City’s Sunshine Kids $30 Benoit Deslauriers, Participants will meet Jul 14-18 Course: 102186 at the McGill Road Ages: 9-12 who left the sun and 3:00 am to 5:30 pm Recycling Depot.includes singing, painting, playing, creating This sunny experience Rainbow School of Dance surf of California in McGill Road Enjoy a week of mini-hikes, bubbles, water play and and pretending. 2008 for Nova Scotia’s Oronge’s Girls Only $20 PM » AprBring 23 a snack more. forSkate ourClinic picnic. 10:00 AM-12:00 No boys allowed! It does not matter if you have never stepped on a Gaspereau River. Sat skateboard or have been skating for years. We will help all skill254133 levels One of about 20 master street, transition, and101500 all the fun skateboarding tricks. Bring Jul 15-17 Course: your helmet, skateboard, water bottle, snack, and a positive attitude. Nova Scotia wineries, 11:15 am to 1:15 pm Do not miss out on all the fun. HELMETS ARE MANDATORY. Benjamin Bridge is Hal Rogers Centre Jul 11 Course: 99738 Instructor: Danielle Kamloops Museum & Duperreault $10 the only Nova Scotia 9:00 am to 11:00 am Archives - What Lies McArthur Island Park Beneath brand selling bubblies Jul 22-24 Course: 101501 Cemetery Tour throughout Canada. Aug 15 Course: 99739 11:15 am to 1:15 9:00 am toMuseum 11:00 am pm & Archives as Join the Kamloops Its claim to fame is McArthur Island Park Centre Activity we guide youParkview through the stories, tales, Nova 7, a pale, refreshIntructor: Leanna Smeaton rumours, gossip, and more during our tour ing spritz made from Sunshine Kids $30 of theAges: Pleasant Street and Provincial Home 9-12 grapes grown along the This sunny experience includes singing, painting, playing, creating Cemeteries. These locations provide a Bay of Fundy. and pretending. Enjoy a week of mini-hikes, bubbles, water play and more. Bring a snack for ourrich picnic. and unique history. glimpse into our Deslauriers said Preregistration is required. part of Nova Scotia’s Jul 15-17 Course: 101500 11:15 am to 1:15 pm TBA strength lies in its long Hal Rogers Centre » Apr 9 1:00-2:30 PM Instructor: Danielle Duperreault grape-growing season Sat 254391 where unspoiled vines JulTo 22-24 Course: 101501 register call 250-828-3500 or visit www.kamloops.ca/ezreg 11:15 am to 1:15 pm can be plucked into Parkview Activity Centre November, allowing Intructor: Leanna Smeaton the fruit to retain its freshness at a moderate sugar content. The province’s other strength is a collection register call 250-828-3500 or visit www.kamloops.ca/ezreg To register callTo250-828-3500 or visit www.kamloops.ca/ezreg of keen winemakers and proponents workJul 14-18 us. Course: 102233 around 1:00 am & to 2:30 pm Kamloops Museum Archives of Dance » Apr 15-June 4Rainbow School 10:00 am-12:00 PM
OVER 150 DISPLAYS!
ing behind the scenes to grow the industry, which the government said boasted sales of $15.4 million last year. On Tuesday, Nova Scotia and Ottawa announced $487,960 over two years for a new wine research lab in the heart of the valley at Acadia University in Wolfville. The lab is meant to be a hub for food scientists, dietitians, biochemists, plant physiologists and producers of food and beverages as the province looks to make a bigger impact. Making wine in Nova Scotia is a “high-risk, highreward dynamic,’’ said Deslauriers, a Quebec native who has also worked in Chile. “We end up being somewhat of a specialized wine region much like some of the regions in Europe that are either really high in the
Alps or in the northern parts of France and Germany.’’ Toronto wine critic Tony Aspler said the province’s wineries excel in sparkling wines and aromatic whites. Reds, however, “are more problematic in that climate.’’ That hasn’t stopped Nova Scotia wineries from dabbling in reds and learning what does and doesn’t work. Gillian Mainguy of the Winery Association of Nova Scotia said early generation winemakers tried to compensate for the grapes they could grow during warm summers and long falls by producing wines that “were just way too sweet.’’ “It’s not unlike what both Ontario and British Columbia went through,’’ said Mainguy, citing Ontario’s oft-ridiculed Baby Duck as an example. The sweet, sparkling, low-alcohol wine was popular in the 1970s but snubbed by connoisseurs. She said a noticeable shift came in the early 2000s with the hiring of experienced winemakers who understood the terroir — a combination of climate, soil and terrain. “We are making world-class sparkling wines and aromatic whites that outside of a few other places in the world — Champagne, France and in the United Kingdom — can’t be rivalled anywhere else,’’ she said. Roger Dial is widely considered the founding father of Nova Scotia’s wine industry, having established what would become the Domaine de Grand Pre winery between
the late 1970s and early 1980s. There were “lots of doubters’’ in those early days, said Dial, who previously owned a winery in California. “We have some wonderful, huge assets now that we didn’t have back in the ‘80s and the ‘90s and that’s in the form of young, professional winemakers who are absolutely dedicated, not just to the profession and the craft, but to the place,’’ he said. “They want to be here, making history.’’ Many in the business agree a turning point came in 2012 with the creation of Nova Scotia’s very first appellation — a kind of geographic recipe. Known as Tidal Bay, it is a crisp white wine meant to accentuate the region’s cuisine, particularly seafood. Using specific grape varieties, including 100 per cent Nova Scotiagrown grapes, a dozen wineries are producing a 2015 vintage of Tidal Bay under a strict set of standards that must be approved by a blind, independent tasting panel. Balancing the high acidity of the soil with residual sugars, Tidal Bay leaves “a nice pucker,’’ said Mainguy. Aspler said Nova Scotia’s wineries have shown a level of cooperation unseen anywhere else in Canada. “To create something that could be marketed as a Nova Scotia wine, that would embrace all the wineries who want to participate, it’s a really interesting concept,’’ he said. Carl Sparkes, president of Jost Wineries of Malagash — the largest
and longest-operating winery in Atlantic Canada — said it’s not surprising the industry in Nova Scotia is tight knit. “I think we are mostly farmers at heart and therefore behave through similar values,’’ he said. “Farmers will always be there to help out a neighbour, but are not without their bickering. All in all, though, I think everyone wants to see the industry grow and prosper. Common purpose trumps differences of opinion.’’ Still, growth in Nova Scotia has been slow. Dial said many more hectares also need to be planted if Nova Scotia wants to keep up with the likes of Ontario and B.C., which boast hundreds of wineries by comparison even though their industries aren’t much older. “While I treasure the small, artisan little wineries that we have, an industry needs big players,’’ he said. There’s also the problem of getting products to new customers. Deslaurier said plans are underway for Benjamin Bridge to expand into the United States, the U.K. and Japan. But Mainguy said “outdated’’ interprovincial barriers continue to make it difficult for wine lovers to order from outside their home province and tipple what Nova Scotia has to offer nowadays. And that, she said, is a shame. “This isn’t your aunt’s Nova Scotia wine,’’ she said. “If you haven’t tried it lately, try it again. You’ll be surprised.’’
KAMLOOPS SPRING HOMESHOW 2016
There’s never been a better time to...Renovate, Landscape, Decorate! Saturday - April 9 (10am - 5pm) • Sunday - April 10 (10am - 4pm) MCARTHUR ISLAND SPORTS CENTRE • www.bchomeshows.com