While taking a quick break from winegrunting last Sunday, I stopped by Planter's Ridge's table at the Halifax Seaport Market. It had been a while since I enjoyed their Chardonnay, and as luck would have it, they happened to be offering samples of said wine. The last time I had a bottle of this wine was sometime shortly after the "Liquid Gold and Buried Treasure" event we hosted at the Italian Canadian Cultural Institute of Halifax back in October 2016.  Indeed, it had been too long since I had savoured this outstanding Chardonnay - it is a cross I must bear - after all, there are so many amazing local wines to drink, and I try to vary what I drink, for research purposes, of course. Thus, that early Sunday afternoon, a little taste to remind me of how good it is was all it took for me to bring a bottle home and get my creative juices flowing and to have me fantasizing of what I would pair with my rediscovered gem.

Sometimes I need to be reminded that my impatience with the present, my nostalgia for the past, and my hope for the future are all deeply misguided. After all, and especially from a secular perspective, I need to remember that "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under [the sky]. . . " If anything, the valley and the wine should be a constant reminder . . . ​

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My appreciation for the snow, even when it comes down in pretty big white fluffy flakes, has waned significantly. Since shoveling snow and scraping ice from windshields can only amuse me for so long... my mind invariably wonders to thoughts of warmer weather, two wheels, the valley, and, of course, wine. To break up the winter blues, we have already enjoyed some winter wine festivities, such as last year's last TNT of the season and The Nova Scotia Ice Wine Festival, however, a much needed mid-week escape to the valley to visit a few of the wineries that remain open over the winter is definitely called for.

Celebrating its ten-year anniversary this year, Domaine de Grand Pré hosts the 2017 edition of the Nova Scotia Ice Wine Festival.  This celebration of Nova Scotia Wine, ice wine in particular, but also local cuisine, opened on the weekend of February 25-26 and continues the following weekend March 5-6.  The wineries participating this year include Gaspereau Vineyards, Blomidon Estate Winery, Planters Ridge Winery, Luckett Vineyards, L’Acadie Vineyards, Sainte-Famille Wines and Domaine de Grand Pre.  There are also special guests to this year’s event: Annapolis Cider Company, Lightfoot & Wolfville Vineyards, Benjamin Bridge, and Avondale Sky Winery.  All of this makes for a tremendous, high-quality ice wine festival. Come and enjoy!