Les Vergers Lafrance - a Multiforme Cidrerie, Vignoble, Domaine, & Distillateur

Perhaps our favorite craft beverage stop during our Quebec visit was to Les Vergers Lafrance, a multifaceted establishment located just outside of Saint-Joseph-du-Lac. This municipality is surrounded by panoramic mountain views, orchards, and a truly rustic countryside.  LaFrance participates in providing these orchards with their 30 hectares of 13,000 apple trees, 4,000 grape vines, 500 pear trees and 250 plum trees. And the apple trees are distributed among 20 different apple varieties.  Besides les vergers, LaFrance is a cidery, winery, distillery, maple producer, and restaurateurs.

Vignoble Lafrance is composed of more than 4,000 grapevines, particularly all shades of Frontenac  and Sabrevois -- both cold climate grapes bred at the University of Minnesota. LaFrance uses the grapes exclusively for the production of spirits. One of these is their Dandy Gin which is a fruit distillate made from apple, pear and grape eau-de-vie as well as our Marc de Raisins eau-de-vie. The botanicals consist of selected herbs and apple tree flowers from the estate orchards. Need less to say, this gin is quite floral, with less juniper but more citrus. 

The distilling operation started in 2013, when Domaine Lafrance acquired an alembic still made in Bordeaux by the Stupfler family. This family has been producing stills for four generations starting in 1925. Lafrance produces almost a dozen spirits and aperitifs as well as a range of ready to drink cocktails. We also purchased a bottle of the Quartier Lafrance - a Grand Marnier inspired spirit made from 50% Georges-Étienne apple brandy and 50% caramelized orange liqueur. Try to beef up are cocktail options with this surprisingly drier and complex liqueur.

Les Vergers LaFrance is also a purveyor of maple products available in their Sugar Shack. The maple products are made from the syrup from 200 Maple trees that are processed in early Spring during sugar season. 

Despite all these endeavors, the prime focus of the enterprise is cider where they produce close to 20 different cider products. This includes the canned Bio Sparkling Organic Cider and Bio Organic Rosé Cider that complemented the suddenly sunny afternoon picnicking in front of the Boutique. Another easy option was the canned Darragon dit Lafrance sparkling cider. And please try the Rick Special blend #3, an unfiltered sparkling brut cider that was fermented in ice cider barrels.  We didn't sample any of the still ciders, but had to bring home a miniature of the Domaine LaFrance Ice Cider. I would have brought full 375ml bottles of all their ice ciders, but was leery of crossing the border with a weeks worth of cider and beer. These are elegant ice ciders. 

The United Grapes of America - Minnesota's Alexis Bailly Vineyard Voyageur

Minnesota wine was present last month at the annual Wine America Congressional Tasting through the Alexis Bailly Vineyard Voyageur ($29). The wine is a blend of Minnesota grown Marechal Foch, Leon Millot, and Frontenac. The first two grapes are French hybrids whereas the later was developed by the University of Minnesota in 1996 as an extreme cold hardy wine grape for northern growers. The wine itself, as well as the winery, is named after their 4th great grandfather, Alexis Bailly, who along with a handful of other French/Canadian pioneers (voyageurs) paddled their way through the St. Lawrence Seaway to Hastings, Minnesota. And the Marechal Foch and Leon Millot were part of the original vineyard when, in 1973, David Bailly planted the fist modern vineyard in the North Star State.

StarChefs.com: The United Grapes of America

The vineyard was inspired by not only Bailley's interest in wine but also a desire to start a business where he could deduct wine trips to Europe. I can relate to that sympathy. In 1967 he tasted the Boordy Vineyards Red from the historic Maryland winery and realized European styled wines could be made in the east. Further research lead him to Millot and Foch and over time he concluded that "the Léon Millot has made the best wine and the Maréchal Foch has been the most winter hardy".

The Voyageur is dark, both in color and black fruit forward flavors; stressing the fruit forward nature of this wine. Ten months of oak treatment comes in play during the mid-palate and outweighs the fruit, whereas the wine finishes with plenty of acids and a slight tannic coating. This wine shows well, a bit pricey in the world market, but more reasonable in the drink local market. Cheers.

The United Grapes of America - Nebraska's Mac's Creek Vineyards & Winery Poncu

Mac's Creek Vineyards & Winery came through with another interesting wine at the annual Wine America Congressional Tasting. This was their Poncu ($25) port styled wine. The weather is too extreme in the Cornhusker state for vinifera grapes so Mac's Creek specializes in cold hardy hybrids, many created at the University of Minnesota such as Edelweiss, LaCrescent, and Frontenac.

StarChefs.com: The United Grapes of America

Founder Max McFarland explained how the Poncu is made.  They ferment Frontenac and then send the wine to a distillery where it is distilled into grape brandy. The winery then purchases the brandy, ages it in oak barrels, and then use it to fortify batches of semi-dry Frontenac. As you can see, Frontenac all the way.  The label and name honors the McFarland Family cattle brand and Max's father Dale "Bud" McFarland. Bud enjoyed Stetson hats and Poncu is what 3rd generation and co-owner Barry McFarland called his grandfather as a little boy.

The Poncu is very nice. The nose is cherry, wood, and a bit ethanol.  The oak character persists throughout and with the alcohol dampens down the sweetness.With this wine, Mac's Creek proves with a little ingenuity and working within the state regulations, a winery can produce a unique and tasteful wine - in this case a highly recommended port styled dessert wine. Cheers.

Cold Climate Wines from Quebec's Brome-Missisquoi Wine Route

Immediately north of Vermont lies a wine region that is relatively unknown to most American wine consumers. It is the Brome-Missisquoi Wine Route located in the Eastern Townships, Quebec Province. This 85 mile route  contains 21 wineries, some of the oldest in Quebec, and produces 60% of Quebec’s wine production. These wines are made from cold climate grapes, Frontenac and Marquette for reds; Seyval Blanc and Vidal Blanc for whites. Ice wine is prevalent as is hard cider, even iced apple cider. Wine lovers who reside in Vermont and northern New York have easy access to the region, but I'd recommend the area for a long weekend for those who require more travel. I visited the region during a day trip from Montreal, basically an hour drive, and visited three wineries. And of course, theCompass Winery, Brewery, Distillery Locator Mobile App, guided us to these wineries.

Vignoble de L'Orpailleur
 
One of Quebec's oldest wineries, L'Orpailleur (The Goldseeker) was founded in 1981 with the first wines available for sale in 1985. This visit was my first chance viewing actual cold climate vineyard operations in practice, such as hilling where the graft between rootstock and vine is covered with soil. This practice was introduced to the Finger Lakes by Dr. Frank and which most Finger Lakes wineries still implement.   The winery's portfolio ranges from sparkling wine to ice wine with white, orange, rosé, and red wines in between. One of their original wines was the L’Orpailleur Blanc ($15) a 50-50 blend of Seyval Blanc and Vidal Blanc. This was one of my favorites during our visit, it is simple, yet complex with a big aroma and citrus flavors. The two sister wines, L’Orpailleur Rosé ($15) and L’Orpailleur Rouge ($15) where both nice values with the Seyval Noir rosé exposing bright berry flavors and the Frontenac red wine boasting mellow dark fruit with plenty of fresh acids on the tail.

Aging La Part Des Anges de L’Orpailleur

The most interesting wine was their La Part Des Anges de L’Orpailleur ($18), 100% Seyval Blanc where the wine is matured in demi-john containers "subjected to the rigors of our Québec’s climate".  This is a succulent wine which obtains an oak character of honey and caramel mixed with the citrus flavor of the grape.

The L’Orpailleur Réserve ($17) and L’Orpailleur Ice Wine ($29) were other favorites within our party with the first an 80-20 blend of Seyval and Vidal and the later 100% Vidal Blanc. The Reserve featured a maple character whereas the Ice Wine was somewhat tropical.

Grapes protected from birds,
ready for the freeze

Hilling up the graft

During our next visit I want to allocate more time in order to take one of their guided tours - particularly the Effervescence tour where one participant gets to sabre a L’Orpailleur Brut bottle.

UNION LIBRE cidre & vin

Located virtually across the road from L'Orpailleur on Godbout Rue, this operation specializes in unique hard ciders:  Fire Cider, Fortified Fire Cider, and Ice Cider. The process for the Fire Cider involves slowly heating Spartan and Empire apple must and collecting the concentrate after water evaporation. The resulting must is usually one quarter of the original quantity. This "fired" must is then fermented in stainless steel with a portion fortified with apple brandy and aged in oak for the Fortified Fire Cider. While both are delicious, the later is outstanding - part juicy apple flavors, part creamy, and finishing with roundness and smooth.

On the other side of the process, the Ice Cider is made using 90% natural Cryoconcentration and 10% Cryoextraction. The later process involves harvesting the Cortland, Empire, Spartan, McIntosh apples in December and January and pressing the frozen apples to obtain the concentrated juice. On the other hand, natural Cryoconcentration involves harvesting and pressing the same apple varieties when the apples are ripe and then leaving the must outside to freeze. Only 30% of the initial must will have the expected concentration and will be used during fermentation.  Honey envelops the apple and pear flavors, balanced by strong acids in this excellent ice wine.


Vignoble les Trois Clochers

One of the more cozier stops on the wine trail, this winery provided our first glimpse of Dunham Village and the village's three steeples. The estate vineyard is rather small at 4 hectare, but features a plethora of grape varieties: Seyval Blanc, Vidal, Geisenheim 318 and 322, Frontenac gris, Maréchal-Foch, Chancelor, Lucie-Kulhman, Léon-Milot, Sabrevois, and Frontenac. The winery produces three dry wines, one Port-styled wine, and one Ice Wine - the Cuvée Nadège, named after co-owner Nadège Marion. The Ice Wine is made from frozen Vidal grapes whereas the Port-styled Les copains d’abord wine is made from 100% Seyval Blanc in order to obtain a Vermouth like aperitif. The dry rosé Le Métis is a blend of Seyval Noir, Sabrevois and Chambourcin and the red Boisé wine is a medium bodied blend of five varieties (Maréchal-Foch, Chancelor, Frontenac, Léon-Millot, Lucie Khulmann). But once again I preferred the simpler Seyval Blanc White Wine ($13). The winery also produce an oaked version of this wine, but for me, the refreshing apple flavors excelled unoaked. 

Je adore le vin du Québec.

Wine Trails: New York's Adirondack Coast Wine Trail

Last month I had a chance to drive through the Adirondack Coast Wine Trail, located in extreme northern New York along Route I87. The wine trail consists of seven wineries and cideries centered around scenic Plattsburgh.  The wineries specialize in very cold climate hybrid and labrusca grapes such as Vignoles, Catawba, Niagara, Steuben, Frontenac, Marquette, and Leon Millot. These and other grapes are also sourced from other New York AVAs with most wines labeled as New York wine.

During my drive I only had time for one spot and chose the Adirondack Cider Company housed in ELFS Farm Winery. I chose cider because I was already close to the Canadian limit for bringing alcohol into the country (basically one bottle of wine) and thought I could add a few bottles of cider without complaint. The Adirondack Cider Company produces hard cider completely from local Champlain Valley apples and their Mac cider is evidently a nice expression of these apples. This cider is off-dry with plenty of acids. I was all over the Two Heros Bourbon Barrel Hard Cider which was "crafted in honor of the great heroes of the Battle of Plattsburgh. On September 11, 1814 Brigadier General Alexander Macomb and Master Commandant Thomas Macdonough defeated the British Armies attack on Plattsburgh both earning them Congressional Gold Medals". This cider also celebrates the resurrection of ELFS Winery after a devastating fire a few years before. This cider is made dry and then aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels. The vanilla blends seamlessly with the tart apple flavors retaining both acids and flavors. Nicely done. Hid-In-Pines Vineyard was strongly recommended so that will be the first stop on my next visit. Cheers.


Wineries & Cideries

• Adirondack Cider Company
• Amazing Grace Vineyard and Winery
• The Champlain Wine Company
• ELFS Farm Winery & Cider Mill
• Everett Orchards
• Hid-In-Pines Vineyard
• Vesco Ridge Vineyards

Breweries

• Adirondack Pub and Brewery
• Ausable Brewing Company
• Great Adirondack Brewing Company
• The Lake Placid Pub and Brewery
• Livingood's Restaurant & Brewery
• Paradox Brewery
• Plattsburgh Brewing Co.
• Valcour Brewing Company

Wine 101 - Frontenac

Like the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, the University of Minnesota instigated a grape breeding program to assist wine growers in their state cultivate grapes that can survive in the rugged Upper Midwest environment. One of the most successful graduates from this program is the Frontenac grape, which was introduced in 1995. It is a cross of the French hybrid Landot 4511 and Vitis Riparia (the most widely distributed of all native North American grapes). This grape combines extreme cold hardiness with a high level of disease resistance and produces wines with an attractive garnet color and a pleasant cherry aroma and taste. It quickly became the most widely planted grape in Minnesota and is becoming more popular throughout the Midwest. The grape’s major shortcoming is that its high acid content requires malolactic fermentation to achieve a drinkable wine.

One Minnesota winery that cultivates Frontenac is Falconer Vineyards and Winery. Located just 10 miles from the city of Frontenac (the grape’s namesake), this winery has operated for over 14 years. The winery grows Frontenac because of the grape’s tremendous vigor - it can grow wildly if not properly managed. In fact, according to John Falconer, wild riparia grapes near the vineyard run to the top of 40 foot oak trees and Frontenac displays some of that vigor. Thinning the fruit has the added affect of lowering the grape’s acidity to more appealing levels. In addition to its vigor, the Frontenac grape is extremely versatile. Falconer Vineyards currently makes four styles of wine from Frontenac: Frontenac Rose, Frontenac - medium bodied, Frontenac Reserve - full bodied, and Frontenac Port. The Frontenac Rose is produced from the immediate crush juice and the winery is able to elicit a long strawberry finish. For the past two years, this wine has sold out by mid-summer. The medium bodied Frontenac is made from juice with a 5-7 day skin contact during fermentation. Their signature wine is the Frontenac Reserve, which is made from juice with a 9-11 day skin contact during fermentation. This wine is then stored in Minnesota oak barrels and Mr. Falconer believes this wine has great aging potential. The Frontenac Port was created from this year’s harvest and will be available in a couple of years. The winery will age the wine in oak barrels for 2 - 3 years before release. The Minnesota wine public has quickly accepted Minnesota grown wine and Frontenac. After opening their tasting room last year, Mr. Falconer noticed that the general public did not realize that Minnesota vineyards could grow quality wine grapes. One year later he has noticed a sea change in the consumer’s knowledge. Visitation rates are much higher than the previous year as groups of consumers travel between several wineries – with many repeat customers. In fact, Mr. Falconer has heard several wineries report that this year has been the best year on record for sales a trend which should ensure that Falconer winery continues to sell out their Frontenac stock each year.

Another Minnesota winery, Fieldstone Vineyards, started cultivating Frontenac primarily because it had a steady supply of vines from neighboring growers. Fieldstone is a new winery although their vineyard is located on a 100 year old farm and their winery is situated in a 75 year old barn. The owners are pleased with their decision to cultivate Frontenac since the grape’s versatility has allowed the winery to use it in five separate offerings, ranging in styles from dry – medium bodied reds to semi-sweet rosé wines. Each style has been successfully welcomed by the Minnesota wine public and this success is demonstrated by the number of awards earned by these wines in the past two years. The Frontenac Reding Reserve (a dry-medium bodied red) has won several awards at the Minnesota State Fair Commercial Wine Competition as did the Minnesota Glacial Rock Red (100% Minnesota Frontenac). The 2003 Martell Frontenac (a vineyard specific 100% Frontenac) won gold at the 2004 American Wine Society competition and finally, their 2003 Frontenac Rosé earned 1st place at the Minnesota State Fair Commercial Wine Competition (Rosé division). The biggest difficulty the winery has encountered with Frontenac is alleviating the high acidity associates with hybridized grapes. It continues to be an ongoing educational process both in the winery to bring the acidity down and to teach wine lovers about the differences. Regardless, the winery is very pleased with the University of Minnesota’s efforts to create hybridized vines/grapes and believe that newer releases such as Frontenac Gris, LaCrescent, Prairie Star and Marquette will "allow the bar to be raised in cold climate viticulture to even higher levels".

Nearby in Illinois, Galena Cellars Winery and Vineyard produces a port-style Frontenac Port dessert wine. The wine is made from 100% Illinois grown Frontenac grapes which has a berry - chocolate complexion. The wine is very popular in the Midwest where it won multiple Double Gold medals - most recently at the 2008 Illinois State Fair.