Unusual Sparkling: Vidal Blanc

At the start of the new year, winter has left icy roads and snow-covered houses and squares, it was the destined time to discover this new expression of the most famous white grape variety in Canada: The Vidal Blanc! This variety is most known for its beautiful ice wines, but lends itself surprisingly well for a Charmat-style sparkling wine.

The white variety of Vidal Blanc is a hybrid created by the French viticulturalist Jean Louis Vidal. Note that a hybrid is very different from a cross breed, in that sense that a cross always comes from a cross fertilisation between two grapes of the same species. Think of Cabernet Sauvignon being a cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, both of the species Vitis Vinifera. When the parents are each from a different species, the result will be known as a hybrid. Vidal Blanc is the result of a cross fertilisation between Ugni Blanc from Vitis Vinifera and Rayon d’Or, which belongs to the Seibel family, an American Vitis species. The aim was to create a variety that was going to be distilled for cognac, but the thick skins and winter hardiness have led it to be planted in the colder regions of the United States and especially in Canada, where it can almost withstand temperatures dropping as low as – 20 degrees Celsius! The grape is also very resistant to mildew, making it even more suitable for cooler and more humid environments. This makes the grape perfect for the production of Ice Wine, where grapes are left on the vine well into winter and are picked at a minimum of – 8 degrees Celsius. This will mainly concentrate the sugars in the grapes.

You can imagine my surprise learning that the Vidal Blanc was used for sparkling wine by Bella Terra Vineyards from Ontario, Canada. The Charmat method was used, meaning that the second fermentation does not happen within the bottle, like Champagne or Franciacorta, but the second fermentation happens in a stainless-steel tank, with Prosecco being most famous for this approach. It is believed that this approach leads to a retention of fruity aromas and an easy to drink sparkling wine. However, as seen in the DOCG of Valdobbiadene, high-quality grapes will not only display their primary fruity aromas, but also surprise with lots of secondary aromas as well. The Vidal sparkling will give you beautiful exotic fruit characters such as sugar melon, green apple, white pear and lemon zest. On top of that, you will find touches of cream, biscuits and sometimes even lager. In my opinion, the secondary notes were a bit more noticeable compared to the fruity primary notes, which made it more interesting to me!

The sparkling Vidal of Bella Terra Vineyards is the perfect aperitif and accompanies light canapes with salmon or seafood. Due to the high acidity, which is another characteristic of Vidal, the wine works perfectly with various cuts of charcuterie, think of Pata Negra, where the acidity will cut through the fat and rinse the palate!

This experience has led me to become overly curious about other wineries making a sparkling wine from Vidal Blanc in Canada. In any case, Bella Terra Vineyards has set the bar for this one very high in a way that will be very hard to match!