Canadian Wines 3

February 13, 2009



By Sue Guerra

Here’s my idea of a holiday: a ski trip with my family to the charming little town of Sutton, just north of the U.S. border in Quebec—and an opportunity to sample the local wines.

This annual Presidents Week ski trip is also a pilgrimage of sorts to the wonderfully quirky Auberge Agnes Horth where we reconnect with friends who are also drawn to this area, a former outpost for British loyalists that later attracted artists and free spirits.

Our hosts at the inn, Ray and Carla, offer their guests a laid back, family atmosphere and a belly full of gourmet meals including my favorite butter delivery system: freshly baked, perfectly flaky, Parisian-style croissants each morning. A favorite après-ski activity is a trip to the local cheese shop, La Rumeur Affamée.

Luckily, this French-speaking area is also a wine region with gorgeous views of frozen vineyards sprinkled across the mountainous landscape like icing on a deliciously frosted cake.

In preparation for our trip, I visited the website of Canadian sommelier and wine writer Natalie MacLean (www.nataliemaclean.com) to brush up on some Canadian wine facts. Following is one that caught my attention.

Cool climates such as Canada’s produce grapes that are naturally higher in a chemical compound known as resveratrol, the anti-oxidant found in grape skins that when consumed in wine, appears to reduce fat and cholesterol in human blood.

I’ll think about this each time I bite into a baguette smothered in the local and appropriately named cheese: La Brise des Vignerons.




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