This March, Prince Edward County’s Winegrowers Association threw the first edition of an annual County party—The Élevage Festival. In the summer, it’s a lovely thing to drive around the island with the top down, visiting various locations while you take in the sights, sounds and smells of the countryside. In the winter, though, the sheer distances between A and B can be a burden. Élevage coordinated this ticketed event so that we could enjoy a bunch of delicious wineries and cideries without the sprawling trek across the County’s many snow-covered roads, gathering 22 of our awesome purveyors together in 7 beautiful and easy-to-access locations.
This genius move allowed locals and visitors to experience the massive joys of a buzzing wine and cider tasting adventure in the midst of a very wintery winter. If that wasn’t draw enough, each destination hosted chef-driven food pop-ups, with menus celebrating the best of the season’s local culinary magic—from fermented-to-preserved deliciousness.
It was a weekend-long party and some of the attendees decided to bring a driver and travel freely between the specified locations, but we headed out to meet the shuttle that began its run at The June Motel and made different stops on each of the two-days, so we could really get the best out of our time and not worry about the transport.
But first we wanted to know more about how the festival came to be and especially about the etymology of its name. And because we’re wine nerds, we also wanted to capture it in this story so we could remember for next year. So we asked some of our favourite winemakers on this winter’s tour to talk to us about what élevage actually meant and, more importantly, meant to them…
Keith Tyers, Winemaker at Closson Chase Vineyards
“Élevage is the time that it takes for the wines to integrate with the barrel and rest over the winter before coming out of its rest to finish Malolactic fermentation and brighten itself up as spring approaches! As the wines rest for the winter, the cellar is allowed to become cold, like a fridge, this slowing Malolactic fermentation almost to a stand still. This process discourages Malolactic until the spring. As the ground and air warm so does the cellar and therefore the wines, thus encouraging Malo to restart and finish, refreshing the wines, allowing the floral & fruit tones to be expressed. I also find that this process reduces the amount of SO2 used in the wine. And therefore, a better expression of place!”
Kimball Lacey, Winemaker at Lacey Estates Winery
“Élevage is an exciting and busy time at Lacey Estates. We let the wine rest in tank and barrel to develop its flavours and textures with little intervention. The outcome of this process is to produce wine in its purest form and highest quality.”
Mackenzie Brisbois, Winemaker at Trail Estates Winery
“The magic of élevage is in the dark, quiet winter nights! The wines calm themselves, transforming from murky, awkward beings into smooth and silken wines with dynamic flavours.”
Derek Barnett, Winemaker at Karlo Estate Winery
“For me it is being able to stick my nose in a barrel or tank as it develops flavours and aromas.
They develop so quickly in the beginning and level out as we get onto summer months. There is nothing more exciting than pulling the bung from the barrel as the air around you fills with aromas of wine.”
Dan Sullivan, Winemaker at Rosehall Run Vineyard
“I think that when we are discussing élevage it is important to consider the ‘personality’ or style of the wine. Élevage invokes time as a tool to shape wines. There are some wines where the magic is immediate and primal and you are working to ‘capture the genie’ and get it into the bottle quickly to preserve the fresh fruity qualities of primary fermentation and beauty of youth.
On the flipside, the perhaps more romantic, traditional interpretation of élevage; a long, slow, patient glacial ‘reveal party’ that makes swans of ugly ducklings -wines that gain strength and grace with time in the cellar. So, when you think of élevage consider how time, which takes up no physical space, changes everything.”
Colin Stanners, Winemaker at Stanners Vineyard
“At Stanners all the hustle and bustle of harvest and primary fermentation is over. Élevage is a time to let the wine quietly develop and resolve itself into its final form. Barrels are topped and tasted. Tanks with wine aging on the lees are evaluated. We are tasting and patiently waiting for the wine to tell us it is ready to be bottled.”
Sara Boyd, Pommelier at Loch Mor Cider
“I think the one thing that is probably different about our ciders and our élevage is that we are more similar to wine. Our single varietal ciders are aged for different lengths of time, depending on the tannic characteristics of the apples. Some are given more time in oak barrels and others in stainless. We are just bottling the 2021 harvest Dabinett cider now, which has been ageing in a combination of barrel and stainless, for example. That time has allowed the tannins to mellow and soften, along with bringing more typical ‘dabinett’ aromatics out. For these ciders, élevage is less about a recipe & more an art.”
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