Looking for the perfect gift this Valentine’s Day for that special someone? We’ve got you covered! Using our new BuyLocalNBTM mobile app we discovered some delicious options for buying local this Valentine’s Day. Our first stop was Motts Landing Vineyard and Winery in Cambridge Narrows!
We travelled to Cambridge Narrows on Monday to visit the vineyard and learn more about the benefits and challenges behind owning and operating a local winery. Sonia Carpenter and David Craw are the masterminds behind this successful business, established in 2002. Sonia holds a diploma in winemaking from Tairawhiti Polytechnic Institute in Gisborne, New Zealand. Together, they are true champions of buying local in New Brunswick.
Everything produced at Motts Landing is made with products sourced across the province: the cranberry white sparkling wine is made with cranberries from Sunberry Cranberries in Maugerville; the rhubarb wine is made with rhubarb grown on-site by David and Sonia and any extra they need is purchased from Sussex; and the raspberry wine is made with raspberries from St. Leonard.
We began our tour by learning about the vineyard. Across the road from the winery, along the banks of the Washademoak Lake, lies seven acres of hybrid wine grapes.
We sampled a few different wines including Brut Classic, a sparkling wine, Summer Solstice, their most popular white wine, and Wild Rose, a rose wine with hints of strawberry and raspberry. They also have several fruit wines; Chantilly, a mixture of rhubarb and strawberry, Cranpange, which is a sparkling wine blended with locally grown cranberries, and Razzberry made from local raspberries.
Their company wine label has some historical significance for the Cambridge Narrows area. Its an image of a riverboat — The Majestic — that sailed on the Washademoak Lake, framed by a ring of fiddleheads. The Majestic brought supplies into the general stores and farmers used the ship to get their produce to people in Saint John and beyond. The riverboat era of the 19th century introduced tourism to the area, bringing many passengers from across Canada to Cambridge Narrows.
People from all across North America have come to Motts Landing Vineyard to taste their wine and tour the estate. We learned a few facts about tasting wine – the most interesting was a tip to never wear lipstick when drinking champagne! Why? The oil in lipstick or even chapstick kills the bubbles in the champagne, ruining the flavours.
Sonia and David do not use pesticides or herbicides to grow and maintain their grapes. Fungicides are used sparsely and only when necessary. Compost tea provided by Jolly Farmer of New Brunswick is sprayed on the vines to prevent mold. They also did an environmental farm plan for the vineyard, a voluntary, confidential process used by farm managers to identify environmental strengths and potential risks of farm operations and how to develop an action plan to reduce risks.
Buying locally this Valentine’s Day is not only good for the environment and economy, it’s easy! Find everything you need using our free BuyLocalNB database or free BuyLocalNB app!
“Buying local is very important for our economy,” Sonia says as we wrap up our tour. “Every dollar you spend buying locally, you will see in your community again.”
If you’re in the Fredericton area and would like to try some of David and Sonia’s delicious wines while dining out this Valentine’s Day, the Crowne Plaza and BrewBakers both offer products from Motts Landing Vineyard. You can also pick up a bottle at select Superstores and markets across the province. For more on this fantastic NB business, check out their website.
Cheers!
Karyn, Olivia and Pascale