DEFINING AN EXPRESSIVE TERROIR FOR WINES FROM NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA: INSIGHT FROM GIS AND SOIL STUDIES

Nova Scotia, strategically located on Canada’s east coast, is an emerging wine region, whose distinctive sparkling wines are garnering international acclaim. Nova Scotia has a long and rich tradition of growing grapes for wine dating back as far as 1611. Nova Scotia’s mesoclimates, glacial soils, diverse bedrocks and proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and Bay of Fundy form a complex alliance of variables to create a unique and expressive terroir. Nova Scotia currently has 14 producing wineries with many more in the development stage from four main wine regions. A preliminary GIS analysis of climate, topographic, geologic and soil data has been instrumental in defining Nova Scotia’s terroir. Wineries cluster in the warmest and driest regions to assist grape ripening. Grain size analysis has been undertaken on vineyard soils to assist soil classification. Soils from the South Shore wine region are sandy loams and loams; sandy loams exist in the Bear River valley; and the Annapolis Valley wine regions exhibits a range from loamy sand to sandy loam to loam and clay loam. In the Gaspereau Valley, a sub-valley of the Annapolis Valley, relatively fertile loam and clay loams dominate on the south-facing slope, but well-drained, gravel-rich glacial soils on the north-facing slope impart a complex and mineral flavor profile to the wines. Bulk major and trace element chemistry of the soils was done by x-ray fluorescence (XRF). The major element data highlight differences in terroirs in the four wine regions. SiO₂ content of the vineyard soils ranges widely from 61.09 wt% to 83.23 wt%. The soils of Bear River and Annapolis Highland vineyards show a close compositional with the underlying Meguma Group metasediments. Moreover, the Woodside Road vineyard soils at Blomidon Estate lie over North Mountain Basalt bedrock, and have a significantly lower SiO₂ concentration at 63.95 wt% and a higher MgO content at 2.56 wt%. Petite Riviere vineyards from the South Shore region have distinctly lower TiO₂ and higher Na₂O and K₂O than the other vineyards. Vineyard soils were also analyzed for Mehlich III extractable major and trace metal ions by ICP-OES. The vineyards with the best terroir potential have the highest content of plant available calcium. This terroir study assists the young wine industry in Nova Scotia ideally match grape variety to vineyard block.