Winery expects swift sellout of 2010 Nova 7

A Nova Scotia winery is putting its bubble troubles behind it, with a sellout expected of its latest batch of Nova 7 white wine.

"It is a wine that is unique due to the climate where it is produced and it is in demand because the quality is comparable to the best available internationally," winemaker Jean-Benoit Deslauriers said Thursday.

Benjamin Bridge, in Gaspereau, King’s County, quickly recalled about 190 cases of its 2009 vintage of Nova 7 after four bottles exploded last year. As a result, the winery took several precautions this season to eliminate any risk of bottles exploding due to a re-fermentation issue.

They added a pressure-sensitive screw cap and used a thicker bottle, brought in from Germany, for the 2010 vintage that is now arriving on retailers’ shelves.

"We have also modified all stages of production to address the situation," said Deslauriers.

The precautions and advance word about the quality of the 2010 vintage has some wine lovers projecting another provincewide sellout of Nova 7.

Retailers started receiving their orders Monday from the batch of 2,500 cases produced this year from grapes grown last summer. The sweet and slightly fizzy white wine sells for about $24.95 a bottle.

The winery reported some retailers are holding bottles for customers, some of whom started asking for it months ago.

This year’s vintage highlights the effect of the heat wave last summer, which "translated into a lot of fruit character," Deslauriers said. "Very ripe grapes produced the wine’s extreme aromatics and fruit-forward character."

The Nova 7 2010 vintage is now available at some Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. stores, at private wine stores, directly from the winery and at the Halifax Seaport Farmer’s Market on Saturdays.

Deslauriers will be signing NOVA 7 posters at the winery’s booth at the market on Saturday.