Quebec’s Beautiful Juices: La Bauge Les Beaux Jus
Canadian wine doesn’t often fall into my hands. Luckily, my partner in wine crime Emma’s Baked Goods went back to Montreal for a visit this past autumn, and brought back a couple wines to share! I love traveling friends (more so than ever now that I’m grounded). Thanks to her, I got to try the La Bauge Les Beaux Jus Frontenac Blanc.
Vignoble de la Bauge
In 1986, Alcide and Ghislaine Naud decided to transition from dairy farming to wine production. Together with brothers Alain and Jacques Brault, they founded Vignoble de la Bauge. Their vineyard began with Seyval Blanc, followed by Chancellor vines.
Fast-forward to 1997 when Alcide and Ghislaine’s son Simon, working with three other winegrowers and nurserymen, co-founded the “Club de recherche et développement en Vitiviniculture du Québec”. They, on behalf of the Association des Vignerons du Québec (AVQ) traveled around some of the world’s norther wine regions to identify new grape varieties or new winemaking methods that could be of use in Quebec. His team also introduced a number of grape varieties to Canada, including the now most widely-grown grape, Frontenac.
Back at la Bauge, they no longer grow Seyval Blanc and Chancellor having decided these grapes did not belong in their terroir. They now cultivate Frontenac Noir, Blanc, and Gris, Vidal, Marquette, Le Petite Perle, La Crescent, and Hibernal. Another new change in the vineyards occurred in 2016 with a transition to organic viticulture and wine production. La Bauge went one step further in 2022 when Véronique Lemieux (most probably no relation!) joined the team. With her, they made a foray into regenerative viticulture by planting some new plots to use as a study base in order to test certain principles in regenerative agriculture.
La Bauge is located in the Brome-Missisquoi Valley, at the foot of the Appalachians. Its vineyards sit on the southern slope of a small, slate ridge covered with sandy-silty glacial deposits. The Champlain Sea covered this area in ages gone by giving a density, depth, and minerality to the wines.
Frontenac Blanc
In 2019, Simon partnered with Steve Beauséjour, an experienced sommelier and major player in the growth and popularity of ‘natural’ wines on the Montreal scene. Together, they created the “Les Beaux Jus”. The line, based on ‘natural’ wine principals, has no additives or chemicals (in the vineyard or the winery), and is bottled unfiltered with no added sulfites.
Emma brought back a bottle of the Les Beaux Jus Frontenac Blanc. Before we dive into Frontenac Blanc, let’s talk about Frontenac (Noir). Frontenac is a hybrid French-American grape variety, the result of a crossing made in 1978 between Landot Noir, and a native vitis riparia vine #89 (that’s its name). Created by the University of Minnesota during attempts to create a more cold-hardy grape, Frontenac has had great success in the norther US states and Canada. In 1992, a spontaneous mutation occurred in the university’s vineyards resulting in Frontenac Gris. Then, in 2006, la Bauge noticed that its own Frontenac Gris was looking a little pale. This new spontaneous mutation created Frontenac Blanc.
Now popular both in Canada and northern US states like Minnesota, Frontenac Blanc is a cold-resistant variety able to withstand temps as low as -37 C. While the variety shows a decent resistance to mildew, it is susceptible to powdery mildew, black rot, and anthracnose. Grapes grow in long, loose bunches which allows airflow, thus helping mitigate the occurrence of diseases. Bud break happens mid season and harvest (earlier than the other Frontenacs) generally takes place end September. A versatile and aromatic grape, it can also stay on the vine through December for ice wine production.
La Bauge Les Beaux Jus Frontenac Blanc, 2023
To create the Les Beaux Jus Frontenac Blanc, whole grapes underwent carbonic maceration on native yeasts for nine days, which also means that it has nine days of skin contact. After fermentation completed, the wine was transferred from stainless steel vats to 2000 liter concrete eggs for one and a half months. Malolactic conversion, lees ageing, and lees stirring all took place over the next six months (although the tech sheet was non specific as to whether or not that was also in the eggs). A wee dash of sulfites (15 mg/L) during racking then bottling without pumping, filtration, or fining.
Okay, a Russian-length novel later, we’re finally at the tasting notes!
Thanks to that nine days of skin contact, the wine poured a deep golden, bordering in pale amber color. Aromas did a tantalizing dance under my nose, displaying quince and the sweet perfume of hay and linden blossoms. Sipping revealed a more intensely fruity character with floral details and notes of dried, wild meadow wrapped around a core of yellow fruits like quince and golden delicious apple. Dry, medium-bodied, with crisp acidity and moderate alcohol, this went down fast, every sip inviting another!
We didn’t pair this with anything in particular, just one of our usual cheese boards, but it was delightful therewith.
Looking forward to exploring more Canadian wine!
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