Glenora’s story starts in the early 1800’s, when Scottish immigrants flocked to Cape Breton Island off the northern tip of Nova Scotia, a place with a beauty so like the highlands and islands of Scotland that they decided to settle here and make it their permanent home. In fact, the name Nova Scotia literally translates to ‘New Scotland.’ Being a part of Nova Scotia’s heritage means that Cape Breton Island is one of very few places on Earth where Gaelic culture and language thrive. As Scottish descendants, the people who live there passionately keep the dearest aspects of their ancestors' colourful culture alive, not the least of which is the tradition of whisky in the Scottish style. In the late 1980’s, the founder of Glenora Distillery, Bruce Jardine, launched his plan to build his single malt whisky distillery in Glenville. Determined to “get it right”, he sought out the expertise of Bowmore Distillers in Scotland; they lent their hand with production training and the sourcing of authentic Scottish copper pot stills and a mash tun for the distillery. After the construction of the distillery in 1990, initial production yielded 20 barrels of the first single malt whisky produced in North America. In 1994, Glenora and its maturing whisky was acquired by its present owners who, like Bruce, are of Scottish ancestry with Cape Breton roots. The whisky they produce is on par with the great single malts in Scotland. As with all great Scotch, water is an essential ingredient in the production process: Glenora’s comes from MacLellan’s Brook; the purest and cleanest source of water in Cape Breton. The brook tumbles out of the Mabou Highlands, runs through Glenora Distillery’s grounds, and can be found in every whisky they produce.

When Glenora Distillery started production in 1990 it was the first step to Canadian single malt. There had of course already been different kinds of whiskey in Canada but up to that point no distillery had produced in the Scottish way and used nothing but malt.

Glenora and Bowmore had a strong connection from the beginning and the collaboration in the first years helped the new Canadian distillery to learn and develop. Since 1994 the distillery is under control of Lauchie MacLean from Bedford. The Glenora Distillery is situated in the town of Glenville, Inverness County, and is a real picturesque jewel, visited by 12.000 tourists annually.

The Mashing - The barley that is used at Glenora is shipped to Canada from Scotland after being malted. The water used here is taken from MacLellan’s Brook that flows through the distillery’s property. A lauter mash tun is used for mashing.

The Fermentation - During 60 hours in three wooden washbacks the wash is fermented until it ends up with 8% ABV.

The Distillation - Two 5.600 liter pot stills had been installed by Forsyths of Rothes but they were already second handed: They formerly stood in the stillroom of Bowmore distillery on Islay.

González Bastías is a town, and a small, family owned winery in western Maule owned and operated by Jose Luís Bastías and Daniela Lorenzo.

Jose’s family planted their 4 hectare vineyard in the early 1800’s and they have been cultivating it ever since. Visiting this vineyard is like travelling back in time: to reach it, you must cross the Maule River by canoe from the local train station between Talca and Constitucion. Jose farms and vinifies biodynamically and without the use of machines; the soil is a mixture of sand and gravel. All the fruit is pressed by hand over bamboo zarandas into open top cement vats; the wines are then aged in either barrels or amphora. All made without manipulation and without the addition of sulfur.

The wines from this unique property are some of the most unique expressions in Chile and are remnants of Chilean ancestry, which is in danger of extinction.

This profile and tasting notes were edited from the Brazos Wine website, along with the pictures used. For more information please visit: Brazos

The Gramona family traces their history as grape growers and winemakers back to 1850 when Josep Batlle managed the vineyard of La Plana for a local family. His son Pau, who was active in the wine cork trade was uniquely positioned to begin selling the wines made from La Plana to sparkling wine producers in France who were at the time suffering from the ravages of phylloxera. By 1881 Pau was in the position to purchase the vineyard of La Plana and to establish Celler Batlle. It was at this time that Pau realized that Xarel.lo, the indigenous grape to this part of Catalunya, was instrumental in his success selling wines to France due to its ability to make well-aged sparkling wines. Pau’s daughter Pilar married Bartolomé Gramona and together they continued to expand their vineyards and sparkling wine business and in 1921 “Gramona Cava Champagne ‘’ first began to appear on their bottles of sparkling wine. By 1945, Pilar and Bartolomé’s sons, Bartomeu & Josep Lluis took over the management of Gramona and began to elaborate the cuvées that the estate is known for.

Today the sons of Bartomeu & Josep Lluis, Xavier & Jaume Gramona manage the operations at Gramona. Each generation has brought something new to the estate with Xavier expanding the scientific understanding of lees aging and the inherent properties of Xarel.lo while Jaume has pursued the conversion of all their vineyards – owned and leased – to organic farming as well as converting the family’s vineyards to biodynamic farming as well.

The wines made at Gramona are sourced from up to 303 hectares of vineyards (35-75)  year old vienes) that are farmed at least organically as well as the family’s 72  hectares  of vines that are farmed biodynamically. The soils in the Alt Penedès, where Gramona is situated, are primarily clay limestone. Close to the Anoia river they become more alluvial and near the looming Montserrat mountain there are areas of slate. Their top sites: La Plana, Font Jui, Mas Escorpí, and La Solana, are all located close to Celler Batlle where the wines are made and aged. These sites are also distinguished by calcite formations known as têtes de poupées which slowly breakdown in the soils releasing minerals. Whether it is these unique soils, their location and a gentle rise between the Anoia to the north and several natural springs to the south, or the diversity of the massale selections of Xarel.lo and Macabeu found in these sites that makes Gramona’s best sparkling wines so unique could be debated. Combined with the generations of labor and talent the Gramona family has devoted to these vineyards is the bedrock on which their reputation has been established.

At Gramona time is never an issue. The wines receive perhaps the longest average aging than any other sparkling wines in Spain and are never released until they are perfectly mature. Eighty-six percent of the sparkling wines produced in Spain are released after only 9 months while at Gramona theirs are aged a minimum of 30 months, some even 15-17 years.

Long considered a pioneer for their work in the cellar and releasing sparkling wines only after extended aging, Gramona now farms their estate organically and biodynamically with certifications from the Consell Català de la Producció Agraria y Ecològica and DEMETER. They are also taking steps to promote sustainability in their production by reducing their carbon footprint – using geothermic energy and recycling all the water used at the estate.

This profile and tasting notes were edited from the European Cellars website, along with the pictures used. For more information please visit: European Cellars.