A Newfoundland wine called Funky Puffin

Newfoundland wines from the winery in Twillingate

Wine in Newfoundland is nothing new, as the island may be the Vinland - read wine country - of the viking They discovered it around the year 1000 on the east coast of America and settled there. Scientists are still arguing to this day as to whether that was actually the case. It rivals Cape Cod for the name, but one thing is certain. Newfoundland wine certainly never stood in rows on a winery like the vines we know from other parts of Canada. In the Niagara region or the Okanagan Valley, they cover river valleys and lake shores with rows of grapevines. Newfoundland wine grows naturally. Newfoundland Blueberry Wine is wild. So I was all the more amazed when I heard that the town of Twillingate owns a winery. the Newfoundland Winery in the Auk Bay, which produces its wines just outside of town in an old school building.

 

 

Newfoundland Wines are fruit wines

During our visit, it quickly became clear to me that only a few "real" wines are made in this winery. As is well known, only the fermented juice that is actually produced from grapes can be called “wine”. Everything else is - at least according to the German food law - wines in the broader sense, wine-based beverages or wine-like beverages. Auk Bay Winery in Newfoundland makes three true wines. The Great Auk Shiraz, the Great Auk Chardonnay and the Great Auk Cabernet Sauvignon. None of the grapes used come from the island.

The Newfoundland Winery buys them from winemakers in other parts of Canada. Therefore, many wine connoisseurs probably turn up their noses at the "blend" that comes from this winery. But the specialty of the Auk Bay Winery is not the wines made from grapes, but the fruit wines. These count - if you take it exactly - among the wine-like drinks. The ingredients probably come from Newfoundland. This is where it gets interesting. Almost all types of fruit that are native to the island are used for this. The most famous is the Newfoundland Blueberry Wine, the wine made from blueberries.

 

The Newfoundland Winery in Auk Bay produces Newfoundland Wine

These include types of fruit such as lingonberries, partridgeberries, gooseberries or bakeapples, which have absolutely nothing in common with apples. They resemble large raspberries, only they are yellow. But fruit wines are also made from blueberries, rhubarb, plums, blackberries, cranberries, currants and raspberries in the wine cellar of the Auk Bay Winery. The best known is the Newfoundland Blueberry Wine.

Since the types of fruit do not provide enough liquid to be able to make wine from them - sorry, fruit wine - water is added to the fruit mash. For the Iceberg Wines, the melt water from icebergs is chosen. These drift annually from the Arctic off the coast of Twillingate. This uses the cleanest water in the world for wine production in the Newfoundland Winery.

Depending on the sugar content of the berries, sweetening is added until the fruit wine has the flavor you want. This is how fruit wines and wine-based beverages are created, which – how can it be otherwise in Newfoundland – have names full of fantasy. There's the Funky Puffin, the Spin the Bottle, the Moose Joose, the Wreckhouse or the Jellybean Row. I think the most beautiful is the Krooked Cod, which for me is a symbol for the Humor of the Newfoundlanders is. Who else comes up with the idea of ​​calling a wine made from blueberries and raspberries a "crooked cod"?

 

 

 

 

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Travel Arrangements:

Check in:

Arrival by plane, bus or train*. You can reach Newfoundland from Europe via flights to Halifax , Montreal or Toronto. From there there are flights to St. John's, Newfoundland. Book your flight here*. The best way to get to the Newfoundland Winery in Auk Bay is by rental car.

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Accommodations in the Twingate* You can book through our partner booking.com.

 

 

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Do you already know:

• The Fisheries Museum in Twillingate
• Culinary specialties in Newfoundland
• Hotels in St. John's Newfoundland
• Newfoundland blogs for travel preparation
• The right glass of wine for tastings
• Funky Africa in Salzburg
• This is how pumpkin seed oil is made
• Wine and drinks all over the world

 

Source Newfoundland Wine : On-site research supported by Tourism Newfoundland and the Canadian Tourism Commission

Text Newfoundland Wine: © Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
Photos: © Copyright Petar Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline