What if this year, for the Holidays, we all challenged ourselves to celebrate the region’s artisans, as much on our plates as in our glasses? After all, what greater joy could there be than to introduce your near and dear ones to quality local products made with love and care?
Do we need to be reminded of how lucky we are here in Québec with so many bottles and products that are sure to totally delight our senses! In fact, the Brome-Missisquoi Route des vins which is overflowing with amazing gourmet treasures to discover. To inspire you, and allow you to take on the local purchasing challenge, we’re proposing a list of our most beloved artisanal cuvées to pair with our favourite regional flavours.
1- A Glass of Bubbly and Sutton’s famous Round Top Bagels
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A divine pairing perfect for a classy start to your evening! Take simple thinly sliced bagels and season them with herbs and olive oil. Place them flat on a baking tray and brown them in the oven. You’ll enjoy offering these delicious, crispy appetizers to your guests as you welcome them into your home. And when we serve crispy bites, we, of course, need bubbles! We suggest you try UNION LIBRE, cider & wine’s traditional method. A perfectly festive dry sparkling white wine made from Seyval Blanc, Vidal and Chardonnay.
2- A White for Fumoirs Gosselin’s Smoked Salmon
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This popular product has given the region its renown and we can no longer imagine a table without it. The fattier texture of smoked salmon makes it the perfect companion for a white wine aged in oak barrels. Try Domaine du Ridge’s Stanbridge, a dry, woody white made with a Vidal grape variety. And if you still have some bagels left, all you need to add is some cream cheese to really offer yourself a treat!
3- Let’s move on to the Reds with a Brome Lake Duck Dish
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Do you dare trade the traditional Christmas turkey for a savoury local duck? Why not show a little audacity this year! Especially because red wine pairs so much better with duck dishes than with white meat cuts. Plus, you’ll have plenty to choose from when it comes to our local gourmet red wines. We suggest you try the Gagliano Vineyard’s Tinello. A blend of Frontenac Noir and Sabrevois grape varieties offering notes of red and black berries, and which will create the most pleasing combination with duck dishes.
4- A Return to White with Missiska Cheeses
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You can continue with a red wine at this point, but you should make sure it’s as smooth and light as possible to give your cheeses plenty of room, and not be overwhelming on the palate. This being said, for this part of the meal, our preference clearly lies with a white wine which will definitely create a harmonious mouthfeel with cheese. And indeed, there are plenty of wines to choose from when you visit our region’s vineyards! Between a dry white wine, woody or not, slightly sweetened according to your tastes, everything is possible. We personally love the Vignoble La Belle Alliance’s Toujours, a blend of Frontenac Gris and Vidal grapes. Its freshness and notes of ripe apples and pears wonderfully enhance the taste of fine cheeses.
5- Cider or Ice Wine for Frelighsburg’s Les Sucreries de l’érable Pies
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We hope you still have a little appetite left, because the party is far from over!
As you taste these generous, sweet and savoury pies, you’ll have the perfect opportunity to rediscover all the perfection found in our ciders and ice wines which have made Québec famous on the international scene. The classic of all classics when it comes to ice wines: L’Orpailleur, one of the very first vineyards to have established itself here in the 1980s. And while we’re celebrating our pioneers, we can also opt for Clos Saragnat’s fabulous Avalanche ice cider. Cofounder Christian Barthomeuf is in fact recognized as the father of ice cider in Québec.
We wish everybody Happy Holidays and we hope you’ll enjoy discovering our marvellous local flavours!
Elizabeth and Steven
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