Harvest time | Joy Despite Adversity at Joy Hill

It hasn’t been all joy on the Joy Hill in recent months. Justine Thérien and Julien Niquet are eager to put this difficult 2022 vintage behind them. That said, it’s often in adversity that we surpass ourselves, and the couple hasn’t finished sprucing up their little paradise in Frelighsburg.

Eve Dumas
The Press

Freezes, fungal diseases due to humidity, twice the hailstorm and September rains are just some of the obstacles that the founders of the Joy Hill Farmhouse had to overcome in 2022.

“It was our sixth summer and we’ve never had a vintage like this before,” says Justine, who primarily takes care of the field, while Julien tends to the cellar. For the first time in six years, I had the fantasy of putting up a sign for sale in front of the vineyard! But we clung to the vision, to the pleasure we can have in doing this job, to the wines we are proud of, to the vines that were healthy. »

There are 37,000 vines on the “coast of joy”, all vitis vinifera : grüner veltliner, blaufränkisch, gamay, gamaret, melon de bourgogne, pinot blanc, riesling and chardonnay. The couple opted for the grape varieties they like to drink and which they imagined to be happy on their beautiful land with its many hillsides.

During our visit to the vineyard, the small team is harvesting the Pinot Blancs. There are a few crates full of juicy, sweet grapes, waiting to be pressed. This year, Julien decided to make the small but respectable harvest a single varietal cuvée, to see what it tastes like. In 2020, Pinot Blanc was added to the Paysage cuvée, which is mainly made up of Chardonnay.

Like many Quebec winegrowers, he is a fan of carbonic maceration. This vinification technique, perfected in the Beaujolais region, consists of placing the whole, intact bunches in an airtight tank saturated with CO₂. Deprived of oxygen, the yeasts do not set in motion and it is rather an enzymatic fermentation which occurs inside the grape. The technique makes it possible to obtain supple and fruity wines. In Quebec, it is gaining ground, among other things because it lowers the final acidity of the wine.

“In the case of grüner veltliner, for example, there is rotundone in the skin, which is reminiscent of white pepper. It’s fun to pick up, as we did in 2021, for the Les Ventilos cuvée. »

Then there are also “accidents”. Take the Pit à feu 2020 cuvée, for example, also made from grüner veltliner. “We had a problem with the chiller. The must fermented at 30°C. It could have been catastrophic and give rise to all sorts of deviations, but it rather brought out the empyreumatic side [arômes de type fumé, grillé, torréfié, voire brûlé] of the grape variety. Then it calmed down over time. Finally, it was a beautiful accident and we would like to reproduce this cuvée one day, if the conditions allow it. »

Julien’s brewing and cider-making past is very useful to him. The co-founder of Glutenberg and Oshlag – of which he sold his shares in 2019 –, also co-owner of Fleuri ciders with Justine, is very methodical and meticulous. He wants to make natural, but very “clean” wines. In Quebec, it is rather easy to work without sulfur and to obtain this righteousness.

“Sulfur is the only oenological ingredient that is classified as toxic, so if we can avoid it, we avoid it,” says Julien. Winemakers often use it systematically to avoid taking risks and because everyone has always done it. Yet a vigorous native sourdough made from healthy grapes doesn’t let any unwanted bacteria or yeast take over a fermentation. That’s the key to success. With the high acidity of musts in Quebec, it’s even easier to do without. It is a less favorable environment for bacteria. »

The couple’s approach, perhaps more square and scientific at the start, leaves more and more room for instinct, itself sharpened by experience. Justine and Julien learn to listen to their little inner voice and to trust each other.

“What makes us love a vineyard is that we live the process from start to finish,” says Justine, who worked in a wine representation agency before opening her “house”.

Last summer, Justine and Julien retained the services of a holistic agronomist. This helps winegrowers to increase their autonomy. As soon as she stops putting out fires, Justine plans to start preparing her own amendments and other treatments, such as biochar (solid carbon used to nourish the soil), “homemade” sulfur to fight fungal diseases, bacteria lactic to overcome another disease, etc. A few months ago, she was preparing a “tea” of forest litter to be sprayed, to increase the colonies of microorganisms on her precious vines.

It is her readings on the Jadam method that currently guide the winegrower. Like permaculture and other agroecological cultivation methods, the Jadam method promotes self-sufficiency and independence from chemicals by respecting natural cycles and preparing homemade “potions” at low cost. It was developed in South Korea in the 1990s by a farmer and horticultural chemist named Youngsang Cho.

“If there is no life, pathogens have plenty of room to spread. We are therefore going to strengthen the plant’s natural defenses and inoculate more living organisms into the vineyard,” explains Justine. So maybe there will be more joy and less hardship on the Joy Hill again in 2023.

Four cuvées will be released in November. To have a chance to buy some online, on the vineyard’s website, just follow his Instagram account. The other cuvées released earlier are virtually impossible to find now, except on the wine lists of various Quebec restaurants.