Hybrid drinks | Have fun with biodiversity

With the advent in Quebec of a host of new ecological vineyards, the legalization of “piquette” and a generalized curiosity for fermented liquids of all kinds, hybrid drinks have not ceased to amaze us. And they are much more than a search for novelty and originality at all costs.

Eve Dumas
The Press

These drinks, which combine wine and cider, cider and beer, mead and fruit or aromatic plants, etc., are the expression of a new conception of terroir, free and broadened. Among winegrowers and other producers of drinks produced as naturally as possible, with local ingredients, there is a lot of talk about biodiversity and how vineyards, orchards and other cereal fields should open up to polyculture. The objective of this biodiversity: to prevent diseases, respect the environment and offer a better product to consumers.

Estates, young and old, are therefore turning to rewilding. This conservation approach involves the reimplantation on land of plant or animal species eliminated by human activities. But what to do with these plum trees and rosehips planted between the rows of vines? Co-fermentations, blends, macerations and other experiments provide part of the answer.

“From an economic point of view, it also makes sense to be able to ‘wine’ everything we plant in the name of biodiversity”, says Véronique Lemieux, founder of the Vignes en ville project and “guardian” of a plot experiment at the Vignoble de la Bauge, which she designs and maintains with the sommelier and neo-winemaker Steve Beauséjour. “Let’s say that I don’t see myself selling pears at the end of the row! »

During one of her experimental vinifications for Vignes en ville, the researcher threw blackberries, elderberries and other urban fruits that grew around the grapes into the fermenter. “The fact that I managed to make a drinkable drink when I had no winemaking experience gave me the conviction that we could certainly do something interesting in a more controlled environment”, says the specialist. urban agriculture, permaculture and living soils.

To feed Véronique and Steve’s reflection on the possibilities of an approach based on biodiversity, the sommelier Vanya Filipovic (co-owner of the Mon Lapin restaurant) landed in La Bauge, in Brigham, with a few bottles from a project on which she works with an American wine club called Viticole.

An example: Vanya had visited a Californian producer caught with a problematic perry (pear cider), because it had too much volatile acidity, a “deviance” bringing it closer to vinegar. The idea came to macerate wild sage and mugwort to restore balance. “It worked so well that Steve – who’s an excellent taster – was convinced it was grapes,” Vanya laughs. The perry has developed a vinous side, with notes of herbal and peppery garrigue. »

In short, granting oneself the freedom to go beyond the strict framework of the different categories and appellations also makes it possible to correct certain “deviations” or shortcomings without having recourse to synthetic oenological products, as traditional vineyards do. Besides, who can afford to lose their harvest, in whole or in part, at a time when nature is revolting and when the price of a vineyard or an orchard is astronomical?

The cellar explodes

At Lieux commun, we took advantage of this opening of the Quebec market for non-purist products by adding a little fermented apple must to a wine. In France or Italy, the four owners of the label, Guillaume Laliberté, Daniel Gillis, Thibaud Gagnon and Laurent Noël, might be called heretics, but not here. “Our Envol 2021 cuvée lacked a bit of freshness, so we added 5% cider. It really did him good. »

Here, the diversity is in the cellar, which is located in the heart of town, near the Central Market. The label planted its first vines in 2020, where there are also those of Hugo Grenon (Polisson cider and wine to come!) and a small vegetable farm left fallow this year (Cultures necessary). Until now, their wines and ciders have been produced commercially, with grapes and apples bought from other farmers. So they ended up with a large selection of small fermentations to experiment with.

“In our case, hybrid drinks were born from the fact that in the winery, we had fun doing tests and when we saw that one juice could improve another, we said to ourselves: why not? explains Guillaume Laliberté. It’s a bit like that in a traditional vineyard too, where blends are made, but only with grapes. In our case, they are different fruits. »

The legalization of piquette, in the fall of 2021, has also accelerated things in Quebec. We can now add water to the grape skins that were used to make a first wine, then referment everything to give a low alcohol drink. This is what we find for example in the Reflets 2021 product, from Lieux commun, a blend of piquette flavored with marigold (a flower), Empire apple and a little red grape.

“We only use things that we have on hand or that are part of our own universe, whether in the field or in social proximity. The people of Zamalek, who produce a non-alcoholic hibiscus drink, are friends. We decided to do a piquette with their Egyptian hibiscus flowers. These cases are not born from a market study and they are completely natural! It’s a bit of a snub to industrial drinks,” says Guillaume.

Samuel Chevalier also came across plenty of little fermented treasures when he became general manager of the Fleuri cider label this summer. There was even a cask full of 2017 Niagara chardonnay vinified by owners Julien Niquet and Justine Therrien. This has already begun to develop tertiary notes bringing it closer to a sherry. Samuel, a sommelier who worked for the Œnopole agency for several years, intends to blend it with a cider to create a truly unique product. “We are also discussing with the Ippon brand to make a beer and cider blend. »

In short, we haven’t finished blurring the categories, in order to be able to continue drinking… for a long time!

News, hybrid drinks?

No way ! Catherine Fabi, sommelier at the Knuckles restaurant, is preparing to do a master’s degree in history on ancient winemaking. “The earliest evidence of wine production in China, dating back 9,000 years, shows that rice and hardy grapes were mixed together. There was also plum.

“In ancient Rome, the terroir of the great empire was expressed in drinks, with all kinds of different fruits and herbs depending on the region. In Georgia, tarragon was used a lot. With the development of appellations in the world of wine, this drink has become a matter of purism.

In Quebec, we are fortunate to have a much less restrictive vision, even if, as Samuel Chevalier, de Fleuri would say, “the industry is much more uninhibited than the law”. Because we can’t do anything either. We spare you the details of the regulations. It would be far too tedious.

The world of beer is arguably the freest of all, and microbrewers have been having a blast with it for several years. Fermentation on grape marc from this or that Quebec vineyard, addition of a host of fruits and herbs in their brews, beer with honey (braggot), etc. They partly paved the way, as did Fable Farm in Vermont, which has been blending apples and grapes for years now.

Some products from here

These products are currently available in a convenience store specializing in beer, a delicatessen or a wine merchant near you.

Purple Beezz Ferme Apicole Desrochers and Vin Mon Lapin, 5.6% alc./vol., approximately $20 plus tax

This beading honey wine with blackcurrant and haskap is the result of a collaboration between mead master Géraud Bonnet and sommelier Vanya Filipovic. It’s an ode to Ferme Neuve, home of the Ferme Apicole Desrochers and the Miels d’Anicet. The precious sugar has fermented with local haskap and blackcurrant. Haskaps are even planted with buckwheat where bees forage. Part of the aging took place in an amphora turned by Quebec potter Benoît Daigle. Several other products from Ferme Apicole Desrochers (such as “Beezz on skin” with apples and crabapples) are the result of skilful hybridizations.

Common places Reflets 2021 (750 ml, approximately $23 plus tax), Debuts 2021 (750 ml, approximately $23 plus tax) and Hibiscus (355 ml, approximately $5 plus tax)

Three Common Places hybrid products are currently on the market. Reflets is described as follows: Empire apple submerged in a red wine from Sainte-Croix, blended with vidal piquette from the Domaine du Nival infused with marigold flower from Necessary Cultures. Debuts is made from Empire juice from the Coteau St-Paul vineyard, fermented on Riesling lees, then blended with a pint of the same Riesling. Hibiscus combines Empire apples from Frelighsburg, black grape varieties (Frontenac, Marquette, Sainte-Croix) and hibiscus. These are drinks with a low alcohol content, which are particularly refreshing.