What to drink: Three picnic-perfect piquettes
What to drink: Three picnic-perfect piquettes
A light effervescent taste and low alcohol make piquette a fun option for day drinking By Kelsey Adams
Apr 27, 2021
Piquette might be made from the dregs of wine pressings, but it’s a punchy, fresh and totally crushable drink in its own right. After grapes are pressed for winemaking, the skins are usually discarded. Making piquettes lets wineries re-use the pomace and get another product out of a batch of grapes. It’s also less alcoholic than wine, which is why it was traditionally given to French vineyard workers as a pick-me-up during breaks from gruelling work. Many winemaking regions make local versions: in Italy it’s known as acqua pazza and the first instances of its existence were discovered in ancient Greece and Rome.
Our favourites from British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Québec. Christine Sismondo Updated
(Photo: Lightfoot & Wolfville)
Even though the season has barely begun, we’re ready to call it: This is going to be the best year
ever for Canadian rosé. That’s huge, given that, not so long ago, imports dominated the pink wine market. Now, thanks to wineries across the country who’ve fully embraced the rosé movement, we have plenty of great homegrown options.
More than almost any other style, pink wine is about being in the moment. Because it’s delicate and contains fewer tannins than some other wines, rosé doesn’t get any better in the cellar. With rosé, the rule is always “Drink now.” And we say, “We’re here for it,” starting with three wines from British Columbia, where a lot of winemakers were ahead of the curve when it came to pink wine.