Frederic Picard, Winemaker

Winemaker Frederic Picard was busy filtering when we visited him at Huff Estates Winery on a hot day last week. He came down to give us a tour of the barrel room but suddenly raced back up the metal steps to the fermenting room.

“Small emergency,” said Huff’s sommelier, Brian Hannah, smoothly, and invited us into the tasting room with a promise to “titillate your tastebuds with a tangy rosé.” The rosé was delightful, as were the two Rieslings that followed. I was considering tasting the  Chardonnay when Frederic returned, smiling and Gallic-cool, ready to talk about his life in Prince Edward County.

“I have the chance to work in Chile, South Africa, France. But I love it here. Sometimes in February it is hard, when the snow is to your knees and you cannot even see the vines. You have to be patient. But then it is spring again and summer, with the beach, and then the harvest. It is so beautiful, and I have the best boss in the world.”

The boss is Lanny Huff, tenth generation County and a self-made millionaire who found Frederic at Niagara’s Penninsula Ridge in 2002 and convinced him to move to the County to help him build a winery. The winery they built has just been named one of Canada’s top 20.

“I am very proud,” says Frederic. “Making wine in the County is a very big challenge, but a very exciting challenge. People say Prince Edward County is like Burgundy. I know Burgundy, and this place is different. It’s different and beautiful and exciting. It has its own identity, and County wine will have its own identity, too. The world does not really need new wines. There’s no rush, so we can go slow. Making a new wine is not about a need, it is about the mystery and excitement of creating something completely new. 

The winemakers here, we call Prince Edward County “The Lab,” because we are all experimenting. We are creating. We are learning which grapes work best, how to protect them, how to make it all work. And we are getting better and better. The vines are getting older, the fruit and the juice are becoming more complex and interesting. County wine will be unique.”

If you have a taste for wine, for passion and honesty come and visit Frederic Picard at Huff Estates Winery. And if he suddenly disappears? Go and find Brian.