Montreal's World's Largest Rooftop Vineyard Yields Excellent Sparkling Rosé
Imagine sipping of sparkling rosé wine and discovering it was 100 per cent made with grapes grown and harvested on Montreal rooftops. Image: Véronique Lemieux (Vignes en Ville) The project by Vignes en Ville founder, and rooftop wine pioneer, Véronique Lemieux, began in 2016 as a way to analyze the use of recycled crushed glass because it reflects sunlight, as a substitute for sand in soil mixtures. The rooftop vineyard, the largest in the world, has 545 plants across four rooftops, Centre Agricole in Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Institut de tourisme et d'hôtellerie du Québec, Palais des Congrès, and the Ubisoft building. The first harvest produced an average sparkling white wine, which was converted to a rosé. According to Lemieux, this was where the magic happened. "It tasted like hard candy, without being sugary. It had a nice acidity, like an explosion of fresh raspberries," said Lemieux. Lemieux plans on organizing a tasting so more people will have an opportunity to sample the rosé wine. Image: Vignes en Ville In 2019 the vineyard won the Novae prize winners, which recognizes the 20 best practices in social responsibility and sustainable development in Quebec. More Information: Vignes en Ville Read the full article