Bartier Bros. Piquette: quaffers for the heat wave

Photo: Michael Bartier

Early in his winemaking career, Michael Bartier made a bold and rich Chardonnay with more than 15% alcohol. Because wineries are allowed some leeway in what is on the label, the wine was released with a claimed 14.7% alcohol. When a wine writer suggested the Chardonnay, while delicious, as a bit hot, Michael quipped: “Sometimes when we have to reduce the alcohol, we let the printer do it.”

What brought that memory back was the arrival of two new products from Bartier Bros. Winery – cans of wine labelled as Piquette, each with just 4.2% alcohol. This time, the printer was not involved. There was a lot of trial and error in the winery before the product was ready for release. The winery explains: “Piquette is light wine made from a second pressing of the grapes. The sugar in this is much lower, of course, leading to lower potential alcohol, 4.2% in the end. After fermentation and filtering, we added a bit of carbonation; it keeps it fresh, and it makes it refreshing.” Piquette is common in France and likely in many other wine regions. It has been primarily a product with which the winemakers and the vineyard workers slake their thirst without becoming inebriated. No doubt, some producers also sell it but this is the first time I have seen it in volume from a British Columbia winery.

Bartier Bros. were prompted by the economics of wine production. “It’s well known that the cost of doing business, including the cost of making and selling wine, has gone up, way up,” the winery writes. “We are loathe to raise our prices to keep up with this. It led us to thinking, if only we could make more wine out of the same grapes. Well, actually we can, and we just did.” After grapes are pressed to extract the juice that is fermented into wine, some juice and natural sugar may remain with the skins. A winemaker could always do a second pressing; perhaps many do. There is a risk of diluting the quality of a wine by adding second-press juice to first-press juice. Piquette is not intended to be any winery’s flagship. “We regard it more as a simple refreshment,” Bartier Bros. says, “something to quench your thirst. We recommend getting it ice cold and the finding a sunny spot to sit back, relax and enjoy.”

The winery says that “developing the Bartier Bros. piquette protocol took months. The cellar team made 114 separate piquette batches throughout the 2022 vintage. … It took 63 winemaker hours in tasting and blending trials, and 5,130 measurements of chemistry parameters to get it exactly right.” Eventually, the Bartier brothers – Michael and Don – were happy with the result. After fermentation and filtering, the wines were lightly carbonated to keep them fresh. In total, the winery made 47,504 cans (355 ml each). They are bargain-priced: $15.99 for a four-pack. I am not scoring these two products. They are not meant to scored or to compete for medals; they are light, refreshing beverages to slake one’s thirst during the heat of summer. Here are notes:

Bartier Bros. Piquette White NV: This is a light, crisp beverage, almost austerely dry, with a slight fizz on the palate. While there is not much flavour intensity, it does quench the thirst.

Bartier Bros. Piquette Rosé NV: Very pale in colour, the beverage once again is crisp and dry, with light flavours of citrus and cranberry.