Peux-tu dire vin et musique?

The Little Red Wagon Winery

I think one of our favourite Harvest Host stays so far was at the Vignable Petit Chariot Rouge – the Little Red Wagon Winery – in Shawville, QB.

The lovely tasting room/restaurant at the winery

Going on the positive reviews on the HH app, we had made the booking for a Saturday night. A short time later, we received an email from our host informing us that on Saturdays in the summer, they serve a fixed price dinner and later have live music in their restaurant - if we were interested. We said yes.

Turns out, that was a very good decision.

Dinner was either chicken served with a mango-cucumber salad (so delicious we had to ask for the recipe) or a house-made burger with pommes frites. We ordered one of each and shared.

It's about time I posted a food picture!

Then came the desserts. Again, we ordered one of each and shared. The chocolate ganache cake was OMG delicious, but it was the apple pie cheese cake that had us both moaning in delight. Sadly, I didn't get the recipe for that one.

Both were delicious, but the apple pie cheese cake one out

And finally, the entertainment. Zachary Lucky, a country musician from Saskatoon, is the grandson of Canadian country music legend Smilin Johnny Lucky (not someone either D or I are familiar with). Zachary was joined by his friend Miles Zurawell, who played a resonator guitar – as D puts it, “A lovely sound for sad country songs.”

Zachary Lucky

Oh, and I nearly forgot about the wine! The waitress recommended their most popular wine to pair with our dinners. The P’tit Rouge is a blend of Fontenac Noir, Petit Perle, and Marquette – none of which we’d heard of before, but truly lovely! Too bad we can’t get this wine in BC, or we’d be buying it by the case.

P'tit Rouge

When Scott, the winery owner, came by our table to chat, he had in his hand a glass of something bubbly. I asked him what he was drinking, and he offered to bring us a sample. We ended up buying several cans of their P’tit Piquette. 

Mmm, mmm piquette! And a great label, too.

Scott tells us piquette is French for ‘shitty wine’, as traditionally piquette is made from the second press of the grape skins. It is then blended with sparkling water, making for a lighter drink with less alcohol. Piquette has become quite popular in the eastern US and Canada, but hasn’t quite made its way across to BC yet. Or has it? I did a Google search to find piquette in BC, and apparently there are several. I now have a mission upon my return home!