Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 2, 2008, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page a5 Winnipeg repress. Com Manitoba Winnipeg free press sunday november 2, 2008 a 5 t he perfumed air. The restaurants romantic lighting. Glints of Light reflecting off the wine glasses. What is this splendid wine you remark. A chardonnay a fruity riesling perhaps Birch sap comes the reply. This scene will play out sometime somewhere in Early 2009 when Doug or yours wine made from Birch Trees hits the Market. Birch sap seems to have a certain magic in terms of making wine. We dont know the reason said Eryou who will operate the winery from Bakers Narrows a 15 minute drive South of flin flon. To listen to Eryou were a Bunch of saps for not drinking from Birch Trees before now. If you go to Russia they drink Birch sap. If you go to Finland they drink Birch sap. If you go to Korea they actually celebrate when the Birch sap starts to run said Eryou. Jim Warren who recently retired As professor of win making at Niagara College in Ontario thought Eryou was a sap too when he first talked about making Birch tree wine. Warren founded Stoney Ridge winery in the Niagara Peninsula and has helped launch 15 other wineries in Ontario As a consultant. Now Warren is so committed to the product that he recently flew to Winnipeg and drove up to the flin flon area to assist Eryou. He predicts Birch sap wine will be More than just be a one off Novelty but a product wine lovers will Purchase again and again. Birch tree sap gives wine another dimension. Mother nature has built something into it said Warren who has been called the alchemist of win making. No one seems quite sure Why the sap with Many natural vitamins like Calcium works so Well with wine but its health benefits Are Well documented. Birch sap is loaded with antioxidants that cleanse the body of free radicals that cause diseases like heart disease and cancer. Eryou took the sap to the St. Boniface research foundation for an Oral oxygen Radical Absorbance capacity test and the stuff tests right off the scale its so High in antioxidants. Every drop of Birch sap they can get on japans North Island called hokkaido is pasteurized and consumed for health he said. Birch sap does not make the wine by itself however. It has to be crafted with a grape or fruit. Eryou will have five product lines initially. Birch sap makes a remarkable port when combined with Saskatoon berries and that will be one. Another is a Rose wine made with cranberries. Birch sap takes the Edge off cranberries for a smoother drink said Eryou. A dessert wine will be made with Birch sap and Maple syrup. The red and White wines will be concentrates dehydrated with sap. The White wine is crafted with argentinian pinot Griglio and the red with an Argentine Shiraz. Warren chose Argentine wines because they have a characteristic tartness that Birch sap smooths away. Birch sap is tapped from Trees much like Maple syrup. Each Birch tree yields about three and a half Gallons a Day for three weeks each Spring. Tapping the Trees causes no damage. Eryou whose name is an old corruption by a census taker of the francophone name Heureux harvests from two main Birch stands near Bakers Narrows including from an Island with Over 1,000 Birches. He has 7,000 litres of sap in storage. Thatus from 150 to 200 Trees. The sap is like water with just a faint hint of natural sugar in its taste. There Are Only seven Birch wineries in the world including one in Newfoundland Eryou said. A recent feasibility study found or yours venture can work. He Hopes to be in production this Winter. His venture would employ from 15 to 20 Bio harvesters for eight to 10 months of the year he said. In addition to tapping Birch Trees they would also Harvest wild berries. As Well they would collect sweetgrass and Spruce tips for other products Eryou plans to make. He would maintain a winery for tourist visits. A name has not yet been chosen for the new wine. Bill. Redekop free press. My. Ca open Road Bill Redekop wine from Birch vintners no sap northerners Vino to hit shelves Phil Hossack / Winnipeg free press Doug Eryou brandishes three bottles of his wine made with Birch sap. A feasibility study says the winery can be profitable. Even while blowing out the candles on the 125th anniversary of the provinces medical school the University of Manitoba faculty is looking toward the future. Dean Sandham the Dean of the u of mrs faculty of Medicine said the during the Celebration they Are already laying the foundations for the future of medical education in the province. Sandham said these include streamlining the admission process for aboriginal student applications teaching using a simulation facility and increasing the amount of Money in the medical schools endowment fund. Sandham said these realistic plans which Are already moving toward fruition will Over the next five years result in More than 500 students graduated 650 More medical residents and 30 new primary care doctors working in the Northern medical unit. As Well Sandham said the medical school will have recruited More than 200 new faculty members raised More than $ 500 million for research and created clinical teaching units at hospitals in three Small Manitoba communities. These Are the goals we have set he said. But we cant have it without significant provincial investment in health research. And All stakeholders need to recognize we have significant needs for infrastructure renewal. The faculty was founded by 13 Manitoba doctors and a school inspector with the first lecture being Given on nov. 21, 1883. Kevin. Rollason free press. My. Ca med school Marks past plans future by Kevin Rollason a 05_ nov 02 08. Ind a5 1 1/ 1/ 08 9 30 14 pm ;