for the drink. Paglione’s, Cooper’s Hawk, and many others
have seen people come from all over the world to savour their
creations. Wine lovers from China, Taiwan, England, Australia
and the U.S.come to the region for the wine. The best part, in
both Paglione and O’Brien’s opinions, is that the wineries
work together to help one another give an experience to the
public.
“We don’t consider we’re competition to each other, we
feel like we help each other,” says Paglione. “Everyone’s
willing to help and that’s always good to have friends like
that.”
Help was the key word for O’Brien when his family started
Cooper’s Hawk. To make their first wine for sale while their
winery was being built, the family turned to Viewpointe Estate
Winery in Harrow and received assistance from Colio Estate
Winery, also in Harrow, in how to manage the winery. This
help has in turn been given back by Cooper’s, promoting the
other surrounding businesses and that, O’Brien says, is what
will bring in tourism.
“If we didn’t work together, if we didn’t have the signage,
if we didn’t talk about all the other wineries, people would
come down and go, ‘You know, I don’t like that industry
because they badmouth somebody or there’s no signage,” says
O’Brien.
Gordon Orr, chief executive officer of Tourism
Windsor-Essex Pelee Island, says this collaborative method is
allowing the wineries to bring in people to the region.
“They’re making sure that they’re recognizing that they’re
stronger together than they are individually and what that’s
really done is started the wine tour,” says Orr.
Several tour companies have developed wine tours, giving
both local residents or visitors from outside the region a
chance to explore the Windsor-Essex ‘wine country’ and visit
several wineries as opposed to only one at a time.
Orr says there is nothing wrong with the mindset of ‘I
want to go to a winery today’, but the tour can help people get
Cooper's Hawk Vineyards president Michael O'Brien
checks a vine of grapes at the vineyard in Harrow
the full experience of the wineries as opposed to just
appreciating the colour of one vintner’s wine or his building.
The tour experience is what helped Kim Hoelzli of
London experience what Windsor-Essex wineries had to offer.
Hoelzli participated in a tour that provided her with
transportation and a guidebook, which gave her the
opportunity to experience a new place.
“What I really noticed is how different a wine made with
the same variety of grapes tastes from region to region,”
remarked Hoelzli.
Although she went with an informal tour, she did say it
doesn’t hurt to try a formal tour if you’re new to wine, not just
to learn about wine but for the entire experience.
“It’s not just wine drinking,” stressed Hoelzli. “It’s
meeting people, seeing sights and enjoying communion with
others. It’s learning about the history of a vintner
(winemaker), a winery and then the whole area.”
Whether your tastes favour red, white or rose, sweet or
dry, one glass or four, Essex County has the climate, soil and
expertise to satisfy everyone’s preferences. As O’Brien says,
“We make wines that suit everyone’s palette,” and the
connoisseurs of the world seem to agree.
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Local wine winners!
Area wineries brought home 21 medals
from the All Canadian Wine
Championships in May 2015
Black Bear Farms Estate Winery – 1 Gold
Colchester Ridge Estate Winery (CREW) – 2 Gold
Colio Estate Wines – 1 Bronze
Cooper’s Hawk Vineyards – 1 Silver
Early Acres Winery – 2 Gold, 2 Bronze
Mastronardi Estate Winery – 1 Gold
Muscedere Vineyards – 1 Silver, 1 Bronze
Oxley Estate Winery – 2 Silver
Pelee Island Winery – 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze
Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery – 2 Silver, 1 Bronze