Wines of Canada Alberta

The Rocky Mountains are perhaps Alberta's most recognizable geographic feature. Their rugged and spectacular scenery attract visitors from all over the world. Much of Alberta's oil and gas are found beneath the foothills that lie along the base of the Rockies.

The rest of the province is housed on a great plain , or prairie, which Alberta shares with Saskatchewan on the east, and with the state of Montana to the south. The plains are not totally flat. Their surface has been gouged and twisted by the action of massive glaciers that once covered the province. What is now Alberta lay buried under some 2,000 meters of ice only 8 or 10,000 years ago. The southern plain, which was once covered in tall grass, is today a checkerboard of farms

Alberta is famous for its chinook winds, which sweep into southern Alberta several times each winter. This dry, warm wind can rapidly lift the province out of a deep freeze. During one chinook, which reached Pincher Creek on January 27, 1962, temperatures soared from -18.9°C to +3.3°C in one hour.

Sunshine ranges from 1,900 hours annually in the north to 2,300 hours near Lethbridge in the south. Air funneling through the Rockies also produces warm, dry chinook winds, especially prevalent in southwestern Alberta, that can raise temperatures dramatically within hours.

Field Stone Fruit Wines

Box 19, Site 6, RR 1
Strathmore, Alberta, Canada
T1P 1J6

Owners: Elaine & Marvin Gill, Lynden Gill, Lorraine & Glen Ellingso operated Bumbleberry Orchards
before pursuing their dream of opening a winery. The first winery to receive a license from the Alberta government, under the new cottage winery legislation . Located forty minutes east of Calgary, Alberta, the winery sits on 50 acres of mature berry orchards . All wines are 100% produced from the luscious crops of raspberries, strawberries, wild black cherries and saskatoon berries.

They selected a name that would associate them with Canada's prairies. Their wines include Bumble Beryr, Cherry, Strawberry Dessert and Saskatoon Dessert wine

Field Stone Fruit Wines' premium products have been developed by Dominic Rivard, internationally-renowned and award-winning wine master

Winemaker: Dominic Rivard

Philosophy: Great wine is made from great fruit and our fruit is grown in harmony with nature

website

u pick fruit

En Sante Winery

Box 110
Brosseau, Alberta Canada T0B 0P0 Tel.

Away back in 1927 John S. and Eva Chrapko start the homestead that now operates as Orchard Palace and En Santé Winery. Located near the shores of Lac Sante in North Eastern Alberta, 100 miles (160 km) East of Edmonton. Here they took on a leadership role in the community and raised five children.

Their middle son Victor took over the farm in 1974 from his parents along with his wife Elizabeth.
They begin the first steps toward a low-impact, "environmental " approach to cultivating the land.
In addition, the En Sante orchard operation partnered with the University of Saskatoon in developing hardy fruit varieties that can take advantage of the local soil conditions and growing season.

The whole Chrapko family enjoyed the distinction of being honored with a provincial “Farm Family Award” in 1990, partly attesting to their ceaseless pursuit of big-picture, modern farming as well as strong citizenship.

In 1997 they began to experiment with fruit wines. In 1999 "Orchard Palace" is designated Certified Organic for agricultural production by Organic Crop Improvement Association International and later in
2001 they pursued the idea of an Organic fruit winery. In their typically forward-thinking style, the Chrapkos began lobbying the Government of Alberta to create the new Alberta Cottage Winery license. Their efforts attracted other supporters, fruit growers, and the Alberta Beekeepers' Association. After many years, the Cottage Winery Act was recently passed into law

The Forbidden Fruit name was chosen to signal the fact that En Sante's offerings transcend the fruit "corner" of the wine-making world. After 10 years of refining its recipes and production methods while waiting for the Cottage Winery license to come into existence, En Sante now has wines that are enjoyable with a meal, on their own (sipped like you would enjoy port or sherry), OR as accompaniments to dessert. An official license was received February, 2006, en Santé Winery became Alberta's very first Organic-Fruit, Cottage Winery

En Santé from the French equivalent of saying "cheers!" which translates as 'to your health'

Victor was nominated to the Alberta Agriculture Hall of Fame . This honor recognizes people who have made significant, lifelong and on-going contributions to one of Alberta's primary economic and social sectors

Wines include Saucy Saskatoon, Wild Wild cherry all bottled under the name Forbidden Fruit

Winemaker: Victor Chrapko

Philosophy: Wine made the way it's supposed to be made" (i.e. using organic fruit).

website / certified Organic Fruit wine

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