The people behind the wines of Canada

A work in Progress

Johann Schiller is considered to be the father of commercial wine making in Canada. He was a retired soldier who domesticated the wild vines that grew along the Credit River in Cooksville, Ontario. By 1811 he had added American Hybrids from Pennsylvania making enough wine to sell.

Henry Parker planted vines at th Clair House Lot 17 near Cooksville in 1858. He joined forces with Justin De Courtenay to produce commercial wine. The Canadian Vine Growers Association was formed to sell the wines 1860 By 1864 De Couteny was in charge producing wines from the Clair House. At the height of production in the mid-1860s, Clair House produced as much as 50,000 gallons of wine and a considerable amount of brandy. In 1926 Fred C Marsh took over The Canadian Vine F Growers assets

Issac de Razilly head of the French colonists at Fort Ste. Marie-de-Grace (near present day LaHave in Nova Scotia) he wrote in 1634 I have planted some vines as they do in Bordeau which have come along very well. De Razilly became known as the Father of Acadia. Wild vines grow in Nova Scotia, it is unknown if he refered to native vines or vines brought from France.

William Cunard a grape grower in the mid 1800's in Nova Scotia
Abraham Hebb a grape grower in LaHave River Valley, Nova Scotia around 1850. He grew a variety called Diana

Count Justin M.de Courtenay purchased Johann Schiller's farm and by 1864 had doubled the size of the vineyard by planting Clinton and Isabella grapes. His wines had the brand name Clair House.
Archilles Roumegeous in 1857 opened a winery in Cooksville, Ontario he sold it to the Marsh family in 1890, who moved the winery closer to Niagara Falls naming it Stamford Park Wine Company which was later acquired by Canadian Wines Limited who in 1940 became Château-Gai

John Killborn winemaker producing wines in Beamsville in the1860's
George Burns built a winery in St. Catharines in 1873. He sold it in 1932 to Grimsby Wines Ltd. the brand name lasted until the late 1980's
Father Pandosy is referred to as the Father of the British Columbia wine industry, he planted vines at the Oblate Mission near Kelowna in 1859
F.A.. Shirriff co-founder of Niagara Wine Company in 1874 which later became T.J. Bright Winery
Thomas Bright co-founder of Niagara Wine Company
Thaddeus Smith and Thomas S Williams who were from Kentucky and J.D Williams from Windsor started growing grapes on Lake Erie's Pelee Island in the 1850's. They opened Vina Villa Winery in 1871 and hired J.S Hamilton, a grocer, as their agent.
J. S Hamilton a grocer who entered the wine industry as an agent in 1871 soon opened his own winery, Pelee Island Wine and Vineyard Co.
Fred C Marsh Established the Stamford Park Winery 1890 In 1929 formed Fred Marsh Winery Limited at Niagara Falls
W.J. Wilcox believed to be the first commercial grape grower in British Columbia started a vineyard near Salmon Arm around 1891

J. W Hughes harvesting grapes

J. W Hughes grew the first large scale commercial grapes in the Okanagan in the late1920's selling to wineries. He obtained his first vines from Wilcox
Kent Research Station Opened in Nova SCotia,1913 by Federal Government under the name Dominion Experimental Farm they evalutaed grapes testing 175 wines and grapes from 1931- 1983

Dr Donald L Craig did much of the research at the Kentville Station.
Herbert Anscomb headed the Growers Wine Company from 1922-1955. juggled business with a long political career: he was Reeve of Oak Bay, then mayor of Victoria and sat from 1936 to 1952 as a Conservative in the British Columbia Legislature. As the province's Minister of Finance from 1945 until 1952, he introduced the province's first sales tax, three per cent, in 1948. As a cabinet minister, Anscomb ensured that his winery's products enjoyed secure listings in government liquor stores. Anscomb's political links with the government in Ottawa also enabled Growers' to get a distillery license in 1936, then the only Canadian winery with that privilege.

Knowles Family founded London Winery 1924

Born in 1877, Rabbi Jacob Gordon was Dean of the Toronto Rabbinate for 30 years

Rabbi Jacob Gordon (1923) recieved a licence to manufactuer Passover Wine in his home cellar.

His license was purchased in 1928 by the Oporto Wine Co. Which after a serious changes led to the Parksdale Wine LTd in1936

Joseph Knowles winemaker London Winery

Harry Hatch CEO T.G. Bright and Company

Harry Hatch purchased Canada's largest winery T.J.Bright in 1933. In 1923 he had purchased Gooderham and Worts Distillery and in 1926 had enough funds to buy Hiram Walkers becoming one of the most successful and wealthiest men in Canada. The Toronto Star dubbed him King of Canadian Distillation Under his leadership at T.J.Bright Vinifera hybrides were imported from France. In fact over six hundred varieties were tested.

Dr John Ravenscroft Eoff III was Harry Hatches' winemaker who introduced microbiological control to the Canadian wine industry

Dr Donald L. Craig tested over 175 grapes at the Kentville Research Station, Nova Scotia from 1932 t0 his retirment in 1983.

Nicola Pataracchia self taught winemaker founded Thorold winery 1922. Won a gold medal for his sherry at the Bologna World Exhibition 1933

Schmidt, Frank (1913-1979):An early Okanagan grapegrower. Born in 1913 in Unity, Saskatchewan , he emulated many other farm lads during the Depression by hopping a freight train, arriving in Kelowna in September 1937 for the vintage. Schmidt did such a good job picking grapes for pioneer grower Peter Casorso that in 1938 Schmidt was given a contract to manage a vineyard, along with a house to live in. Four years later grower J.W. Hughes lured him with an even better package: a house, a car and $100 a month. Subsequently Hughes let Schmidt (and the other vineyard foremen) earn ownership of the vineyards they managed. In 1958 Schmidt became the owner of Lakeside Vineyards, later renamed the Beau Séjour Vineyard, at Okanagan Mission, south of Kelowna on the east side of Okanagan Lake. He retired after the vineyard was sold to Growers' Wines Ltd. of Victoria in 1965. He died in Kelowna .

Schmidt had a warm and favored relationship with Growers' and its general manager, Brian Roberts . When the Victoria winery, which had been shipping fresh grapes from the Okanagan since 1932, decided to crush them in the Okanagan and ship the must instead, the crushing equipment was installed on the Schmidt vineyard and Schmidt was paid for operating it. "We could have located the crushing depot on neutral soil, but deliberately located it on your farm so that you could get major benefits," Roberts wrote. In January 1960, when Ernest C. Warner bought Growers', Roberts again wrote, offering a benefit: a small number of class B voting shares -- never before available -- were being offered to friends of Warner and of the winery. "My thought is that the Company's good friends in the Okanagan -- the gentlemen who have been growing the grapes for us all these years -- might just want to have a few shares in the Company to give them not only a splendid investment, but also a greater interest in the Company which turns their grapes into wines which are sold as far as Ontario and the Yukon. ... I will lay my head on the block that the share right now is worth every cent of $10.00, so that it is not really a speculative share." Both Schmidt and his son, Lloyd, became shareholders.

Adhemar de Chaunac a microbiologist hired by Dr. Eoff. In 1938 he was the first to introduce Vinifera hybrides into Canada. He imported Maréchal Foch, Baco Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling Pinot Noir and Gamay from France (appprox 1946). These wines first appeared on the market in 1955.

Dr Eugene Rittich winemaker for Growers Wine Company along with his brother Virgil published a book (1941) on Okanagan viticulture called European Grape Growing in Cooler Districts where Winter Protection is Necessary

George Hostetter followed de Chaunac as director of research for Bright Wines in the early 1860's. For his work he was rewarded with the Order of Canada

Major Hugh Neil Fraser After WWI the Major wanted to retire in the Okanagan; he bought a remote property on Hawthorne Mountain near Okanagan Falls. His wife finding it too remote left leaving a note S.Y.L. for See Ya Later. Major Fraser planted grapes on the property but sold before the grapes matured. The property became LeComte Winery, then Hawthorne and today See Ya Later Ranch

Giuseppe Ghezzi arrived in the Okanagan in 1931 intent on making wines from Cull Apples, The winery was originally called Domestic Wines and By Products. Being short of cash Ghezzi received support from Pasquale (Cap) Capozzi and W.A.C. Bennett. In 1936 the winery now called Calona began making grape wines.

Bill Lenko the first grape grower to plant Chardonnay in Canada,(1959) in Beamsville, Ontario. In 1959, and in the 1960s he boldly yanked all of his concord and Niagara grapes from his Beamsville vineyard to make way for Pinot Chardonnay and other varieties that would eventually be the makings of the award-winning vintages of Daniel Lenko Estate Winery. Nmaed Grape King in 1990 and then as the first grape grower to win the Tony Aspler Cuvee Award of Excellence in 2006, an honour usually bestowed upon winemakers

Andrew Peller established Andrés Wines (1961) in Port Moody, British Columbia. Today it is known as Andrew Peller Limited one of the most successful wine companies in Canada.

Gordon B Kingsman PAg appointed Director of horticulture and Biology Services in 1962. He decided that Grapes for wine needed to be studied in Nova Scotia.

Robert A Murray PAG. appointed Provincial (NS) Berry Crop Specialist. He worked with Dr.Craig at the research station obtaining vines from the Ontario Vineland Station. They planted test plots at various locations

Ollie Bradt know for his research at the Horticultural Research Institute of Ontario. He also assist the Nova Scotia grape growers in the 1960's

Guy Baldwin winemaker at Andrés wines in Port Moody. He helped create in 1966 Chanté a predecessor of Baby Duck

Normandie Wines Ltd. (60s) Moncton, New Brunswick claimed to make the first Blueberry Table wine.

Edward Arnold hired by Andrew Peller at his Port Moody winery, by 1970 he was chief winemaker for Andrés in Ontario. He later left to become president of T. J. Bright in 1978.

Paul Bosc a winemaker at Château-Gai began experimenting with Viniferas in 1962. He was the man in the TV ads for Chateau Gai promoting Marcécal Foch. He would later leave to form his own winery based on Vinifera called Château des Charmes. He was given the Order of Canada in 2005 for his work in developing Canadian wines.

Paul Bosc was born in Algeria under French rule. When Algeria was granted independence from France the new regime took everything. Paul and his wife Andree owned their home, their winery, their land, they came to Canada. Paul working for the liquor board in Quebec noticed a yeast problem with Château-Gia wine. He contacted the company spoke to the Vice-President who granted him an interview with Alexander Sampson who hired him. Paul helped develop Alpenweiss, a very successful product.

After Labatt's gained control of Château-Gai Paul decided it was time to start his own winery. He wanted control over growing the grapes and making the wine. He purchased an established vineyard (1976) but after one year he pulled everything out and started completely from scratch. The winery was named Château des Charmes here he continued to experiment and raise the bar in wine making.

Harold Bates joined T.J. Bright in 1967 helping to develop Bright's President Canadian Champagne. In 1971 he joined Freson Wines in California before returning to Canada in 1977 to join Calona Wines later working as winemaker at Sumac Ridge (1987) helping to develop their Stellar Jay sparkling wine.

Ben Ginter In 1962 Ben Ginter bought Cariboo Brewing Company in Prince George. He renamed it Tartan Industry Ltd. In 1970 he took over a nearly bankrupt Mission Hills Winery changing the name to Uncle Ben's Gourmet WInes Ltd. Trying to compete with Baby Duck he came up with Fuddle Duck and weird name wines. The Winery failed and was offered up to the highest bidder, somehow Ginter found the funds to re-obtain the winery in 1978. This time naming it Golden Valley Winery. He sold the winery in 1981 to Nick Clark and Anthony von Mandel

Wilson, Guy Tunstall best know for his skills as a vineyard manager. In 1971 he won the coveted trophy for the best Okanagan grapes, sponsored by Andres at the annual Penticton Grape and Harvest Fiesta. Subsequently, he won the trophy in 1979 again at his own vineyard; in 1985, 1986 and 1987, the trophy was won by Paradise Ranch Vineyards, which Wilson then was managing; and in 1990 it was won by the Summerhill Estate vineyard, again with Wilson as manager. "I had a natural feel for the land," he said later.

Josef Zimmerman was born into a grape growing family in Guldenthal, Germany, Zimmerman graduated from Geisenheimin 1975 and went on to do wine research in Baden until he and his wife, then a student in advanced mathematics, decided they were "financially burned out." In search of a career, Zimmerman replied to an advertisement from Jordan& Ste-Michelle to make wine in Canada.

Late in 1976 Zimmerman arrived in Victoria as an assistant to Dieter Guttler, another Geisenheim graduate who had been recruited several years before to make wine at the Victoria winery. Guttler thought of the old winery (now a Keg Restaurant not far from downtown Victoria) as a "shithouse." Zimmerman is less blunt but would never dispute his mentor's assessment. The winery had been designed initially to make fortified wines on a modest scale and was expanded in such a piecemeal fashion that it was completely inefficient. The sanitation problems alone occupied a crew of four people much of the time, scrubbing down floors and tanks with iodine and other disinfectants, with the winemaker scrambling to ensure that the disinfectant was not cascading from upper floors into tanks of wine below. The winery was so inefficient that it employed a cellar crew of three dozen people to handle what eight people later did when Jordan & Ste-Michelle in 1979 opened its large, modern Surrey winery.

Zimmerman believed that the Okanagan actually had advantages over German wine regions, including more sunshine and far less risk of killing spring frosts. Zimmerman believed that some Okanagan growers had poor sites and once sarcastically advised one to solve a viticultural problem by replacing the vines with broccoli. He also disliked the undisciplined way in which some grew hybrid varieties which were easily over cropped to yield mediocre wine. "With hybrids, you have to select the grower before you select the variety," he believed. He became chief winemaker at the new Jordan & Ste-Michelle winery in Surrey in 1978 when Dieter Guttler moved to the Jordan winery in St. Catharines, Ontario. In 1980, Zimmerman transferred to the Jordan winery in Ontario, succeeding Guttler, who had left to develop an estate winery.

Lynn (Stark) Bremmer the first female winemaker in British Columbia started her career in 1973 with Andrés later she worked with Similkameen Vineyards and Brights. In 1992 she and her husband John established their own consulting company Tyme Technologies Inc.

Donald Ziraldo and Karl Kaiser

Donald Ziraldo co-founder Inniskillin (1974) he sold the wines . Through his hard work Icewine became synonymous Canada
Karl Kaiser co-founder Inniskillin (1974) he made the wines. Donald Ziraldo refers to Karl as the mastermind behind the Renaissance in Icewine.
Karl Podamer was granted a manufacturers licence to make sparkling wine in 1973. Since his wine required two years in the bottle before it could be sold his retail licence was granted 24 days after Karl Kasier and Donald Ziraldo's licence. His winery was called Montravin and Podmamer Champagne Company which was sold to Magnotta Wines in 1993.
Dr Helmut Becker head of the German Geisenheim Institute. He traveled to the Okanagan and Ontario advising on which plants would be best suited to the region. In the Okanagan he supplied free of charge twenty-seven Vinifera Varieties for trial in 3 acre test plots running from 1977 to 1985. They included Pinot Blanc, Ehrenfelser, Müller-Thurgau and Riesling. These trials became known as the Becker Project . In Ontario he worked with Paul Bosc.
John Marynissen in 1976 began growing Merlot, Chardonnay, Riesling and Gamay. In 1978 he became the first Canadian to plant the Bordeaux
Cabernet Sauvignon
John Paroschy a member of the T.J.Bright Company research team who in 1978 tested the use of Vidal for icewine. He later joined Chateau des Charmes
Alan Eastman founded Charal Winery and Vineyard near Blenheim, Ontario in 1977
Walter Strehan founded Pelee Island Winery 1979
Walter Hainle established Hainle Winery 1988 in British Columbia's Okanagan and produced the first commercial icewine in 1973
Harry McWatters founded Sumac Ridge 1979 Summerland British Columbia.
Ewald Reif founder of Reif Winery was one of the first to attempt icewine production in Ontario.
Don Allen best known as a grape grower from the early 1970's to 1996. Owning property on Kelowna's Westbank. He was also a winemaker producing the first two vintages for Uniacke Winery(1980).
Bob Claremont his first job was with Jordan Winery Ontario. in 1967. The following year he joined St Julian as winemaker. St Julian had started in Windsor in 1921 but had moved to Michigan when the US prohibition ended in 1933. After four successful years he was recruited by Calona Winery in BC becoming its head winemaker in 1973. He is best known as the winemaker who produced Schloss Laderheim

He went out on his own purchasing Chateau Jonn de Trepanier in Peachland ( the first estate winery to open in 1978) . The winery had problems closing in 1985 reopening the next year under the name Chateau Ste Clair
Terry Wells around 1980 along with his wife Halina, purchased what they called the Tin Horn Creek vineyard south of Oliver. The twenty-acre Tin Horn Creek vineyard was named for the creek which flows through it. The grapes included foch, de chaunac, verdelet, and newly-planted chenin blanc, a variety which Wells came to regard as his favorite grape. He fought an uphill battle to make Chenin Blanc a prominent Grape in the Okanagan he lost his battle with the “1988 grape pull " the wineries would not purchase his grapes.

Wells also was a founding director of the British Columbia Wine Institute in 1991. Today onlya few wineries grow Chenin Blanc; according for less than 1 % of the white wine grapes.
DR Rodger Dial established Grand Prè Wines Limited in 1981 the first commercial farm winery in Nova Scotia.
Joe Busnardo founded Divino Estate Winery 1983. Planting his Oliver, BC vineyards with only Vinifera. He obtained his vines from Italy and University of California at Davis. He was one of the first to plant Pinot blanc which was to become a star in the Okanagan . He tried over 128 different varities in his vineyards.
Nick Clark joined with Anthony von Mandel to buy Mission Hill in 1981 He sold his share in 1989. He became the British Columbia Wine Institutes first president when it was formed in 1990.
Anthony von Mandel bought Golden Valley Winery in 1981 with Nick Clark . They renamed the winery back to its original name of Mission Hill. Nick Clark sold his half of the winery to Anthony von Mandel. Please see Mission Hills

George and Trudy Heiss Gray Monk Winery

George and Trudy Heiss opened Gray Monk Family Winery in 1982

Wolfgang Zeller since his immigration to the Okanagan in 1983, has become a major source of vineyard and winery equipment in British Columbia. His first contract was with T.G. Bright & Co He planted what he wanted, not what the wineries advised. He was told to plant de chaunac, vidal and Okanagan riesling; instead, he started with johannisberg riesling and pinot noir, telling the wineries that he might be a newcomer but he knew something they did not. In 1988, nothing had to be pulled from the Zeller vineyard at Naramata and, with the immediate shortage of good wine grapes after the pullout, he had no difficulty selling his fruit to wineries. By then his eight-acre vineyard had been expanded to include müller-thurgau, ehrenfelser and the mother block of two thousand oraniensteiner vines, a German white variety obtained for Zeller by Brights, which later Brights lost interest in.

Along with Gunther Lang, Adolf Kruger and Vera Klokocka, Zeller campaigned for the right to open a farm winery. By the time the farmgate license was created in 1989, Zeller & Sons Enterprises Ltd., his machinery import company had become too successful for him to consider a winery.

Dionisio (Dennis) Zanatta came to Canada in 1959 He settled on a farm just south of Duncan in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island . He started an experimental plot of grapevines in 1970 with varieties such as leon millot, a red French hybrid, obtained from the federal government's plant health centre at Saanich. In 1983 Zanatta extended his trial plot, cooperating with the B.C. government in the so-called Duncan Project, a six-year trial in which more than 100 varieties were tested for their suitability on Vancouver Island. Midway through the trial, Zanatta began a five-acre planting of ortega, a white variety suited to the long, cool growing season of the Cowichan Valley. It formed the basis for the Vigneti Zanatta farm winery that opened in 1992 when his daughter, Loretta, completed her training as a winemaker in Italy.

Dr Rodger Dial opened the first farm winery in Nova Scotia 1981 Grand Pre Wine ltd. De Dial and Walter Wurher Started the Grape Growers Association of Nova Scotia in 1982 .

Robert Murray a Berry Crop specialist became the man in charge of developing programs for Grape Growers Association of Nova Scotia. Over the years he helped numerous vineyards develope their vineyards. Bob has also received many honours including the Recognition Award from the Nova Scotia Strawberry Growers Association, Distinguished Agrologist Award, Honorary Member: Grape Growers Association of Nova Scotia, NSIA Distinguished Life Membership Award and Honourary Member NSFA Senate Club. Jost Vineyards felt Bob's leadership to the Nova Scotia grape and wine sectors were so momentous they named their 1992 Seyval Blanc wine the “Robert Murray Select”.

Dr. Andrew Jamieson, who is based at the Atlantic Food and Horticulture Research Centre, in Kentville, N.S.has been working in Nova Scotia for over twenty years researching grapes and other fruits. Andrew works closely with the Grape Growers Association and growers evaluating promising selections

Christian Barthomeuf one of the modern pioneers of viticulture in Québec, planted the first vineyard in Dunham in 1970 and invented ice cider (also know as ice apple wine) in 1989.

Have we missed someone who should be listed on this page if so please let us know, we would appreciate any information and photographs you may have.
This page is a work in progress

Please continue to the Wineries behind Winemaking in Canada

Related Pages:

The Beginning ~ WWI and Prohibition ~ the 1930's and 40's

London Winery, Vincor, Baby Duck, History, History of Icewine

Niagara's Wine Visionaries - Linda Bramble - James Lorimer - Company Ltd
Okanagan Wine Tour Guide - John Schreiner - Whitecap
The Wines of Canada - John Schreiner - Mitchell Beazley Classic Wine Library
The Wineries of British Columbia - John Schreiner - Whitecap
Icewine The Complete Story - John Schreiner - Warwick Publishing
Canada Wines for Dummies - Tony Aspler, Barbara Leslie - CDG Books
The Tangled Vine: Winegrowing in Nova Scotia - Chris Naugler MD, Bruce Wright. MD, Robert Murray PAg.-blue frog inc.
Nova Scotia Historic Society
Clair House, Cooksville and the Beginning of the Ontario Wine Industry- Richard A Jarell

Notes and information supplied by
John Schreiner
Terry Matz
Chateau des Charmes Winery
London Library

The Names Behind Winemaking in Canada