The Wineries and Wines Behind Winemaking in Canada

• Black Hamburg Muscatel grapes grown in Nova Scotia in the mid 1800's
  
  
• Canadian Vine Growers Association established 1860 by Henry Parker and Justin D Coutenay sold wines from the Clair House Assets sold to Fred Marsh Winery Limited 1929



Artist rendition of Clair House


• Clair House name of the wines sold by Count Justin M. de Courtenay  around 1864. It became the largest brand in Ontario . Credit with been the first commercial vineyard and winery in Canada. Wine was sold under the label of “Chateau Clair Wines”. The vineyard grew to encompass more than 88 acres of land, and Chateau
  Clair Wines won first prize in the 1867 Paris Exposition and the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial. Vines from Chateau Clair are also historically attributed to saving the wine industry in France. In the 1860s, French grapes were attacked by blight, to which controls proved ineffective. Count de Courtenay is accredited with sending grape vines from Chateau Clair, which proved to be resistant to the disease, to France to revitalize French vineyards. Many of the world-famous French vineyards today owe their establishment to vines grown in Cooksville by Johann Schiller*


• Porter Admans  a winery brand started in the 1860's located in Niagara. They mostly sold the juice to home wine makers


• 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.The Pelee Island Wine and Vineyards Company amalgamated with J. S. Hamilton and Company in 1919 to become J. S. Hamilton and Company Limited with Mr. Hamilton as president and managing director. J. S. Hamilton died in March 1931 but the business continued under his name until 1945 when London Winery Ltd. acquired the company


• Ontario Grape Growing and Wine Manufacturing 1873 in Barnesdale ( now called St Catherines)associated with George Barnes . It became the Barnes Wine Ltd 1934.

  

• Barnes Wines Established in 1873 sold to Grimsby Wines in 1932 The brand names lasted until the1980's It was known as Canada's oldest continuous winery. Barnes bought the licence's of Fort William Wine Co and Sunnybank Winery . Grimsby sold to Parksdale Wines Limite 1966

Niagara Falls Wine Co founded in 1874 by Frederick Shirriff and Thomas Brigh in Toronto moved Niagara Falls and became T.G. Bright and Company Ltd. in 1911

• Niagara Falls Wine Co founded in 1874 by Frederick Shirriff and Thomas Bright in Toronto moved Niagara Falls and became T.G. Bright and Company Ltd. in 1911


• St Augustine Communion Wine. J .S. Hamilton & Co. which had started on Pelee Island in 1871.
  Hamilton had one wine of note: St Augustine Communion Wine. In 1929, the Anglican Bishop of Montréal had proclaimed: I know of no other wine wine equal to it for sacramental purposes.
  
  
• Turner Wine Company founded by Robert Turner in Branford 1985 His best known product was Turner Tonic Bitters. Moved to Toronto in 1890 Purchased the assets and stock of Hamilton Niagara Wines Ltd in 1937. Ceased doing business Dec 1977.


• Cooksville Wine Valuts 1880 owned by Frank Thomas bought by London Winery Ltd 1946


• Jules Robinet Winery formed when the partnershp between Jules father Pierre and Ernest Girardot (1879) dissolved.Robinet et Frères winery was established in 1883,utilizing grapes from their Concordia Vineyards on Mill and Felix Streets in Sandwich Ontario today's Winsor. Sold to Fred Marsh WIne Ltd in 1935
  
• Stamford Park Wine company Ltd. stared by the Marsh family in 1890. Fred C Marsh took over the Canadian Vine Growers association Limited in 1926. Assets acquired by Canadian Wineries Limited 1n1928. In 1929 a new company was formed called Fred Marsh Winery Limited at Niagara Falls They bought Thorold Winery co in 1935. T.G. Bright and Co bought them in 1953


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Photo provided by Kevin Nault / Curator / Jasper Cultural Centre and Historical Centre
Maple Creek SK

• T J Bright Wines founded in 1874 by Frederick Shirriff and Thomas Bright. The winery was successful and grew steadily until 1920. when they were producing 4,000,000 gallons of wine, making them one of the larger wineries in the world. Like all wineries they were hurt by prohibition.  In 1993 they joined with Cartier Wines and Inniskillin to form Vincor Wines. The label is still used on some products today but will most likely will soon be gone. Please see Bright Wines

  
  
• Vin Valla a winery on Pelee Island, Ontario that opened 1871 and sold the majority of their wines into USA

(Click for larger image)
Photo provided by Terry Matz

Girardot Winery 1879 - photo provided by Barrett Nicpan

• Robinet, Pierre and Girardot, Ernest open 1879 purchased by Fred C Marsh Wine Company 1935


• Cooksville Wine Vaults founded 1880 by Frank Thomas Assets bought by London Winery 1946


• E.G Brown - began operations in Fonthill 1884 Assets sold to Hillrust Wine Co 1906


• Acme Wine Co Ltd - licensed in 1898 sold unfermented wines. Taken over by Parkdale Wines 1954


• G.W. Peavoy licensed in 1898 to G.W Peavoy but operated as Canadian Wine Co. assets purchased by Acme wines. In turn taken over by Parkdale wines.


• Pelee Island Wine and Vineyard Co. founded by J.S. Hamilton who expanded his vineyards to Essex County. The winery built on the island had three stories built from local stone; using gravity to move juice from the top floor press to the 1,000 gallon tank on the first floor.  Around 1897 Mr. Hamilton moved his winery off the island to Brantford. In 1949 he sold his assets to the London Wine Company.
  

• Hillrust Wine Company licensed in 1906 took over the assets of E.G Brown in 1927 . They took over Sunnieholme Wine Co in 1935. In 1945 T. G. Bright bought them.



Sunnieholme Winery 1918-1920s

 

• Sunnieholme Wine Company licensed 1918.St Catharine's assets bought by Hillrust Wines


• Adelaide Winery Limited licensed in 1918 did not open a store until 1931 assets bought by London Winery


• Twin City WIne Company 1918 in Fort William Pietro Belluz owner. In 1956 sold to T.G Bright


• Dominion Wine Growers licensed in 1919 to Fred lee and H.M Voltz Oakville Ontario. Bought by Canadian Winery Limited 1928


• Canadian Grape Products Limited. Licensed in 1920 Established a plant in Jordan Ontario. It would take over Danforth Wines in 1948. The Jordan Wine Co Ltd was formed in 1926 to take over Canadian Grape Producers Ltd.


• Sunnybank Winery licensed in 1920 to F.L. Furminger Assets sold to Barnes Wine Ltd in 1939.


• Fort WIlliam Wine Co Ltd licensed in 1933 sold in 1936 to Barnes Wine Ltd.


• National Fruit& Wine Co founded 1922 purchasing the Hillrust Wine co Ltd. In 1929 after some hard tomes The National Wine Co Ltd took over its assets bringing it under Canadian Wineries ltd . In 1948 purchased by Chateau-Gal Wineries.


• Badaloto Wine Co opened in London 1922 purchased by T.G.Brights 1938

Growers Wine Company 1927

• Growers Wine Company founded on Vancouver Island in 1922 making wine from Loganberries.The five founders of the winery were William Bickford, Philip Holloway, Neil Lamont, Clarence Oldfield and Harry Tanner and their first two brands were Logana, made entirely with loganberries, and Vin Supreme, a blend of loganberries and blueberries. Growers obtained a distillery licence in 1936 . The man responsible for running Growers until they sold in 1955 was Herbert Anscomb
  
  A syndicate of Vancouver businessmen that included Coleman Hall (better known later for his investments in the Vancouver Canucks professional hockey team) and a retired banker, Francis Lumb. Late in 1959 Vancouver stationer Ernest C. Warner took over. Imperial Tobacco bought Growers' in 1965, changing the name to Ste-Michelle after a popular wine brand controlled by Castle Wines Ltd., a Growers' subsidiary in Saskatchewan. When the cigarette company's brief diversification into wines ended, Jordan Wines Ltd. of Ontario bought Growers' in 1973, merging it with Villa Wines, Jordan's subsidiary in New Westminister (originally called West Coast Wines Ltd. when incorporated in 1960). In 1976 Jordan & Ste-Michelle Cellars Ltd. was adopted as the winery's national name. The Victoria winery was closed in 1977, replaced by a new $7 million winery in Surrey, with a storage capacity for four million gallons and room to be tripled. However, after the market for domestic wineries stalled in the 1980s, Jordan & Ste-Michelle was acquired by T.G. Bright & Co. who closed and dismantled the Surrey winery in 1990. The Growers' name survives as a popular brand of cider. In 1962 Growers' took over the production and marketing of apple cider that had been developed by scientist Dr. John Bowen for Sun-Rype in Kelowna.

• Jordan Wines established in1920 one of a few wineries that survived prohibition. They took over Canadian Grape Producers Ltd in 1926. In 1973 they bought out Growers Winery in Victoria and renamed the national company Jordan & Ste-Michelle. In 1986 Bright bought out Jordan and Ste Michelle.
  
  
• The Ontario Wine co was licensed in 1922 to E.J Morrow . He had the licence for 5 years It was cancelled then renewed in 1927 ( a period of time when the Ontario gov would not issue new licenses so company bought up old ones) The co assets sold to from Lakeshore Wines Co Ltd 1930. In 1933 Danford wines takes over Lakeshore


• Antonio De Conza Winery licensed issued 1922 in St Catharine's 1931 Regal wine co took over to be purchased by Danforth wine co in 1936 in turn sold to Jordan WInes.



• London Wine Company  founded 1924 by the Knowles family by 1977 it was the only winery still operating is southwestern Ontario. It was sold to Vincor Canada in December 1996. Vincor has retained some brands under the London label


• Beaverdam Cataract Winery Ltd licensed 1925 in Niagara Falls. In 1937 Assets bought by Danforth Wines. Danforth wine assets sold to Jordan Wines 1964


• Canada Wine Products It was formed in 1928 Taking over Peerless Wine Co, Dominion Wine Growers and Oakville Lincoln Wines Ltd Stanford Park Wine Co Ltd. Thorold Winery. In those days the Gov was not allowing new licenses so new companies bought licenses from others. The key factor here is that Canadian Wineries Limited changed their name to Chateau – Gal Wines Limited in 1940 In 1973 they purchased the assets of Chateau Cartier
  


• Lincoln Wines Ltd licensed 1928 taken over by Canada Wineries Ltd 1928.


• Danforth Wine Co Franco Cerra of Fort Williams Ontario received license in 1926. the wines were for a time made at the Lakeshore Wine Co in Toronto In 1935 purchased the Beaverdam Calaract Winery Ltd. 1937 name changed to Danforth Wine Ltd. In 1948 Danforth became the wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian Grape Producers Ltd. who became Jordan Wines.


• Grimsby Wine Limited originally licensed in 1928 as the Grimsby Grape and Wine Company. Grimsby was taken over by Parkdale Wines Ltd in 1966


• Hamilton- Niagara Wines opened 1928 sold to Turner Wine Co 937


• Old Fort Wine Co LTD. chartered in 1928 in Fort Erie originally known as the Beamsville Winery


• The Old Battlefield Winery Licensed issued to Albin Samborski 1928 Named for the battle that took place at Stoney Creek during the War of 1812. Changed name to Dundurn Winery 1947 assets bought by T.J Bright 1954.


• Robinet Freres licensed to Clovis and Frank Robinet 1928 assets purchased by T.G. Brights in 1935.


• St Catharines Wine Company of Canada Ltd. 1928 Sold to Jordan wines 1953


• Parksdale Winery was in operation by 1930 in Toronto. They bought Grimsby Wines in 1932. In turn they were sold to Labatt Brewery


• Victoria Wineries was founded in 1927 also to produce Loganberry wines. In 1932 they merged with Growers Wines lasting until 1960 when disease wiped out the berries. However the public was by now more interested in grape wine. The main label brand was called Slinger after its winemaker ex-jockey Stephen Slinger



• Calona Winery established in British Columbia 1931. It produced apple wine at first switching to grape wines from J.W. Hughes. Calona Winery stayed afloat by producing sacramental wine for the Roman Catholic Church. For many years it was run by the Cappozzi family. In 1977 it released Schloss Laderheim made from Okanagan Riesling. It became the best selling domestic wine. Today Calona is owned by Andrew Peller Limited
  
  
• Chipman's Apple Products first commercial winery in Nova Scotia,1941, producing fruit wines. The name was changed to Chipman Wines Limited. Andre's wine bought Chipman's in 1983 and promptly closed the plant.
  
• Jordan-Danforth Wines the name came about in 1948 when the Jordan winery opened a second location in St. Catharines. The Danforth wine label was made in St. Catharines, the Jordan line in Jordan. At its peak, the St. Catharines winery employed about 100 people and dozens more during harvest time. Hundreds of Niagara growers sold grapes to the plant. It remained a big player until 1986, when it was bought by competitor Niagara Falls T. G. Bright and Co. Ltd., which is also defunct today. By 1987, the St. Catharines winery was closed


• Abby Wines Limited established in Truro NS in 1965 owned by Andre's The grapes were brought in from outside NS.
  
  
• Inkameep Vineyards developed by Andres Wines in 1968

Photos by Fred Couch


• Château-Gai one of the larger wineries in Ontario during 1960's and 70's It originated in the 1940. Just after prohibition a group of investors formed a company called Canadian Wineries Limited. They bought six existing licenses, Peerless Wines Manufacturing, The National Wine Company, Dominion Wine Growers, Lincoln Wines, Thornwood Wine Company and the Stamford Wine Company. In 1939 they registered the trademark Château and in 1940 changed the company name to Château-Gai. Alexander Sampson was the man behind Château-Gai. While in France after the war he put the company's champagne on display in a Paris shop window and had photographers take pictures. The pictures were printed in all Canadian newspapers greatly raising the notoriety of the winery.
  
  Château-Gai was sued by fifteen French champagne houses for using the word Champagne stating that only grapes grown in the district of Champagne, France could use the term. In 1933 Canada had signed an Agreement with France to protect the appellations of origin. It was most likely the advertising in the Paris window that caused the lawsuit. The matter was not settled until 2003, today only wine produced in Champagne, France is actually named Champagne. In 1964 Labatt's Brewery purchased control of the the winery.






• Jordan & St- Michelle at one time was the second largest winery in Ontario.
  
  
• LeComte winery began on Hawthorne Mountain near Okanagan Falls shortly after WWI Sold to Harry McWalters in 1955 who renamed Hawthorn Mountain. Today the winery is owned by Vincor and is called See Ya Later.
  
  
• Casabello Winery the name means Fine Home in Italian a partnership of investors headed by Evans Louheed. Establish in Penticton BC1964.Their first vintage in 1966 was produced with 250 tons of Grapes 60% from the Okanagan 40% from California. Consulting winemaker for the first two years was Wallace Pohle. Thomas Hoenisch was hired in 1971 as resident winemaker. Casabello was the first commercial winery to make a committed to small oak barrels. The winery could not muster a strong challenge to the Calona Winery sales. Labatts took over the Winery in 1977 after labatt left the wine business the name was changed to Cartier Wines before becoming part of Vincor.
  
  
• Labatt's In 1964 John Labatt a major brewer in Manitoba plunged into the wine business by acquiring Château-Gai in Ontario and the Casabello Winery in BC. In 1965, Labatt's acquired control of the Parkdale Wines Limited changing the name to Château Cartier and, a year later, acquired Grimsby Wines Limited to establish a position in the growing Canadian wine market. Labatt's man Don Triggs was responsible for the Canadian wineries Labatt's hired a man named Allan Jackson to run Ridout Wines. In 1970 Labatt's introduced a new label, Chateua Cartier, Labatts sold to a group of investors including Triggs and Jackson. The wines were briefly sold under the label Cartier Wines. When this new group merged with T.J. Bright to form Vincor some wines continued to be sold under the Cartier label. Please see Vincor History
  
  
• Mission Hills In 1965 a Okanagan businessman named R.P. "Tiny" Walrod led the development of a california interest along with local investors in starting a winery perched on Mt. Boucherie over looking Okanagan lake. There were to separate companies Mission Hills Vineyard Ltd. and Mission Hills Wines Ltd. They would later consolidate into one public company. Walrod passed away before the winery opened. Poor wine and financial problems caused the winery to fail. In 1970 Ben Ginter takes over the winery renaming it Uncle Ben's Gourmet Wines Ltd. He set about trying to match the hot product of the day Baby Duck He came out with Foddle Duck Yellow bird and Hot Goose. However the winery slipped into receivership in 1978. Ben Ginter managed to find the funds to repurchase the winery changing the name to Golden Valley Wines Ltd. In 1981 he sold the winery to Anthony Von Mandl and Nick Clark.
  
  Mission Hill was relaunched. changing the wines names and spreading their sales base. Their poorer quality wines were released under various labels including Caves Chauvignon and Klosterberg . The better wines were sold under Pandosy cellars. The mission Hill label was saved for classic European varietals starting with the 1981 Gewürztraminer and Johannisberg riesling. Mission hill also sold Golden Valley Cider which help keep the winery afloat. In 1982 the Winery had a new tasting room and hired actor Bruno Gerusis to do Tv ads. The ads worked as sales increased.
  They also hired winemaker Daniel Lagnaz who began producing award winning wines. In 1994 under winemaker John Simms won the very prestigious Avey's Trophy for their 1992 Grand Reserve Barrel select Chardonnay, bringing international attention to Mission Hill and BC wines

• Beaupré Wines (Canada) Ltd founded in 1983 by Potters Distillery in Langley BC closed in 1989 when Potters merged with Calona Wines.

Resources  :

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
Wines Of Ontario An Industry Comes of Age - William F. Rannie
Heritage Mississauga
Grimsby Museum

* Chateau Clair, Canada’s First Vineyard & Commercial Winery
By Matthew Wilkinson
Historian, Heritage Mississauga

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

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