We hope you love drinking our wines as much as we love making them!
Our search for a retirement property began with a search for enough acres to accomplish our dreams of having horses and growing some grapes. Our realtor brought us to this property and after 3 years, our search came to an end. This spot had everything we needed and more – it actually enhanced and grew our dreams to fit its potential.
The origins of the name for Smokie Ridge Vineyard comes from myself and my father who are nicknamed Smokie. Over the course of my military career, this nickname stuck. Although we first wanted to name the vineyard and winery to be Mountain Ridge Vineyard to underscore the name of our town, my boys (also owners) insisted that we call it Smokie Ridge Vineyard. This idea was fully entrenched the day we woke to a picturesque mist across the rows of newly planted vines giving a smoky feel to the ridge where they’re planted. This name seemed even more appropriate when some of the wines we first produced had a smoky flavor to them.
The two values behind our winemaking are “Craftsmanship and Innovation”. A great wine is a balance of art, science and alchemy, both in the vineyard and the winery. We at SRV have raised over 10,000 vines from infancy within 40 miles of one of the world’s coldest capital cities. These hearty “Cold World” varietals – namely Frontenac, Sabrevois, St-Pepin, Louise Swenson, and Marquette – are relatively new to the wine making community and demand a high degree of craftsmanship to ensure the final wine captures the very best characteristics of these grapes.
We truly believe that the hybrid grapes developed for cool Climates – or “Cold World” grapes as we call them, offer a new palette of tastes to the wine industry that should not be overlooked adding to the existing vinifera. These will in future, much like the new world wines of California, begin to challenge the flavours and colours that we have come to expect from more traditional wines. Notwithstanding, we continue to learn and shape the flavours of our wines by using and experimenting with traditional wine making techniques for stabilization, acidity, fermentation, oaking and barreling.
Above all, these values are at the core of ensuring that we deliver the highest quality product and develop personal and meaningful relationships with our customers built on trust and integrity.
The origins of the name for Smokie Ridge Vineyard comes from myself and my father who are nicknamed Smokie. Over the course of my military career, this nickname stuck. Although we first wanted to name the vineyard and winery to be Mountain Ridge Vineyard to underscore the name of our town, my boys (also owners) insisted that we call it Smokie Ridge Vineyard. This idea was fully entrenched the day we woke to a picturesque mist across the rows of newly planted vines giving a smoky feel to the ridge where they’re planted. This name seemed even more appropriate when some of the wines we first produced had a smoky flavor to them.
The two values behind our winemaking are “Craftsmanship and Innovation”. A great wine is a balance of art, science and alchemy, both in the vineyard and the winery. We at SRV have raised over 10,000 vines from infancy within 40 miles of one of the world’s coldest capital cities. These hearty “Cold World” varietals – namely Frontenac, Sabrevois, St-Pepin, Louise Swenson, and Marquette – are relatively new to the wine making community and demand a high degree of craftsmanship to ensure the final wine captures the very best characteristics of these grapes.
We truly believe that the hybrid grapes developed for cool Climates – or “Cold World” grapes as we call them, offer a new palette of tastes to the wine industry that should not be overlooked adding to the existing vinifera. These will in future, much like the new world wines of California, begin to challenge the flavours and colours that we have come to expect from more traditional wines. Notwithstanding, we continue to learn and shape the flavours of our wines by using and experimenting with traditional wine making techniques for stabilization, acidity, fermentation, oaking and barreling.
Above all, these values are at the core of ensuring that we deliver the highest quality product and develop personal and meaningful relationships with our customers built on trust and integrity.
Our History and Hopeful Future
I retired from the military in 2006 after 32 years of service with the dream of growing grapes. We purchased the property in Mountain Ontario the same year. One year later, we planted our first 6,000 vines in our upper field. The following year we planted 2,500 additional vines in our lower field – affectionately referred to as “Claude’s field”, where an acre has been severed to allow our son to build a house. In 2009, we broke ground on our winery, store and cellaring facilities and a year later, picked our first harvest and welcomed our first grandchild, Nathan.
In 2011 we bottled our first vintage which very pleasantly exceeded even our expectations.
In August this year we opened our retail store’s doors, and have been delighted with the visitors we have had the pleasure in serving.
We are building a legacy. Our plan has evolved since the first iteration of our business plan. We will always remain family owned and operated, over time adding a Microbrewery, employ some full time staff, open year round and ultimately begin promoting and reaching a wider audience in Canada who enjoy the merits of Cold World Wines.
We also have plans to add a stable, lodging, and a destination venue for special events, continuing to enhance the leisure industry in this area and provide a unique and beautiful attraction for Ottawa and surrounding communities. Over the next ten years, our wine operations will focus on entrenching our wines, in additional retail and sales arenas.
In the longer term, Debbie and I plan on entrusting the operations solely to our capable children, nieces and nephews. On the road to this goal, we’ll begin promoting our wines outside of Ontario.
Smokie Ridge Vineyard owes its success to the people who are involved. What began as a family business has remained that way – and has grown to include extended family and a wonderful close knit group of enthusiasts. On any given Saturday we have a parade of family and friends with no end of talent and passion coming through our doors to lend a hand. The start of our legacy began with these people – and so did our wines. Our first ever wine is dedicated to these folks – Unexpected Guest.
In 2011 we bottled our first vintage which very pleasantly exceeded even our expectations.
In August this year we opened our retail store’s doors, and have been delighted with the visitors we have had the pleasure in serving.
We are building a legacy. Our plan has evolved since the first iteration of our business plan. We will always remain family owned and operated, over time adding a Microbrewery, employ some full time staff, open year round and ultimately begin promoting and reaching a wider audience in Canada who enjoy the merits of Cold World Wines.
We also have plans to add a stable, lodging, and a destination venue for special events, continuing to enhance the leisure industry in this area and provide a unique and beautiful attraction for Ottawa and surrounding communities. Over the next ten years, our wine operations will focus on entrenching our wines, in additional retail and sales arenas.
In the longer term, Debbie and I plan on entrusting the operations solely to our capable children, nieces and nephews. On the road to this goal, we’ll begin promoting our wines outside of Ontario.
Smokie Ridge Vineyard owes its success to the people who are involved. What began as a family business has remained that way – and has grown to include extended family and a wonderful close knit group of enthusiasts. On any given Saturday we have a parade of family and friends with no end of talent and passion coming through our doors to lend a hand. The start of our legacy began with these people – and so did our wines. Our first ever wine is dedicated to these folks – Unexpected Guest.