Vankleek Hill Vineyard chimes with global wine industry trends
The following is an article with a close-up focus on the wine-making happening at Vankleek Hill Vineyard. It was written by Leah Beauchamp. Leah lives in Montreal, but is originally from the Vankleek Hill area. She is a sommelier and DipWSET (Diploma in Wine & Spirits Education Trust) candidate.
It’s been operation-overhaul for Scott and Teresa, the new owners of Vankleek Hill Vineyard, who purchased the property a little over a year ago. It came with a working winery and five acres of vines, both of which required much enterprising in order to make this place quality-focused and destination-worthy. Originally from Montreal, the couple was in search of a change of pace and came across a beautiful 55-acre farm for sale and fell in love. The land and winery are now enthusiastically family-run and two oenologists head the winemaking.
New to the wine industry, the couple has fortunately experienced a right-time-right-place moment with the surge in popularity of boutique wineries over recent years, the millennial-driven consumer habits, and a paradoxical effect of the pandemic.