What We’re Celebrating on Our 7th Anniversary at The Grange!

by The Grange of Prince Edward, a ‘Certified Good Food Fighter‘

Anniversaries are always about looking to the past, to celebrate the many accomplishments of the year and years before. But they inevitably are about the future.  Looking back on how uncertain a time it was those first years, not know how our first harvest would be, how the wine would turn out, how it would be received. What a relief it is now. To be able to see how far the vineyards and the wines have come in just a few short years has truly inspired us to reach higher and to have confidence in what we are trying to achieve.

How We’ve Grown

June 5^th marked the 6^th anniversary of the winery, and what an exciting time those 6 years have been. It seems like only yesterday we were harvesting our first, tiny crop of gamay, chardonnay, pinot noir and Riesling.  But a lot has changed at the winery since then. Our wines are more mature, dynamic.  Instead of 3 wines we have an expansive list of interesting and unique products; from rosé to sparkling wine, and even a line of premium estate wines.

The changes in our vineyards are also incredibly exciting; starting ten years ago with 10 acres with 3 varieties to having vineyards on 60 planted acres on the farm in 7 varietals. And the vineyards are now 11 years old! The fruit we are getting is so different than that of the first years. The vineyards are really starting to show their age- in the best way possible!

With 7 vintages under our belts, we know which wines were instant successes and which wines were to get better and better with age. We are excited to continue learning, and we cannot wait to see what our vineyards are capable of in the years to come!

New Ideas

At our 5^th anniversary party, we did something special; we released the very first of our namesake wines.  The Grange of Prince Edward wine line started in the 2007 vintage that got so much acclaim- it was the perfect crop to start out making these wines that we hoped would be something special. So what do we do to make our Grange of Prince Edward wines different?

First of all, Grange wines are only made in vintages where we feel the crop is exceptional. We pride ourselves on having healthy, well-maintained vineyards and therefore successful crops each year, but this wines  need to go one step further. We want to only produce them in those years where the conditions are such that we get a crop that really stand out from the rest, and really reflect the terroir of the farm. From there we hand sort the bunches, keeping only the perfectly ripe for this line.

In the winery, we use the best wine making equipment, take the most time and care, and use the best barrels to produce the wines. Finally, through the aging process the wines are critiqued again, and each barrel is assessed for quality. Only the best of the barrels will be selected in the end to represent the Grange line. The Grange of Prince Edward wines are not made in every vintage; rather they are a special sample of the best that our winery can do.