SASKATOON - Local foodies and good food aficionados will have a new option for their next dinner party or cocktail soirée. Living Sky Winery, located just 30 minutes west of Saskatoon, has begun production on a range of high-end artisan wines crafted from local fruit. Living Sky Wines will be available from the winery starting early Summer 2010.
Husband and wife team, Susan Echlin and Vance Lester are the co-proprietors of this new venture, the first of its kind in Saskatoon and one of the few artisan wineries in Western Canada. “To see our fruit go from the small twigs we planted four years ago, to the point where it has been crushed into colourful juice being feasting on by yeast, is incredibly exciting,” says Echlin. “We planted our entire orchard specifically to produce fruit for our winery – producing high-end wines was always our goal and it is great to see the years of hard work finally start the process to becoming liquid art.”
|
Vance Lester and Susan Echlin putting raspberries into the bladder press before pressing.
|
Renowned winemaker Dominic Rivard has joined the team to ensure that the wines produced will be phenomenal from the very first bottle. A fully-qualified sommelier, Rivard brings over 15 years experience in the wine industry and a number of high-profile international awards to Living Sky Winery, including being awarded the best desert wine in Canada in 2007. Over the last decade, Dominic has been busy running numerous wine projects for wineries in Canada, USA, Italy, Spain, Chile, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and China, and is known in industry circles as an authority in fruit-wine making.
“Dominic is a very central part of our business plan,” says Echlin. “We recognize that fruit wines suffer from a bit of stigma on the prairies, and the artisan quality to winemaking that Dominic brings to the table is key to our ability to change peoples minds and convince them that fruit wines can be as complex and enjoyable as grape varieties.”
Living Sky Winery’s first releases will include raspberry, strawberry, Juliet cherry and rhubarb varieties.
For more information on the winery, contact Susan Echlin at 1.306.290.1693 or info@livingskywinery.com
No Comments
You need to
register to comment.