Eccentric. Risk-takers. Eye Candy. We've been called a lot of things...well, maybe not eye candy.
Sue Echlin and Vance Lester, Proprietors
A ranch girl from Alberta met a boy (Vance) and ended up staying in Saskatchewan after coming here for school. After finding her Master's degree in International Politics wasn't immediately employable (but did teach her to argue really, really well) Sue decided that she needed to start a business in something she was passionate about.
Vance Lester
Duck biologist by training, human resources guy by profession, Vance calls himself the brains behind the outfit (and Sue concedes he's fairly smart). Vance is indeed the chemist of the bunch, doing all the fancy science stuff while leaving Sue to make things "look pretty." When you visit the winery he's the guy in the cowboy hat.
Dominic Rivard, Winemaker
Our very own wine genius.
Dominic is our internationally award-winning winemaker who is kind enough to share his years of experience with us to help create amazing artisan wines. He's also a great person who shares our sustainable, locally-focused ethos, has an amazing family, makes his own cheese and owns a cat named Mao.
Dominic runs a great site called The Daily Fruit Wine.
Our Ethos
With everything we do we consider the impact on the environment and on our community. We reduce, reuse and recycle (in fact, our whole winery was recycled from its former life as the Delisle Co-Op). We care not only for our orchard but for the environment that surrounds it, whether beast, fowl or flora. We believe ardently that local foods and services contribute to the community in a positive way, and try to purchase everything we can from our friends and neighbors. We also believe that life is bloody short and you better enjoy every second of it!
