MANITOBA'S VINEYARD
I often get customers asking if we make ice wine, I suppose because of the connotation of the cold. However, somewhat ironically, our winters are too cold to produce ice wine.
with grapes such as vitis riparia and vitis labrusca, which are wild river grapes that grow in the Prairies. They are bred together to create cold-har- dy hybrid grapes specially made to survive our cold winters. We work with post-secondary institutions including the University of Minnesota and Laval University, which have developed these vines in their agriculture research departments. Contrary to popular belief, Manitoba summers are hot enough and long enough to grow most of the fruits and vegetables in the world. The main problem we run into is that our winters are too cold. Prolonged periods of -40 C will kill the vines before they get established, and it usually takes three to five years to produce usable grapes. We grow all our vines outdoors. We do not cover them in the winter, and we do not go out of our way to protect them from the cold. Our mentality with winter preparation has always been this: in Manitoba you are inevitably going to get a cold snap edging toward -50 C every few years, and if you coddle the grapes too much in the mild winters, they will never survive the real cold ones. As the oldest vines on the farm ap- proach a quarter-century, this ethos has cultivated the strongest vines of the bunch. Today, Zach continues to act as our vineyard manager. With no formal training, he honed his craft on the job with help from online wine-making forums and Wikipedia. Over time, Zach has developed an effective system of pruning, de-leafing and harvesting that suits our unique grapes.
Our vines start budding and flow- ering in the spring, typically in mid to late May. The growing season lasts until the first frost of the season, and we usually harvest during a single day in the second or third week of September. All the grapes are hand- picked by a team of around 40 peo- ple. We process the grapes into wine the following day when we de-stem and crush them into juice. The juice is then fermented and left to age for around 18 to 24 months. I often get customers asking if we make ice wine, I suppose because of the connotation of the cold. However, somewhat ironically, our winters are too cold to produce ice wine. What we produce from our grapes are con- ventional red, white and rosé wines. We produce mostly blends of five to six varietals, although in some years we will make small batches of single varietals as well. We blend the grapes into one wine so that we can take strengths from each different varietal while cov- ering the shortcomings of another. We avoid much added sugar or any unnatural preservatives, so these cold-climate grapes produce wines that are naturally dry, acidic and floral. I often say that the tastes highlight the versatility and quality of Manitoba's agriculture. Nationally and internationally, it's hard to compare our wines to anything else. The wines we make are not commercially produced in any major way anywhere else in the world. Our main grape varietals for red are Frontenac Gris, Frontenac Noir, Marquette and Sabrevois. For white, the varietals are Frontenac Blanc, Vandal Cliche, Prairie Star and Louise Swenson.
GRAPES FROM THE SHRUGGING DOCTOR VINEYARD
With anything unique, it takes a while to find an audience. As we ap- proach 10 years in business, we have built a base of loyal customers who keep surprising and humbling me every single day with their support. We have also won 11 awards in na- tional wine competitions, which has cemented our place in the Manitoba wine industry. As a business owner, perhaps there are more “executive” things I should be doing in the business; however, I often find myself behind the bar in our tasting room and restaurant serving our customers. I love to meet people and share the story of Shrugging Doctor Beverage Company. Most importantly, though, I love to see their faces light up when they find a new wine that they love. Our flights of wine are particular- ly popular, where we provide five three-ounce glasses of anything from our wine menu. Customers can mix and match our core prod- ucts as well as our small batch and seasonal wines. I love matching our products with the homemade food we craft in our restaurant from locally grown ingredients. I am so grateful every day that I can share our creations with the world and hopefully awaken an en- tire wine industry in Manitoba.
SAVOUR MANITOBA | SPRING 2026 | 13
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