Cypress Hills Vineyard and Winery

Maple Creek, Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan has always grown lovely sweet fruit – chokecherries, saskatoons and even cherry cultivars from the University of Saskatchewan. Cypress Hills owners, Marty and Marie Bohnet, established the winery in 2004 to harness the province’s sweet berries and transform them into something delicious that Canadians could enjoy with friends or on the patio.

They make six wines on their 1.80 hectares of land, nestled at the foot of Saskatchewan’s Cypress Hills. A unique microclimate – warm sunshine in the summer and cool Chinook winds in the winter – gives their wines intensity and flavour. By nature, fruit wines are slightly sweeter than most grape wines – Cypress Hills wines make good use of that sweetness to win awards.

While they’re no longer open to the public (so that they can focus on meeting the new demands of their fans) they do allow self-guided tours and offer tastings from mid-May until the end of September. You can find their wines online or in Saskatchewan liquor stores.

Cypresshillswinery.com