3 Canadian Wineries To Keep On Your Radar
Rodrigues Winery & Distillery
Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland
Newfoundland’s first winery and distillery is located at the historic Markland Cottage Hospital. They make berry wines and spirits, all of which are hand-crafted by the family-run business. All natural, sulphite free and kosher certified, the Rodrigues line of berry wines and spirits capture the essence of Newfoundland fruit in the bottle.
Rodrigues Winery and Distillery was first opened in 1993 by Dr Hilary Rodrigues, a dentist who had been experimenting with old, traditional Newfoundland recipes for blueberry wines since the 1980s. It’s no surprise that their first wine was made with wild Newfoundland low-bush blueberries. They’ve since expanded, adding a traditional European copper pot distillery – the only commercial distillery in the province – winning national and international awards for their wines, liqueurs, brandies and iceberg vodka.
Visitors receive not only a tasting of unique Newfoundland blueberry wine (among other delicious wines) but also a slice of Newfoundland history. They can tour building, first built in 1935 as one of 19 cottage hospitals built to serve rural communities. A Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador since in 2007, the building has been preserved as closely as possible to its original state.
Tour and taste at Rodrigues Winery all year round every Friday from 8:30 am to 5 pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 1 pm until 5 pm in July and August.