KILLARNEY, Man. – The prairie landscape is a world away from Tuscan vineyards, but the orderly rows of bushes at Grant Rigby’s raspberry orchard make the idea of a winery in southwestern Manitoba plausible.
Since he acquired the first winery licence in Manitoba in 1999, Rigby has produced wine from the raspberries grown on his farm near Killarney.
Sixteen acres of berries sit on gently sloping land between a barley crop and a field of alfalfa, about 400 metres from his home.
The winery evolved out of an interest in juices, he said.
Read Also
Food can play a flavourful role in fun summer activities
Recipes – popsicles are made with lactose-free milk and yogurt so are perfect for those who can’t tolerate milk, while everyoneelse will also enjoy them
“I supplied the campus (University of Manitoba) with raspberry juices. They were my first customer back in the late ’80s,” said Rigby, who has a master’s degree in food science.
“Then I did raspberry wine kits for home wine hobbyists,” he said.
An award for best berry wine at an international wine kit competition convinced Rigby that he had an excellent product and prompted him to found his own winery.
His Rigby Orchards label, sold in Manitoba and Alberta, has been frequently honoured for its high quality, including being served to Queen Elizabeth when she visited Manitoba in 2002.
Drier than most
Some consumers still see raspberry wine as an aperitif, but Carol Herntier, a product ambassador with the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission (MLCC), said that’s not the case with Rigby’s wines.
“What Grant has done is that he’s come up with a drier style (of wine),” she said.
“People are beginning to recognize that it’s not just a dessert wine … but the wine can be paired with the regular day to day meals.”
Rigby farms with his wife Judith, a canola-breeding technician at the U of M, and their children Sarah and Graham.
He has little trouble marketing the wine. Whatever he makes sells out.
Behind the farmhouse is a small building, where he turns his raspberries into wine.
After the summertime harvest, which is done mechanically, the berries are frozen. Rigby processes the berries into wine throughout the winter.
He grows organic alfalfa and barley and other feed crops, which he sells to dairy farms in the U.S.
He made the switch to organics a decade ago after the death of his father, Gerald.
He also didn’t want drift from pesticide spray affecting his raspberries.
“My father (a farmer) caught a cancer and died young,” said Rigby, who took over the farm from his dad. He said the move to organics was challenging because markets for his products were not established.
“I now have three year contracts for supplying organic feed grains and hay to organic dairies,” he said.
“With those in place, it’s solid.”
In addition to his stance against pesticides, Rigby is also a winemaker with a social conscience.
He points to a label on the back of a Rigby Orchards wine bottle, reading, “Please always protect the unborn from alcohol by abstaining if pregnant. And protect infants from choking by discarding the cork. Please abstain from driving.”
He devised the wording for the label and voluntarily puts it on all of his bottles.
As well, he has lobbied the Manitoba government to make a similar label mandatory on all liquor sold in the province.
