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CELEBRATE LOCAL
FEATURED WINERY
Rossignol EstateWinery
Murray River, PEI
How did Rossignol Winery get started?
In 1990, I sailed from Ontario to PEI looking for a change in
lifestyle. At that time, this land was a potato field and the
Liquor Commission didn’t have regulations in place
to allow a winery in PEI. After four years, we had built a
house, workshop and barn, planted grapevines and
worked with the Provincial Government to develop a
Winery Act.
In the Summer of 1996, the winery opened and we were
the first local product on the shelves in the PEI liquor
stores!
21
CELEBRATE
WINTER EDITION 2017
Why did you choose this location?
Beyond the beauty of the location, this is considered
the “Banana Belt” in PEI and was where the heat-loving
tobacco plants were grown in the past. So, after doing
some research with the Department of Agriculture, we
realized that this location would be ideal for growing
grapes and it also provides amazing views for those
wanting to do winery tours.
What products do you make at the winery?
We started off making fruit wines, then started making
traditional red and white wines when our vines started
producing and now make wine liqueurs that are sweeter
dessert wines.