We are very pleased that our wines have won many recent awards!
2015 PEC Pinot Noir – Best Overall Red and Royal Grand Champion, Best Wine in Show Overall in the 2017 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto. Also chosen by wine expert Christopher Waters to be one of the 100 Canadian wines to compete in the 2018 Six Nations Wine Challenge in Sydney, Australia.
2016 PEC Pinot Noir – “…the point is, Stanners makes world-class Pinot Noir and this bottle is a shining example …” Carolyn Evans Hammond, Toronto Star
2017 PEC Pinot Noir – Chosen by master sommelier John Szabo to represent Ontario Pinot Noirs in a comparison between selected New Zealand and Ontario Pinot Noirs. Given a score of 93 points!
Stanners Vineyard is an artisanal, family-owned and operated winery located near the village of Hillier in Prince Edward County. Check out these recent videos from The Wine Portfolio about us.
These videos by the Wine Portfolio Group Inc. are Jody Ness interviewing Cliff and Colin Stanners. Jody visits vineyards around the world for his Wine Portfolio show on CNBC World. We are pleased and honoured that he chose to visit our vineyard to make these videos for his show.
Stanners Vineyard is a family venture that began in 2003 with the purchase of a parcel of farmland near the village of Hillier in Prince Edward County. The "terroir", that is, the soil, terrain and weather, seemed ideal for our quest to produce a Pinot Noir that would be the rival of any in the world. We love Pinot Noir, making this quest a pleasure as well as a challenge. It is believed that the best Pinot Noir is made from grapes grown in the most northerly terroir that can actually produce and ripen the grape. Prince Edward County is indeed a northerly location and the moderating influence of Lake Ontario which surrounds us makes grape growth and ripening possible. It also boasts the calcareous, limestone-riddled soils that are highly reminiscent of those in Burgundy, the home of world-renowned Pinot Noir wines. Our goal, however, is not to imitate Burgundy, but to bring out the best characteristics that our terroir can instill in the wine that it yields.
Our winery was built in the summer of 2009, using the ecofriendly Straw Bale construction method for our barrel room, which offers excellent insulation for maintaining temperature equilibrium. Ours is the first Straw Bale winery east of the Rockies! Our tasting bar is in the barrel room and it is well worth a visit to taste our wines in the cool temperature and unique atmosphere of our above ground wine cellar.