Our Story
How It All Started
Our search for a retirement property began with a search for enough acres to accomplish our dreams of having horses and growing some grapes. Our realtor brought us to this property and after 3 years, our search came to an end. This spot had everything we needed and more – it actually enhanced and grew our dreams to fit its potential.
The origins of the name for Smokie Ridge Vineyard comes from myself and my father who are nicknamed Smokie. Over the course of my military career, this nickname stuck. Although we first wanted to name the vineyard and winery to be Mountain Ridge Vineyard to underscore the name of our town, my boys (also owners) insisted that we call it Smokie Ridge Vineyard.
This idea was fully entrenched the day we woke to a picturesque mist across the rows of newly planted vines giving a smoky feel to the ridge where they’re planted. This name seemed even more appropriate when some of the wines we first produced had a smoky flavor to them.
Craftsmanship & Innovation
The two values behind our winemaking are “Craftsmanship and Innovation”. A great wine is a balance of art, science and alchemy, both in the vineyard and the winery. We at SRV have raised over 10,000 vines from infancy within 40 miles of one of the world’s coldest capital cities. These hearty “Cold World” varietals – namely Frontenac, Sabrevois, St-Pepin, Louise Swenson, and Marquette – are relatively new to the wine making community and demand a high degree of craftsmanship to ensure the final wine captures the very best characteristics of these grapes.
We truly believe that the hybrid grapes developed for cool Climates – or “Cold World” grapes as we call them, offer a new palette of tastes to the wine industry that should not be overlooked adding to the existing vinifera. These will in future, much like the new world wines of California, begin to challenge the flavours and colours that we have come to expect from more traditional wines. Notwithstanding, we continue to learn and shape the flavours of our wines by using and experimenting with traditional wine making techniques for stabilization, acidity, fermentation, oaking and barreling.
Above all, these values are at the core of ensuring that we deliver the highest quality product and develop personal and meaningful relationships with our customers built on trust and integrity.
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Meet the Family
Paul "Smokie" LeBlanc
Co-Owner
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Debbie LeBlanc
Co-Owner
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