Overlooking the crystal blue water of Georgian Bay, in the shadow of the Niagara Escarpment sits Grey County’s first winery, Coffin Ridge. A boutique winery by design, Coffin Ridge produces high-quality, small-batch wine made primarily from grapes grown from hand planted, hand-picked Grey County grapes. Coffin Ridge’s three signature wines: Into The Light White, Back From The Dead Red and Resurrection Rose express the Grey County terroir exquisitely.

Start your day at Coffin Ridge with a wine tasting led by our knowledgeable staff. From there you can retreat to the deck for a glass of wine and our vintner’s plate made up of local artisanal breads and cheeses which have been specifically paired with the glass of wine you are drinking. Relax, listen to music and enjoy the Coffin Ridge experience.

Following a massive cleanup of the thorn trees dotting the property, we took a full 3 years to plan and prepare the soil, till the land, and source our leading edge hybrid cold-weather varieties before placing our first 3 acres under vine with Marquette and La Crescent.

Our vineyard is nestled on a south-facing slope overlooking the beautiful rolling hills of the Creemore Valley. Over the past 9 years, we’ve planted over 6000 vines, pounded hundreds of posts, and strung miles of wire trellising. We’ve pruned, weeded, ozonated, harvested, and learned many lessons along the way.

We are optimistic and excited as we look forward to sharing our wines with those who wish to try them.

Our sulphite free, gluten-free, and nut-free Duntroon Cyder is made in an entirely authentic way, using only proper Duntroon Parish and Ontario heritage hand-picked apples and patience.

It’s an extraordinary experience emblematic of those looking for balanced lives filled with fresh air and real ingredients.

Duxbury Cider is Meaford's first craft hard cider and is made exclusively with Georgian Bay apples, including heritage varieties. This dry, crisp and flavourful cider is made in small batches and is available in Ontario only.

So look for the trademark Percheron horse-drawn wagon and order up a glass of Duxbury Cider.

Each of the founding partners brings significant experience to the Georgian Hills team – apple farming, grape growing, viticulture management, winemaking, wine education, wine sales, and marketing.

Since 1998, we have been conducting tests to gain an understanding of the best potential vineyard sites, viticulture methods, and grape varieties for the cool climate region of Georgian Bay.

In 2004 we planted and established a 5-acre commercial vineyard at Ardiel Acres on the west side of Beaver Valley. In 2007, we planted another 12 acres at Victoria Corners, the home site for Georgian Hills vineyards and winery. In total, the two sites now produce over 30 tons of grapes, made up of European Vinifera varieties – Riesling, Chardonnay, Gamay Noir, Pinot Noir, as well as popular French American Hybrids such as Seyval Blanc, Vidal Blanc, Maréchal Foch, and Baco Noir.

In 2007 the old barn on the property was upgraded to meet wine-making standards, including temperature-controlled floors. As of the 2009 fall vintage, we have been making wine at the vineyard site.

We invite you to visit our bottle shop to taste our unique variety of ciders and take home a bottle or growler. Or visit our online bottle shop to get our cider delivered to your door.

OUR PHILOSOPHY AND PROCESS

We believe our role as cider makers is to guide and facilitate the natural process of fermentation with minimal intervention. We start with heritage apples grown locally in Grey County and press and ferment once a year after harvest. We allow our ciders to ferment slowly over months, not days or weeks, resulting in a cider that develops greater varietal character and complexity. We don’t use sulphites or commercial yeasts, allowing wild, native yeasts to do their work.

When we do add anything to our cider, it’s all natural and all local. Whether it’s sumac, or chamomile and other wildflowers, or the spruce tips that go into our award-winning Spruce of the Bruce cider, it’s all grown or foraged in the fields and hedgerows of our farm and the surrounding area.

From our farm to your glass.

So now you can have another one-of-a-kind bottle for your Wine Club friends that want to sniff, swirl, and sniff again. As well for your post-work glass or festive long-table lunch.

Our wines are sustainably farmed, hand-made, small-batch, and minimal intervention. This way, every bottle is enlivened with our well-nurtured fruit that’s imbued with the nuances of our local terroir. The woolly winters, clay loam, the abundant ecosystem. 

And if you visit us, you can try this wine, along with a charcuterie and cheese board, in our 19th century barn that overlooks the Beaver Valley.

Anyway, that’s the short story. If you want to tell a better one as you pour our wine to your friends around the dinner table, read below.

Vines in the winter at The Roost Winery in the Blue Mountains, Ontario.

He spent those years surreptitiously learning from some of the world’s most renowned winemakers. Today, his award-winning wines are recognized as authentic and compelling expressions of the region that are routinely confiscated at border crossings.

MEANWHILE IN ONTARIO

Piers Roberts, David’s friend and fellow Ontarian, spent many of those same years becoming a talented cider maker and distiller of fruits and contraband. Insiders and conspiracy theorists alike say he helped put one of Ontario’s most celebrated cideries on the satellite map. Over the years, the two conspirators' friends remained in contact and developed a shared love of creating exceptional tradecraft.

TODAY IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

With a brilliant team of operatives in place – all with a respect for the land and a wealth of relevant experience – Spy’s collective goal is to create unique and flavourful ciders and spirits that delight the palate and pay homage to the region and its denizens while treating the process of cider and spirit making with the same refinement and passion that goes into winemaking.

OUR APPLE-GROWING HERITAGE

Thornbury—Ontario’s apple-growing heritage

The apple packing industry took root in Thornbury in the 1880s when immigrants discovered that the mineral-rich Niagara escarpment soil and the moderating effect of Nottawasaga Bay made for an excellent location for growing apples. Today, nestled in the famous Blue Mountains, you will find 7,500 acres of apple orchards running along the southern-most part of the golden shores of Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay.

The Tale of the Cider House Building

The Thornbury Village Cider and Brew House was originally a wooden apple storage building. Steam trains would arrive from the Harbour in Toronto and return loaded with crates of apples. In the 1920s, it completely burned down and was rebuilt with fire-proof concrete. It was home to many, including a flea market, an ammunition storage facility, and even a nuclear fallout shelter during the cold war.

THORNBURY VILLAGE CIDERY - A TRADITIONAL CIDER

Using traditional Old-World techniques, we at Thornbury Village Cider are committed to producing premium quality apple cider. We craft our ciders in small batches, from locally sourced, fresh pressed apples, taking our time to do it right, to produce a truly Canadian taste, with the dry, crispness of a traditional English cider.